1142 



ERYTHRONIUM 



gation: fls. bright cinnamon-red. G.C. II. 1874 (2): 

 393. G.Z. 18:64; 21, p. 2. By some, E. picta is 

 accorded specific rank and E. Parcellii is united with 

 it. Var. marmorata, Hort. (E. marmorata, Veitch), 

 has large Ivs. attractively spotted with white. G.Z. 

 24, p. 73. 



fusca, Lour. Tree-like, 8 ft., the bark fuscous 

 (brownish), bearing short prickles, the branching 

 diffuse: Ivs. unarmed; Ifts. lanceolate, entire, glabrous: 

 fls. brown-red, in terminal. racemes; calyx somewhat 

 bilabiate, the lips entire and erect; standard very long, 

 obtuse, convolute in a tube; stamens long, connate at 

 base: pod long, terete, articulate, pilose; seeds oblong. 

 Cochin-China. 



Poeppigiana, Cook (Micrdpteryx Poeppigiana, 

 Walp. E. Micrdpteryx, Poepp.). BUCARE. Used for 

 shading coffee and cacao in the W. Indies: tree 40-60 

 ft., the prickles short: Ivs. large, apparently not prickly; 

 Ifts. broad, entire, with nectaries at base of the 2 lower 

 petiolules: fls. cinnabar-red; calyx truncate; standard 

 plane, elliptic or narrow-oval, to 1% in. long; wings 

 small, about twice exceeding the calyx, obovate or 

 oval-elliptic; keel scarcely shorter than standard, 

 arctuate. Probably Peruvian.-^Offered in S. Fla. The 

 E. umbrosa of the W. Indies is probably this species. 



pod long, torulose; seeds few, large and red. Austral. G.Z., 30, p. 1. 

 E. marum, Tod. Tree, prickly: Ifts. rhombic-ovate, tomentose 

 when young, terminal one long-stalked; fls. scarlet, in many-fld. 

 short racemes, the standard obovate. Origin unknown. 



1420. Erythronium americanum. 

 (XJfl 



flabelliformis, Kearney. 

 Shrub or small tree, to 10 

 ft.: sts. velvety white 

 when young, bearing stout 

 curved prickles below the 

 If. -axils: Ivs. canescent 

 when young, usually 

 prickly; Ifts. firm, fan- 

 shaped or deltoid-ovate, 

 usually broader than long, 

 rounded at apex: fls. 

 bright scarlet, crowded in 

 short terminal racemes, 

 numerous, pedicels vel- 

 vety-canescent; calyx campanulate, truncate, usually 

 somewhat oblique, white-torn en tose; standard exceed- 

 ing the calyx, about 1% in. long, linear-oblong, nar- 

 rowed at both ends; wings and keel short: pod linear, 

 torose; seeds oval, bright scarlet with whitish hilum. 

 S. E. Ariz. Offered in S. Calif. 



E. arbdrea, Small (E. herbacea var. arborea, Chapm.). Shrub 

 or small tree, to 20 ft., armed: Ivs. with wire-like petiole and rachis; 

 Ifts. deltoid or hastately 3-lobed: fls. scarlet in racemes 4-8 in. long: 

 pod 3-5 in. long, constricted between the seeds. Fla. Likely to be 

 planted. E. bogotensis appears in a European trade list of green- 

 house plants. E. constantiana, Mich. Tree, soft, the trunk thick 

 and spiny: fls. large, scarlet, in racemes. Eu. E. inslgnis, Tod. 

 Tree, sparingly prickly: Ifts. ovate, tomentose when young: fls. 

 scarlet, in short and dense racemes. Origin unknown. Gt. 28:988. 

 E. vespertilio, Benth. Shrub, for a warm greenhouse: glabrous, 

 branches prickly: Ivs. not prickly; Ifts. broad-cuneate at base, 3 or 4 

 in. broad, usuafly 3-lobed, and the middle lobe of various shape and 

 sometimes absent: fls. showy (red?) and many in racemes; standard 

 ovate, recurved at top, nearly 1J^ in. long; wings small, oblong: 



ERYTHROCEL&TE, 



japonica. 



