HERPESTIS 



1477 



Gray, occurs in dry or rocky places in Texas and 

 adjacent Mex.: 2-4 ft.: Ivs. tomentose, suborbicular 

 to oval, serrate or dentate: fls. dull scarlet or crimson. 

 H. cdndicans, Ait., is a variable species of S. Afr.: 

 erect or diffuse, tomentose: Ivs. long-petioled, elliptic 

 or ovate-oblong, obtuse, nearly entire: fls. more or 

 less tomentose, bright yellow, the petals twice as long 

 as calyx. Gn. 71, p. 15, where the name "cowslip 

 bush" is proposed, its fls. closely resembling those of a 

 small cowslip; blooms spring to fall. Other species 

 of Hermannia are likely to be mentioned in horticul- 

 tural literature. L. H. B. 



HERMINIERA (name refers to the stout thorns 

 and stamens). Leguminosse. One species, in Trop. Afr.: 

 by some included in ^Eschynomene. Fls. papilionace- 

 ous; calyx 2-lipped; standard orbicular, short-clawed; 

 wings about equaling the standard, obliquely obovate; 

 keel broad, obtuse or somewhat beaked : pod linear and 

 nearly flat, curved spirally, separating at the square 

 articulations. H. Elaphroxylon, Guill. & Perr. (jEschy- 

 nomene Elaphroxylon, Taub.), the ambash or pith-tree 

 of the upper Nile and beyond, may possibly be planted 

 somewhere in our region: erect thorny shrub, to 20 ft.: 

 Ivs. bristly; Ifts. 10-20 pairs, J/in. or less long, linear- 

 oblong: fls. bright orange, subcorymbose, the peduncles 

 bristly; standard \ 1 A in. broad. G.W. 14, p. 605. It 

 grows in wet places, sometimes choking streams. 



L. H. B. 



HERMODACTYLUS (Greek, Mercury's or Hermes' 

 fingers; from the arrangement of the tubers). Iridaceae. 

 SNAKE'S-HEAD IRIS. A hardy tuberous plant closely 

 allied to Iris, the fls. purplish black and green, of a 

 quaint and peculiarly attractive beauty. The plant is 

 procurable from European growers. The genus differs 

 from Iris in the 1-celled ovary with 3 parietal placentae ; 

 Iris has a 3-celled ovary: rootstocks digitate. One 

 species, S. France to Greece. Cult, of the tuberous 

 irises. Flowers April, May. 



tuberSsus, Salisb. (Iris tuber 'dsa, Linn.). Tubers 2-4, 

 about 1 in. long: st. 1-fld., 1 ft. or more high: Ivs. 2-3, 

 glaucous, 4-angled, 1-2 ft. long: spathe usually with 

 only 1 large lanceolate valve: outer perianth-segms. 

 2 in. long, black-purple; inner ones green. April. B.M. 

 531. F.S. 11:1083. G.C. II. 23:672. H. longifblius, 

 Sweet, is a form, according to Baker, with Ivs. 3-4 ft. 

 long; and H. bispathdceus, Sweet, a form with 2 valves 

 in the spathe. H. tuberosus is sometimes called the 

 "widow iris" or "mourning iris," from its fls. of apple- 

 green and velvet-black. j N. GERARD. 



L. H. B.f 



HERNANDIA (Francisco Hernandez, physician to 

 Philip II of Spain, traveled in West Indies and Mexico, 

 1593-1600, and wrote on natural history of Mexico). 

 Hernandidcese, formerly included in Laurdcese. JACK- 

 iN-A-Box. Ornamental trees, grown chiefly for their 

 large handsome foliage. 



Evergreen: Ivs. alternate, long-petioled, often pel- 

 tate, entire, 3-7-nerved, without stipules: fls. monoe- 

 cious, small, in loose terminal corymbs or panicles; the 

 extreme branches terminated by 3-fld. cymes with a 

 4-5-leaved involucre at the base; their central fls. pis- 

 tillate and sessile, the lateral staminate and stalked; 

 pistillate fls. with a lobed cupula; sepals 8-10; ovary 

 inferior, 1-ovuled; style short, with a large lobed stig- 

 ma; staminate fls. with 3-4 stamens shorter than the 

 6-8 sepals: fr. globose, ribbed, indehiscent, inclosed in 

 an inflated often colored involucre. Eight species in 

 the tropics. 



