536 



EPIMEDIUM 



EPIPHYLiLUM 



A. Spur:^ conspicunns, ofti'n 1 in. tonij, sometimes twice 

 as long as the showy inner sepals. 

 macrdnthum, Morr. & Decue. Pig. 764. Lvs. thrice 

 ternate ; leaflets cordate-ovate, unequal at the base, 

 sharply toothed ; petioles with short, spreading, con- 

 spicuous hairs : outer sepals sometimes colored bright 

 red, remaining after the larger and showier parts of the 

 fl. have fallen: inner sepals ovate-lancfM)I;it(\ violet : 

 spurs white. Japan. B.R. 22:1906. P.M. r.rl.'.l. N<.t 

 Qn. 46:984, which is E. pinnatiim. Var. niveum, V"ss 

 {E. nivetim, Hort.), has pure white fls. Var. roseum, 

 Voss {E. rdseum, Hort. U. niveiim,var. rdseumfHovt.), 

 has fls. white, tinged with pink or pale rosy red. Var. 

 violiceum, Voss (JS. i-iolAeeiim, Morr. & Decne.), has 

 violet spurs, shorter than in E. macranfhum, but much 

 larger than in the other species. B.M. 3751. B.R. 

 26:43. P.M. 4:123.— A very interesting species. 



AA. Spars meijiam-sized. nearly as long as the inner 

 sepals. 

 B. Inner .'iepals bright red. 

 alplnom, var. rubrum, Hooli. (£. riibritm, Morren). 

 Fig. 764. Lvs. biternate ( but Hool^er's picture shows a 

 tendency to the tlirice ternate condition), minutely 

 toothed : spurs white, marlsed with red, as in Fig. 764, 

 which shows the very distinct appearance of the flower. 

 Japan. B.M. 5671. R.B. 3, p. 33, t. 6 (1853). Hooker 

 says this differs in no way from E. alpinum, except in 

 the larger and red fls., while the type which grows wild 

 in England (though probably not native) has dull red- 

 dish yellow fls., and, though advertised, is probably not 

 in cultivation. 



BB. Inner sepals ivhitish or pale yellow. 

 Musschi&nnm, Morr. & Decne. Lvs. only once ter- 

 nate, sharply t.icitlicd, as in A', macranthiim : all floral 

 parts whitisii (.r ].ale yellow. Japan. B.M. 3745. -The 

 least showy kind, but worth growing in a collection, its 

 spurs having an individuality difficult to describe. Var. 

 rtlbrum, of Pitcher & Manda's catalogue, is presum- 

 ably an error, as a red-fld. form would be very unex- 

 pected. 



AAA. Spurs much shorter than the inner sepal.^i, being, 



in fact, merely small nectar-glands. 



B. Lvs. once or tivice ternate. 



pinn&tum, Pisch. Fig. 764. Lvs. usually biternate, 

 with 5 leaflets, 3 above and 1 on each side; leaflets with 

 a deeper and narrower basal cut than in E. niacranthum: 

 fls. typically bright yellow; nectaries red, a third or 

 fourth as long as the inner sepals. Shady mountain 

 woods of Persia and Caucasus. B.M. 4456. Gn. 46:984, 

 erroneously as E. macranthiim. Gn. 48, p. 486. 



Var. 61egans, Hort., presumably has larger, brighter 

 and more numerous fls. E. sitlphureum of European 

 catalogues is regarded by J. W. Manning and J. B. 

 Keller as a pale yellow-fld. form of E. pinnatum, but 

 by Voss as a variety of E. niacranthum. A yellow 

 form of the violet-fld. E. macranthum would be very 

 surprising. 



Var. C61cMoum, Hort. {JS. C6lchicum, Hort.), has 

 brilliant golden yellow fls. and nectaries 1-1^^ lines long. 



BB. I/vs. always once ternate. 



