PRINCE 



PRITCHARDIA 



1437 



William Bobert Prince (Fig. 1960), fourth proprietor 

 of the Prince Nursery, at Flushing, was born November 

 6, 1795; married Charlotte C. Collins, daughter of Gov- 

 ernor Collins, of Rhode Island, October 2, 1826, and died 

 March 28, 1869. He inherited his father's love of botany 

 and his great energy. He was connected with the Ameri- 

 can Institute, National Pomological Society, Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society and many other important or- 

 ganizations, in whose transactions he took a prominent 

 part. In 1830 he wrote, with the assistance of his father, 

 the "Treatise on the Vine," a work of high importance. 

 In 1831 he issued the "Pomological Manual" in two vol- 

 umes, an important treatise on all fruits except apples. 

 In 1846 he published the "Manual of Roses." In his 

 later days Mr. Prince received the honorary degrees of 

 M.D. and LL.D. 



When a boy he was sent for a year to Canada in order 

 to become proficient in French, as there were then no 

 schools of languages in New York, and the European 

 correspondence was an important feature in the horti- 

 cultural business. In his early manhood he botanized 

 through the entire line of Atlantic States in company 

 with Professor Torrey, of Columbia College, and Pro- 

 fessor Nuttall, of Harvard. In California, during 1849 

 and 1850, while others were searching only for gold, he 

 was making collections of the trees and wild flowers of 

 that country. The oldest cedar of Lebanon in the United 

 States, as well as the oldest Chinese magnolias, salis- 

 burias, Mt. Atlas cedars, paulownias and purple beeches 

 are to be found to-day in the grounds of the Prince 

 homestead, together with many other unique specimens. 

 When the disease of the Irish potato caused a fear that 

 it would have to be replaced by some other vegetable, 

 he imported the Chinese yam or potato (Dioscorea Ba- 

 tatas), paying $600 for the tubers contained in the first 

 consignment, — a consignment which could be placed in 

 a small box. About the same time he introduced sor- 

 ghum, or Chinese sugar cane. He was unwearied in his 

 endeavors to promote silk culture in the United States. 

 He imported not only the silkworms but the mulberry 

 trees to feed them, and built a large cocoonerj' for their 

 accommodation. He had vast plantations of mulberries 

 in different places. He was offered $100,000 for the one 

 near Norfolk, Va. It is a curious circumstance, illus- 

 trating the general interest in mulberry culture at that 

 time, that cuttings of the Mortis multicanlis were used 

 as currency in all the stores in the vicinity of Flushing, 

 passing current everywhere at the rate of 12>2 cents 

 each. Mr. Prince's familiarity with the French lan- 

 guage greatly facilitated his intercourse with European 

 horticulturists, and he was in constant communication 

 with French, Belgian, Dutch and German nurseries. 



At the time of his marriage he purchased additional 

 property adjoining the nursery of his father, and sub- 

 sequently added three other large areas to the nursery 

 establishment. He was always more of a horticulturist 

 and botanist than business man, and, as in his father's 

 days, the Linnean Botanic .Nursery continued to be 

 celebrated for its great variety of vegetable life rather 

 than a commercial establishment. He was a vigorous 

 and prolific writer, and down to the time of his death 

 was a constant contributor to horticultural literature. 



L. B. Prince. 



PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. See Canada. 



PRINCE'S FEATHER. Amaranthus and Celosia. 



PRINOS. See Ilex. 



PRIONIUM (Greek, saw ; referring to leaves, which 

 are sword-shaped, with serrate edges). Juncdcece. A 

 genus of one species, a tender aquatic plant from S. 

 Africa, where it grows in great masses in running water. 

 This is one of the few plants of the rush family having 

 the Ivs. crowded at the top of an erect, woody stem 5-0 

 ft. high. Generic characters: ovary sessile, globose, 

 3-celled ; ovules axile, usually 2 in a cell : stigmas 3, 

 sessile, spreading: capsule rigid, 3-valved; seeds usu- 

 ally only 1 in each cell. For further description, see 

 Flora Capensis 7:28. This plant may be grown in a pot 

 placed in a pan of water, and, if desired, may be planted 

 out for the summer in a wet position. 



Palmlta, E. Mey. Stem stout, often forked, 2-4 in. 

 in thickness, reaching a length of 5-6 ft. : Ivs. linear, 

 rigid, glabrous, .3-4 ft. long, in dense rosette at summit 

 of stem: inflorescence a large, dense, terminal panicle 

 on long peduncle: perianth and bracts Ys in. long. 

 B.M. 5722. F. W. Barclay. 



PRITCHARDIA (W. T. Pritchard, British consul at 

 Fiji in 1860). Palmdcea>. Nine species of spineless fan 

 palms from small islands of the South Pacific. True 

 Pritchardias, according to Wm. Watson, differ from all 

 other fan-leaved palms in the form of the blade, which 

 is cuneate in outline; the Ivs. are also exceptionally soft 

 and pliant. The best of the genus, probably, is P. Pa- 

 cifica, which is remarkable for its fibrous, fluffy leaf- 

 stalks. Pritchardia is allied to several genera mentioned 

 under Licuala (which see), being distinguished as fol- 

 lows: ovary 3-cornered or 3-lobed, narrowed into a 

 strong style: corolla with persistent tube and decidu- 

 ous segments : embrj'O subbasilar. The genus was 

 monographed by Beccari in Malesia, vol. 3 (1890). The 

 best horticultural account is that of Wm. Watson in 

 G.C. III. 13:.332 (J893). The species in the supplemen- 

 tary list below are very imperfectly known. 



A. Fr. black-purple, globose, 6 lines thick. 

 Pacifica, Seem. & Wendl. Fig. 1961. Trunk attain- 

 ing 30 ft. high, 10-12 in. thick, straight, smooth: Ivs. 

 4>2 ft. long, 3/i ft. wide, densely covered when young 

 with whitish brown tomentum, finally glabrous ; seg- 

 ments about 90 ; petiole 3% ft. long. Samoa, Fiji. 

 I.H. 21:161. F.S. 22:2262.-The illustration (Fig. 1961) 

 is adapted from Martins. 



AA. Fr. yellow or red, 9 lines thick. 

 Gaudichaddii, H. Wendl. (P. macrocdrpa. Linden). 

 Trtmk 20 ft. high, 1 ft. thick: Ivs. roundish, 3-4 ft. 

 long, covered beneath with pale brown matted wool, 

 slit for about 1 ft. into about 60 segments; petioles 2-3 

 ft. long. Hawaiian Islands. I.H. 26:352. 



1961. Pritchardia Pacifica. 



AAA. Fr. greenish, globose, 15-20 lines thick, 

 Mdrtii, H. Wendl. Trunk generally not exceeding 

 5-0 ft., but as thick as in P. Gaudachaudii: Ivs. glabrous 

 and glaucous below, not woolly; segments about 40, not 

 as deep; petioles longer. Hawaiian IsL — Cult, in S. 

 Calif. 



P. Borneensis, Hort., w,*).s introduced in 1891 by Linden, but 

 seems unknown to botanists. — P. filamentosa, Hort., is presum- 



