AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 225 
Xerotes—continued. 
or more or less elongated below the inflorescence. Stems 
tufted. Only two species call for description in this 
work. Both are perennials, thriving in light, rich soil. 
They may be increased by division of the root. 
X. longifolia  (long-leaved). Australian Tussock Grass. 
Jt. greenish-white; clusters dense, sessile along the rachis at 
the bases and ends of the branches; whole inflorescence 6in. to 
nearly 12in. long; scape lft. to nearly 2ft. high, much flattened 
below the panicle. June, l. radical or nearly so, lft. to 2ft. 
long, one to three lines broad, flat or concave, with a short, 
aga base, mostly two-toothed at apex. A 3ft. 1798. 
(B. R. 1839, 3.) 
X. rigida (rigid) . greenish-white, sessile in sessile clusters ; 
inflorescence Lin. to 2in. long, shortly branched at base; male 
scapes from some of the lower axils flat and broad, 1żin. to 2in. 
long. June. ¿Z thick and rigid, less than 1ft. long, 2in. to Sun. 
wide, spreading, obtuse, truncate, or two-toothed at apex, the 
short sheaths covering the base of the stem. Leafy stem shortly 
developed, rather thick, terminating a creeping icomp 1791. 
(L. B. C. 798.) AE. 
XIMENESIA. Inciuded under Verbesina (which 
see). 
XIMENIA (named after Francis Ximenes, a Spanish 
monk, who wrote a work on Mexican plants in 1615). 
Syn. Heymassoli. ORD. Olacinew. A small genus (four 
species are known) of stove or greenhouse, glabrous or 
tomentose trees or shrubs; one is Mexican, another 
South African, a third inhabits the South Pacific Islands, 
and the fourth is broadly dispersed through the tropics. 
Flowers whitish, large for the order, in short, axillary 
cymes, or rarely solitary; calyx small, four or five-toothed 
or lobed; petals four or five, hypogynous; stamens eight 
or ten. Drupes ovoid or globose; flesh pulpy. Leaves 
alternate, entire, sub-coriaceous, often fascicled. The 
drupes of X. americana have a sweet, aromatic flavour, 
but are a little rough to the palate. This species thrives 
in a compost of loam and peat. Cuttings will readily 
root in sand, under a glass, in heat. 
XIPHIDIUM (from ciphos, a sword, and eides, like- 
ness; alluding to the shape of the leaves). ORD. Hemo- 
doracee. A genus consisting of two species (perhaps 
varieties of one) of stove, perennial herbs, with short 
thizomes, natives of tropical America. Flowers rather 
small, glabrous, shortly pedicellate at the sides of the 
simple panicle branches, unilateral; perianth tube none, 
the segments equal, oblong, spreading, not decurrent 
at base; stamens three, affixed at the base of the 
inner segments. Leaves rather broadly linear or long- 
lanceolate, distichous, membranous, equitant. X. flori- 
bundum thrives in an equal mixture of loam, peat, and 
sand. It may be readily increased by division of the 
roots. ` 
X. albidum (whitish). A synonym of X. floribundum. 
X. floribundum (bundle-fiowered). ji. white or blue, eight to 
ten along the branches of the panicle; perianth segments 
in. long, oblong-lanceolate, glabrescent; panicle pubescent. 
y and June. I oblong-lanceolate or oblong, lin. to 2in. broad, 
acuminate, often distinctly muricated at the edges, glabrous. 
À. lft, to 2ft. West Indies, 1856. (B. M. 5055.) SYN. X. albidum. 
X. giganteum is a very broad-leaved form, with entire margins. 
XIPHION. Included under Iris (which see). 
XIPHOPTERIS. Included under Polypodiwm. 
BIUM (from zylon, wood, and bios, life; in 
XYLOB 
allusion to the substance on which the plants grow). 
ORD. Orchidee. A genus comprising about sixteen 
species of stove, epiphytal, tropical American Orchids, 
closely allied to Mavillaria. Flowers racemose, very 
shortly pedicellate; sepals erect, at length somewhat 
Spreading, the lateral ones broader than the upper one, 
Vol. IV. 
` €. concavum (concave-lipped). 
€. foveatum (foveate). 