These are handsome trees with large glossy foliage 

 and with small yellowish or greenish white flowers in 

 terminal corymbs followed by yellowish or whitish 

 subglobose or ovoid fruits. H. sonora is much used in 

 Europe for subtropical bedding, and produces a juice 

 that removes hairs from the face without pain. H. 



ovigera is cultivated in southern California by Frances- 

 chi, who says it has light green, glossy leaves with a 

 red spot in the center, and large, whitish, egg-shaped 

 fruits. Propagation by cuttings of half-ripened wood 

 under glass, which root easily with bottom heat. 



son6ra, Linn. Tree, to 60 ft. : Ivs. chartaceous, ovate 

 to oblong-ovate, usually peltate, or cordate at the base, 

 acuminate, entire, glabrous, penninerved, 7-12 in. 

 long: corymbs grayish tomentulose; fls. yellowish, ^in. 

 across; stamens 3-4; filaments with 1 gland at the base: 

 fr. ovoid, yellow, about 1 in. long. W. Indies. The 

 similar H. Moorenhoutiana, Guill., from the Pacific 

 islands, has smaller, more coriaceous, palmately 3-5- 

 nerved Ivs. and larger fls. Min. across. B.M. 5839. 



ovigera, Linn. Tree, to 40 ft. : Ivs. coriaceous, broadly 

 ovate to ovate-oblong, not peltate, acuminate, sub- 

 cordate at the base, palmately 7-nerved, glabrous, 

 4-7 in. long: corymbs grayish tomentulose; filaments 

 with 2 glands at the base: fr. whitish, subglobose, about 

 1 in. long. Trop. Asia and Afr. ALFRED REHDER. 



HERNIARIA (Greek; supposed to cure hernia or 

 rupture). Caryophylldcese. HERNIARY. RUPTURE-WORT. 

 Trailing or sprawling little small-leaved herbs, one of 

 which is grown as a carpeter. 



Herniaria has about 15 species, scattered from the 

 Canaries to W. Asia, but all grow in sandy places, 

 chiefly near the sea. It has no near allies of much 

 garden value, but 2 species of Paronychia are cult, for 

 the same purpose and are easily distinguished by gen- 

 eral appearance. Herniaria and Paronychia are alike in 

 their 5-parted perianth and 2 stigmas, but in Herniaria 

 the segms. are blunt, while in Paronychia they are 

 hooded near the apex and have a horn or small sharp 

 point on the back near the apex. Herniaria is composed 

 of annuals or perennials with roots of short duration, 

 and they are all much branched, trailing plants, either 

 glabrous or hirsute: Ivs. opposite, alternate or clustered, 

 small, entire: fls. minute, crowded in the axils; sepals, 

 petals and stamens 5: seed solitary. 



glabra, Linn. Lvs. obovate, rarely orbicular, glabrous 

 except a few hairs at edges, which are usually recurved : 

 fls. small arid green, in a leafy spike or the lower ones 

 at considerable intervals. July, Aug. Eu., Asia. A 

 hardy herbaceous perennial which grows about 2 hi. 

 high and produces inconspicuous greenish fls. in sum- 

 mer. It makes a dense mat of moss-like foliage, which 

 turns a deep bronzy red in winter. It is much used in 

 carpet-bedding and to a less extent in rockeries and for 

 edgings of hardy borders. Recommended for covering 

 graves. It thrives in the poorest soils, makes a solid 

 covering, and is by some regarded as one of the most 

 valuable of hardy trailers. Prop, by division or seed. 

 Grows wild in England, and is kept in many large col- 

 lections of hardy plants. H. hirsftta, Linn., Eu., has 

 narrow hirsute Ivs.: sometimes planted. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



HERPESTIS (name refers to the creeping habit of 

 some species). Scrophularidcese. About 60 herbs, mostly 

 of warm and tropical parts of the world, 1 or 2 of which 

 may be transferred to cult, grounds now and then. The 

 name Herpestis is now given up by systematic botanists, 

 the "nomina conservanda" of the Vienna code using 

 Aublet's Bacopa for the genus and others adopting P. 

 Browne's Monniera or Lamarck's Bramia. Allied to Mim- 

 ulus, but differs in short corolla and in unequally toothed 

 calyx: low herbs, blooming in summer, sometimes 

 rather succulent: Ivs. opposite: fls. small, peduncled, 

 mostly solitary in the axils, blue, purple or white; 

 corolla 2-lipped or nearly regular; stamens 4, didyna- 

 mous, not protruding; style slender; stigma 2-lobed or 

 capitate. H. Monnieria, HBK., or Bacopa Monnieria, 

 Wettst., grows near the sea and along river-banks, Md. 

 to Texas and south: glabrous, creeping, perennial, 

 somewhat fleshy: Ivs. spatulate to cuneate, entire or 



