COMMELINA 



357 



COLUMN. A solid central body formed of stamens 

 and styles grown together, as in orchids. 



COLUMNEA ( after Columna or Colonna, Italian writer 

 on plants, sixteenth century). GesnerAcea. Tropical 

 American shrubs and climbers, with widely gaping, 

 showy fls. often 2 in. long: Ivs. opposite, nearly equal or 

 widely unlike: fls. solitary or numerous, axillary, stalked 

 or not, without bracts or with bracts in an involucre ; 

 corollas scarlet, carmine or yellowish. Half a dozen 

 species, mostly red or orange-Hd., are cult, abroad and 

 may be known to a few fanciers at home, but none are 

 advertised by the dealers. 



COLtTTEA {Ki.loHtra. ancient (ireok name). Ligtimi- 

 iiinfa'. Bladder Senna. Deciduous shrubs, with al- 

 ternate, odd-pinnate Ivs.; Ifts. many, rather small: fls. 

 papilionaceous, in axillary, few-fid., long-peduncled ra- 

 cemes, yellow to brownish red : pod inflated, bladder- 

 like, many-seeded. About 8 species in the Mediterra- 

 nean region to Himal. Ornamental free-flowering shrubs 

 of rapid growth, with pale green or glaucous foliage and 

 yellow or brownish red fls. during summer, followed by 

 large, usually reddish-coloring and decorative pods. 

 They grow in almost any soil, but prefer a tolerably dry 

 and sunny position ; not quite hardy north. Prop, by 

 seeds sown in spring or by cuttings of mature wood in- 

 serted in fall in sandy soil; rarer species and varieties 

 are sometimes grafted on C. arhorescens in spring un- 

 der glass. 



A. I^Is. yellow: pod closed at the apex. 



arbcr^scens, Linn. Pig. '>27. Shrub, to 15 ft.: Ifts. 9- 

 13, ellii'tic. ilull green, mucronulate, usually slightly 

 pubescfiit l.em-ath, %-! in. long : fls. 3-8, about ?4 in. 

 long; wings nearly as long as the keel, flat. June-Sept. 

 S. Eu., N. Afr.,N. B.M. 81.— Var. crispa, Hort. Dwarf, 

 with crisped Ivs. 



AA. Fls. orange-yellow or brownish red; wings shorter 

 than the keel. 



miiia,, Willd. Shrub, to 10 ft. : Ifts. 7-13, obovate, 

 grayish green or glaucous, 3^-73 in. long, nearly gla- 

 brous: fls. 3-6, orange or reddish yellow: pod closed at 

 the apex. June-Sept. Probably hybrid of garden ori- 

 gin between the former and the following, often cult, 

 under the names of the following species: 



orientaiis, Mill. (C. eruhita, Ait.). Shrub, to 6 ft.: 

 Ifts. 7-11. obovate, glaucous, thickish, H-'-o in. long, 

 nearly glabrous : fls. 3-5, reddish yellow or brownish 

 red : pod open at the apex. June-Sept. S. E. Eu., 

 Orient. — Often cult, under the name of C. Halepica or 

 C. Istria. 



C. HaUpica. Lam. (C. Istria, Mill.). To 4 ft.; Ifts. gl.wcous, 

 small and numerous: fls. yellow, nearly 1 in. loug: winglnnger 

 than tile keel.— G. toiigialata, Koehne (C. melanoealyx, Hort.. 

 notBoiss.). Similar to C arboresceiis: wings longer than the 

 keel. G.C. III. 16:155 as G. melanoealyx.- C. Nepalensi's. Hook. 

 Similar to C. arborescens: racemes drooping. B.M. 26*i2, B.R. 

 20:1727. Tender. Alfred Rehder. 



