295 



Attempts to grow tlie brilliant parasite liave been made 

 repeatedly, but tbe only instances of successful cultivation, 

 previous to its flowering- at Kew, seem to have been those recorded 

 by F. E, L. PiscLcr I.e. and E. Regel and Poscbarskjr in 

 Gaitenflora, 1880, pp. 34, 35. Tbe former states tbat a borticul- 

 turist at Klmrkow succeeded in obtaining- a flower out of a ball 

 of earth wliicb be bad received from tbe Caucasus. No particulars 

 of the case are g-iven. Poscbarsky, Curator of tbe^ Botiinic 

 Garden at Dresden, on tbe other band, is more explicit. H 

 relates that in 1876 ])e received specimens of P. foUata from C. 

 Koch from tbe Caucasus, some of which were connected with 

 portions of the host ijhnt (Centaurea dealhata), and showed si^ns 

 of life. They were planted out, and four weeks later the host 

 plant beg-an to sprout. There was, however, no sign of the 

 parasite until June, 1879, when two flowering stems were pro- 

 duced. 



The history of the plant grown at Kew and illustrated in the 

 plate accouipauying this article is related thus in the text for 

 tab. 8015 of tlie Botanical ^^lagazine: — 



" The plants on which our figure has been based were 

 grown at Kew from seeds received from the Botanic (jardeu, 

 Tiflis, in 1911. In this case tbe host-plant was Centanrea 

 dealhata. Tlie seeds of host and parasite were sown togetlier 

 in a pot, but only the Centaurea came up. Later, m uii, 

 the Centaurea was planted in the Kock Garden, whe^re it gre^^ 

 alone until, in May, 1914, seven stems of the Phehfaea 

 each bearing a solitary flower-bud, made their appearance, 

 the first bud to open doing so in the middle of the mon n. 



Vernacular names.— P. Tournefortli— Kardush Kani (luik. 



= brother's blood), Noe, Mauiisell. ■ 



P. foliata.—Bucba-tscbitscbcgi (Tat. = stallion flower). 



XXVL—THYRSOPTERIS ELEGANS. 



L. A. 3V)0i>LE. 

 (With Plato.) ^ 



Thyrsopteris elegans is a Tree Pern of an i^^^^.f ^n^ J^n 

 -liich is' rare in%ulii ration, and is -^^'V^^U on tie 

 Fernandez, where it -rows in moist and shady ^Noods on 



Biouutains. 



Tbe stem is upright, covered with the scars of Jhe old I 

 «^d may reach I b?igbt of 5 feet. The l^^^, ^^^ :^X ^^/f orni 

 ^'^■own, may be 6 feet Iv more in length, «"d ^^le pet^^^ ^ J^ ^^^, 

 i^fH of the length or more. TliC petiole and lac i s .^^^^_ 



f^lothed with a felt of soft brown hairs '■'f ^°f. fidstles. The 

 spersod stouter tricbomes resembling rather "^';. ^^-j ^na i=: 

 i«af is pinnatelv decompound (four to five tnn«8 P J^ ^^^_^.^^ 

 e-^ceptiona] in teing sharply diflerentiated into ter ^^ 



P?Hions, which are quite dissimilar. Some '^f ^^^^ w ^ ^^^i^.^^ ^^^ 

 pinnae of the second order, that is ihose ^ei^i^^t to .^ ^^^.^ ^^^_ 

 fertile, and show no expansion of laminar si"iace ^^^ ^^^^^_ 

 divisions. The ultimati divisions or pinnules, ^M^c 



