PACHiBA (native Guiananame). Malvdceo'. A genus 

 of about '30 species of tropical American trees with 

 odd and sliowy flowers. The fls. may have a spread of 



9 inches. Their chief beauty is their immense mass of 

 stamens; but their petals are also striking. These are 

 very long and narrow, e.g., 6x1 in., and gracefully re- 

 curved, with wide spaces between. The finger-shaped 

 foliage also gives the trees a distinct appearance. 

 Pachiras are all natives of South America, except 2 

 species which are found in Mexico and 2 in the West 

 Indies. One is offered in S. Fla. The others liere men- 

 tioned have been cult, under glass abroad, but as a 

 group Pachiras are not suitable for conservatory cul- 

 ture, because they grow too high and require too many 

 years' growth before they flower. They are of easy cul- 

 ture in a warmho<ise and grow rapidly. Sometimes 

 called Silk Cotton Trees. 



Generic characters : Ivs. palmate, cup-shaped, truncate 

 or sinuate: column divided above into very many fila- 

 ments: petals downy outside: capsule 5-celled, loculici- 

 dal: seeds many, glabrous. Pachira's nearest allies 

 are Adansonia (the baobab tree) and Bombax, both of 

 which are cult. Bombax differs from the other two 

 genera in having its capsule densely woolly inside. 

 Adansonia has a 5-cut calyx, while in the other two 

 genera the calyx is truncate. 



aquitica, Aubl. Lfts. glabrous, 5-9 (usually 5), ellip- 

 tic-oblong, obovate-obloug, or elliptic-lanceolate, subses- 

 sile: calyx truncate, warty-wrinkled; petals 8 in. long, 

 6-8 lines wide, greenish white : column divided above into 



10 paired outer and 5 inner bundles of filaments, each 

 forking and bearing 10-30 stamens in pairs: color of 

 filaments yellowish purple; stigma obscurely 5-lobed. 

 Trop. Amer., West Indies. 



P. <i7fta. Walp. Less desirable beciuseit flowers .at a time 

 when the tree has no foliage- Petals yellowish white inside: lila- 



r^\-^.Kf^ 



V"^"- ^, V 



1605. Pachysandra procumbens. 

 Leaves X ^. Flowers natural size. 



ments white. Winter. Brazil (or New Granada 1). B.M. 4508. 

 L.B.C. 8:752 (as Carolinea alba). Odor powerful and some- 

 what unpleasant. — P. insignis. Savign. Petals crimson: fila- 

 ments white. Mes. L.B.C. 11:1004 (as Carolinea insignis). 

 Fragi-auce powerful. Fruit said to he as large as a child's 

 head; the seeds of the size, appearance and taste of chestnuts. 

 —P. longifblia, Walp. Evergreen, and has flowered under glass 

 at a height of only 4 ft. Petals white: filaments yellow below, 

 red above. Mes. B. M. 4549.— P. macrocdrpa, of Nicholson's 

 Diet. Gard. (not of Walpers), seems to be P. longifolia.— P. 

 minor, Herasl. Petals much narrower than in the others 

 here described, and green: filaments red. Mex. B.M. 1412 (as 

 Carolinea minor). -^ ^ jj 



PACHlSTIMA (said to be derived from Greek, ;jnc;j.ys, 

 thick, :in<! stKjmn; alluding to the slightly thickened 

 stigma; spelk-d also Pachysfima and Pachy stigma), 

 CelastrdcecF,. Low evergreen shrubs with small oppo- 

 site Ivs. and inconspicuous reddish fls. in the axils of 

 thelvs.: fr. a small oblong capsule. They are hardy with 

 slight protection in the Arnold Arboretum, Bo.ston, 

 and are handsome dwarf evergreens for rockeries or 

 rocky slopes, but still rare in cultivation. They seem 

 to grow in any well-drained soil and prefer sunny posi- 

 tions. Prop, by seeds or by layers; also by cuttings of 

 half-ripened wood under glass. Two species in the 

 mountains of North America, allied to Euonymus. 

 Branches somewhat quadrangular, verrucose: Ivs. with 

 minute stipules: fls. perfect, small, in few-fld. axillary 

 cymes; calyx-lobes, petals and stamens 4: ovary 2-celled, 

 usually only one cell developing into a small, oblong, 

 1-seeded capsule. 



Myrsinites, Raf. {Myginda myrtlfdlia, Nutt. Ored- 

 phila myrfifdUa, Nutt.)., Spreading shrub, to 2 ft.: Ivs, 

 broadly elliptic to oblong-obovate, slightly revolute at 

 the margin and serrulate or almost entire, K-1 in. long: 

 fls. short-stalked, reddish: fr. about H in. long. May- 

 July. Brit. Col. to Calif, and North Mex. — Resembles 

 the small-leaved form of Euovy- 

 mus radleans, but of more rigid, 

 and stiff growth. 



CAnbyi,Gray. Dwarf shrub with 

 ^^^ ^^ trailing and rooting branches : 



-^^ fi^ Ivs. narrow-oblong, occasionally 



obovate, revolute and usually ser- 

 rulate above the middle, Vz-Va 

 in. long: fl. -stalks filiform, longer 

 than half the leaf: fls. reddish. 

 April, May. Mts. of Va. Meeh. 

 Nat. Flow. I, 1:44. -This is some- 

 what similar in habit and foliage 

 to Euonymus nanus, but less vig- 

 orous. Sometimes called Rat 

 Stripper. Alfred Rehder. 



PACHYRHiZUS (thick-rooted). Leguminbsce. 

 Pr<>l>!il>ly only 2 species. They are strong twining 

 plants with axillary fascicles or racemes of blue or 

 reddish narrow fls. and 3-foliolate, pinnate Ivs.: 

 fr. a compressed legume, with depressed spaces be- 

 tween the seeds. They bear very large tuberous 

 roots, which are used for food and as a source of 

 starch. P. anguldtus, Rich., is widely spread in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres. The thick tuberous root 

 often weighs 50 to 70 lbs., and attains a length of 6-8 ft., 

 increasing in size for four or five years. Some writers 

 describe the root as turnip-shaped, and it is so figured 

 in Blanco's "Flora de Pilipinas." When young, the roots 

 are palatable. The lfts. of this species are 3-4 in. across, 

 the standard of the papilionaceous fls. roundish ovate, 

 and the legume nearly smooth, straight, 6-9 inches long, 

 P. fuberdsKS, Sprengel, i.s tropical American, producing 

 edible pods larger than those of P. angulatus, and with 

 rather smaller tubers. l_ jj_ -q 



PACHYSANDRA (Greek, thick stamen). Bnxacecej 

 which is often united with EupJiortndcea'. Prostrate 

 perennials from rootstocks, 6-12 in. high, scaly below, 

 with alternate, usually deeply toothed, evergreen or de- 



(1185) 