Xylobium—continued. 
adnate at base to the foot of the column, forming a chin ; 
petals similar to the upper sepal, but smaller; lip sub- 
articulated with the foot of the column, sessile or con- 
tracted and incumbent at base, at length erect, the 
lateral lobes erect, clothing the erect, semi-terete column, 
the middle one short, broad, spreading; scapes at the 
bases of the pseudo-bulbs, erect, simple. Leaves ample 
or elongated, plicate-veined, contracted into the petioles. 
Stems short, many-sheathed, mostly thickened into a one 
or two-leaved, fleshy pseudo-bulb. The best-known species 
are here described. For culture, see Maxillaria (under 
which the species were formerly classed). 
Ji. pale yellow; lateral sepals 
falcate, acuminate; petals half as large as the open, lip almost 
truncate, concave, bluntly three-lobed, the middle lobe some- 
what fleshy and tuberculated at the edge, rose-veined, with a 
long, narrow ridge in the middle, three-lobed at the point. 
L twin, three-ribbed, shining, narrowed into the petioles. 
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, deeply furrowed. h. Qin. uatemala, 
1844. Syn. Mazillaria concava (L. & P. F. G. ii., p. 53). 
X, decolor (discoloured). fl., sepals and petals sulphur-coloured, 
the former ovate-oblong, obtuse, s g, the latter half as 
large, connivent; lip whitish, obsoletely three-lobed, obtuse, 
hooded, with five elevated, parallel calli; scapes radical, many- 
flowered. I solitary, oblon eer Pa acuminate at both ends, 
lft. to lift. long.  Pseudo-bulbs oblong, com h. 1ft. 
ao 1830. Syn. Mazillaria decolor (B. M. 3981; B. R. 
X. elongatum (elongated). Á. in a dense, obl raceme ; s 
and petals pale, linear ; lip purplis ee keder 
ovate-oblong, v fleshy ; scapes erect, two-shea 4. lan- 
ceolate, thrce-ribbed, ut twice as long as the elongated, 
cylindrical pseudo-bulbs. h. lft. Central America, 1847. SYN. 
Maxillaria elongata (L. & P. F. G. iii., p. 69.) 
. of a pale, uniform straw-colour, 
faintly scented ; sepals and petals linear-oblong; lip three-lobed 
at apex, the middle lobe rounded, fleshy, excavated. J. lan- 
ceolate, undulated, thrice as long as the raceme. h, lft. Deme- 
rara, 1839. Allied to X. squalens. SYN. Mazillaria foveata. 
X. pallidiflorum (pale-fiowered). fl. icellate ; and 
oe e he geet sira one-ribbed, the lower sepals 
roadly falcate ` lip whitish at back, refle: above, somewhat 
truncate-emar te at apex; racemes erect, three to seven- 
flowered. l. oblong, acuminate, glabrous, 8in. to 10in. three- 
ribbed, arcuate-recurved, attenuated into the petioles. e 
X. squalens s dense,” ipso dingy yellowish-flesh-coloured, 
ie gie a brown-scal 
to a psou bed. Pseudo-bulbs GEES ik d 
i 0-] Ser D š 
MD aim Mons scales. Brazil. 1828. "Brah Deen 
squalens (B. M. 2955), Dendrobium squalens (B. R. 732). 
XYLOMELUM (from zylon, wood, and melon, an 
apple; alluding to the woody fruit). 
A small genus (four species) of greenhouse trees or tall 
shrubs, endemie in A ia. Flowers sessile in pairs 
within each braet, disposed in opposite, dense spikes; 
perianth regular, with revolute segments; bracts small. 
Fruit large, ovoid or tapering above the middle, very 
thick and woody, tardily opening along the upper side, or 
in two valves. Leaves opposite, entire or prickly-toothed. 
The fruits are known in Australia as Wooden Pears. 
Only one species has been introduced. It thrives in a ` ` hy 
compost of sandy peat and fibry loam. Ample drainage 
must be given. Propagated by cuttings of young and 
rather firm shoots; or by seeds, sown in slight heat. ` 
pyriform -fruited , spikes very dense, 2in. to An. 
x; py budget? og ¿Ç six together, rs a Ap 
T, . , 
above lin. in diameter near the base, tapering above the E 
flowerless branc! or 
the’ species is intensely bitter). Bitter Wood. ORD. 
Anonacee. A genus comprising nearly ama a of 
Re ei 
Orv. Profteacem. — 
