1824 



TOXYLON 



TRACHELOSPEKMUm 



are voracious feeders ana rapidly deplete the soil. 

 Hardy as far north as Massachusetts. A tree with 

 deciduous, simple, alternate, petiolate, entire leaves 

 and milky sap: branches, particularly the lower, beset 

 with numerous straight, axillary spines 2-3 in. long: 

 fls. minute, dioecious, apetalous, axillary, appearing in 

 May to June, the s tarn in ate borne on the short spur-like 

 branchlets of the previous year, racemose, pedicillate, 

 pendulous; calyx 4-parted, with its segments valvate: 

 stamens 4, the pistillate borne on branches of the cur- 

 rent year, sessile, capitate; peduncle short, the 4-cleft 

 calyx inclosing the sessile ovary: style simple, filiform, 

 long and exserted: ovary superior, one-loculed; ovule 

 solitary: fr. a dense aggregation of enlarged, fleshy ca- 

 lices into a globular syncarp with a mammillate sur- 

 face, light green or yellowish in color: syncarp 4-5 in. 

 in diameter, falling as soon as ripe in the autumn. 



2536. Osage Orange — Toxylon pomif 



(X 1-5). 



pomfSerum, Raf . (Madura aurantlaca, Nutt. ) . Osage 



Orange. Fig. 2536. Tree, 30-50 ft. high: lvs. ovate 

 to oblong - lanceolate. E. Kansas to N. Texas. Wood 

 orange-colored. G.C. III. 16:693. G.M. 33:808, 809. R.H. 

 1896, p. 33 (var. inermis). V. 4:37. Emil Mische. 



Before the advent of wire fences the Osage Orange 

 was an extremely popular hedge plant, meeting general 

 requirements better than any other plant suitable to 

 our climate. It is used considerably, and where prop- 

 erly attended to from the start makes a hedge in a short 

 time of a fairly defensive nature. Most dealers in tree 

 seeds keep seeds of the Osage Orange, and those who 

 grow the plants procure the seed in spring, drilling it 

 in rows. The Osage Orange grows readily from seed, 

 even when the latter is a year old. The sowing in rows 

 gives the seedlings a chance to become stocky by fall 

 and plants two feet high the first year are not uncom- 

 mon. These one-year-old plants are quite good enough 

 for hedging. Nurserymen who grow them for sale usu- 

 ally dig the plants in the fall, storing them away in a 

 cool cellar, the roots buried ill sand. They are then 

 sorted into two grades, which compose first- and sec- 

 ond-class plants. At the time of grading, the tops are 

 chopped off somewhat, leaving about six inches of 

 length only. This fits them for planting without niore 

 cutting. 



The place where a hedge is desired should be well 

 cleared of all weeds. If cultivated for a year in ad- 

 vance, so much the better, as it will make the keeping 

 down of weeds a much easier task. 



There are two ways of planting a hedge; viz., single 

 row and double row. The double row is made by set- 

 ting the plants nine inches apart each way, the plants 

 in the second row coming between those in the first 

 row, forming a zigzag line. The single row, however, 

 is good enough, and is much easier to cultivate and 

 keep clear of weeds. In single rows set the plants six 

 inches apart. 



The soil need not be overrich for the Osage Orange. 

 The plant is a strong grower naturally, and soil in fair 

 condition will give a growth more tractable to form a 

 good hedge than a rank growth from rich soil. 



When dug the Osage plants have very long roots, and 

 the ends of these may be chopped off without disadvan- 

 tage. If the plants are held in bunches and the roots 

 chopped to an even length the setting will be an easy 

 task. The tops will have been already cut off if treated 

 in the way above suggested. 



Beyond cultivation of the plants, nothing is required 

 the first year. By fall a good growth should have been 



made, and towards spring this should be cut hack, leav- 

 ing about six inches of the young growth. The season 

 following more care must be given to forming a hedge. 