L. H. B. 



or ERYTHROCHLETON: Ligularia 



ERYTHRONIUM (from the Greek word for red, 

 applied to the purple-rose European species). Liliacese. 

 DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET (although in no sense a violet). 

 ADDER'S-TONGXJE. Small spring-flowering hardy scapose 

 bulbous plants. 



Erythroniums have bulbs standing erect and from 

 oblong to linear in form, 2 radical Ivs., which in most 

 species are handsomely mottled: scape slender and 

 leafless, producing from 1 to many nodding very attrac- 

 tive fls.; perianth of 6 similar divisions, usually 

 recurved; stamens 6 and a single 3-lobed style: fr. an 

 oblong or obovoid more or less 3-angled loculicidal 

 caps. Handsome plants of the north temperate zone. 

 One belongs to the Old World, 4 to E. N. Amer., 2 

 are found in the Rocky Mts., while in the cool woods 

 and high mountains from N. Calif, to the British 

 possessions the genus is represented by about 9 species 

 and a number of well-marked varieties. The species 

 are confused or variable. The first and perhaps 

 second year from seed, the plants bear a single If. 

 and do not bloom. Some of the species spread in large 

 patches, by means of underground stolons. The bulb 

 is scaly outside but with a solid interior, being really 

 a corm. 



The erythroniums are most interesting spring flowers. 

 They succeed in any light soil, particularly in partial 

 shade. In common with all herbaceous perennials, 

 especially those that produce bulbs or corms, they 

 profit by a winter mulch of leaves or litter. The west- 

 ern erythroniums are all plants of the cool woodlands, 

 except a few that grow at such altitudes as to reach 

 like conditions. They thrive best in shade, a thoroughly 

 drained soil, moist and rich in mold, a surface cover- 

 ing of half rotten leaves tending to equalize conditions. 

 Any good fibrous material, as fibrous peat, coconut 

 fiber or spent tanbark, or even well-rotted sod, will 

 answer the purpose to lighten the soil and give that 

 abundance of mold they delight in. Pockets in shaded 

 rockwork give ideal situations. They will thrive 

 naturalized on cool wooded slopes; and where the drain- 

 age is good they will thrive in grass. The leaves ripen 

 before the grass is cut and the effect is very good. Sim- 

 ply planted in boxes in a loose soil, rich in mold, and 

 left year after year in a shaded spot, they sometimes 

 give splendid bloom. E. Hartwegii flowers very early, 

 and stands more heat and dryness than any other 

 variety. E. purpurascens and E. montanum, from high 

 altitudes, tend to throw up their growth very late, and 

 are on that account rather difficult to cult. All of the 

 western species are very satisfactory garden plants. 

 The propagation of E. Dens-Canis and varieties, the 

 eastern American species and E. Hartwegii, is by 

 offsets. All of the other western species can be increased 

 only by seeds. The eastern species should be planted 

 at least 5 inches deep. When planting erythronium 

 bulbs, cover with 2 inches of earth; as the bulbs them- 

 selves may be 2 inches long, this means that the holes 

 should be 4 inches deep. 



albidum, 3. 

 albiflorum, 10. 

 album, 6. 

 americanum, 2. 

 angustatum, 2. 

 Bolanderii, 10. 

 bracteatum, 2. 

 californicum, 8. 

 citrinum, 12. 

 Dens-Canis, 1. 

 giganteum, 6, 10. 



INDEX. 



grandiflorum, 6, 10. 

 Hartwegii, 9. 

 Hendersonii, 13. 

 Howellii, 15. 

 Johnsonii, 10. 

 lanceolatum, 2. 

 longifolium, 1. 

 majus, 1. 

 mesachoreum, 4. 

 minor, 6. 

 minus, 6. 



montanum, 6, 11. 

 Nuttallianum, 6. 

 parviflorum, 7. 

 praecox, 10. 

 propullans, 5. 

 purpurascens, 14. 

 revblutum, 10. 

 rpbustum, 6. 

 sibiricum, 1. 

 Watsonii, 10. 



