426 



ASYSTASIA 



ATALANTIA 



5797. A beautiful plant, rarely seen, and thought to 

 be difficult to manage; but it seems to flower readily 

 in fall in our climate, if rested during the previous 

 winter and brought on in the summer. Prop, by cut- 

 tings of firm wood in spring or summer. Young plants 

 in small pots often bloom well. 



A. coromandeli&na, Nees (A. comprensis, Bojer. A. violacea, 

 Dalz. Justicia gangetica, Linn.). Zigzag sub-shrub: Ivs. ovate* 

 cordate, wavy: fls. purple, nearly sessile, in 6-10-fld. raceme. 

 India. B.M. 4248. P.M7 14:125. F.S. 2:179. A. scdndens. Lindl. 

 (Henfreya scandens, Lindl.). Climbing: Ivs. obovate to ovate, 

 thick, entire: fls. large, yellow, white and blush, in a thyrse. Afr. 

 B.M. 4449. B.R. 33:31. F.S. 3:231. L H B 



ATACCIA: Tacca. 



ATALANTIA (Atalantia, one of the Hesperides). 

 Rutacex, tribe Citrex. Woody plants, now receiving 

 attention in America as stocks for cit- 

 rus fruits, and as possible parents in 

 breeding new forms of such fruits. 



Small trees or shrubs, usually spiny, 

 with persistent coriaceous simple Ivs. 

 having prominent netted veins and 

 wingless or very narrowly winged 

 petioles jointed at base of If. : fls. usu- 

 ally pentamerous, with the stamens 

 free or united into a tube, twice as 

 numerous as the petals; ovary 35- 

 celled, with 1 or 2 ovules in each cell: 

 fr. like a small orange with a lemon- 

 like skin. In the typical species, the 

 pulp -vesicles fill the segms., but in 

 some dry-fruited species they are 

 rudimentary; these species constitute 

 the subgenus Rissoa. Twelve or 15 

 species are known, ranging from India 

 through the Malayan peninsula to 

 Austral. 



432. 



Leaf of Atalantia 

 citrioides. (Xf) 



A. Subgenus Euatalantia. Cells of fr. 

 lined with pulp-vesicles. 



monophylla, DC. (Limbnia monophylla, Roxbg., not 

 Linn.). A large shrub or small tree, native to India, 

 Ceylon, Burma, Siam and Indo-China, usually spiny: 

 Ivs. glabrous, or sometimes pubescent, 1-3 in. long; 

 petioles short, slightly or not at all winged: fls. borne in 

 axillary panicles; calyx irregularly lobed, split to the 

 base on one side; petals usually 4, stamens 8, the fila- 

 ments connate and forming a completely closed tube; 

 ovary 3-5-celled: fr. from l A~ 3 Am. diam., with a skin 

 like a lime, globose, with several cells (generally 4), each 

 usually containing 1 seed and filled with pulp-vesicles, 

 making the fr. much like a miniature orange. India, 

 Ceylon, farther India. 111. Roxbg. PI. Corom., pi. 83. 

 Wight, Icones, pi. 1611. Engl. in Engl. and Prantl. 

 Nat. Planzenf. III. 4:191; fig. Ill, C.D. This tree, 

 still little known outside of India and Ceylon, is the 

 type of the genus Atalantia, and one of 

 the promising species for trial as a 

 stock on which to graft other citrus 

 frs., and also for use in breeding new 

 types of citrus frs. The frs. yield 

 an oil which in India is considered 

 a valuable application in chronic 

 rheumatism. 



macrophylla, Kurz. (A. monophylla 

 var. macrophylla, Oliver). A small or 

 medium-sized tree, native to the Anda- 

 man Isls. and Burma, having ovate- 

 elliptical emarginate lys. lJi-4 in. long and 1-2 J^ in. 

 broad: fls. on short axillary racemes; calyx irregularly 

 lobed, split to the base on one side as in A. monophylla; 

 stamens connate and forming a tube: fr. large, said to 

 reach lJ^-2 in. diam. Andaman Isls., Burma, Malay 

 Peninsula, Bangka Isl. Little known and is chiefly in- 

 teresting because of the large size of its frs. Kurz, in his 

 "Forest Flora of British Burma," says of this species: 



