PLATYSTEMON 



PLEIONE 



1371 



over the foriuing: fruit. Platystemon grows wildjthrough- 

 out Ciiliforuiii, except in the inouiitains, iitid is said to 

 prefer a loose soil. See Annuals. 



Calif6rnicus, Benth. Cream Cups. Lvs. mainly oppo- 

 site, st'ssile, ligulate, hispid: tls. light yellow to cream 

 color or white, rarely roseate; sepals ;{. B.M. 3579. B. 

 R. 20 : 1()79. B. 2 :G5. Gn. 30, p. 313. -The smooth-fruited 

 form figured as P. leiocarpum in P.C. 2 :?(> and B.M. 3750 

 is said by the Synoptical Flora to be "a mere state." 



W. M. 



PLATYSTlGMA (Greek, broad stigma). Papaverclcece. 

 Low, slender California annuals with pale yellow fls. 

 less than 1 in. across. They are among the few plants 

 of the poppy family with entire lvs. They are closely 

 allied to Platystemon, but dilfer in having the filaments 

 scarcely dilated, 3 stigmas instead of many, and the fr. 

 a capsule which is 3-valved at the apex. Other generic 

 characters: fls. commonly trimerous; stamens numer- 

 ous, free; stigmas not confluent. Four species from 

 Calif, and Oregon. P. lineare is the only one with thick 

 stigmas and also differs in its tufted habit, the others 

 having leafy and branching stems. It is figured in B.M. 

 3575 with pale j'ellow fls.; in B.R. 23:1954 it is shown 

 with 3 white petals alternating with yellow ones. Platy- 

 stigraas seem never to have been offered for sale in 

 America. 



PLATYTHfiCA (Greek, broad anther cells) . Treman- 

 drdcew. A heath-like Australian shi'ub, with foliage like 

 a bed-straw (or Galium) and many 5-pointed starry blos- 

 soms of light purple borne toward the end of the 

 branches. Each flower is about 1 inch across, and its 

 ■center is marked with a star of red. Platytheca belongs 

 to a small, beautiful and distinct family of Australian 

 shrubs, composed of 3 genera, of which Tetratheca is 

 the dominant type. The Tremandra family resembles 

 the Polygala family in the structure of the capsule, but 

 differs in the regularity and estivation of the flower; it 

 resembles the Pittosporacefe in having a very small em- 

 bryo immersed in coi)ious albumen, and particularly the 

 genus Cheiranthera in having anthers which open by a 

 pore at the top. The three genera of Tremandracese are 

 distinguished from one another by the anthers; Tre- 

 mandra differs from the other two in having the anthers 

 jointed with the filaments ; in Platytheca the anthers 

 have 4 cells all in the same plane; in Tetratheca the 

 anthers are 2-celled or 4-celled, with 2 cells in front of 

 the 2 others. 



Other generic characters of Platytheca: floral parts 

 in 5's; stamens in 2 distinct series, with 4 parallel cells 

 in a single plane contracted into a tube at the top: cap- 

 sule opening loculicidally at the edge, with the 4 valves 

 splitting septicidally: seeds glabrous, without appen- 

 dage. Only one species. 



galioides, Steetz. {P. verficilldta, Baill.). Lvs. linear, 

 % in. long, about 10 in a whorl, hairy. Said to bloom in 

 June. P.M. 13:171 (as Tetratheca verticillata).— This 

 plant deserves to be better known. Cuttings of half- 

 ripened wood root freely under a bell-glass in a shaded 

 house at G0°. Cuttings rooted in February or March 

 will make good plants in 5-inch pots in one year. In 

 summer keep them plunged outside, but covered with 

 shaded sash. By trimming frequently they will make 

 well-shaped plants, needing no supports. Kept in a 

 coolhouse (45°) during winter, they will be covered with 

 bloom in March and April. The flowers last but a short 

 time, but the plant is so free that it is always covered 



■with bloom. 



H. D. Darlingtox and W. M. 



PLECTOCOMIA (Greek, plaited hair,- application ob- 

 scure). Palmdcew. Six species of East-Indian climbing 

 palms which fruit once for all and then die. One of the 

 most interesting species is P. Kliasyana, which is fig- 

 ured in B.M. 5105 under the erroneous title of i'. Assam- 

 ica. This species has a slender stem CO-80 ft. long, 

 and al)out as thick as a man's arm, being slightly 

 thicker above than at the base. The lvs. attain 30 ft. 

 and are pinnate only in the lower half, the rest of the 

 leaf being a long, whip-like extension of the rachis of 

 the leaf. A singular feature of this palm is the device 

 by which it climbs. This consists of a series of com- 



pound spines snaped like a downward-pointing Human 

 hand, the back of the hand being yellow and the 5 

 or G fingers composed of brown spines. These organs 

 are scattered all along the lower side of the flattened 

 rachis. They hook on the branches of trees and thus 

 enable the palm to climb for light. 



