MESPILUS 



Medlars are easily raised from seeds, althougn seeds 

 (like those of Cratiegus) may not germinate the first 

 year. On these stoclis the named varieties may be 

 grafted or budded. Medlars may also be worked on 

 pear, thorn (Crataegus) or quince. The Dutch or Hol- 

 landish and the Nottingham are the leading varieties. 

 The fruit of the former is often 2}^ inches in diameter. 

 The latter is much smaller, but is better in quality. 

 There is also a seedless variety. 



M. grandiflbra. Smith (M. Smithii, DC), is Crata-gus grandi- 

 llora (see p. 3U7). Gn. 22, p. 163 and 34, p. 66. l_ jj^ g 



MESQTJIT of Mexico is Prosopis juUflora (Legumi- 

 nossB). A picture of a Mesquit forest is shown in G. P. 

 1:11U. 



METROSIDfiEOS (Oreek, heart of Irnn; t)iis and 

 other genera of tin- JIvrtli- family are call. . I in.Tuvi.ods). 

 Myrtdceo!. About Is ^iifcics of trc.-s iuid shrul.^, rarely 

 climbers, mostly natiws of tlie I'acitic islands Iroiu New 

 Zealand to Hawaii. They belong to the class of Austra- 

 lasian shrubs whose chief beauty lies in their long red 

 anthers. They are somewhat grown for a fancy Easter 

 trade by florists, largely from Imported stock. In 

 IS arc borne in dense 2- or 3-forked 



MICHAUXIA 



1009 



Metrosideros tli 

 cymes, while in ( 

 Leaves mostly np] 

 inch or more lon^ 

 species described 

 rarely grown outdi 



allishnion they are borne in spikes. 

 'isiic: pitals 5, spreading; stamens 1 

 , much longer than the petals. The 

 below are coolhouse shrubs, and are 

 lors in the South. 



Apparently the commonest of the Bottle Brushes in 

 the trade is CaUlslamon lauceolafits, which is passing 

 among florists as Metrogideros floribuvda and M. ro- 

 bitsta. In Pig. 320 (Jiage 218) the plant is shown with 

 apparently terminal inflorescence, but the branch is 

 really terminated by some leaf buds, which develop 

 later, as in Fig. 1.398. The handsome plant figured in 

 William Scott's "Florists' Manual," and to which he 

 refers in the following paragraph as Metrosideros ro- 

 busta, seems to be none other than C'allistemon lanceo- 

 latus (see supplementary list). ^_ ji_ 



The plant known to the trade as Metrosideros rohusta 

 has been grown for many years as a cool greenhouse 

 plant, but it is only within a dozen years that Euro- 

 peans have been sending American florists the compact 

 little bushes that now arrive with our Azaleas. The 

 city florist can perhaps dispose of one of these Bottle 

 Brushes for every ten plants of Azalea Indica. Plants 

 in 6-inch pots, well flowered, fixed with a red ribbon 

 and placed in a modern basket certainly look novel and 

 attractive. The Belgians grow the young plants in peat, 

 as they do most hardwooded plants, but they do very 

 well in good turfy loam with a fourth of leaf-mold. 

 Cuttings of the young growth may be struck in early 

 spring and planted out in good soil by the end of May, 

 but It is cheaper to import stock. When the plants 

 arrive soak the ball of roots, pot firmly and place them 

 in a house of about 45°, Freshly imported plants can- 

 not be forced in much heat, like Azaleas, or they will 

 shed their flowers. Watch them carefully, give them 

 more heat gradually and they will bloom for Easter. 



Plants unsold the first spring will be much more satis- 

 factory the second year. By the end of April cut them 

 back to within 1 or 2 inches of the old growth, put them 

 in a good heat and keep them syringed. They will make 

 a bushy growth, with a good number of shoots. Early 

 in June plunge them in a sunny spot outdoors, with the 

 rim of the pot well covered, and be careful that they do 

 not suffer for water in hot weather. In July, or earlier, 

 mulch the pots with an inch of half-decomposed cow 

 manure. Before frost remove the plants to a temp, of 

 45°, or warmer if bloom is desired before Easter. 



William Scott. 

 A. Flowers red. 



robusta, A. Cunn. Lvs. opposite, elliptic-ovate, obtuse, 

 veiny, with an extra nerve near each margin and parallel, 

 glabrous: inflorescence a 3-forked cyme: fls. red; calvx 

 top-shaped. New Zeal. B. M. 4471 (erroneously as j/. 

 tloridn). 



AA. yiouers yellowish. 



fl6rida. Sm. Lvs. opposite, obovate-oblong, veiny, gla- 

 brous: inflorescence a thyrse: fls. yellowish; calyx top- 



shaped, minutely silky. New Zeal. Not B.M. 4471, which 

 is M. robusta. ~ThQ typical form is not advertised, but 

 only var. variegElta. 



M. floribunda is not advertised in America, but stock im- 

 ported by an Ithaca florist under this name from Belgium is 

 Callistemon lauceolatus (Fig. 1398). M. floribunda. Smith, is 



S^ 



1398. Metrosideros floribunda of the trade, but 

 Callistemon lanceolatus of the botanists. 



thought to have white fls. Lvs. opposite, petiolate, ovate-lanceo- 

 late: fls. in an umbel-like, decussately branched panicle. 

 Australia.— M. sernperflorens, Lodd,=Callistemon lanceolatus. 

 —M. specibsa, Sims=^Callistemon speciosus. W.M 



MEXICAN TEA. Con.sult Clnnopodium. 



MEYfiNIA. See TJnoiheroin. 



MEZEREUM. See Daphne Mesereum. 



MICHAtXIA (Andre Michaux, 174G-1802, French bot- 

 anist, who lived for ten years in America and wrote 

 much on American plants). Oampaniildcece. About 4 

 species of rather coarse-habited biennial herbs from the 

 Orient, of which M. campanuloides is best known. It 

 grows 4-5 ft. high, has irregularly toothed, bristly-hairy 

 foliage and large, curious drooping fls., white, tinged 

 with purple, wheel-shaped at first, later reflexed. The 

 flower is parted nearly to the base into 8-10 oblong seg- 

 ments, lJ-2-2 in. long. This plant is a striking subject 

 for the back of a hardy border. It is easily prop, by seeds 

 (which should be fresh), and likes a well-enriched soil of 

 a light nature. An American dealer offers a climber 

 with bell-shaped fls. under the name of M. cawpa- 

 milata but these plants are erect herbs. 



Michauxia belongs, with Campanula and other genera 

 of garden importance, to a group characterized by hav- 

 ing the capsule closed at the top and opening laterally 

 by little holes between the ribs or by small solitary 

 valves. Michauxia is distinguished from the other genera 

 of this group by the 8-10-parted corolla with narrow, 

 spreading, finally reflexed lobes and an 8-10-celled ovary. 

 Michauxias are erect plants, hispid or glabrous: lvs. ir- 

 regularly toothed or lobed.the stem-lvs. few: fls. termi- 

 nal or strung along the branches, the top ones opening 

 first, peduncle'd or nearly sessile, white or pale rose. 



campanuloides, L'H^r. Lvs. lanceolate in outline; 

 npp»-r <Mii-s sessile, acute, almost clasping: calyx with 

 n'tl(_'xr<l appendages shorter than the lobes; stamens 8. 

 Asia Minor. B.M. 219. j, b. Keller and W. M. 



