430 



AUCUBA 



AURICULA 



dentate, bright green, dull. Differently colored frs. 

 distinguish the following forms: Var. luteocarpa, Rehd. 

 (A.luteo-cdrpa, Dombrain) with yellow fr. F.M. 1872: 

 12. Var. leucocarpa, Matsum. & Nakai, with white 

 fr. A. crani/Alia, once offered in American trade, is 

 probably a form of A. japonica. To indicate whether a 

 certain form is a staminate or a fruit-bearing plant, 

 mascula or femina (foemina) is often added to the 

 varietal name. 



A. chintnsis, Benth. Lvs. lanceolate to nearly obpvate, entire 

 or toward the apex sharply dentate, sharply acuminate: petals 

 finely and long-acuminate; panicle with scattered short and stiff 

 hairs. China. A. himalAica, Hook. f. & Thorns. (A. japonica var. 

 himalaica, Dipp. ). Lvs. usually lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 entire or dentate, sharply and long-acuminate: panicles densely 

 hairy; petals long and finely acuminate: fr. orange to scarlet. E. 

 Himalayas. F.S.12:1271. I.H.6:197. A LFRED REHDER. 



AUDIBERT1A (M. Audibert, of Provence). Labiatse. 

 Including Rambna. Perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, 

 sometimes grown for bees and in ornamental plantings. 



Ten species all from W. U. S. mostly from Calif., 

 related to Salvia, but differing in the calyx being more 

 deeply cleft in front, and in being almost spathaceous: 

 Ivs. opposite, usually rugose, sage-like: fls. axillary or 

 terminal, not unlike 

 those of Salvia offici- 

 nalis; corolla with 

 upper lip spreading, 

 2-lobed or emargi- 

 nate. 



grandiflora, Benth. 

 St. villous, glandular, 

 1-3 ft. high: Ivs. woolly beneath; lower 

 Ive. hastate, obtuse, 3-8 in. long, 

 coarse; bracts crowded, conspicuous: 

 fls. 1-1 J^ in. long, red or crimson-pur- 

 ple, in dense, showy clusters. Calif. 

 Prized for bees. 



incana, Benth. St. woody, tomen- 

 tose-canescent, leafy: Ivs. spatulate or 

 obovate, obtuse or retuse, not rugose, 

 scarcely 1 in. long; bracts obovate, ciliate, purple- 

 tinged: corolla Hin- long, rarely slightly longer, pale 

 blue. Wash, to Ariz. B.R. 1469. jj. TAYLOR. 



AURfCULA (Primula Auricula, Linn.). Fig. 440. A 

 European perennial, sending up short scapes, bearing 

 flowers of many colors. It is one of the most famous of 

 florists' flowers, but it has never received the attention 

 in this country that it has in Europe. Our summers are 

 generally too hot for it. In this country generally 

 treated as a greenhouse plant; but it is hardy, and in the 

 Old World is grown largely in frames. See Primula. 



Auriculas grow wild in the mountainous districts of 

 Switzerland, Austria, Syria, and the Caucasus; there- 

 fore they are generally regarded as alpine plants, but 

 like many other alpines, they have proved to be excel- 

 lent subjects for cool greenhouse culture as well as for 

 rock- or alpine-garden culture. In their native habitats, 

 some plants are heavily powdered with a fine mealy 

 substance called "farina, while others are perfectly 

 destitute of it. Under cultivation, also, they show this 

 same characteristic. This has caused fanciers to divide 

 them into two sections; those covered with farina, 

 called show auriculas, and those destitute of it, termed 

 alpine auriculas. The show auriculas have received the 

 most attention at the hands of fanciers. Their flowers 

 are large, and present more combinations in variety of 

 color than the alpine section, and since rains mar their 

 beautiful farina-covered leaves and flowers, they are 

 by far best adapted to greenhouse culture. Like all 

 primulas, the flowers are tubular and borne in erect 

 trusses well above the foliage. Well-grown plants will 

 produce strong trusses with often as many as twenty 

 "pips" or individual flowers. Such a number cannot 

 fully develop, consequently they should be thinned out 



and only eight or nine flowers allowed to develop on 

 each truss. The tube of the flowers of show auriculas is 

 usually white, with a circle of maroon, violet, plum or 

 chocolate-color above and a margin of green, gray, 

 white, or yellow. In what are called "selfs," the circle 

 of chocolate-maroon, or violet, extends to the edges of 

 the flowers. They are usually very sweet-scented. Alpine 

 auriculas are best adapted for growing in the rock- or 

 alpine-garden since the leaves and flowers are (lest itute of 

 farina. This section does not exhibit as large a variety 

 of color in the flowers. The tube of the corolla is usually 

 yellow or cream-color with a margin of 

 maroon or purple which shades off toward 

 the edges. The culture given below is the 

 same for both sections except that the 

 alpine section should be planted on the 

 north side of the rock-garden in October, 

 where they will flower the following spring. 

 Auriculas may 

 be propagated by 

 seed for general 

 purposes and for 

 the production of 

 new varieties, but 

 to perpetuate very 

 choice varieties it 

 is necessary to 

 propagate either 

 by offsets or divi- 

 sion of the plants. 

 Seed should be 

 sown in shallow 

 pans or 4-inch pots 

 early in March, so 

 that the seedlings will be well 

 developed before very warm 

 weather sets in. The soil used 

 in the seed-pans should be very 

 light and sandy, the surface 

 should be made smooth, and 

 the seeds then pressed lightly 

 into the soil, after which a light covering of sand 

 should be given, and the pans placed in a temperature 

 of 60 until they have germinated, which usually takes 

 from three to four weeks; pans should then be removed 

 to a light position, shaded from direct sunlight, in a 

 rather lower temperature, to induce a stocky growth. 

 As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle con- 

 veniently, they should be pricked off into other pans or 

 shallow boxes containing a mixture of three parts leaf- 

 mold and one part sifted loam and clean silver-sand. 

 Watering should be carefully attended to, and every- 

 thing done to promote active growth, so that, if possible, 

 the plants may be large enough to require a second 

 shift into other boxes, similarly prepared, by the end of 

 June. Auricula seedlings go through the hottest months 

 much better in boxes than in pots, as they can be kept 

 more evenly moist. For their summer quarters, a 

 wooden frame placed on sifted coal-ashes on the north 

 side of a building or wall, or almost any position in 

 which they will be sheltered from the sun and still receive 

 plenty of light, should be given them. The frame should 

 be provided with sash, which should be kept over the 

 plants most of the time, giving air in abundance in 

 favorable weather, and during the warmest weather the 

 whole frame should be raised by placing a brick under 

 each corner, so as to allow a good circulaton of air 

 among the plants. About the second week in Septem- 

 ber the young plants should be potted, using a compost 

 of two parts good fibrous loam, one part leaf-mold, and 

 one part well decayed cow- or sheep-manure, with a 

 little sand added. The frame should be kept a little 

 close for a few days after potting, and from this time 

 care must be taken not to wet the foliage in watering. 

 The plants may remain in the frame until danger of 

 freezing, when they should be transferred to a cool 



439. Aucuba japonica var. variegata. ( X 



