242 



AILANTHUS 



AKEBIA 



4-6 in. long, with 2-4 gland-bearing teeth near the base, 

 glabrous or pubescent above, glaucescent and pubescent 

 beneath: panicle to 12 in. long: fr. about 2 in. long. W. 

 China. R.H. 1904, p. 445. Gn. 75 p. 632 (habit). Has 

 proved at least aa hardy as A. dUissima at the Arnold 

 Arboretum. 



A. ezctlsa, Roxb. (Pongelion excelsum, Pierre). Tal! tree: lys. 

 3 ft. long, abruptly pinnate; Ifts. 2(^-28, teeth without glands. India. 

 Can be grown only in tropical regions or in the hothouse. A. $n- 

 tiscen,, Carr.=Cedrela sinensis. ALFRED REHDBE. 



A IRA (an ancient Greek name for Darnel). Gra- 

 minez. HAIR-GRASS. Annual grasses with delicate culms 

 and open capillary panicles. Spikelets 2-fld. one or 



151. Ajuga reptans var. variegata. ('/.},} 



both fls. awned from the middle of the back; palea 

 nearly as long as the lemma. Species 6, natives of the 

 Medit. region, intro. in the Atlantic states and on the 

 Pacific coast. Cult, for dry bouquets. The species have 

 been confused by florists with Agrostis (as Agrostis 

 elegans) from which genus they may be distinguished by 

 their 2-fld. spikelets. 



capillaris, Host. (A. elegans, Willd.). Spikelets less 

 than 1 line long, all long-pedicelled. 



caryophyllea, Linn. Pedicels mostly shorter than the 

 epikelets. Dept. of Agric. Div. of Agrost. 7:170. 



A. czspiWsa=Deschampsia ctespitosa. A. f&liis variegAiis. 

 This name is listed in trade catalogues, but the seedsmen report 

 that all failed. Probably is Deschampsia cffispitosa. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



AIR-PLANT. In common speech, any plant that 

 grows on the trunk or in the top of another plant is 

 called an air-plant. The proper term is epiphyte (that 

 is, growing on a plant), which see. In horticulture, the 

 term air-plant is usually applied to epiphytal orchids, 

 tillandsias, and the like. Most of these grow on old 

 bark, perhaps deriving some of their nourishment from 

 the bark, but most of it from the air and rain. Air- 

 plants are not parasites, they do not derive their sup- 

 port from the juices of the host. 



The term is sometimes applied to plants that make 

 roots from leaves or other parts that are severed and 

 allowed to remain out of the earth. Bryophyllum is a 

 leading example, because new plants start from the 

 leaf-edges. The dioscoreas and rajanias that bear 

 aerial tubers are sometimes known as air-plants. See 

 also Resurrection Plants. 



AjtJGA (not yoked: the calyx not bilabiate). Labiate. 

 BUGLE- WEED. Hardy herbaceous European perennials, 

 creeping by stolons. 



Height 6-12 in.: fls. numerous, in whorls, normally 

 blue or purple, with rosy or white varieties; corolla 2- 

 lipped, the upper lip short, the lower spreading. Con- 

 siderably used in rock-gardens and for border plant- 

 ing. Prop, by division in spring or by seeds. 



genevensis, Linn. (A. rugbsa, Hort. A. alpina, 

 Hort.). St. erect, pubescent: cauline Ivs. oblong-elliptic 

 or obovate, narrowed at the base; lower ones petiolate; 

 floral Ivs. ovate or wedge-shaped, coarsely toothed, 



sparsely hairy: upper fl. -whorls spicate; lower whorls 

 distant. May, June. 



pyramidalis, Linn. St. erect: cauline Ivs. obovate, 

 hardly petiolate, in a 4-sided pyramid; floral Ivs. broadly 

 ovate, the highest often colored; all Ivs. entire: fl.- 

 whorls usually all spicate. 



reptans, Linn. St. prostrate: Ivs. ovate or obovate, 

 entire or sinuate, shiny. A low, dense, fast-spreading 

 creeper, excellent for covering shady slopes. The typi- 

 cal and white-fid, forms are less cult, than the following: 

 Var. rubra, Hort. More valued for its dark purple Ivs. 

 than its blue fls. Var. variegata, Hort. Fig. 151. Lvs. 

 splashed and edged creamy yellow. Var. atropurpurea, 

 Hort. Fls. purplish blue. May. Useful for 

 carpeting the ground in shady places. 



A. metdllica var. crispa, Hort., intro. by Henderson, 

 1899, is described as dwarf (4-5 in.), with curled, 

 metallic glossy and blue fls. in a pyramidal spike. A 

 bedding plant, intro. from Germany. None of the 

 varieties are so desirable as the typical form. A.Brdck- 

 bantci, Hort., "with fine blue fls.," and A. osmdfera, 

 Hort., are trade names for blup-fld. bugles that are 

 unknown in hort. or botanical literature, and it ia 

 uncertain to what species they are to be referred. 



N. TAYLOR.t 

 AKEE: Blighia. 



AKEBIA (from Akebi, its Japanese name). 

 Lardizabalacese; by some included in Ber- 

 beridacex. Twining woody plants. 



Glabrous twining shrubs: Ivs. half-fiver- 

 green, long-petioled, digitate: fls. monoecious, in axillary 

 raceme, the pistillate at the base, the staminate smaller, 

 at the end of the raceme; sepals 3; stamens 6; carpels 

 3-12, with sessile stigma: fr. a large oblong berry with 

 numerous seeds imbedded in a pulp, opening along the 

 inner suture. Two species with 'several varieties in 

 Japan and China. 



The akebias are very ornamental, hardy climbing 

 shrubs of graceful appearance, especially adapted for 

 places in which very dense shade is not wanted. They 

 require a sunny position and well-drained soil; also 

 valuable in the cool greenhouse for covering pillars 

 and walls, growing best in a sandy compost of loam, 

 leaf soil and peat. In Japan, the fruit which is very 

 showy but with us rarely produced, is eaten, and the 

 stems are much used for wicker-work. 



Propagation is by seeds, by greenwood or hardwood 

 cuttings, and also by root-division and layers. 



quinata, Decne. Figs. 152, 153. Climbing 12 ft. or 

 more: young branchlets purplish: Ifts. 5, oval or ob- 

 long-obovate, entire, emarginate, 1-2 in. long: fls. fra- 

 grant, the pistillate purplish brown, about 1 in. broad, 

 the staminate smaller, rosy purple, in early spring: 



berry oblong, 3-5 

 in. long, dark pur- 

 ple with glaucous 

 bloom; seeds black. 

 April, May. China, 

 Japan. B.R. 33:28. 

 B.M. 4864. G.F. 

 4:137 (adapted in 

 Fig. 153). A. G. 

 March, 1891, figs. 

 5, 7, and plate. 

 G.W. 10, p. 500. 

 Gn. 51, p. 151. R.H. 

 1853:141. S.Z. 77. 

 Hardy, handsome, 

 not attacked by in- 

 sects or fungi. 

 Very graceful 

 and desirable. 



lobata , Decne. 

 (A. qutrcifblia, 

 152. Akebia quinata flowers. Sieb. & Zucc.). 



