AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



287 



Rhaphidophora continued. 



B. lancifolia (lance-leaved). JL, spathe apricot-coloured and 

 green-spotted outside, salmon-colour within, 3in. to 4in. long, 

 24in. to 3in. wide, ovate, acuminate, open; spadix white, 

 cylindrical, erect, obtuse. 1. Lanceolate, cuspidate, 9in. to lOin. 

 long, unequal-sided, dark shining green, glabrous. Stem cylin- 

 drical Khasia and Sylhet, 1874. (G. C. 1874, ii. 612) 

 P. Peepla (Peepla). JL, spathe yellowish outside, reddish-yellow 

 within, ovate-acuminate, shorter than the petiole ; spadix yel- 

 lowish. I. oblong or elliptic-oblong, rounded at base, or cuneate, 

 with a long cuspidate-acuminate apex, acute. East Indies. 

 B. pertusa (perforated), fl., spathe scarcely equalling the petiole, 

 but exceeding the spadix. I. unequilateral, loosely cordate at 

 base, shortly cuspidate at apex, entire, pertuse, or pinnatifld ; 

 petioles about a quarter shorter than the leaves. East Indies. 

 RHAFHIOLEPIS (from rhaphis, a needle, and 

 lepis, a scale; alluding to the narrow, subulate bracts). 

 Erroneously spelt Raphiolepis. Indian Hawthorn. ORD. 

 Rosaceae. A genus comprising about five species of 

 interesting, hardy or half-hardy, evergreen shrubs or 

 trees, natives of China and Japan, one being also 

 found in the Sandwich Isles (?). Flowers white or 

 red; calyx with an obconical or funnel-shaped tube 

 and five deciduous, subulate lobes; petals five, clawed, 

 oblong, acute ; stamens many ; inflorescence paniculate 

 or corymbose ; bracts subulate, deciduous. Berries 

 pulpy. Leaves alternate, petiolate, coriaceous, entire 

 or serrulate. The most suitable compost for these 

 shrubs and trees is one of loam, peat, and sand. 

 Ripened cuttings will readily root in sand, under a hand 

 glass. Some of the species will stand our winters 

 outside, if planted against a south wall, and covered 

 with mats during severe weather. Those best known 

 in gardens are described below. 



B. indica (Indian). East Indian Hawthorn. JL white or pink- 

 tinted, the size of those of the Hawthorn, in short, terminal 

 panicles. February to August L ovate or lanceolate. A. 4ft. 

 China, 1806. Half-hardy shrub. 

 B. L phaeostemon (brown-stamened). 

 mentis brown. L lanceolate, acumina' 

 (B. R 468, under name of R. indica.) 



!, petals white; flla- 

 it both ends. 1820. 



B. i. rnbra (reddish). /. reddish; petals lanceolate. 

 {. ovate-lanceolate, acuminated at both ends. 1806. 

 (B. R. 1400 and L. C. R 3, under name of R. rubra.) 



B. I. saliclfolia (Willow-leaved). JL white. I. long-Ian- 

 ceolate. 1821. (B. R. 652, under name of R. salidjotia.) 



B. Japonica integerrima (entire-leaved Japanese). 

 A. snow-white, odorous, |in. in diameter ; panicles ter- 

 minal, erect, 2in. to 4in. high, densely clothed below 

 with large, ciliated bracts. June. L alternate and ob- 

 scurely whorled, 2in. to Sin. long, broadly obovate, 

 obtusely apiculate, dark green and shining above, paler 

 below. Branches stout Japan, 1865. Hardy shrub. 

 (R M. 5510.) 



RHAPHITHAMNUS (from rhapis, a needle, 

 and thamnos, a shrub ; on account of the spiny 

 character of some of the species). STN. Pceppigia 

 (of Bertero). OBD. Verbenacece. A small genus (six 

 species) of unarmed or spiny shrubs or trees, 

 all natives of Chili. Flowers nodding, at the axils 

 of minute bracts ; calyx tubular - campanulate, 

 shortly five-toothed ; corolla tube straight, enlarged 

 above, the limb spreading, of four or five unequal 

 lobes ; stamens four, didynamous : racemes axillary, 

 few (often one or two) flowered. Leaves opposite, 

 rather small, ovate, entire. Only two species 

 have been introduced. For culture, see Myrtus. 

 B. cyanocarpns (blue-fruited), fl.. pale blue, solitary 

 or in pairs, shortly stalked ; corolla tubular, *in. long. 

 Summer. L broadly ovate and acute or orbicular and 

 mucronate, very coriaceous, bright deep green above, 

 pale beneath, h. 15ft to 20ft. A densely leafy green- 

 house tree, hardy in the Channel Islands and South-west 

 England. (B. M. 6849.) 



RHAPIDOPHYLLUM (from Rhapis, and 

 phyllon, a leaf; in reference to its resemblance 

 to the genus Rhapis, both producing suckers 

 freely a character by no means common in the 

 Palm family). OBD. Palmce. A monotypic genus. 

 The species is a low, greenhouse palm, with a short, 

 erect or creeping trunk. For culture, see Cliamrops. 



Rhapidophyllum continued. 



B. Hystrix (porcupine). Blue Palmetto. Jl. yellow, m 

 spatb.es about four, oblong, woolly, acutely two-lipped ; spadix 

 small, short-peduncled. June and July. Jr. a small drupe 

 1. 3ft. to 4ft. high, circular in outline, deeply and unequally 

 plicate, and cut into numerous two to four-toothed divisions, 

 silvery beneath, on triangular, rough-edged petioles ; sheaths per- 

 sistent, composed of oblique fibres interwoven with numerous 

 strong, erect spines. Trunk 3ft to 4ft long. Southern United 

 States, 1801. SYN. Chamotropt Hystrix (L H. 1883, 486). 

 RHAPIS (from rhapis, a needle; alluding to the 

 needle-like segments of the leaves). OBD. Palmes. A 

 genus comprising four or five species of low, Chinese and 

 Japanese, greenhouse Palms, with long, densely-tufted, 

 reed-like, leafy caudices. Flowers yellowish ; spathes two 

 or three, incomplete, membranous ; spadices shorter than 

 the leaves, borne on slender peduncles, the branches 

 spreading. Fruit consisting of one to three small, 

 obovoid, one-seeded carpels. Leaves alternate and ter- 

 minal, sub-membranous, connate or semi-orbicular, deeply 

 cut into three to many segments, which are linear, 

 cuneate, or elliptic, truncate, entire, toothed, or cut, 

 three to many-nerved; petioles slender, biconvex, with 

 smooth or serrulated margins ; sheaths split into a 

 fibrous network. Several of the species have been intro- 

 duced, for culture of which see Chamaerops. 

 B. aspera (rough). A synonym of R. JlabeUiformis. 

 B. cochlnchlnensis (Cochin China). JL, spadix short, branched. 

 fr. ovate, not edible. I. fan-shaped, palmately divided ; segments 

 oblong, obtuse, much plaited; petioles short, straight, prickly. 

 Caudex 8ft. high. Cochin China. 



FIG. 363. RHAPIS FLABELLIFORMIS. 



Ground Rattan Cane, /t, males 



L flabellifonnis (fan-leaved).* Groun 



yellowish, sessile, thickly covering the spikelets ; spadix sparse, 

 paniculate-branched, 4in. to oin. long. L petioled, five to seven- 



