1994 



XANTHORRHCEA 



XANTHORRHIZA 



plants of the general appearance described above: peri- 

 anth persistent, of 6 distinct segments, the 3 outer 

 glume-like, erect, concave or almost hooded, 3- or 5- 

 nerved, the 3 inner much thinner, usually 5-nerved. 

 erect, but more or less protruded beyond the outer seg- 

 ments into a short, hyaline or white, petal-like, spread- 

 ing lamina. Flora Australiensis 7:112. 





Xantho^i 



). (See p. 1993.) 



a. Trunk very short. 



B. Spike S-S in. long. 

 minor, R.Br. Lvs. 1-2 ft. long, 1-2 lines ■ 



ide: 



scape 

 longer than the lvs.: spike less than 3 4 in. wide. B.M. 

 6297. — Belongs to the group in which the inner perianth- 

 segments have a white blade conspicuously spreading 

 above the outer ones, while in the next two species the 

 inner segments have a short whitish tip, little longer 

 than the outer and scarcely spreading. 



BB. Spike 1%-S ft. long. 

 hastilis, R.Br. Lvs. 3-t ft. long, 2-3 lines broad: 

 scape often 6 8 ft. long, not counting the spike. Readily 

 distinguished by the dense, rusty tomentum covering 

 the ends of the bracts and outer perianth-segments. 

 B.M. 4722. G.C. III. 17:196. F.S. 9:868. 



AA. Trunk becoming 5 or 6, of even 15 ft. long. 

 Preissii, Endl. Lvs. 2— 1 ft. long, 1-2 lines broad,, 

 rigid, very brittle when young: scapes 2-6 ft. long, in- 

 cluding the spike, which occupies one-half to nearly all 

 its length. B.M. 6933. rt. M 



XANTHORRHIZA (G reek, yellow root). Often 

 spelled Zanthorrhiea. Manuneulaeece. A genus of only 

 one species, native in the eastern United States from 

 New York to Florida. Plant shrubby: lvs. pinnate or 

 bipinnate: tls. in drooping racemes or panicles; sepals 

 5, petal-like, deciduous ; petals 5, smaller than the 

 sepals, and 2-lobed; stamens 5-10; carpels 5-10, ses- 

 sile, forming only one-seeded follicles, one ovule of each 

 usually not maturing. 



The plants are cult, mostly fortbeir handsome foliage, 

 which is much like that of Actaea, and which changes. 

 to a beautiful golden color in the autumn. The plants 

 will grow readily in any good soil but usually prefer 

 damp and shady places, although it often thrives in 

 loose, sandy soil. Propagated both by seed and root 

 division in fall or early spring. Often not hardy in 

 Massachusetts. 



apiifdlia, L'Herit. Shrub Yellow Root. Fig. 2755. 

 Stems of bright yellow wood, 1-20 ft. high: roots yel- 



2754. Fruit of Xanthoceras sorbifolia (X K). 



low, sending up suckers in spring: lvs. in clusters from 

 terminal buds; lfts. about 5, cut-toothed or lobed, with 

 wedge-shaped bases and entire sinuses: fls. small, dark 

 or purple. April. Damp and shadv places, southwestern 

 New York southward. A.G. 1891 :289. B.B. 2:55.-Var. 

 ternata, Huth. Lvs. only ternate; lfts. often more 

 deeply lobed. the sinuses entire. Same distribution. 

 K. C. Davis. 



