AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



219 



Xerria continued. 



to lin. wide, bright green, shining, and almost glabrous above, 

 paler and slightly hairy beneath, h. 3ft. to 4ft. Japan, 1700. 

 (B. R. 1873 ; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 337.) In addition to the single 

 and double-flowered (see Fig. 360) sorts, there is a very pretty 

 form, having the leaves variegated with sea-green, creamy-white, 

 and pure white. 



KETELEERIA. Included under Abies. 



KIDNEY BEAN. See Beans. 



KIDNEY-SHAPED. Crescent-shaped, with the 

 ends rounded. 



KIDNEY VETCH. See Aiithyllis. 



KIELMEYERA (named after K. P. Kielmeyer, of 

 Wnrtemberg, 1765-1844, a writer on botany). STN. Mar- 

 tinieria. OBD. Ternstromiaceoe. A genus comprising 

 about fifteen species of stove evergreen trees or shrubs, 

 full of resinous juice, natives of Brazil. Flowers showy, 

 terminal, disposed in racemes or short panicles, or 

 rarely solitary; petals five-twisted. Leaves evergreen, 

 often petiolate. Only one species has been intro- 

 duced. It thrives in a fibry, sandy loam. Cuttings of 

 young shoots will root in sand, under a bell glass, in 

 heat. 



K. excelsa (tall), fl. white ; petals obovate, smooth, disposed in 

 racemes. June. I. oblong, sub-elliptic, obtuse, quite smooth. 

 h. 60ft. 1833. Tree. 



KINGIA (named after Captain P. G. King, Governor 

 of New South Wales). ORD. Juncece. A monotypic 

 genus, the species being a long-lived greenhouse plant, 

 with an erect wooden caudex. For culture, see Xan- 

 thorrhsea. 



K. australis (Southern), fl. arranged in a globular head, about 

 2in. in diameter ; perianth segments lanceolate ; peduncles several 

 from the tuft of leaves, 6in. to 12in. long, covered with broad 

 sheathing bracts. I. 2ft. to 3ft. long, and only one to two lines 

 broad, in the greater part of their length, spreading or recurved, 

 flat, or more or less triquetrous ; edges usually serrulate. Can- 

 dex sometimes many feet in height. West Australia. 



KING PLANT. See Ancectochilus setaceus. 



KIRGANELIA. This genus is now included under 

 Ph.yllanth.us (which see). 



KITAIBELIA (named in honour of Paul Kitaibel, 

 1757-1817, formerly Professor of Botany at Pesth, in Hun- 

 gary). ORD. MalvacecB. A genus consisting of but one 

 species, which is an ornamental, hardy, robust-growing, 

 tall, perennial herb. It thrives well in any rough garden 

 soil, and may be readily increased by divisions. 



K. vitifolia (Vine-leaved), fl. white or rose-coloured, showy, pe- 

 dunculate. Late summer and autumn. 1. five - lobed, acute, 

 toothed, resembling those of the Vine in shape, h. 6ft. to 8ft. 

 Eastern Europe. (B. M. 821.) 



KITCHEN GARDEN. See Garden. 



KLEINHOVIA (named after Kleinhoff, once Director 

 of the Botanic Garden in Batavia). OBD. Sterculiacece. 

 A genus consisting of a single species, which is a very 

 handsome stove evergreen tree, native of India. It 

 thrives in a compost of peat and loam. Cuttings of the 

 young ripened shoots will root in sand, if placed in 

 heat, under a bell glass. 



K. Hospita (stranger), fl. pink, disposed in large terminal 

 panicles. July to September, jfr. top-shaped, bladdery, five- 

 winged, with five cells, having a single seed in each. I. entire, 

 three to seven-nerved. 1800. 



KLEINIA (of Haworth). Now included under 

 Senecio (which see). 



KLOFSTOCKIA. A synonym of Ceroxylon. 



KLUGIA (named in honour of Dr. William King, a 

 lover of botany). STN. Glossanthus. ORD. Gesneraceoe. 

 A genus comprising three or four species of herbaceous 

 plants, of which one is a native of Mexico and Central 

 America, and the rest inhabit the East Indian Peninsula, 

 Ceylon, and the Malayan Archipelago. Only one species 



Klngia continued. 



JET. Notoniana has yet been introduced. It is a stove 

 evergreen, thriving in a mixture of equal parts sandy 

 loam and peat, and requiring plenty of moisture while 

 growing. Propagated by cuttings. 

 K. Notoniana (Noton's). fl. blue, in secund racemes ; calyx five- 



angled. Summer. I. repandly toothed, half cordate, that is, 



with an unequal base. Stem fleshy, marked with a dense, 



villous line. h. 1ft. India, 1848. (B. M. 4620.) 



