246 



ALGA 



ALLAMANDA 



ALGA, plural ALG.S;. A general name for chloro- 

 phyll-bearing thallophytes. They are flowerless plants, 

 allied to the fungi, and generally inhabit water. Those 

 occurring in salt water are known as seaweeds. None 

 is cultivated. The green "moss" on flower-pots is made 

 up of alga;. 



ALGAROBA is the fruit of Ceratonia siliqua. 



ALHAGI (its Mauretanian name). Leguminbsx. 

 Shrubs grown for then- profusely produced red flowers. 



Spiny plants: Ivs. alternate, oblong, small, decidu- 

 ous, entire: fls. papilionaceous, red, small, in few-fld. 

 axillary racemes; calyx campanulate, 5-toothed; pods 



155. Allaraanda cathartica var. Henderson!!. (XM) 



terete, contracted between the seeds. Three closely 

 related species from Greece and Egypt to the Himalayas. 

 These plants are low. much-branched shrubs with 

 small and sparse, pale foliage and numerous small red 

 flowers toward the end of the branches. Only the 

 following species, which produces the Persian or alhagi 

 manna, is but very rarely met with in collections. 

 It may be cultivated in temperate regions in dry and 

 sunny positions and propagated by seeds and by green- 

 wood cuttings under glass with slight bottom heat; as a 

 desert plant, it is impatient of too much moisture, and 

 needs special attention, particularly in the seedling 

 state. 



camelorum, Fisch. CAMEL'S THORN. Low, spiny 

 shrub, glabrous or nearly glabrous: Ivs. oblong, obtuse, 

 J-1M in. long: fls. red, about J^in. long, on few-fld. 

 axillary racemes, forming panicles at the end of the 

 branches. Summer. Caucasus to the Himalayas. 

 Easily distinguished by its glabrousness from the other 

 species, which are more or less pubescent. The other 

 species are A. grxcorum, Boiss., A. maurarum, Medic. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



ALISMA (derivation doubtful). Alismacex. A 

 genus of 2 species of hardy aquatics, with small white or 

 pale rose fls. on scapes with whorled, panicled branches. 

 Perennial by a stout proliferous conn. Useful in ponds. 

 Prop, by division or seeds. According to N. Amer. 

 Flora 17:43, 1905, the native water-plantain is not the 

 same as the Old World species, to which, exclusively, 

 should be applied the name here taken up for the species 

 which has hitherto been considered cosmopolitan, and 

 is now so treated. 



Plantago-aquatica, I .inn. (A. Plantago of authors. 

 A. subcardatum, Raf.). WATER-PLANTAIN. Lvs. vari- 

 able, but usually broadly cordate-ovate, thinner and 

 narrower when growing under water: panicle 1-2 ft. 

 long. Common in swales and still waters in U. S.; also 

 in Eu. and Asia. 



A. ncUans, Linn., is now referred to the monotypic genus Elisma 

 (E. natans, Buch.). It is native to Eu., and is offered in foreign 

 catalogues. Fl. white, single, on a long peduncle: floating Ivs. 

 elliptic and obtuse. See Elisma. *j TAVT i 



ALKANNA,ALKANET: Andaua. 

 ALKEKENGI: Physalis. 



ALLAMANDA (Dr. Allamand, Leyden). Apocy- 

 nacex. Tropical shrubs, mostly climbers, grown in green- 

 houses and conservatories, and in the open far south. 



Leaves entire, whorled: fls. terminal, large and funnel- 

 shaped, with a flat spreading or reflexed limb, the tube 

 inflated below the throat in which thore are 5 hairy 

 scales; stamens 5, the filaments very short; ovary 1- 

 loculed: the fr. (seldom seen in conservatories) a large 

 spiny globular or oblong pod. About a dozen species 

 in Brazil and 1 in Cent. Amer. 



With the exception of A. iriolacea and A. neriifolia, 

 all the forms in cultivation are probably forms of one 

 variable species. The original name for this is A. 

 cathartica, and the plants known in the trade as A. 

 grandiflora, A. nobilis, A. Schottii, A. magnified, A. 

 Wdliamsii are all referred to it as varieties. For garden 

 purposes they are distinct, but botanically the differ- 

 ences are so slight as not to justify their being retained 

 as species. A. violacea is readily distinguished by the 

 color of the flowers, and A. neriifolia by the swollen 

 base of the corolla. 



The allamandas comprise several of the finest climbing 

 plants in cultivation and are general favorites wherever 

 grown. They are of very easy culture, thriving well 

 under the ordinary conditions of a stove or warm 

 greenhouse. A mixture of two parts of strong turfy 

 loam and one part of sharp sand, leaf-mold and char- 

 coal, suits them best. Cuttings root readily in a close 

 case in sandy soil in a temperature of 70 F. at almost 

 any time of the year, but spring is by far the best time, 

 as the young plants have a long season of growth ahead 

 of them and make better plants than those rooted 

 later. Both old and new wood may be used for 

 propagation; the young growth should be taken off 

 with a heel if possible, whilst pieces of the previous 

 season's wood, which has been well ripened, may be cut 

 up into lengths with two or three joints, in spring; the 

 stems which are removed during the annual pruning 

 may be used for this purpose. All the species make most 

 excellent pot-plants, but in order to obtain them at their 

 best they should be planted out in a well-drained border. 

 When well established, either in pots or borders, they 

 should be fed liberally with natural or artificial manures, 

 during the whole of the growing season, as all the species 

 without exception, are gross feeders. After growth has 

 ceased in late autumn or winter, the plants should be 

 kept nearly, but not quite dry at the roots until February 

 or March, when they should be cut back as far as is 

 necessary, and started in a moist position in the green- 

 house. Any repotting that they require should be done 

 before the new growths are more than 6 inches long. 

 The weaker kinds, as A. violacea, A. cathartica var. 

 grandiflora and var. Williamsii, are best grafted on the 

 strong-growing var. Hendersonii. Spring and summer. 



A. Plant bushy, or little climbing: fl. swollen at base. 



neriifolia, Hook. A dwarf bush or half climber: 

 sts. terete, woody below, covered with down when 

 young: Ivs. petiolate, 2-5 in a whorl, elliptic or ovate- 

 acuminate, rich dark green above, pale dull green below, 

 midrib and principal veins softly pilose; petiole very 

 short: infl. short, 1-3 in. long; fls. yellow on short pale 

 green terete stalks up to >^in. long; bracts ^gin. long, 



