EICHHORNIA 



EL^AGNUS 



1105 



rounded (or rarely lanceolate), the petioles in some 

 species much inflated and acting as buoys: fls. in a 

 spike or panicle, the scape 1-1 vd.; perianth funnel- 

 shape with a long or short tube; stamens 6, attached 

 unequally in the tube, part of them exserted; ovary 

 sessile, 3-celled; style filiform: fr. a caps, contained in 

 the withering perianth, ovoid to linear. About a half- 

 dozen species in S. Amer., one reaching Afr. 



This genus includes the water hyacinth (see Fig. 

 1384), the famous "million-dollar weed" that obstructs 

 navigation in the St. John's River, Florida, and is a 

 source of wonder and delight in every collection of 

 tender aquatics in the North. The curious bladders 

 made by the inflation of the petioles help the plant 

 to float freely. About flowering time the plant sends 

 down anchoring roots which, if the water be only 3 or 

 4 inches deep, penetrate the soil. The true hyacinths 

 belong in an allied family (Liliace*); the pickerel 

 weed, in the allied genus Pontederia, the ovary of which 

 by abortion is one-celled, and each cell one-ovuled, 

 while Eichhornia is three-celled and many-ovuled. 

 The plants of this family have been greatly confused 

 botanically, partly because the fugacious, membra- 

 nous flowers are not well preserved in dried specimens, 

 and partly because of variation in form of leaves, 

 depending upon whether the plants grow in deep or 

 shallow water, or in mud. The common water hya- 

 cinth sends out two kinds of roots, the horizontal ones 

 often thick and fleshy, and apparently for reproductive 

 purposes, the vertical ones long, slender, and clothed 

 with innumerable small, horizontal fibers. 



The flowers are most beautiful, and the plant is 

 worthy of special cultivation. It is often called a water- 

 orchid, being of such delicate coloring and texture. 

 The plants must be more or less stationary although it 

 is a floating plant, for they will not flower when drifted 

 about by any light breeze or where the water is 2 or 

 more feet deep as is often the case where nymphseas are 

 grown. A depth of 9 to 12 inches of water is sufficient 

 with a guard to keep the plants in bounds. Good soil 

 underneath is necessary so that the plants will derive 

 some nourishment. They will grow rapidly and flower 

 profusely all through the season, and it may be 

 necessary to thin out the plants, for when too crowded 

 the petioles will become elongated and the plants 

 unsightly. They can also be grown in a tub or tank 

 observing the same method of culture. Propagated by 

 division. (Wm. Tricker.) 



A. Lf. -stalks inflated: inner perianth-segms. not 

 serrated. 



crassipes, Solms (E. specidsa, Kunth. Pontederia 

 crdssipes, Mart.). Fig. 1384. Lvs. in tufts, all con- 

 stricted at the middle, bladder-like below, sheathed, 

 many-nerved: scape 1 ft. long, with wavy-margined 

 sheaths at and above the middle; fls. about 8 in a loose 

 spike, pale violet, 6-lobed, the upper lobe larger and hav- 

 ing a large patch of blue, with an oblong or pear-shaped 

 spot of bright yellow in the middle; stamens 3 long and 

 3 short, all curved upward toward the tip. Brazil. 

 B.M.2932 (as Pontederia azurea). I.H. 34:14. A.F. 

 5:511. Var. major, Hprt., has rosy lilac fls. Var. 

 afcrea, Hort., has yellowish fls. 



AA. Lf. -stalks not inflated: inner perianth-segms. 

 beautifully serrate. 



azurea, Kunth. Lvs. on long or short not-inflated 

 petioles, very variable in size and shape : scape often as 

 stout as the If.-stalk, gradually dilated into a hooded 

 spathe; fls. scattered or crowded in pairs along a stout, 

 hairy, sessile rachis; perianth bright pale blue, hairy 

 outside, inner segms. beautifully toothed, the upper a 

 trifle larger, with a heart-shaped spot of yellow, which 

 is margined with white. Brazil. B.M. 6487. G.C. II. 

 25:17. I.H. 34:20. R.H. 1890:540. One plant will 

 become 5 or 6 ft. across in a season. 



E. pamculAta, Spreng. Fls. in a compound spike or panicle, 2- 

 Iipped, purple and blue and with large white spots: Iva. long- 

 petioled, cordate-acuminate, without petiole bladders: st. 12-18 in 

 often several. B.M. 5020 (as E. tricolor). 



WILHELM MILLER. 



EL^EAGNUS (ancient Greek name, meaning a kind 

 of willow; from elaios, olive). Elxagnacex. Shrubs and 

 small trees, grown chiefly for their handsome foliage 

 and for their ornamental fruits, edible in a few species. 



Deciduous or evergreen, sometimes spiny: Ivs. alter- 

 nate, short-petioled, entire, clothed more or less with 

 silvery or brownish scales: fls. axillary, solitary or in 

 clusters, apetalous, perfect; perianth campanulate or 

 tubular, 4-lobed; stamens 4, included, on very short 

 filaments: fr. a 1-seeded drupe. About 40 species in 

 S. Eu., Asia and N. Amer. Monograph by Servettaz 

 in Bot. Centralblatt, Beihefte 25, pt. 2:1-128 (1908). 



1384. Eichhornia crassipes. 



These are highly ornamental shrubs with handsome 

 foliage and mostly decorative fruits; the flowers are 

 inconspicuous, but mostly fragrant. Some of the 

 deciduous species, as E. argentea, E. multiflora and E. 

 umbellata, are hardy North, while the evergreen ones 

 are hardy only South. A distinct feature of some 

 species, as E. argentea, E. angustifolia arid E. parvifolia, 

 is the conspicuous silvery hue of their foliage, while 

 E. multiflora and E. umbellata are the most ornamental 

 in fruit. 



They grow in almost any well-drained soil, including 

 limestone, and prefer sunny position. Propagation is 

 "by seeds which do not germinate until the second year 

 and ought tp.be stratified and sown the second spring, 

 and by cuttings of mature and half-ripened wood; also 

 sometimes increased by layers and by root-cuttings; 

 varieties and rarer kinds can be grafted on seedlings 

 of vigorous-growing species. 



pungens, 7. 

 reflexa, 7. 

 rotundifolia, 4. 

 Simoni, 7. 

 spinosa, 1. 

 tricolor, 7. 

 umbellata, 2, 3. 

 variegata, 7. 



A. Lvs. deciduous. 



B. Winter-buds and Ivs. beneath and usually the branch- 

 lets silvery white, without any brown scales. 

 1. angustifdlia, Linn. (E. hortensis, Bieb.). OLEAS- 

 TER. Shrub or small tree, to 20 ft., sometimes spiny: 



