ACRIOPSIS 



ACROPHYLLUM 



211 



ACRI6PSIS (Greek combination for top and eye). 

 Orchiddcese. A few epiphytic orchids from the E. 

 Indies, with panicles of small fla. with colors in green, 

 pink, yellow and purple, and little known in cult. A. 

 latifdUa, Rolfc, has very broad Ivs. and very small 

 whitish yellow red-striped and spotted fls. 



ACRfSTA (origin of name unexplained). Palmacex, 

 tribe Areceae. A tall palm suitable for planting S. 



Leaves pinnate, usually very large, from 10-20 in 

 a terminal crown: infl. usually maturing well below 

 the Ivs; the spadix 1-branched, the 

 branches coarse, tapering. Only 1 

 species, A. monticola, confined to 

 Porto Rico, Cuba and St. Kitts. The 

 nearest relative, the royal palm, 

 differs in having a bulging trunk, and 

 in having 2-3-branched inn's. See 

 Bull. Torrey Club, 28:555 (1901). 



This palm is not as yet common, 

 but well worthy of a wider cultiva- 

 tion. It resembles the royal palm 

 but is shorter, and has a smooth 

 trunk of uniform diameter. For cul- 

 tivation see Palms. 



monticola, O. F. Cook. Thirty-five 

 to 45 ft.: trunk smooth, with 

 many ring-like scars: Ivs. 

 about 6 ft., the Ifts. lan- 

 ceolate in one plane, equally 

 spaced, and nearly at 

 right angles to the rachis: 

 infl. coming out between 

 the Ivs., and by the drop- 



E ing of latter, appearing well 

 elow the If.-crown at ma- 

 turity; fls. not well known: 

 fr. with lateral stigma, gray- 

 ish brown, nearly smooth, 

 obovate, }/i x 1 in. Bull. 

 Torrey Club, 28, pi. 44 (as 

 Thrincoma alia). 



N. TAYLOR. 



1 12. Aconitum autumnale. ACROCLf NIUM : Helipterum. 



( x H) 



ACROCOMIA (name 



means o tuft of leaves at the top). Palmacex, tribe 

 Bactridinex. A showy genus of American palms. Not 

 popular in the trade because of their spiny habit and 

 rather unattractive young state. The adult p'ants, 

 however, are very graceful. 



Leaflets narrowly linear, long, usually obliquely 

 acuminate, the margins naked and recurved, the midrib 

 often spiny on lower sides of Ifts.; rachis and petioles 

 usually hairy, always more or less spiny: fls. yellowish, 

 monoecious, the spathes ultimately becoming woody; 

 calyx small, of 3 ovate sepals; corolla of 3 oblong- 

 lanceolate or ovate petals: fr. usually about 1 in. 

 diam., glabrous or sometimes prickly or tomentose. 

 There are only 8 species, all natives of Trop. Anicr. 

 except A. Total. Most closely related to Cocos, from 

 which the Amer. species differ in having spines. See 

 G.C. II. 22:427. Bull. Torrey Club, 28:565. 



These palms are usually spiny and have large, termi- 

 nal, pinnate leaves. All except A. Totai should be grown 

 in a warmhouse, with a night temperature not lower 

 than 60. They should be potted in soil similar to that 

 for the coconuts, and, if possible, planted out directly. 

 It has been found by some that overpotting the young 

 plants is a danger likely to be incurred. The palms 

 grow slowly ana should not be transferred to a new 

 pot until they become almost pot-bound. 



Propagation is by suckers, which come freely in 

 most species. Seeds are not known in cultivation for 

 any of the species except A. sderocarpa. 



A. Trunk greater in diam. a few ft. above the ground 



than elsewhere; spines 5-6 in. long. 

 media, O. F. Cook. Trunk 20-30 ft., conspicuously 

 thickened above the ground; spines slender, black, 

 mostly confined to the lower half of the internodes: 

 Ivs. opening about as they are pushed out, not spire- 

 like, as in the royal palm, forming a dense crown; 

 Ifts. coming out from the rachis at all angles: fr. 

 about 1J^ in. diam., fibrous on the outside, yellowish. 

 A magnificent palm, known only from U. S. and not 

 common outside of fanciers' collections and botanic 

 gardens. 



AA. Trunks of essentially uniform diam. near base ; 

 spines 1-4 in. long. 



B. Lvs. more or less spreading, and sometimes drooping: 



trunk predominately spiny throughout, 10-20 ft. 



mexicana, Karw. Trunk brown-woolly, and covered 

 with stout spines 1-3 in. long: lys. terminal, 6-8 ft. 

 long, the sheathing bases armed with long black spines; 

 rachis and petiole spiny; Ifts. rather stiff, linear, and 

 shining: spathe very spiny: fr. globose, about 1 in. 

 diam. Mex. This palm is said to be perfectly hardy 

 at Santa Barbara, Calif. 



BB. Lvs. more or less stiff and erect: trunks predomi- 

 nately more spiny above than below, 30-40 ft. 



sderocarpa, Mart. (A. aculeata, Lodd.). Fig. 113. 

 Height 30-45 ft.: trunk cylindrical, about 1 ft. thick, 

 with black spines 2-4 in. long, more common toward 

 the summit than below: Ivs. 1215 ft. long, more or less 

 erect; segms. in irregular groups of 2 or 3, 2-3 ft. long, 

 %r\ in. wide, smooth and shining above, whitish, 

 appressed-pilose below, entirely free of spines, except 

 along the midrib on the under side; rachis tomentose, 

 and bearing a few small spines: fr. yellowish, a little 

 more than 1 in. diam. Brazil to W. Indies. I.H. 

 15:547. Not hardy at Oneco, Fla. Cult, in Calif, but 

 apparently not out-of-doors. "Gru-gru" and "corozo" 

 are native names of this palm. 



Total, Mart. Trunk 30-40 ft., about 10-15 in. 

 diam., clothed with stout spines, especially near the 

 summit: Ivs. not so large as in the 

 preceding, green and glabrous on 

 both sides; petioles tomentose and 

 a little spiny: spathe very spiny, 

 the fls. yellowish: fr. globose, yel- 

 low, a little less than 1 in. diam., 

 scarcely known in cult, specimens. 

 Paraguay and Argentine, perhaps 

 in Brazil. May be grown in cool- 

 house. Offered in 1912 by Reasoner 

 Bros., Oneco, Fla. 



A. havantnais, Hort. A slew-grow- r . 



ing, thorny plant, of which little ia 

 known; a trade name. 



N. TAYLOR. 



ACROPfeRA: Gongora. 



ACROPHYLLUM (Greek, 

 top and leaf). Cunoniacex. A 

 monotypic genus allied to Cun- 

 onia, containing the Australian 

 evergreen shrub, A. venosum, 

 Hcnth. (A.verticillalum, Hook.), 

 excellent for spring flowering 

 in the coolhouse. Prop, by 

 cuttings in early summer. Let 

 the plant rest during summer. Do not expose to frost. 

 It produces many pinkish fls. in dense spicate whorls 

 near the top of the branches. Lvs. in 3's, nearly all 

 terminal and above the fls., sessile, dentate or ser- 

 rate, cordate and acute: fls. with 5 petals and 10 sta- 

 mens: 4-6 ft. B.M. 4050 (as A. verticiUatum) . 



N. TAYLOR, f 



113. Acrocomia 

 sderocarpa. 



