AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



201 



ISCHARUM (from ischein, to check; in reference to 



the impoverished nature of the upper portion of the 



spadix). OBD. Aroidew (Araceoe). A small genus of 



greenhouse tuberous herbs, now united, by Bentham and 



Hooker, to Biarum, from which they differ only in 



botanical details. For culture, see Typhoninm. 



I. angustatum (narrow). /., sheaths nearly white, embracing 



the base and middle of the spathe ; spathe 6in. long, sheathing 



part nearly white, gradually expanding into an erect, almost 



black-purple blade; spadix slender, the female portion very 



short, the neutral part iin. long and white, the male part lin. 



long and black-purple. " December. I. long, thick, petiolate, 



oblong-lanceolate, sub-acute. Tuber the size of a small potato. 



Syria, 1860. (B. M. 6355.) 



X. Pyrami (Pyramus). fl., spathe dark velvety-purple, short, 

 broad - lanceolate, long - acuminate, twisted ; tube ventricose ; 

 spadix almost equal to the spathe. January. I. elliptic-sub- 

 obovate, on long attenuated petioles, obtuse at apex, obliquely 

 nerved. Syria, 1861. (B. M. 5324.) 



ISERTIA (named after P. E. Isert, a German sur- 

 geon). STNS. Brignolia, Bruinsmania. OBD. Rubiacece. 

 A genus comprising fifteen species of shrubs or trees, 

 natives of Brazil, Guiana, and New Grenada. Flowers 

 scarlet or red, rarely white or yellow, rather large, in many- 

 flowered, thyrsoid, terminal, corymbose cymes, shortly 

 pedicellate. Leaves large, opposite, rarely ternate, verti- 

 cillate, thick, coriaceous, acuminate. I. coccinea, perhaps 

 the only species in cultivation, is a very handsome stove 

 evergreen shrub, requiring a compost of peat and loam, 

 with the addition of a little charcoal and silver sand. 

 Increased by cuttings, inserted in sandy soil, in heat, 

 during spring and summer. 



I. coccinea (scarlet), fl. scarlet, velvety on the outside, lin. long ; 

 thyrse terminal, many-flowered, panicled. July. I. oval, acu- 

 minated at both ends, downy beneath. A. 8ft to 12ft Guiana, 

 1820. 



ISMELIA. Now included under Chrysanthemum. 



Included under Hymenocallis (which 



ISOCHILUS (from isos, equal, and cheilos, a lip; in 

 allusion to the shape of the labellum). OBD. Orchidece. 

 A genus of four or five species of epiphytal stove Orchids, 

 ranging from Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil. 

 Flowers rose or red, in one row, in spike-like racemes, 

 small or medium; labellum free from the column, con- 

 tracted at the base with a slight S-like curvature. 

 Stems bearing the leaves in two rows. Perhaps the only 

 species at present in cultivation is I. linearis. For 

 culture, see Pleurothallis. 

 I. linearis (linear), fl. purplish, small, in short spikes. Spring. 



1. short, narrow, on tufted slender stems 1ft. high. Mexico, 



&c., to Brazil, 1791. (L. B. C. 1341.) 



ISOLEPIS. This genus is now included, by the 

 authors of the "Genera Plantarum," under Scirpns 

 (which see). 

 I. gracilis (slender). A garden name for Scirpus riparins 



(which see). 



ISOLOMA (from isos, equal, and loma, a border ; lobes 

 of corolla equal). STN. Koshleria. Including Brachyloma, 

 Calycostemma, Pearcea, and Tydcea. OBD. Gesneracece. 

 A genus comprising about sixty species of ornamental 

 stove herbs, often confused with Achimenes and Gesnera, 

 natives of the Western hemisphere, from Bolivia and 

 Peru to Mexico. Flowers often scarlet, golden, or spotted. 

 Leaves opposite, often softly villous. For culture, see 

 Gesnera. 

 I. bogotense (Bogotan). fl. copious, rather large, drooping ; 



corolla full yellow, rich red above, streaked and dotted with red 



within ; tube funnel-shaped, gibbous above ; limb spreading, five- 



lobed ; calyx almost entirely free ; peduncles single-flowered. 



Autumn and early winter. I. opposite and ternately verticillate, 



petiolate, ovate-cordate, serrate, rich velvety-green, mottled and 



reticulated with white or pale green, always whitest in the middle. 



Stems erect, but little branched, 1ft. to 2ft. high. Bogota, 1844. 



Plant hairy. SYN. Achimenes picta (under which name it is 



figured in B. M. 4126). 

 I. Cecilia) (Cecilia Franchomme's).* /. bright rose ; inside of the 



tube white and spotted. 1. dark velvety, h. 1ft. to lift Cun- 



dinamarca, 1877. 



Vol. II. 



I. hypocyrtiflor 



ram (Linden's), fl. white ; throat marked on the lower 

 ep violet band ; upper lip with a dash of yellow and a 

 of purple ; tubes short. I. ovate, hairy, olive-green ; 



Isoloma continued. 



I. Deppeanum (Deppe's). fl. orange-red, in four-flowered 

 villous umbels ; corolla lin. long, iin. across, tubular, clavato- 

 yentricose, dilated and somewhat fleshy at its base ; limb spread- 

 ing ; lobes sub-equal. Summer. 1. 3in. to 6in. long, IJin. to 2Jin. 

 broad, opposite and decussate, petiolate, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 serrated, harshly pubescent and bright green above, white with 

 soft tomentum beneath. A. 2ft. to 3ft. Central America, Ac. 

