176 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Pogostemon—continued. 
une. Z broadly ovate, stalked, 3in. to 4in. long. h. 3ft. East 
i — 1848. —— soft-wooded shrub. This species 
affords the celebrated Patchouli perfume, or Pucha-pat, of the 
Hindoos ; the odour is very peculiar, and even disagreeable to 
some people, but, in India, it is one of the commonest perfumes 
found in the bazaars. 
P. plectranthoides (Plectranthus-like). jl. white, sub-secund, 
glomerately spicate; calyx and bracts coloured at top, villous ; 
spikes ovate-cylindrical, pedunculate, panicled. July. J. ovate, 
cuneated or rounded at base, doubly serrated; cauline ones 2in. 
to 3in. long ; upper ones small ; uppermost bract-like. Stem 2ft. 
to 3ft. high; branches obtusely tetragonal. East Indies. Stove 
shrub. (B. M. 3238.) 
POINCIANA (named after M. de Poinci, Governor 
of the Antilles in the middle of the seventeenth 
century, and a patron of botany). Flower Fence. ORD. 
Leguminose. A genus consisting of only three species 
of stove, evergreen, unarmed trees, natives of the warmer 
parts of Eastern Africa, the Mascarene Islands, and 
the Western Provinces of India. Flowers orange or 
scarlet, showy, corymbosely racemose at, the apices of 
the branches; calyx segments valvate; petals five, orbicu- 
late, imbricated ; stamens ten, free. Pods elongated, flat, 
compressed, hard, two-valved. Leaves bipinnate; leaflets 
small, numerous; stipules inconspicuous; bracts small, 
very caducous. For culture, see Cesalpinia. 
P. pulcherrima (very pretty). fl. on very long pedicels ; petals 
orange-yellow, —— in. long, exceeding the calyx, often 
lacerated on the margins; racemes terminal, pyramidal, July. 
Pods flat-compressed, 4in. to din. Jong. l., pinnz three- to nine- 
jugal leaflets five- to ten-jugal, 4in. long, oblong or spathulate- 
oblong, rounded or sub-truncate at the mucronulate tip. R. 10ft. 
to 12ft. West Indies, &c., 1691. Prickly shrub. (B. M. 995.) 
Cesalpinia pulcherrima is the correct name of this shrub. 
P. regia (royal). Royal Peacock Flower. f. bright scarles, in 
loose agi ag A ty and from the axils a “dt dee leaves ; 
petals almost orbicular, spreading, reflexed, — into long 
claws, veined on the upper side, and dashed with yellowish lines 
above the base ; upper petal variegated and striated with red and 
ellow ; stamens ten ; filaments red ; pedicels alternately patent. 
— . Pods about 4in. iong. l. broadly ovate, 2ft. long, very 
patent, a ly bipimnate, with from eleven to eighteen pairs 
of horizon! patent pinne, which are 4in, long; pinnules 
oblong, blunt, on very short petioles ; base of common petiole 
fleshy. Trunk erect, sft. in eter. h. Bit. to 40ft. Mada- 
gascar. A magnificent tree. (B. M. 2884.) 
= BPOINSETTIA. Included under Euphorbia (which 
see). ; 
POIRETIA (named in honour of J. L. M. Poiret, a 
French botanist and traveller in Barbary, about 1785). 
Syn. Turpinia (of Persoon). ORD. Leguminose. A genus 
of five species of twining or rarely sub-erect, gland-dotted, 
stove, perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, natives of South 
America, mostly Brazil, one extending to Central America 
and the warmer parts of Mexico. Flowers yellow, in small, 
axillary racemes, or paniculate at the tips of the branches; 
standard broadly orbiculate, reflexed; wings falcate-ob- 
long. Pods linear. Leaves pinnate; leaflets four or rarely 
three, often minutely stipellate ; stipules sessile or shortly 
decurrent at base. The species are little known in culti- 
vation. For culture, see Pictetia. 
P. scandens (climbing). fl., racemes few-flowered, shorter than 
the petioles. J. with two pairs of obovate, retuse leaflets, full 
of pellucid dots. Stems climbing, glabrous. Caraceas, 1823. 
Herb. SYN. Turpinia punctata. 
POIRETIA (of Cavanilles). 
gelia (which see). : 
{of Smith). 
A synonym of Spren- 
A synonym of Hovea 
(which see). 
BERRY. 
species of Cestrum. 
-POISON BULB, ASIATIC. Sec Crinum asiati- 
A name applied to several 
POITZA (named after M. Poiteau, a French botanist, 
author of “ Flore Parisienne,” 1908-18). OxD. Leguminose, 
Poitzea—continued. 
