RHEUM 



RHIPSALIS 



1513 



bearing numerous greenish fls. tliat give a feathery ef- 

 fect to the panicle: akene red, winged. Thibet and W. 

 China, on high table-lands. B.M. 6i;i5. R.H. 1874, p. 95. 

 Gn 3 J, p. 243; 48, pp. 199, 208. -Probably the best plant 

 of the genus for general cultivation, making a most 

 striking foliage plant. It is from the short, thick, 

 branching stem or caudex of this plant that most of the 

 true officinal Rhubarb is derived. Although known to the 

 Chinese for centuries and the product long imported into 

 Europe, the plant was not deserilnMl Ixitaiiically until 

 1872. Pig. 2099 is adapted from The Garden. 



R. acuiniiidtuin, Hook. f. & Thorn. "Probably only a small 

 form of R. Emodi, with acuminate Ivs., but the fls. are consid- 

 erably larger, and though long under cultivation it does not at 

 tain half the size of that plant, or v.ary in its chai'acter."— 

 Hooker. Himalayas. B.M. 4877.— i?. n/Mle, Hook. f. & Thorn. 

 Stem simple and densely clothed with imbricated downward- 

 pointing bracts that conceal the short axillary peduncles : Ivs. 

 ovate-oblong or rounded, entire. Wlien the fruit is ripe, the 

 shingled bracts are torn away by the winds, leaving the long 

 panicle e.xposed. 3ft. Himalayas. R.H. 1876, p. 266. I. H. 22:209. 

 G.C. II. 13:793. A remarkable alpine plant.— it!. Ribes, Linn. 

 3-.') ft.: Ivs. 1 ft. across, cordate to reniform, the margins 

 crisped or undulate, the blade puckered or blistered: fls. 

 green, drooping: frs. about 1 in. long, oblong-cordate, narrow- 

 winged, blood-red, showy. Asia Minor to Persia. B.M. 7591. 

 "Rivas " or "Ribes" is its Arabic name. — R. spiciforme, Royle. 

 Dwarf: Ivs. thick, orbicular or bro.adly ovate: fls. white, in a 

 dense spike rising about 2 ft. Western Himalaya. 



L. H. B. 



HHEUMATISM ROOT. Jeffersonia bmata. 



BH^XIA (Greek, rapture; referring to its supposed 

 properties of healing). Melastomdcea;. Meadow 

 Beauty. A genus of about 10 species of N. American 

 perennial herbs, with opposite sessile or short-petioled, 

 3-5-nerved ivs. and showy flowers borne in late summer. 

 Pis. terminal, solitary or in cymes; calyx-tube urn- to 

 bell-shaped, narrowed at the neck, 4-lobed; petals 4, 

 obovate; stamens 8, equal, the connective being thick- 

 ened at the base, with or without a spur at the back. 



Hhexia Virginica is found wild in company with 

 side-saddle plants (Sarracenia jjurpurea) and cranber- 

 ries in the low meadows of Massachusetts. It is what 

 we should call a bog plant. It is a pretty, low-grow- 

 ing, tuberous - rooted plant blooming in summer and 

 chiefly interesting as being one of few species of a 

 genus belonging to a family almost wholly composed 

 of shrubby plants from tropical countries, such as 

 Centradenia, Plercma and Medinella. It increases by 

 means of tubers and seeds, and under suitable condi- 



2099. Rheum officinale. 



tions soon makes large clumps. Tubers potted in the 

 autumn and kept in a coldfr}>me force nicely in spring- 

 time. 



*. Stem cijlindrical. 



Mariana, Linn. A slender, erect, usually simple- 

 stemmed plant with reddish purple fls. about 1 in. 

 across, in loose cymes: Ivs. short-petioled, oblong to 

 linear oblong, 1-1^ in. long, 2-.5 lines wide, 3-nerved; 

 anthers minutely spurred at the back. June-Sept. 

 Pine barrens, N. J. to Fla., west to Ky. B.B. 2:474.— 

 Grows in drier places than R. Virginica. 



AA. Stem angled. 

 B. Petals yellow. 



IMea, Walt. Stem becoming much branched, 1 ft. 

 high: Ivs. smooth, serrulate, the lower obovate and ob- 

 tuse, the upper lanceolate and acute : fls. small, in nu- 

 merous cymes. July, Aug. Pine- 

 barren swamps, N. C. to Fla. and 

 west. 



BB. Petals not yelloiv. 



c. Lvs. 6-10 lines long. 

 cilidsa, Michx. Stem nearly 

 simple, 1-2 ft. high: lvs. ovate, 

 sessile or very short-petioled, 3- 

 nerved: fls. violet-purple, 1-13^ 

 in. across, short- pedicelled, in 

 few - fld. cymes ; anthers not 

 curved and not spurred at the 

 back. June-Aug. Swamps, Ind. 

 to Fla., west to La. 



cc. Lvs. 1-2 in. long. 

 Virginica, Linn. Fig. 2100. 

 Roots tuber-bearing: stems about 

 1 ft. high, branched above and 

 usually clustered, forming a com- 

 pact, bushy plant : lvs. sessile, 

 ovate, acute, rounded or rarely 

 narrowed at the base, 1-2 in. by 

 >2-l in., usually 5-nerved : fls. 

 rosy, 1-lK in. across, in cymes; 

 petals rounded or slightly refuse; 

 anthers minutely spurred on the 

 back. Jul}— Sept. Sunny swamps. 

 Me. to Fla., west to Mo. B.B. 2: 

 474. B.M. 9G8.-This is one of 

 the prettiest of the small wild 

 flowers. When transplanted, it 

 seems to thrive as well in good 

 clay loam as in peaty soils, 

 although it sometimes 

 grows in the latter. 



F. W. Barclay and 



T. D. Hatfield. 



EHINE-BERRY. Bham- 



mis cathartica. 



RHIPIDOD^NDRON.'See 



Aloe. 



RHIPID6PTERIS is un- 

 der AcrosticJiuni. 



2100. Rhcxia Vireinica. 



RHtFSALIS (Greek, rhips, wickerwork). Cactdcece. 

 A mixed assemblage of lengthened epiphytic forms, 

 brought together by a common character of small fls., 

 with the tube short or wanting; here including Hariota, 

 Lepismium and Pfeiffera. Fls. white or greenish white, 

 except H. cereiformis, rosy, and R. salicornioides, R. 

 pnchyptera and R. rhombea, yellow. Fruit without 

 spines or wool, except in R. cereiformis. For culture, 

 see Cactus. 



alata, 14. 

 hrachiata, 2. 

 Cassytha,5. 

 cereiformis',!. 

 commune, 11. 

 funalis, 4. 

 grandiflora, 4. 

 Houlletiaua, 15. 



INDEX. 



Hoidletii, 15. 

 ianthothele, 7. 

 mesembrianthe- 



moides, 3. 

 myosurus, 12. 

 pachyptera, 14. 

 paradoxa, 9. 

 pentaptera, 10. 



rhombea, 13. 

 Saglionis, 2. 

 salicornioides, 1. 

 squamulosa, 11. 

 Swartziana, 13. 

 trigona, 8. 

 virgata, 6. 



. Branches round or 

 nearly so in cross-sec- 

 tion: fls. white except 

 in the first species : 

 berry small, ivhite, 

 round. 



B. 2'he branches of two 

 kinds 



1. salicornoides 



2. Saglionis 



3. mesembrianthemoides 



