916 



CUPRESSUS 



CURCULIGO 



jestica, Gord. (C. majestica, Knight). Of more vigorous 

 growth, with drooping branchlets, grayish green. 



9. lusitanica, Mill. (C. glaiica, Lam. C. pendula, 

 L'Her. C. sinensis, Hort.). Tree, to 50 ft., with spread- 

 ing branches and more or less pendulous branchlets: 

 Ivs. ovate, acutish, glaucous: cones peduncled, about 

 H m - across, covered with glaucous bloom; scales 6-8, 

 with an elongated, pointed and usually hooked boss. 

 Habitat unknown; cult, in Portugal and naturalized; 

 possibly intro. from India. 



BB. The branchlets distinctly flattened. 



10. fftnebris, Endl. (C. pendula, Lambert). Tree, to 

 60 ft., with wide-spreading, pendulous branches and 

 branchlets, branchlets flattened: Ivs. deltoid-ovate, 

 acute, light green, often slightly spreading at the apex: 

 cones short-peduncled, globose, J^-J^in. across; scales 

 8, with a short-pointed boss. China. G.C. 1850:439. 

 Gn. 28, p. 62. F.S. 6, p. 91. 



11. cashmeriana, Royle (C. torulosa var. kashmiriana, 

 Kent. C. pendula var. glaiica, Nichols.). Tree: branch- 

 lets very slender, pendulous, flattened: Ivs. rhombic- 

 ovate, spreading at the acute tips, glaucous: cones J^in. 

 across. Intro, from Kashmir. 



C. formosensis, Henry=Chamsecyparis formosensis. C. Law- 

 soniana, Murr.=Chamsecyparis Lawspniana. C. nootkat6nsis, 

 Lambert = Chamsecyparis nootkatensis. C. obthsa, Koch= 

 Chamsecyparis obtusa. C. pisifera, Koch=Chamsecyparis pisifera. 

 C. pygmsea, Sarg. (C. Goveniana var. pygmsea, Lemm.). Tree, 

 to 30 ft., often fruiting when only 1 or 2 ft. tall: branchlets rather 

 stout: Ivs. dark green, without glands: cones ovoid, %-%in. long, 

 with 6-10 scales; seeds black. Calif., Mendocino Co. S.S. 14:740. 

 C. thurifera, HBK. Tree with spreading branches: Ivs. oblong- 

 lanceolate, upright-spreading, not closely appressed: cones glo- 

 bose, about 1 in. across, with slightly mucronate scales. C. thy- 

 oides, Lmn.=Chamsecyparis thyoides. ALFRED R EHDER . 



CURATELLA (name refers to the plants being 

 used or worked: used for polishing weapons and metal) . 

 Dilleniacese. Three or 4 S. American and W. Indian 

 small trees or scandent shrubs, of which one is some- 

 times mentioned in horticultural literature. They are 

 warmhouse evergreens, with white fls. in dense pani- 

 cles. Sepals and petals 4-5; stamens many; carpels 2 

 (rarely 1), more or less cohering, follicular. C. ameri- 



1148. Curculigo latifolia. 



cana, Linn., of W. Indies and S. Amer., grows to 10 

 ft., erect, tortuous: Ivs. oval, rough on the upper side, 

 toothed: fls. malodorous, in lateral compound racemes: 

 bark wrinkled and cracked. 



CURCULIGO (Latin, curculio, weevil; referring to 

 the beak of the ovary). Amaryllidacese. Warmhouse 

 and conservatory foliage plants with the habit of a 

 young palm and an odd flower-cluster. 



Stemless herbs, with short rhizomes, radical long 

 narrow usually plicate Ivs., and small fls. in spikes or 

 clusters on short scapes that may be nearly concealed 

 at the base of the plant: perianth 6-parted, the segms. 

 spreading and about equal; stamens 6, attached at the 

 base of the segms. ; ovary 3-celled. The genus is closely 

 related to Hypoxis, but differs in its succulent indehis- 

 cent fr., and because in many species the ovary has a 

 long beak which looks like a perianth-tube, but this 

 beak is always solid, and bears on its summit the style 

 which is in the center of the perianth. Twelve species 

 in eastern and western tropics of which C. recurvata is 

 grown S. and N., being used by florists for vases, 

 jardinieres, and general decorative work, and also used 

 outdoors in summer. It is of easy cult., but requires 

 perfect drainage. It is a question to be determined 

 whether the plants mostly in cult, are C. recurvata or 



C. latifolia; the recurved dense ovoid head of fls. 

 quickly distinguishes the former species. 



The curculigos are very ornamental plants for large 

 greenhouses, where a high temperature is maintained. 

 To have them looking their best they should, if possible, 

 be planted out in a bed, where they will attain a height 

 of 5 feet. Their gracefully arching leaves are so con- 

 structed that they move continually from side to side 

 with the slightest movement of the air. The variety 

 variegata is one of the best variegated-leaved plants. 

 While not so robust as the green form, it is more 

 adapted to pot culture. The soil should be two parts 

 loam and another of rotted cow-manure and sand. 

 Drainage must be carefully arranged, as the plants need 

 an abundance of water. The green-leaved kind stands 

 the summers well in the neighborhood of Washington, 



D. C., if protected from the sun and afforded an 

 abundant supply of water. As house-plants they are 

 likely to suffer for lack of moisture. 



Propagation is by division. The pieces, before pot- 

 ting, will make new roots rapidly if placed in the sand- 

 bed of a warm propagating-house for a few days. 



recurvata, Dry. Height 2*^ ft. or more: root tuber- 

 ous: Ivs. from the root, 1-3 ft. long, 2-6 in. wide, 

 with a channeled stalk one-third or one-fourth the 

 length, the blade lanceolate, recurved, plaited: scapes 

 very rarely as long as the If .-stalks, covered with long, 

 soft brown hairs, recurved at the end, bearing a head 

 of drooping yellow fls., each %in. across; the scape is 

 frequently only 1-3 in. long, the fls. appearing almost 

 on the ground; bracts 1 to each fl. and about as long. 

 Trop. Asia, Austral. B.R. 770. (with scape abnor- 

 mally long). Var. striata, Hort., has a central band of 

 white. Var. variegata, Hort., has longitudinal bars of 

 white. 



latif&lia, Dry. Fig. 1148. Height 2-3 ft. : differs from 

 C. recurvata in having a very short-stalked erect infl., 

 the bright yellow fls. in a dense cluster near the base 

 of the plant: Ivs. lanceolate, 1-2 ft. long and 1-5 in. 

 wide, the petiole 12 in. or less: fr. 1 in. long, club- 

 shaped or pyriform, hairy, with black seeds: the plant 

 produces numerous suckers which, when removed, are 

 easily grown, and bloom in about a year; said to be 

 a beautiful and hardy house-plant, more satisfactory 

 than palms for one without a conservatory. India, 

 Malaysia. B.M. 2034. B.R. 754. L.B.C. 5:443 (as 

 C. sumatrana). Variable in foilage. 



G. W. OLIVER. 

 WILHELM MILLER. 



