266 



ALSOPHILA 



ALSTRCEMERIA 



177. Pinna of Alsophila 

 australis 



ALSOPHILA (Greek, grore-loi'ing) . C yatheaceae . Tree 

 ferns, grown in choice large conservatories, and in the 

 open in warm countries. 



Alsophilas have simple or forked free veins, round 

 sori, and no indusia. Numerous species are found in the 

 tropical regions of both 

 hemispheres. The species of 

 Alsophila are very similar in 

 appearance to the tree ferns 

 placed in the genus Cyathea 

 and are probably not gener- 

 ically distinct. 



Of the different species of 

 alsophila, only one is in gen- 

 , eral commercial use. A . aus- 

 tralis is a very graceful and 

 rapidly growing tree fern, 

 with finely divided fronds of 

 a pleasing shade of light 

 green, with the stipes thickly 

 covered with light brown, 

 hairy scales. It is grown from 

 spores, which can be obtained 

 only from old and large 

 specimens, and which, like 

 the spores of most commer- 

 cial ferns, will germinate very 

 freely if sown on a compost 

 consisting of finely screened 

 soil, leaf-mold and sand in 

 equal parts. To develop a 

 good crown of fronds in old specimen plants which may 

 look starved, the stem may be covered to any thick- 

 ness consistent with good appearance with green moss, 

 which may be attached with thin copper wire, and 

 which, if kept continually moist, will soon be thickly 

 covered with fine roots. Alsophilas should be grown 

 in a temperature of 60 F., and the soil should 

 never be allowed to become very dry. (Nichol N. 

 Bruckner.) 



A. Lvs. bipinnate; rachises merely fibrillose. 

 Rebeccas, F. Muell. Lvs. ample, from 8 in. or so 

 high; pinnae 12-15 in. long, with 20-30 pinnules on 

 each side, which are 2-3 in. long and serrate or crenate 

 throughout. Austral. G.Z. 28, p. 2. 



AA. Lvs. tripinnatifid or tripin- 

 nate; rachises armed with 

 spines. 



B. Segms. long, strongly curved; 

 pinnules tapering to a slen- 

 der point. 



excelsa, R. Br. Lvs. coriace- 

 ous, with more or less woolly 



rachises; pinnae 6-10 in. wide, 



with crowded pinnules, which 



are provided with about 20 



pairs of segms. which are strongly curved 



and more or less enlarged at the ends. 



Norfolk Id. and Austral. Said to have 



a trunk 60-80 ft. high. 



Codperi, F. Muell. Smaller than the 



last: rachises with pale brown scales; 



pinnae spear-shaped, with linear pinnules 



4-5 in. long. Queensland. 



lunulata, R. Br. Lvs. rather thick, 



herbaceous, from smooth rachises; pin- 

 nules close, 5-6 in. long, with 20-30 



pairs of segms., which are finely serrate 



throughout. . 



BB. Segms. \fan. or less long. 

 australis, R. Br. Fig. 177. Rachises 

 straw-colored ; Ivs. ample, with primary 

 pinnae 18 in. long, 6-10 in. wide; pin- 



178. Alsophila oligocarpa. 



nules deeply pinnatifid, with segms. broadest at the 

 base, ovate-oblong and sharply serrate. Tasmania and 

 Austral. 



ferpx, Presl. (A. aculeala, J. Smith). Rachises brown- 

 ish: pinnae 12-18 in. long; pinnules narrow, 3j-4 in. long, 

 J^-p^in. wide, with 15-18 pairs of segms. which are nar- 

 row and slightly serrate. Trop. Amer. 



AAA. Lvs. quadripinnalifid. 



oligocarpa, Fee. Fig. 178. Rachises smooth, grayish 

 straw-colored; pinnules lJ^-2 ft. long, the segms. ligu- 

 late, deeply pinnatifid, with blunt lobes; sori median, 

 4-6 on the lower lobes. Colombia. 



A. Baroiimba, Hort. Recently intro. Not so elegant as A. Loube- 

 tiana, but of interest for its majestic dimensions. Congo Free 

 State. A. congotnsis, Hort. Large, handsome fronds, with prom- 

 inent yellow midrib: pinnse deeply and regularly cut. A. incAna, 

 Hort. A magnificent tree fern with black spiny petioles. Congo. 

 R.B. 34:172, A. LoubetiAna, Hort. A decorative tree fern with 

 broad Ivs.: rachia hairy brown. S.H. 4:453. 



L. M. UNDERWOOD. 

 R. C. BENEDICT.! 



ALSTONIA (Dr. Alston, once professor of botany at 

 Edinburgh). Apocyndcex. Two trees of this genus are 

 introduced in southern Florida and southern California 

 for outdoor planting. 



Corolla-tube cylindrical, usually swollen at the base, 

 the parts spreading, usually twisted in the bud; an- 

 thers inclosed in the tube. Between 30 and 40 species 

 of trees or shrubs of E. India and Austral., with small 

 white fls. in terminal cymes, and simple entire Ivs. 

 in whorls or opposite. A. scholaris, R. Br., is the devil- 

 tree or pali-mara of India, the bark of which is medici- 

 nal. Trees yield caoutchouc. 



macrophylla, Wall. A tall tree, with milky juice: 

 Ivs. 6-12 in. long, 2J^-3 in. wide, oblanceolate orelliptic- 

 lanceolate, obtusely acuminate, nerves 16-20 pairs: 

 cymes numerous, the fls. small; corolla-tube glabrous, 

 the throat villous; ovary glabrous. Malaya. 



scholaris, R. Br. Tree, 50-90 ft.: Ivs. 4-8 in. long, 

 1-1 Yi in. wide, coriaceous, usually 47 in a whorl, 

 obpvate or elliptic-oblong, white beneath; with 30-60 

 veins: fls. pubescent, subcapitate, ovary hirsute. 

 Wight Icones Ind. Or. 2:422. Rheede Hort. Malab. 

 1:45. Intro, by Montarioso Nursery, Santa Barbara, 

 Calif., in 1910. Tropics. N. TAYixm.f 



ALSTRCEMERIA (Baron 

 Alstro?mer, friend of Linnaeus). 

 Amarylliilacex. ALSTREMERIA. 

 Coolhouse and stove plants, 

 with tuberous roots, treated as 

 bulbs; and some of them also 

 grown in the open for sum- 

 mer bloom. 



Showy tall or slender plants 

 with the red, purple or yellow 

 blossoms in simple or com- 

 pound umbels terminating the st.: fls. 

 small (2 in. or less long), comparatively 

 narrow, with 6 segms., parted nearly or 

 quite to the ovary, often irregular; stamens 

 mostly declined; stigma 3-cleft; sts. slender 

 and leafy, weak, or even disposed to climb, 

 arising from a root of thickened fibers. 

 Perhaps 50 species in S. Amer. There are 

 garden hybrids. The alstremerias are not 

 now very much grown. Monogr. by Baker, 

 Handbook of the Amaryllidea?. 



Some of the alstremerias have survived 

 the winters in Washington of late years 

 only when a heavy mulch has been given, 

 as A. auranliaca and its form A. aurea, A. 

 chilensis and its forms. Evidently among 

 the hardiest are A. brasiliensis and A. 

 pulchella, although some of the others have 