Perralderlinum, Cosson. This is the African repre- 

 sentaTi\'f of E. jninmtinn, from which it dilfers in the 

 key cliarartcrs au-l also in the much more strongly cili- 

 ate-tootiit'd leaflets. Its flowers are a "paler yellow than 

 the typical E. jiinnatum. It is far from improbable that 

 specimens connecting them will be found in southern 

 Europe, if not in Africa." Algeria.. B.M. 6509. — Lvs. 

 remain all winter. Less desirable than E. pinnatum. 



E. diphyllum, Lodd. See Aceranthus diphyllus. — E. niveum 

 is catalogued by Van Tubergen as a synonym of Mussebiauum, 

 but the chances are that all the plants advertised as E. niveum 

 are E. macranthum, var. niveum. The spurs are so obviously 

 longer in E. macranthum that there is no excuse for confusion. 



W. M. 



EPIPACTIS (Greek, epipegnuo; it coagulates milk). 

 Orchiddcete. Hardy terrestrial orchids of minor value. 

 The first mentioned may be obtained through dealers in 



native western and Japanese plants ; the second is listed 

 in the American edition of a Dutch catalogue. Leafy 

 orchids with creeping rootstocks and unbranched stems: 

 lvs. ovate or lanceolate, with plaited veins : fls. purplish 

 brown, nearly white or tinged red: lower bracts often 

 longerthanthefls.; sepals free, spreading, nearlyas large 

 as the petals; lip free, deeply concave at base, without 

 callosities, narrowly constricted and somewhat jointed 

 in the middle, the upper portion dilated, petaloid. 



Royleina, Lindl. {E. gigantea. Dough). Stout, 1-4 ft. 

 hii,di: lvs. from ovate below to narrowly lanceolate above, 

 3-8 in. long: fls. 3-10, greenish, strongly veined with 

 purple. June, July. Wash, to Santa Barbara, east to S. 

 Utah and W.Tex., on banks of streams. Also Himalayas. 

 Int. by Pringle and Horsford, 1883. Mn. 8:145. 



atrbrubena, Schult. \(E. rubigindsa, Crantz). Lvs. 

 often reddish : fls. and ovary dark purple ; lip oval, 

 acute, or slightly notched: bracts equaling the fls. or 

 rarely longer. July-Sep. Eu.. W.Asia. 



EPIPHRONtTIS is a bigeneric orchid hybrid of Epi- 

 dendrum and Sophronitis, for a charming picture of 

 which see R.H. 1896:476. It has about 10 fls., chiefly a 

 brilliant scarlet, set off with bright yellow. Gt. 46, p. 

 555. 



EPIPHVLLUM (on a leaf; referring to the leaf-like 

 branches on which the fls. grow). Cactdcete. Crab 

 Cactus. This genus is confined to Brazil, so far as 

 known, where the plants grow as epiphytes upon the 

 trees, along with orchids, growing in large clusters on 

 the branches: stems flat and jointed, becoming rounded 



765. Epiphyllum truncatum 



with age, bearing areolse only on the margins and more 

 or less truncated ends, from which grow the new 

 branches and fls. : fls. more or less conspicuously 

 zygoniorphous : ovary devoid of bracts, and those of 

 the tube comparatively large and colored as the petals. 

 The genus is closely allied to Phyllocactus, and, indeed, 

 the last two species are referred by some authors to 

 that genus. In cultivation many forms have been pro- 

 duced through hybridization between the different spe- 

 cies and with Phyllocactus and Cereus, so that typical 

 plants are rarely met with. c. H. Thompson. 



Epiphyllums are among the most useful as decorative 

 plants of all the Cactaceie. Their brilliant colored blos- 

 soms, together with the profusion with which they are 

 usually borne, makes them worthy of a place in every 

 collection of plants. They are propagated by cuttings, 

 which root readily when inserted in an ordinary propa- 

 gating bed. Being low-growing or pendent-habited 

 plants, they are very useful subjects for hanging 

 baskets. Like most of the Cactus family, they may be 

 grafted readily xipon other Cacti. When grown as pot- 

 plants, they are often grafted to elevate them above 