KNIGHTIA (named after Thos. A. Knight, 1758-1838, 

 a pomologist, and at one time President of the London 

 Horticultural Society). STN. Rymandra. OBD. Proteacece. 

 A genus comprising three species of trees or shrubs, of 

 which one is from New Zealand, and the two others from 

 New Caledonia. Flowers geminate, pedicellate, in dense, 

 sessile, axillary, lateral or terminal racemes. Leaves 

 scattered, coriaceous, entire or deeply toothed. K. excelsa, 

 the only species yet introduced, is an ornamental green- 

 house evergreen tree, growing in its native country to a 

 height of 100ft., and having much the habit of a Lom- 

 bardy Poplar. It thrives in a compost of peat, to which 

 a small quantity of sandy loam is added. Plenty of 

 drainage must be afforded. Cuttings of ripe shoots, with 

 leaves intact, except at the base, will root in sandy soil, 

 under a bell glass, in a very gentle bottom heat. 

 K. excelsa (lofty), fl. flesh-coloured, in axillary racemes, which 

 are nearly as long as the leaves, and covered with reddish-brown 

 velvety down. 1. very harsh, linear-oblong, coarsely and rather 

 bluntly toothed, from 4in. to 6in. long. New Zealand, 1824. 

 The wood of this tree is mottled with red and brown, and 

 is largely employed in making furniture. (T. L. S. x. 2.) 



KNIFHOFIA (named after Johann Hieronymus 

 Kniphof, 1704-1763, a Professor of Medicine at Erfurt in 

 the eighteenth century). STNS. Rudolphcemeria, Triclissa, 

 Tritoma, Tritomanthe, Tritomium. OBD. LiliacecB. This 

 small genus of hardy, tufted, herbaceous plants is usually 

 known as Tritoma, but the name here adopted is a prior 

 one, and, therefore, the more correct. The species 

 number about sixteen, and are natives of tropical and 

 South Africa and Madagascar. Flowers scarlet and 

 yellow, showy, densely racemose or spicate, sub-sessile or 

 shortly pedicellate, closely deflexed ; scapes leafless, tall, 

 simple. Leaves radical, long, narrow, firm. Kniphofias 

 are very showy and ornamental border plants. They 

 require protection throughout winter, in the more northern 

 parts of the country. The species best known, and most 

 extensively cultivated, is K. aloides. They all prefer a 

 light, sandy soil, to which may be applied a liberal top- 

 dressing of well-rotted manure, and plenty of water in 

 spring and summer. Propagated by divisions of the crown, 

 in early spring, or by seeds, when procurable. 

 K. aloides (Aloe-like).* Common Flame Flower, fl. handsome 

 coral-red, fading to orange, and ultimately to a greenish-yellow, 

 large, tubular, disposed in dense, oval-oblong spikes. Late 

 summer and autumn. I. very long and narrow, channelled, 

 keeled, toothed on the edges and keel. h. 3ft. to 4ft. South 

 Africa, 1707. SYNS. K. Uvaria and Tritoma Uvaria. This is the 

 handsomest species in cultivation, and one of the most gorgeous 

 of autumn-flowering plants. It is suited equally well for the mixed 

 border or shrubbery, or for planting in lines where there is a 

 background of green foliage. There are several varieties of this 

 species, including the following : 

 K. a. glaucescens (glaucous). South Africa, 1859. 

 K. a. mMrinm. (large-flowered).* A variety much taller than the 

 type, and having stouter stems and longer flower-spikes. It is 

 sometimes known as grandit. Orange Free State, 1862. (B. M. 

 6553.) 



K. a. serotina (late-flowering). South Africa, 1859. 

 K. Burchelli (Burchell's).* fl. scarlet and yellow, tipped with 

 green ; scape marked with black spots. Autumn, i. light green. 

 h. lift South Africa, 1816. A very desirable plant (B. JL 1745, 

 under name of Tritoma Burchelli.) 



K. carnosa (fleshy), fl. apricot-yellow, rather small, with bright 

 yellow anthers ; spike cylindrical, about Sin. long and liin. broad ; 

 scape about 1ft. high. Autumn. I. in several rosettes. Abyssinia, 

 1879. A handsome species. 



K. caulescens (caulescent), fl. reddish-salmon colour at first, 

 but ultimately becoming white tinged with greenish-yellow ; dis- 

 posed in a dense head of about 6in. in length ; scape 4ft to 5ft. 

 long. Autumn. I. of a very glaucous blue-grey tint. Stem 

 verv thick. South Africa 1862. (B. M. 5946.) 



