CERATOPTERIS 



CERCIDIPHYLLUM 



719 



CERATOPTERIS (Greek, horned fern). Ceratop- 

 teridacese. Very succulent tropical ferns, forming also a 

 distinct family. They are the only truly aquatic plants 

 among true ferns and grow floating or rooted under 

 water in the mud or sometimes only occasionally 

 flooded. The Ivs. are borne in rosettes, the sterile 



879. Ceratopteris pteridoides. ( X JlD 



spreading, often floating, the fertile more erect, 2-4- 

 pinnate, with very slender rolled-up pod-like segms.: 

 sporangia very large, borne separately along the veins 

 and covered by the revolute margins somewhat as in 

 Pteris. Species very few. Best grown by planting in 

 pots, slightly submerged. Reproduced by buds which 

 arise from all parts of the Ivs. New plants must be 

 developed each season. Useful in ponds and aquaria. 



pteridoides, Hook. Fig-. 879. Sterile Ivs. broadly 

 deltoid, short-stalked, the margins irregularly lobed, 

 floating; the fertile Ivs. taller, completely divided into 

 long whip-like segms.: sporangia with a very small 

 annulus, and containing 32 spores. Fla. to S. Amer. 



thalictroides, Brongn. Sterile Ivs. narrowly deltoid, 

 long-stalked, 1-2 pinnatifid into deltoid segms. not 

 floating; fertile Ivs. similar but with linear segms.: 

 annulus well developed. Old World tropics. 



R. C. BENEDICT. 



CERATO STIGMA (Greek, horned stigma). Plum- 

 baginacese. Diffuse glabrous perennial herbs or sub- 

 shrubs, one of which is in cultivation as a bedding and 

 border plant. 



Ceratostigma differs from Plumbago in having no 

 glands on the calyx, stamens adnate to the corolla- 

 tube, fls. in dense clusters rather than spicate, and other 

 technical characters: Ivs. alternate, lanceolate or 

 obovate, more or less ciliate: fls. mostly in terminal 

 heads, blue or rose; calyx tubular, deeply 5-parted, the 

 lobes narrow; corolla salver-shaped, the tube long and 

 slender, the limb spreading and with 5 obovate obtuse 

 or retuse lobes; stamens 5, attached on the corolla- 

 tube: fr. a 5-valved caps, inclosed in the calyx. Species 

 4 or 5, in N. China, Himalayas, Abyssinia. 



plumbaginoides, Bunge (Plumbago Ldrpentae, Lindl. 

 Valorddia plumbaginoides, Boiss.). Herb, 6-12 in., the 

 st. red and branchy: Ivs. entire, strongly ciliate on 

 the edges: fls. with a deep blue limb, the 5 lobes mi- 

 nutely toothed, collected in dense heads or umbels. 

 China. B.M. 4487. F.S. 4:307. A hardy bedding 

 plant, producing profusely of its deep blue fls. late in 

 fall; very valuable. Needs covering in winter in the N. 



subject. L jj g 



CERATOTHECA (Greek for horned capsule). Peda- 

 lidcese. Tropical African glasshouse herbs. 



Leaves opposite, ovate: calyx 5-parted; corolla 2- 

 lipped, the lower lip very long in proportion to the 

 upper: fls. in pairs in the axils: caps. 2-horned. Five 

 species. C. triloba, Mey., is occasionally grown in S. 



Fla., and it may be adapted to glasshouses. It is a tall 

 herb (5 ft.), with the habit of foxglove, probably bien- 

 nial, hairy and rather fleshy : lower Ivs. stalked, broadly 

 ovate or almost round, the upper sometimes broadly 

 angular and even 3-lobed, both kinds crenate-dentate: 

 corolla 3 in. long, blue or violet-blue, pubescent, de- 

 flexed, the lower lobe prolonged. Handsome. B.M. 

 6974. Could be grown in temperate house N. in sandy 



loam - N. TAYLOR.f 



CERATOZAMIA (Greek, horned Zamia; referring to 

 the horned scales of the cones, which distinguish this 

 genus from Zamia). Cycaddceae. Handsome Mexican 

 foliage plants, with cycas-like leaves, but less culti- 

 vated in American palm-houses than Cycas. 



Trunk erect in age, crowned by a whorl of pinnate 

 cycas-like Ivs. which are petiolate and unarmed: 

 fls. in cones borne from among the Ivs., the 

 cones often stalked: seeds rare and little known. 

 Six species. Best raised from young imported 

 plants, but rarely prop, by seeds, or by offsets 

 from the slow-growing trunk. Burn out the cen- 

 ter of the plant with a hot iron, and a number 

 of offsets will spring from the trunk and the 

 crown; these may be used for prop. 



mexicana, Brongn. Fig. 880. Trunk thick, short, 

 covered with the remains of fallen If .-stalks: Ivs. rich, 

 dark green, pinnate, on prickly petioles 5-6 in. long, 

 which are shaggy when young; Ifts. very numerous, 6- 

 12 in. long or more, lanceolate: cones produced annually 

 on separate plants; female cones 9-12 in. long, 4-6 in. 

 thick, the scales 2-horned ; male cones narrower, longer, 

 on a hairy stalk, the scales with 2 small teeth. Mex. 

 Gn. 9, pp. 308-9. An excellent decorative plant, best 

 grown in sandy loam. Give freely of water and heat 

 in spring and summer, but keep cooler and drier in 

 winter. Somewhat tender although grown ia Cent. 

 Fla. 



C. Miquelidna, Wendl. A plant with 2<>-30 pairs of Ifts. and a 

 If. -stalk 18 in. long: fr. not known certainly. Cult, in botanic 

 gardens and worthy of wider use. Mex. and W. Indies. 



N. TAYLOR, f 



CERCZDIPHYLLUM (Cercis and phyllon, leaf; the 

 Ivs. resemble those of Cercis). Trochodendrdcese. Tree 

 grown for its handsome foliage and habit. 



Leaves deciduous, usually opposite, petioled and 

 palmately nerved: fls. dioecious, inconspicuous, apeta- 

 lous, solitary; staminate nearly sessile, bearing numer- 

 ous stamens with slender filaments; pistillate pedicelled, 



880. Ceratozamia mexicana. Young plant (fertile). 