433. Cross- 

 section of ovary 

 of Atalantia 

 citrioides. (XI) 



"Berries globose, the size of a wood-apple, glabrous," 



and gives the size of the wood-apple as !J--2 in. 



diam. A tree brought from the island of Bangka, east 



of Sumatra, and now growing at the Botanical Gar- 



dens at Buitenzorg, Java, is considered by Hochreu- 



tiner to belong 



to this species. 



It is of remark- 



able size, being a 



beautiful round- 



topped tree 40 



ft. high with a 



deeply furrowed 



trunk 6 ft. in cir- 



cumf eren ce, 



forking at 3 ft. 



from the ground 



and branching profusely at 



63^10 ft. No other species of 



Atalantia is known to reach 



this size or to bear frs. so large. 



This species is of unusual in- 



terest for trial as a stock and 



also for hybridizing with other 



citrus frs. 



citrioides, Pierre. A small 

 tree native to Indo-China, usu- 

 ally spiny, having glabrous 

 emarginate oval Ivs. 2-3^ in. 434 . Atalant ~ a ce yio n ic. 

 long (Fig. 432): calyx cup- (x j 



shaped, not split to the base; 



stamens connate, forming a tube; ovary usually 3- or 

 4-celled: fr. resembles a small orange about %m. diam., 

 with a roughened glandular skin; cells filled with pulp- 

 vesicles and contain usually a single seed about 



long (Fig. 433). 111. H. Lecomte Fl. gen. de 1'Indo- 

 Chine, Vol. I, pi. 24, fig. C. 5, 6. This interesting 

 species is native to Cochin China and Cambodia and 

 has recently been intro. into this country, where it will 

 be tested as a stock and for breeding purposes. Its close 

 relationship to Citrus is shown by the fact that it grows 

 well when grafted on grapefruit. 



racemdsa, Wight. A shrub or small tree, differing 

 from A. monophylla chiefly in having a regular calyx 

 not split down one side. S. India, Ceylon. 111. Hook. 

 J. bot. Vol. I, pi. 122: Wight, Icones, pi. 71. 



AA. Subgenus, Rissoa, n. subg., named for A. Risso, b. 

 Nice, 1777, d. 1845, a well-known writer on citrus 

 frs. Rissoa, Arnott, 1836 as a genus. Like Eu- 

 atalantia, but with dry frs., the cells being nearly 

 filled with 1 or S large seeds; pulp-vesicles rudi- 

 mentary and greatly reduced in number. 



ceylonica, Oliver (Rissba ceyldnica, Am.). Fig. 434. 

 A much-branched spiny shrub or small tree native to 

 Ceylon and India: Ivs. lanceolate emarginate, 1J4-3 in. 

 long: fls. borne in crowded cymes; calyx not split on one 

 side; stamens free, alternate ones longer; ovary usually 

 2-celled with 2 ovules in each cell: frs. about J^-Jiin. 

 diam.j dry, having only rudimentary pulp- vesicles; 

 containing from 2-4 very large rounded seeds. Ceylon. 



This species is of interest chiefly for trial as a stock, 

 since its large seeds would be likely to produce very 

 vigorous seedlings. The dry fr. renders it unpromising 

 for breeding purposes. The figure is from a specimen 

 grown at the Hope Garden, Jamaica. 



Guillauminii, Swingle. A small spiny tree, 10-13 ft. 

 high: young branches angular and pubescent: Ivs. oval, 

 more or less pointed at both ends, 2-4 in. long: fls. 

 unknown: frs. %-l in. diam., 3-celled, 2 large seeds 

 in each cell, pulp-vesicles rudimentary. Tonkin. 111. 

 Notulae systematica. H. Lecomte, Vol. II, p. 162, fig. 1. 



A little-known species, interesting on account of its 

 large frs. Because of its large seeds, it should yield 

 vigorous seedlings. 