This genus comprises only a couple of species of stove 
shrubs, natives of St. Domingo and Cuba. Flowers rose or 
purple, pendulous, in axillary racemes; pedicels solitary ; 
standard obovate, erect; wings oblong, longer than the 
standard. Pods linear, flat-compressed, two-valved. Leaves 
impari-pinnate; leaflets many, membranous, entire, ex- 
stipellate; stipules setaceous. P. galegoides requires 
similar culture to Sabinia (which see). 
P. galegoides (Galega-lixe). ji. rose-purple, and, as well as the 
pom nodding. June. l., leaflets twelve to fifteen pairs, jin. 
ong, oblong, mucronate, and, as well as the branches, clothed 
with adpressed pubesccuce; petioles wingless. k. lft. St. 
Domingo, 1826. 
POIVREA (named after P. Poivre, a French traveller 
and administrator, born at Lyons in 1719, died in 1786). 
ORD. Combretaceæ. A small genus of tropical and sub- 
tropical, stove, evergreen climbers, included, by Bentham 
and Hooker, under Combretum (which see for characters 
and culture). 
P. coccinea (scarlet). ^. scarlet, loosely disposed, secund ; 
ponce of many spikes. June to December. J. oblong-lanceo- 
, acute, dark green, shining. Ma , 1818 STR. 
Combretum purpureum (B. R. 429). 
P. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of Combretum 
grandiflorum. 
POKE or POKE WEED. See Phytolacca. 
POLANISIA (from poly, many, and anisos, unequal ; 
in allusion to the numerous and unequal stamens). ORD. 
Capparidee. A genus (now merged into Cleome) com- 
prising abont fourteen species of pretty, hardy, annual 
herbs, often glandular and strong-smelling, mostly tropical 
and sub-tropical, one being an inhabitant of all the warmer 
regions of the globe. Sepals lanceolate, free or connate at 
base, deciduous ; petals sessile or unguiculate, entire, equal 
or unequal, imbricated. Leaves simple or three to nine- 
foliolate; upper ones bract-like. Seeds should be sown 
in a hotbed frame, and turned out into a sheltered position 
in the open border, about the middle of May. 
P. Chelidonii (Chelidonium). fl. rose ; stamens twenty-four to 
thirty-two. June. Z. seven to nine-foliolate ; leaflets obovate- 
cuneate. A. lift. East Indies, 1792. Plant hispid-pilose. 
Š (twelve-anthered). fi. white; stamens eight to 
twelve. June, J. trifoliolate; leaflets glabrous, ʻelliptic-lanceo- 
late, slightly serrulate. h. 1}ft. East Indies, 1795. Plant 
scabrous-puberulous. 
P. graveolens (strong-smelling), fl. small; calyx and filaments 
purplish; petals yellowish-white; stamens eight to twelve. 
June to August. l. with three oblong leaflets. h. 14ft. North 
America. Plant glandular-pilose. 
POLEMANNIA. A synonym of Dipcadi. 
POLEMONIACEZ. A natural order of glabrous, 
pubescent, or slightly viscid, erect or twining herbs, 
rarely shrubs, the majority of which are found in 
(mostly Western) North America and the Andes of South 
America, a few being natives of Europe and temperate 
Asia. Flowers variously coloured, hermaphrodite, usually — 
showy, regular or scarcely oblique, at the tips of the 
branches, or sometimes solitary or twin in the axils, 
sessile or stalked, sometimes corymbose-cymose, capi- 
tate, or loosely paniculate; calyx campanulate or tubular, 
five-fid, with imbricated lobes, or rarely three to five-fid 
or valvate; corolla gamopetalous, funnel-salver or bell- 
shaped, or rotate, the limb of five twisted lobes; stamens 
five, alternate with the corolla lobes. Fruit a capsule. 
Leaves alternate or opposite, entire or variously dis- 
sected. “In some countries, the leaves of Polemonium 
ceruleum are applied to ulcers following contagious 
diseases, and the Russians give a decoction of it in 
cases of hydrophobia” (Decaisne and Le Maoiit). The 
order comprises eight genera and not more than 150 species. 
Well-known illustrative genera are: Collomia, Gilia, 
Phlox, and Polemonium. i ; i 
POLEMONIUM (an ancient Greek name, used by 
Dioscorides, from polemos, war; of doubtful application). 
ORD, Polemoniacez. A genus comprising eight or nine 
