152 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



PITCHER. A name commonly applied to the tubular 

 petioles of the Sarracenias, and also to the ui-n-like ex- 

 pansion in Nepciilhes. Sir Joseph Hooker has shown 

 that, in the latter genus, the Pitcher is not the dilated 

 petiole, but a special organ, represented by a gland at 

 tlie top of the cnsta of the young leaf. 



PITCHER-PLANT. SV. Nepenthes. 



BURGUNDY. See Picea ex 



PITCH-TREE, 



celsa. 



PITH. The central cellular part of a stem ; the same 

 as Medulla. 



PITHECOCTENIUM (from pithex, pithecos, a 

 monkey, and kteix, Ifenos, a comb ; in allusion to the 

 common name). Monkey's Comb. Ord. Bignoniacew. A 

 genus comprising about a score species of stove, often 

 tomentose-pubescent or lepidoted, sometimes glabrous, 

 climbing shrubs, natives of tropical America, extending 

 from Brazil to Mexico. Flowers white or violet, rather 

 large, disposed in simple, or rarely sub-thyrsoid, liranched 

 racemes ; calyx broadly tubular-campanulate, truncate or 

 minutely five-toothed ; corolla tube cylindrical and enlarged 

 above the base, often incurved ; limb sub-bilabiate ; lobes 

 five, round, spreading. Leaves opposite, trifoHolate, or 

 with the terminal leaflet changing to a tendril, or defi- 

 ciently bifoliolate ; leaflets entire, petiolulate. Very few 

 species are in cultivation. They require treatment similar 

 to Bignonia (which see). 



P. Carolinse (I.aily Caroline's), fl. snow-white, with the tube 

 tinged with jellnw, sweet-scented ; corolla arcuate, tomentose, 

 with curled sesments; panicle terminal, few-flowered. May. 

 ( conjugate ; leaflets cordate, acuminate, slightly piihescent. 

 h. 10ft. Plant slender, glabrous. (B. R. 1844, 54, under name of 

 Bi!7iio>n'a Cai'oliti'P.) 



FITHECOLOBIUM (from plthecoa. an ape, and 

 lobos, the lobe of the ear ; in allusion to the native name. 

 Monkey's Earring). Curl Brush Bean. Ord. Leyiimitiosa. 

 This genus comprises about 100 species of unarmed or 

 prickly-stipuled, stove trees or shrubs, extending over 

 tropical regions, mostly in Asia and America, a few being 

 natives of Africa and Australia. Flowers often 

 white, similar to those of Int/a : calyx cam- 

 panulate or tubular ; corolla tubular or funnel- 

 shaped ; peduncles solitary or sub-fasciculate, 

 axillary or racemose, or fasciculate at the tips 

 of the branches ; heads globose, or rarely in 

 oblong or almost cylindrical spikes. Pods com- 

 pressed or flat, either spirally twisted or much 

 curved, bivalved or rarely indehiseent. Leaves 

 bipinnate ; leaflets sometimes small and many- 

 jugate, sometimes large and few-jugate, occa- 

 sionally tergeminate, bigeminate, or geminate 

 (pinnae one-jugate, three, two, or one-foliolate) ; 

 stipules sometimes small or inconspicuous, 

 sometimes persistent, hard or spinescent. Pew 

 of the species have been introduced. For cul- 

 ture, see Ing'a. 



P. pruinosum (frosty). ,H. white, with long, ex- 

 stMteil stanien.s. ami growing in globular umbels 

 from the axils of the upper leaves. I., pjnuje vei-y 

 regularly in one or two pairs, with or without ah 

 odd one ; petiole and each raehis varying from lin. to 

 6in. long ; leaflets usually three or four pairs on the 

 terminal pinna", very in-egular in number, size, and 

 shape. Queensland and New .South Wales, 1869. A 

 beautiful tree, having the young branches, foliage, 

 and inflorescence, covered with a rusty pubes- 

 cence. 



Pits — continued. 

 movable ; generally, all the sashes are movable in both 

 cases. Pits do not afford similar facilities for attend- 

 ing to the occupants as do houses, which the cultivator 

 can enter in all weathers ; yet they are indispensable 

 where large, or even small, quantities of young plants 



Fig. 191. Section of Lea.n-to Pit. 



rt, Ordinary Soil; b. Passage: c. Heated Chamber below Stage; 

 d. Bed ; e, e. Hot-water Pipes. 



have to be raised and grown on. For bedding phants, a 

 single hot-water pipe is usually sufficient, in a low, 

 narrow Pit, for expelling damp and keeping out frost, 

 except in very severe ftr unfavourable weather, when cover- 



PITS. These are valuable and well-known 

 garden structures, utilised in their simplest form for pro- 

 tecting plants from the injurious effects of rain and severe 

 frost. When heated, they are eligible for plant culture 

 generally, for Cucumber, Melon, and Pine-growing, and for 

 propagating. Pits are distinguished from frames by their 

 walls being built partly beneath the ground, which con- 

 sequently renders them fixtures, whereas frames are 



Fig. 192. Section of Span-roofi-.h Pit. 



rt, a, Ordinary Sni] ; b, l*assage ; o, c, Heated ('hambers ; (/, (/, 

 c, r, t\ r, Hot-water Pipes. 



'lunging Beils ; 



ings would be necessary. For Cucumber, Melon, or Pine 

 Pits, a more substantial and much higher structure, 

 and also a greater heating power, are necessary. Fig. 

 101 represents a useful little Pit for early forcing of 

 Melons or Cucumbers. A narrow, sunken passage, entered 

 from one end, affords sufficient space for attending to the 

 plants ; and if a shelter were fixed to the back wall for 