"A yet more wonderful provision of nature," says 

 Hooker, "is observed in the young and yet unfolded 

 leaves of these plants during the period when they in- 

 sert themselves upwards among the branches of the 

 forests, for then these spines are upright and lie flat 

 against the stalk of the leaf, not becoming reflcxed till 

 they are needed as a means of supjxirt." Pr()))ahly all 

 the species possess these flagelliform leaves and re- 

 markable spines. The whip-like leaf -tips may act as ten- 

 drils. The genus is little known to cultivators, and only 

 one species is offered in the U. S. The genus is allied 

 to the rattans (Calamus), which also are climbers. 

 William Watson writes that the fruit of a Plectocomia 

 is a shell composed of many small, tightly overlapping 

 scales, inclosing a round seed which has a solid whitish 

 albumen almost as hard as ivory. Watson adds that 

 young plants are ornamental, but their spiny lvs. are a 

 drawback, and the lvs. are much more easily broken 

 than those of most palms. 



elong-^ta, Mart. Lvs. very large; Ifts. 1-lJ^ ft. x2 in., 

 sparsely white powdery beneath, with 3 very slender 

 parallel nerves or costae. Penang, Sumatra, Java. — 

 Offered in 1890 by Reasoner Bros. 



PLECTOPOMA. a few species, now apparently much 

 hybridized, all referred to Gloxinia. 



PLECTRANTHUS (Greek, spurred flower). Labidtce. 

 A large and uninteresting genus of herbs and sub- 

 shrubs, widely scattered, bearing rather small or small- 

 ish fls., ranging from blue and purple to lilac. There 

 are said to be some species with fls. nearly an inch long. 

 The genus is closely allied to Coleus, being distin- 

 guished by having the stamens free instead of united st 

 the base into a tube, which is distinct from the corolla. 

 In other respects the genus has wide limits of variation. 

 Sixty-six species are described in DC. Prod. 12:l5 

 (1848). Sometimes called Cockspur-flower. 



fruticdsus, L'H^rit. South African shrub, 3-4 ft. 

 high: lvs. 4 in. or more long, petiolate, broadly ovate, 

 doubly dentate: racemes laxly panicled: whorls about 

 3-6-fld.: fls. blue; pedicles 1% in. long; coroUa-tul e 

 spurred above the base: fruiting calyx declinate. — Said 

 to be an elegant shrub. Ernest Braunton has a specimen 

 at Los Angeles, which is 4 ft. high and 6 ft. through. 



PLECTKONIA (Greek, cockspur ; referring to th-' 

 spines). Rubiarece. About 70 species of shrubs or 

 small trees, founi in the Old World, mostly in the trop- 

 ics. They are more or less spiny and have somewhat 

 funnel-shaped, 5-parted fls., with reflexed segments val- 

 vate in the bud, and a hairy or naked throat. Calyx 

 obovate or oblong ; stamens 5, in the throat; style 

 short; stigma subcapitate, of 2 approximate lamellae: 

 berry obovate-oblong, compressed, didymous, 2-stoned: 

 stones indehiscent, 1-seeded. 



spindsa, Klotzsch. Very spiny South African shrub, 

 5-8 ft. high: lvs. fasciculate, oval or obovate, 'obtuse, 

 entire, 1-13^ in. long: racemes or panicles shorter than 

 the lvs.: peduncles axillary, 5-12-fld.: corolla-tube 

 shorter than the limb; throat naked. Int. by Prances- 

 chi, Santa Barbara. 



PLEldNE (from Greek mythology; Pleione, mother 

 of the Pleiads). Orchidclcew. A small genus closely 

 related to Coelogyne, but having annual deciduous lvs. 

 and pseudobulbs. Natives of the mountains of India, 

 extending to elevations where snow and frost are not 

 uncommon. Few species are cultivated in America. 

 See Orchid. 



maculata, Lindl. Pseudobulbs round, flattened, do 

 pressed at the top, forming a fleshy ridge around the 

 summit: lvs. lanceolate, from inflated sheaths: fls. pre- 

 ceding the lvs., on short peduncles; sepals and petals 

 lanceolate, spreading, white; labellum funnel-shaped, 

 with 5-7 fringed lamellae extending the entire length of 