 SYN. Gesneria elongata var. (under which name it is figured in 

 B. M. 3725). 



I. digitaliflornm (Foxglove-flowered), fl. very large, deflexed , 

 corolla shaggy, rosy-purple above, white beneath ; throat white, 

 spotted with crimson ; limb green, dotted purple ; panicles short, 

 terminal. 1. large, ovate-acuminate, hairy. Stems erect, hairy. 

 New Grenada. 



I. hondense (Honda).* /., calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed, tipped 

 with red ; corolla yellow, lin. or more long, tubular, sub-ventricose ; 

 mouth contracted ; limb of five short, equal, spreading lobes ; tube 

 clothed with bright red hairs ; peduncles longer than the flower, 

 axillary, solitary, or two or three together, hairy. December. 

 I. opposite, spreading, ovate, acute or sub-acuminate, serrate, 

 hairy ; petioles iin. to Jin. long. Stem erect, 1ft long. Honda, 

 New Grenada, 1845. This plant may, by a little management in 

 forcing or retarding the tubers, be made to blossom at almost 

 every season of the year. SYN. Gesneria hondengis (under which 

 name it is figured in B. M. 4217). 



/pocyrta-flowered). fl. orange-red, velvety- 

 jent, nearly globose, about lin. long ; mouth nearly closed, 

 cordate-ovate, bluntish, velvety, emerald-green, traversed by 

 silvery ribs. Ecuador, 1866. SYN. Gloxinia hypocyrtiflora (under 

 which name it is figured in B. M. 5655). 



I. T.lii ^f ^TI \ q.^ 1 ! ltl I 



side by a de 



costa and principal veins marked by broad" silvery stripes, and" 

 having bright green veins intervening. Stems erect, hairy. 



I. molle (soft), fl. three to five in an umbel, on extremely short 

 peduncles ; corolla red, densely hairy, funnel-shaped ; lobes of 

 limb orange, spotted with red, acute, reflexed. Winter. I. clothed 

 with long, dense, silky hairs. Stems lift high, shrubby, hairy. 

 Caraccas, 1819. SYN. Gesneria moUis (under which name it is 



. figured in B. M. 3815). 



I. ocellatum (eyleted). fl., calyx hairy, tube red ; corolla bright 

 red, drooping, pubescent ; limb campanulate, segments marked 

 with white spots, bearing a black dot in the centre ; peduncles 

 red, erect, slender, shorter than the leaves. Winter. I. large, 

 opposite, ovate, acuminate, copiously reticulated with veins, and 

 wrinkled ; under side purple ; upper side dark shining green, 

 glabrous; edges serrated; petioles lin. or more long, purple. 

 Panama, 1847. Stove. SYN. Achimenes ocellata (under which 

 name it is figured in B. M. 4359). 



L picttun (painted), fl. in a terminal, elongated, leafy raceme ; 

 corolla scarlet, yellow beneath and at the month, very hairy 

 and velvety ; lobes of limb spotted. Summer till late autumn. 

 1. opposite or ternate, ovate, acuminate, serrated, hairy, rich red- 

 purple beneath. A. 3ft. Columbia, 1848. (B. M. 4431, under 

 name of Gesneria picta.) 



I. Schiedeanum (Schiede's). fl. copious from the axils ; corolla 

 rich scarlet, between campanulate and infundibuliform, clothed 

 with long hairs; limb five-lobed, yellow, streaked with dotted 

 lines of red ; calyx short, turbinate, tomentose ; peduncles aggre- 

 gated, shorter than the leaves, one or three-flowered. November. 

 I. generally in whorls of three, soft and downy above, paler and 

 tomentose beneath. Stem tinged with red. A. IJft Mexico, 

 1844. (B. M. 4152, under name of Gesneria Schiedeana.) 



I. Seemanni (Seemann's). fl., calyx shallow, cup-shaped ; corolla 

 bright brick-red, a little inclining to orange ; tube orange at base, 

 short, nearly cylindrical ; limb spotted with deep red, and clothed 

 with glandular hairs ; peduncles hairy. October. L opposite and 

 ternate ; lower ones large, broadly ovate or sub-ovate, coarsely 

 serrate, acute, on rather long petioles; upper ones gradually 

 smaller. Stem simple, 2ft. or more high. Panama, 1848. SYN. 

 Gesneria Seemanni (under which name it is figured m B. M. 4504). 



I. triflornm (three-flowered), fl. in umbels of three, on solitary 

 axillary peduncles ; corolla yellow, ventricose, densely clothed 

 with shaggy red hair ; mouth spotted ; limb five-lobed ; calyx 

 woolly, hemispherical. Summer. I. opposite, 4in. to 6in. long 

 ovate, acuminate, serrate, upper surface dark green, wrinkled with 

 copiously reticulated nerves, and downy beneath, on woolly 

 petioles. A. lift, to 2ft. New Grenada, 1846. SYN. Getnena 

 triflora (under which name it is figured in B. M. 434<i). 



ISOLOMA (of J. Smith). See Lindsaya. 



ISOMERIS (from isos, equal, and men's, part; the 

 petals, stamens, and pistils are of equal length). OBD. 

 Capparidece. A monotypic genus. The species is a 

 half-hardy deciduous shrub, having a disagreeable odour, 

 a long tap root, and a very spreading head. It thrives 



