PYRUS 



PYXIDANTHERA 



1475 



19. The above sketch (Nos. 6 to 18) aeeoiints for all the apple- 

 like species known to be in the American traJe, although there 

 may be other Latin names in some of the catalogues. There 

 are few remaining species of tlie Malus section. — P. crat(e!/i- 

 folia, Targ., coiisidered by some writers to be of this section, 

 by others to belong to iSorbus, and by still others to be a hybrid 

 between Pyrus and Sorbus, is a bush or small tree, local in N. 



2037. Pyrus Soulardi (X >?) 



Italy: Ivs. broad-ovate in outline, with several sharp lobes: fls. 

 white, about 1 in. across, in open terminal corymbs: fr. J^ in. 

 long, elliptic-oblong, red. B.M. 7423.— P. »S'/AAi»iensi's, Hook. f. 

 "Very similar to P. baceata, but the leaves (which attain 5x3 

 in.) are more acutely serrate, woolly beneath and on the petiole 

 and on the midrib above, the peduncles and calyx are also 

 woolly. * * * I suspect it will prove a form of P. baceata." 

 —Hooker. Himalayas, 7,000-10,000 ft altitude. B.M. 7430. 

 G.M. 41:313. L. H. B. 



PYXIDANTHfiRA (Greek, box and anfhera; the 

 anthers open transversely like the lid of a box). 

 Diapensiaceop. The Pyxie, Floweking Moss or Pine- 

 BAKiiEN Beauty is a pretty little creeping plant, native 

 only to New .Jersey and North Carolina, which is 

 covered in early .spring with small white, 5-petaIed 

 flowers and pink buds. It sometimes blooms side by 

 side with the trailing arbutus. These flowers are sold 

 in the streets of Philadelphia, but the Pyxie is scarcely 

 cultivated. It grows best in moist, sandy soil. In 

 partial shade and soil rich in vegetable mold the buds 

 are pale pink; in full sunlight and poor soil the buds are 

 reddish. The Pj'xie belongs to a small family of excep- 

 tionally interesting plants remarkable for their beauty, 

 distinctness and geographical distribution. They repre- 

 sent a vanishing race, and there are many different 

 opinions as to their place in the vegetable kingdom. As 

 a genus Pyxidanthera has but one species, and its 

 nearest ally is Diapensia, which differs in having the 

 anthers opening longitudinally; also the fls. are pe- 

 duncled in Diapensia, while in Pyxidanthera each flower 

 is solitary at the end of a short branch. Another pecu- 

 liar feature of the Pyxie is the sharp point at the end of 

 each anther. 



Generic characters: sepals 5, oblong, obtuse, reddish 

 at tip; corolla short-bell-shaped, 5-lobed; lobes obovate, 

 erose, persistent; stamens 5, inserted in the sinuses; 

 staminodes none : ovary 3-celled : ovules many in a cell : 

 capsule loculicidal. 



barbuld.ta, Michx. Creeping shrub, with a long tap- 

 root in the center of the tuft: Ivs. narrow, crowded, 

 overlapping, the young ones woolly at the base within, 

 whence the specific name "barbulata." Fls. March to 

 May. B.M. 4592. Mn. 8:33. B.B. 2:583. Gn. 27, p. 209 

 {from Harper's Mag.). -^^ jj 



2033, Pyrus coronaria (X %). See No. 15, page 1474. 



