MASSONIA 



THE HFLH BOOK 



■segments of ■which are mottled with 

 brown and tipped with violet. 



Fig. 250.— Jlfartca yorthiaua. 



M. paludosa {Cipura jxiludosa). — A 

 native of Tropical America, having 

 roundish conns, narrow plaited leaves 

 1 to U ft. long, and lilac flowers, the 

 inner segments of which have one or 

 two yellow blotches near the base. 

 {Bot. Mafj. t. 646.) 



MASSONIA (after /'. Mauon (1741- 

 1805), a botanical traveller in S. 

 Africa). Nat. Ord. LUiaceae.— This 

 genus contains about twenty-five 

 species of small bulbous plants all 

 natives of S. Africa. The numerous 

 white or greenish and almost stalk- 

 less flowers are borne in umbel-like 

 clusters between the two almost 

 opposite leaves, the flower-stem being 

 either very short or altogether absent. 



Like most of the Cape bulbous 

 plants the Massonias flourish in a 

 gritty compost of loam with a little 



peat and leaf-soil, and may be grown 

 in a greenhouse, or frame, or in the 

 open border in sheltered situations 

 during the summer. They are of no 

 great beauty or value as garden plants, 

 and are confined chiefly to botanical 

 collections. Some of the best-known 

 kinds are :— 



M. amygdalina. with oval leaves 

 and almond-scented flowers. 



M. angustifolia, with lance-shaped 

 IX)inted leaves. {fJot. Mag. t. 736.) 



M. Candida, with round smooth 

 fleshy leaves. UJof. Be(f. t. 694.) 



M. jasminiflora. — Leaves two, 

 spreading on the ground, and umbels 

 of white green-tipped flowers. (Bot. 

 Ma(i. t. 7465.) 



M. muricata, with roundish heart- 

 shaped, fleshy leaves. {Bot. M<ig. t. 

 559.) 



M. pustulata, having smooth, oval, 

 rounded, fleshy leaves, sometimes three 

 instead of the usual two, heavily 

 covered with whitish pustules. {Bot. 

 Mag. t. 642.) 



M. sangTiinea, with roundish, heart- 

 shaped, pointed leaves, and flowers 

 having reddish filaments to the 

 stamens. (Bot. Mag. t. 848.) 



MEDBOliA (named after the 

 sorceress Media). Xat. Ord. Liliaceae. 

 — The only species in this genus is — 



M. virginica. — A native of X. 

 America with tbickish white rhizomes 

 having a cucimiber-like smell, and 

 whorls of stalkless obovate lance- 

 .shaped leaves on the erect stems, 

 which grow about 9 ins, high. The 

 small yellowish flowers appear in 

 June in sessile umbels, {Bot. Mag. 

 t. 1316.) 



This plant is quite hardy, and 

 flourishes in ordinary light garden 

 soil. It is easily increased by division 

 of the root-stocks. 



The plant known either as Mededa 

 a^lMxra'joides or Myrfipliyllum asjxira- 



352 