COLVtLLEA fafter Sir Charles Colville, governor of 

 Mauritius). Legumindsm. The gorgeous fls. of this 

 tropical tree are a worthy rival of the Royal Poinciana, 

 which is closely allied, but easily distinguished. It has 

 drooping racemes IVift. long, densely crowded with 

 perhaps 200 fls. of curious shape and of a splendid 

 scarlet. The fls. open at the stem-end of the pendent 

 dense raceme, and display masses of long, showy, yellow 

 stamens. The unopened fls. are aboutthe size and shape 

 of a filbert, and these are gradually smaller towards 

 the end of the raceme. The genus has only this one spe- 

 cies, and is characterized by its large, oblique, colored 

 calyx, having 4 segments, the standard being the small- 

 est instead of the largest part : the wings very long, 

 narrow, erect, obovate, the pod 2-valved. Supposed to 

 be a native of E. Afr. , but discovered in 1824 by Bojer 

 on the west coast of Madagascar, where a single tree 

 was cult, by the natives. It flowered there in April or 

 May. Its culture is similar to that of Csesalpinia. Prop. 

 in the south only by seeds. 



racemdsa, Boj. Tree, 40-50 ft. high, with the general 

 aspert of Poinciana regia but with a thicker trunk and 

 ampler foliage: branches very long and spreading : Ivs. 

 about 3 ft. long, alternate, remote, twice pinnate, with 



20-30 pairs of pinnse which are opposite, 4 in. long, and 

 have 20-28 pairs of Ifts., each J-j in. long: keel very 

 small, almost covered by the wings: free stamens 10, 3 

 inserted below the standard, 2 under the wings, I under 

 the keel, and 4 under the ovary. B.M. 3325-6. 



W. M. 



COMAEOSTAPHYLIS is included with Arcto- 

 staphylos. 



COMARUM (an old Greek name). Bosdiceoe. One 

 species allied to Pot?ntilla, and often referred to that 

 genus C. paliiBtre, Linn., the Marsh Cinquefoil, is a 

 decumbent herb growing in swales in the N. states (also 

 in the Old World), with pinnate, 3-7-foliolate Ivs. (Ifts. 

 dentate), and solitary or cymose purple fls. 1 in. across: 

 petals shorter than the calyx lobes, acute ; stamens nu- 

 merous. An odd and interesting but not showy plant, 

 sometimes planted in bogs. Mn. 3:97. — The fr. some- 

 what resembles a strawberry, but is spongy instead of 

 .juicy. In some parts of Scotland, it is said, they are 

 called Cowberries, and are rubbed on the inside of milk 

 pails to thicken the milk. 



COMBRfiTUM (old Latin name). Combret&cea. Many 

 tropical shrubs and trees in Asia. Africa and America, 

 particularly in S. Africa. Many of them are climbers, by 

 means of the persistent leaf-stalks. Lvs. mostly opposite, 

 entire : fls. in spikes, polygamous ; calyx bell-shaped ; 

 petals usually 4; stamens usually 8: fr. winged and in- 

 dehiscent, 1-seeded. The Combretums are warmhouse 

 plants, little known in this country. Prop, by cuttings of 

 firm wood. One climbing species is in the Amer. trade : 



C, coccineum, Lam. [C. purpu 

 cinea,DC.), from Mada- 

 gascar. Lvs. oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate, ever- 

 green: fls. small, brilliant 

 red, with long-exserted 

 stamens, the handsome 

 loose spikes often in piin- 

 tcles ; parts of the fl. in 

 5's. B.M. 2102. L.B.C. 

 6: 563. — H:indsome. 



COMFEEY. See Sy 



phytii,,,. 



Vahl. Poivrea coc- 



Commelina ccelestis. 



(XK.) 



COMMELlNA (to the early Dutch botanists, J. and 

 K. Uommelin. A third brother published nothing. Lin- 

 naeus is said to have meant to designate the two authors 

 by the fully developed petals, and the third by the small 

 petal). Also written Commelyna. Conimelindcerf. About 

 100 widely dispersed perennial herbs, of which a very 



