CRYPTANTHUS 



CRYPTOMERIA 



903 



A. Lvs. not narrowed or petiolate above the sheath. 



acaulis, Beer (Tilldndsia acaulis, Lindl. C. undula- 

 tus, Otto & Dietr.)- A few inches high, suckering 

 freely : Ivs. sea-green, long-pointed and spreading, weak- 

 spiny: fls. white, nestling deep in the foliage. B.R. 

 1157. A very variable plant, of which Mez recognizes 

 the following leading types: 



Var. genuinus, Mez. Stemless or very nearly so : Ivs. 

 sub-elliptic-lanceolate, strongly undulate, gray-scurfy 

 beneath, scurfy above. 



Var. discolor, Mez (C. discolor, Otto & Dietr.). Stem- 

 less or nearly so: Ivs. elongated, scarcely undulate, sil- 

 very-scurfy below, glabrous or nearly so above. 



Var. riiber, Mez (C. ruber, Beer). Produces a branch- 

 ing st. or trunk : Ivs. short, strongly undulate, reddish. 



Var. bromelioides, Mez (C. bromelioides, Otto & 

 Dietr.). St. tall: Ivs. much elongated, scarcely undu- 

 late, remotely spinulose. 



Var. diversifdlius, Mez (C. diversifblius, Beer). St.- 

 bearing: Ivs. elongate-lingulate, deep green above, sil- 

 very-scurfy beneath. 



zonatus, Beer. Fig. 1120. Lvs. oblong -lanceolate, 

 the margin undulate and densely serrate-spinulose, 

 marked with transverse bands of white: fls. white. 



bivittatus, Regel (Billbergia bivittdta, Hook. B. 

 vittata, Hort.). Nearly or quite stemless: Ivs. long-ob- 

 long, curving, long-pointed, somewhat undulate, spiny, 

 dull brown beneath, green above and with 2 narrow 

 buff or reddish bars extending the length of the If. : fls. 

 white. B.M. 5270. 



AA. Lvs. narrowed or petiolate above the sJieath. 



Beftckeri, Morr. Lvs. 10-20, oblong, pointed, cana- 

 liculate at base, very finely spiny, brownish green or 

 rosy and spotted or striped with light green: fls. white. 



C. nitidus. Bull. A recent importation from Brazil, described 

 as a stemless species with sessile dark olive-green Ivs., marked 

 with a band of cream-color each side of the midrib. 



L. H. B. 



GEORGE V. NASH.f 



CRYPTOCORYNE (Greek-made name, referring to 

 the spadix being inclosed or hidden in the spathe). 

 Syn. Myriobldstus. Aracex. Aquatic or paludose 

 herbs of 20-30 species in Trop. Asia and the Malayan 

 Archipelago, rarely seen hi choice collections but 

 apparently not in the trade. They have creeping and 

 stoloniferous rhizomes, strongly ribbed oblong or linear 

 or ovate Ivs., monoecious fls. without perianth, the 

 upper ones on the spadix staminate and the lower pis- 

 tillate: spathe closed, the infl. wholly included. The 

 species require the treatment given tender arums. C. 

 ciliata, Fisch., 1 ft., Ivs. narrow, stalked: fls. fragrant 

 in a long tubular peduncled spathe which is fringed at 

 the top. C. retrospirdlis, Fisch., plant slender with 

 very narrow almost grass-like Ivs., and small spathe 

 terminating in a spiral or twist. C. Griffithii, Schott, 

 with Ivs. ovate or orbicular-oblong marked with fine 

 red lines; spathe purple. B.M. 7719. 



CRYPTOGAMS are flowerless plants, producing 

 not seeds but spores. The whole vegetable kingdom 

 was formerly thrown into two classes, the flowering 

 plants or phanerogams and the flowerless or crypto- 

 gams. Cryptogam means "concealed nuptials," and 

 phanerogam "visible nuptials." These names were 

 given when it was thought that the sexual parts of the 

 flowerless plants were very obscure or even wanting. 

 The word is now falling into disfavor with botanists. 

 Cryptogams are of less horticultural interest than the 

 flowering plants, although they include the ferns, and 

 some interesting smaller groups, as selaginellas, lyco- 

 pods or club mosses. The word cryptogam is now 

 mostly given up by botanists as representing a taxo- 

 nomic group, as the name is founded on imperfect 



or false analogies. The plants covered by this name are 

 now distributed in the great divisions of thallophytes, 

 bryophytes and pteridophytes; and the phenogams or 

 phanerogams are spoken of as spermatophytes (see 

 the categories on p. 2, Vol. L). 



CRYPTOGRAMMA (Greek, a concealed line, allud- 

 ing to the sub-marginal sori). Polypodiacese. Hardy 

 subalpine ferns of both hemispheres of interest mainly 

 to the collector. 



1120. Cryptanthus zonatus. 



Leaves of 2 sorts, the fertile Ivs. contracted and the 

 sori covered by the infolded margin of the segms., 

 forming pod-like bodies. Besides our native species, a 

 third one, C. crispa, is found in Eu., and a fourth in 

 the Himalayas. Name often incorrectly written Crypto- 

 gramme. Cult, simple. 



acrostichoides, R. Br. ROCK-BRAKE. ' Height about 8 

 in.: Ivs. numerous, 4-6 in. long, on tufted straw-colored 

 stalks, tri-quadripinnatifid, with toothed or incised 

 segms., the sporophylls with longer stalks, less divided 

 and with pod-like segms. Canada to Colo., Calif., and 

 northward. 



Stelleri, Prantl (Pellsea grdcilis, Hook. P. Stelleri, 

 Baker). SLENDER ROCK-BRAKE. Lvs. 4-10 in. long, 

 very delicate in texture, withering by Aug., few to a 

 plant, about 2 pinnate. Grown best in loose well- 

 drained leaf-mold. A rather rare rock fern of the 

 eastern states, offered by some dealers in hardy ferns. 

 Grows in crevices of cliffs, or in moss. 



R. C. BENEDICT.! 



CRYPTOLEPIS (Greek, hidden scale). Asckpiadd- 

 cese. Shrubs, erect or twining, of Trop. Asia and Afr. 

 Lvs. opposite: fls. in a loosely forking, few-fld. cyme; 

 calyx deeply 5-parted, with 5 scales at base; corolla 

 with spreading limb, the tube short-cylindrical or cam- 

 panulate, the lobes 5 and linear, spreading or deflexed 

 and twisted ; corona of 5 scales attached at or near the 

 middle of the tube: follicles terete and smooth, spread- 

 ing. Species 20. Cult, only in S. Calif, and S. Fla. 

 C. Buchananii, Roem. & Schult. A twining shrub with 

 yellow fls., resembling those of an echites: Ivs. 3-6 in. 

 long, leathery, shining above: cymes very short-stalked, 

 paniculate. India. C. longifldra, Regel. Dwarf and 

 compact growing, with long Ivs. tinted with red ; tubular 

 white fls., as in Boitvardia jasminiflora. Native coun- 

 try unknown. 



CRYPTOMERIA (Greek, kryplos, hidden, meros, 

 part; meaning doubtful). Pinacese. Ornamental ever- 

 green cultivated for its handsome habit and foliage. 



Large pyramidal tree, with a straight slender trunk, 

 covered with reddish brown bark and with verticil- 

 late spreading branches, ascending at the extremities: 

 Ivs. spirally arranged, linear-subulate, acute, slightly 

 curved, decurrent at the base: fls. monoecious; stami- 