 When in full growth, say in July, shear off the tops of 

 the plants. This will cause the side shoots to develop; 

 and it is these side shoots which will form the base of 

 the hedge. Auother light trimming should be given 

 when growth is over for the season, to bring the plants 

 into a hedge shape. Much the same work will be re- 

 quired every year — a trimming when growth is in full 

 swing to make the hedge bushy, and another later on to 

 shape it. 



The proper shape for a hedge is the conical form, 

 though it may be flat-sided or in any shape desired, 

 provided the upper branches never overlap the lower. 



Of late years a system of planting the Osage Orange 

 differing from the one described has been followed by 

 some. Strong two-year-old plants are procured and are 

 planted in a slanting position. As the new growth is 

 made it rises in an upright way as usual, and this pro- 

 duces a lattice-like appearance of the branches, and a 

 very strong hedge. It is certainly stronger than a com- 

 mon hedge, and yet a common one properly looked after 

 forms a defensive fence, meeting all requirements, and 

 costs not nearly as much as the other. See Hedges. 

 Joseph Meehan. 



TRACHELIUM (Greek, trachelos, neck; from its 

 supposed efficacy in diseases of the throat). Campanu- 

 laceai. Throatwokt. A genus of 4 or 5 species of 

 perennial herbs or low shrubs with usually somewhat 

 simple stems and terminal panicles of small blue 

 flowers. The species are native to the Mediterranean 

 region of Europe. Calyx adnate; lobes 5, narrow; co- 

 rolla narrowly tubular; stamens free from the corolla: 

 capsule nearly globose: seeds small. 



caBruleum, Linn. A half-hardy biennial or perennial, 

 1-3 ft. high: lvs. ovate, acuminate, unequally serrate: 

 fls. blue or white, in dense, terminal cymes, in late 

 summer. Shaded places in S. Europe. B.R. 1:72. 

 Gn. 28, p. 181; 47, p. 303; 51, p. 84.— An attractive late- 

 flowering perennial suited to culture as an annual. 

 According to Gn. 28, p. 181, the species is fairly hardy 

 in England, but young plants are more floriferous than 

 old ones. Seed may be sown in March. The plant is 

 easily propagated by cuttings. According to Gn. 47, 

 p. 303, plants from cuttings are dwarfer than seedlings. 

 F. W. Barclay. 



TRACHELOSPERMUM (Greek, referring to the fact 

 that the seed has a neck). Apocynitcew. Trachelosper- 

 mum is a genus of 8 species of climbing shrubs native 

 to eastern Asia and Malaya. They have opposite lvs. 

 and white or purplish fls. in lax cymes. Generic char- 

 acters: calyx 5-parted, glandular or scaly within: co- 

 rolla salver-shaped; mouth constricted; lobes oblique, 

 overlapping to the right, twisted to the left: stamens 

 inserted above the middle of the tube; anthers conniv- 

 ing over and adhering to the stigma; cells spurred at 

 the base : disk annular or of oblong glands : carpels 2, 

 distinct, many-ovuled. 



T. jasminoides, the Star Jasmine, is a tender, 

 evergreen, shrubby climber from China, with fragrant, 

 white, 5-lobed flowers. It is a favorite in the South, 

 where it is grown out of doors and known as the "Con- 

 federate Jessamine." In northern conservatories it is 

 generally known under its synonym, Rhynchospermum. 

 Handsome specimens may be grown in large tubs, mak- 

 ing dense bushes 3 or 4 ft. high and as much in diame- 

 ter. In May such specimens are covered with flowers 

 and fill a greenhouse with their delightful fragrance. 

 The blossoms are about an inch across, 5 or 6 in a clus- 

 ter, pendulous, and of a very spirited appearance, which 

 is largely due to the manner in which the 5 wavy-mar- 

 gined petals (or rather corolla-lobes) are rolled back. 

 See Fig. 2537. 



"Rhynchospermum " is amost satisfactory greenhouse 

 shrub for a general collection. It requires no special 

 treatment, except that the plants should he kept on the 

 dry side during the winter. 



It requires several years to work up a good-sized 

 specimen. Young plants should be given warmhouse 

 treatment and encouraged to grow. Large, well-estab- 

 lished specimens thrive in a coolhouse. During sum- 



