ABUTILON 



ABUTILON 



177 



The cultivation of abutilons is simple, under conditions 

 suitable for the growing of geraniums and fuchsias. 

 Some of the forms are grown primarily for bloom, and 

 they are practically continuous-flowering when well 

 handled; the variegated-leaved forms are grown for 

 foliage and used more or less 

 for bedding-out. Abutilons make 

 good pot-plants if kept within 

 bounds by pinching back so that 

 they will branch. A. megapo- 

 tamicum and some others are use- 

 ful for baskets and vases. The 

 showy A. insigne is an excellent 

 rafter-plant. 



Propagation is by cuttings or 

 seeds. Cuttings may be made 

 in spring of new wood from old 

 plants that have been cut back, 

 or they may be taken in fall; as 

 the abutilon is active practically 

 all the year, the cuttings may 

 _ be taken almost at will. Seeds 



of Abutilon g row readily ; if started in March, 

 blooming plants should be had 

 by fall. Bedding material is raised from early-struck 

 cuttings. 



65. A flower i 



compactum, 6. 

 Darwinii. 6. 

 floribundum, 6. 

 ffrandiflorum, 6. 

 Hildebrandii, 6. 

 hybridum, 12. 

 ioneum, 1. 

 insigne, 1. 



INDEX 



longicuspe, 2. 

 marmoratum, 5. 

 megapotamicum, 4. 

 pictum, 9. 

 pleniflorum, 10. 

 Savitzii, 12. 

 Selloanum, 5. 

 Sellovianum, 5. 



Rinenae, 3. 

 spurium, 11. 

 striatum, 9, 11. 

 tessellatum. 6. 

 Thompsonii, 11. 

 venosum, 8. 

 texillanum, 4. 

 vitifolium, 7. 



A. Los. not lobed, cordate, but -prominently toothed, 

 sometimes angled. 



B. Corolla wide open. 



1. insigne, Planch. (A. igneum, Hort.). Lvs. me- 

 dium size, crenate-dentate, acuminate, villous pubescent 

 underneath: fls. large, flaring-mouthed, under-color 

 white but obscured by very heavy and rich veining and 

 markings of purple and red, on slender hanging pe- 

 duncles. Colombia. B.M. 4840. Gn. 18:624; 53, p. 

 300. F.S. 6:551. Very showy; common. Often trained 

 under the roof of the greenhouse or conservatory. St. 

 green, brown-hairy. 



2. longicuspe, Hochst. White-canescent much- 

 branched shrub, with long-acuminate broad-cordate 

 and blunt-toothed long-stalked Ivs., felt-like below: 

 fls. bluish purple, veiny, wide open, on mostly many- 

 branched axillary peduncles. Abyssinia. Intro, by 

 S. Calif. Acclimatizing Assoc., from seed collected by 

 Schweinfurth and distributed from Berlin in 1893. 



3. sinense, Oliver. Lvs. large and broadly cordate- 

 ovate, long-acuminate, notched but not lobed, some- 

 what tomentose beneath: fls. large (2 in. or more across), 

 open-bellshaped, orange-yellow with large interior 

 veins and marks of reddish brown. Cent. China, 

 recently intro. to cult. Seed apparently not yet in the 

 American trade. R.H. 1909:452. 



BB. Corolla, long and narrow. 



4. megapotamicum, St. Hil. & Naud. (A. vexill&rium, 

 Morr.). Fig. 66. Drooping habit: Ivs. rather small, 

 lance-ovate, acuminate, sharp-serrate: fls. 2-3 in. long, 

 on short drooping stalks, the long calyx bright red, the 

 protruding petals lemon-yellow, the column of stamens 

 conspicuously protruding. Brazil, etc. B.M. 5717. 

 Gn. 37:274. J.H. III. 18:359. A strikingly handsome 

 species, particularly for baskets and vases, apparently 

 less seen than formerly. There is a variegated-lvd. 

 variety. Generally misspelled mesapotamicum. Mega- 

 potamicum means "big river," signifying here the Rio 

 Grande. 



12 



AA. Lvs. prominently lobed, mostly maple-like or 

 vitis-like. 



B. Foliage silky or tomentose, at least beneath. 



5. Sellovianum, Regel (A. Selloanum, authors, a 

 correction of the published name, as the plant is 

 named for Sello. A. Settowianum, Hort.). Upright, 

 thick-hairy plant: lys. roundish deep-heartshaped, long- 

 stalked, 3-lobed with long-pointed parts, 7-9-nerved, 

 unequally toothed, the under side soft silky tomentose : 

 fls. light purple, with erect petals. Brazil. Var. marmor- 

 atum, Hort., has Ivs. variegated with golden yellow. 

 A good summer bloomer. The variegated form is some- 

 times used for bedding. 



6. Darwinii, Hook. f. (A. Hildebrandii, Fenzl.). 

 Strong pubescent shrub of dwarfish habit: Ivs. velvety 

 pubescent beneath, thickish, 5-9-ribbed, the lower ones 

 lobed to the middle, the upper ones shallow-3-lobed : fls. 

 1-3 in an axil on short sts., lJi-2 in. across, orange- 

 red with blood-red veins, widely open or spreading. 

 Brazil. B.M. 5917. Var. tessellatum, Hort., has Ivs. 

 handsomely checkered with yellow. Blooms in both 

 winter and summer. Much hybridized with other 

 species. A. grandiflbrum and A. compdctum are garden 

 forms; also A. floribundum, Hort., R.H. 1881:350. Gt. 

 23:794 (var. trinerve, Regel). 



BB. Foliage not tomentose or silky, glabrous 



or slightly pubescent. 

 c. Fls. blue (varying to white in cult.). 



7. vitifdlium, Presl. Lvs. cordate in general out- 

 line, 3-5-, and sometimes 7-, lobed, the lobes long- 

 pointed: fls. open bell-shaped or cup-shaped, large, 

 lavender-blue, more or less veined (sometimes white), 

 clustered, anthers yellow. Chile. A hardy species, 

 remaining out-of-doors in S. of England ; height becom- 

 ing 30 ft.: Ivs. golden in autumn. B.M. 4227, 7328. 

 Gn. 51:334; 66, p. 8 (clumps); 76, p. 415. J.H. Ill 

 62:380. B.R. 30:57. 



CC. F Is. yellow or orange in ground color. 

 D. Blossoms very large: Ivs. 7-lobed. 



8. vendsum, Lem. Very strong, tall grower: Ivs. 

 large, deeply palmately 7-lobed and strongly toothed: 

 fls. large, 3 in. long, on sts. 10-12 in. long, bell-shaped 

 and not flaring, golden 



orange, with veins and 

 over-colors of blood-red 

 and brown. Mex. B.M. 

 4463. A showy species. 



DD. Blossoms of ordinary 



size (2 in. or less long). 

 E. Lf. -blades S-lobed, the 

 side lobes often small 

 (or the clefts shallow). 



9. pJctum, Walp. (A. 

 striatum, Hort., at 

 least in part, not 

 Dickson). Strong and 

 hardy free-blooming 

 species, with Ivs. 

 green or variegated 

 and glabrous or thinly ' 

 pubescent, the mid- 

 dle lobe usually about 

 equaling or some- 

 times shorter than 

 the undivided part of 



the If. and wedge- 

 shape or tapering from the base: calyx about 1 in. 

 long, cleft about to its middle, brownish pubescent: 

 corolla less than 1 J^ in. long, orange or yellow, veined 

 crimson. S. Brazil to Buenos Ayres. Has been con- 

 fused with A. striatum. 



66. Abutilon 

 megapotamicum. 



(XJi) 



