1634 



HYPOLYTRUM 



HYSTRIX 



often very strong and coarse: spikelets numerous and 

 small in compound panicles that have long leafy involu- 

 cral bracts; glumes imbricate around the rachis; sta- 

 mens 3 or less: fr. a hard 3-angled nutlet. Species 25 or 

 30, in tropical and subtropical regions of both hemi- 

 spheres. Only one 

 species seems to be 

 in the trade. H. 

 Schraderianum, 

 Nees, is listed 

 abroad, apparently 

 as a greenhouse 

 plant, the Ivs., 

 "crowded in bold 

 triangular tufts, 

 green with purplish 

 red margins, trav- 

 ersed on the upper 

 surface by 2 ribs 

 running equidistant 

 from base to apex," 

 giving it a striking 

 and ornamental ef- 

 fect: panicle much 

 decompound ; spike- 

 lets obovate - ellip- 

 tic: Ivs. linear-lan- 

 ceolate, 3 - nerved , 

 the margin and 

 midnerve more or 

 less serrulate -sca- 

 brous toward the 

 apex, 2 ft. long and 

 \Yi in. or less wide: 

 culma 5-6 ft. In 

 woods and swamps, 

 Brazil. L. H. B. 



HYPOXIS (old 

 Greek name, of 

 no application to 

 these plants). Amarylliddcese. STAR-GRASS. About 50 

 species of little herbs of temperate and tropical regions, 

 with linear Ivs., hard rootstocks or corms, perianth 

 adnate to the ovary, and anthers not versatile: stem- 

 less: fls. few, on slender scapes. They are scarcely 

 known in cult., although the common species of the 

 northern states, H. hirsuta, Coville (H. erecta, Linn.), 

 Fig. 1942, is offered by dealers in native plants. The Ivs. 

 are radical, hairy, grass-like: fls. 1-6, small, star-like, 

 bright yellow, on scapes 4-10 in. tall. Give a half- 

 shady place in the rockery or border. Prop, by divi- 

 sion. Blooms in spring. Not showy, but interesting. 

 H. stellata, Linn, f., from S. Afr., is a pretty greenhouse 

 bulb, blooming in Dec.: Ivs. 4-12, glabrous, a foot or 

 less long: peduncles sometimes forked, 1-4, bearing fls. 

 white inside, and the outer segms. green-striped on the 

 back: corm globose: plant variable. L H. B. 



HYSSOPUS (ancient name; but precisely what plant 

 was the sacred Hyssop of the Jews is uncertain). 

 Labiatse. HYSSOP. A familiar plant, cultivated for 

 medicine and also for ornament in hardy borders. 



It is considered a genus of only 1 species, the numer- 

 ous synonyms being referred mostly to H. officinalis or 

 to the genus Lophanthus, 2 species of which are cult. 

 Hyssopus has entire Ivs.: Lophanthus has serrate Ivs. 

 Important generic characters of Hyssopus are the 15- 

 nerved tubular calyx, divergent stamens, upper lip 

 of corolla 2-lobed, lower 3-lobed, stamens 4, didyna- 

 mous, nutlets ovoid and smooth and somewhat 3-sided. 



1942. Hypoxis hirsuta. 



officinalis, Linn. Fig. 1943. Sts. herbaceous from a 

 woody base, slender, branched or not: Ivs. linear to 

 oblong, sessile or nearly so, acute at both ends or the 

 lower ones obtuse at the apex, 1^-2 in. long. Eu. and 

 Temp. Asia; also run wild in this country. B.M. 2299 

 (asH.orientalis). Var. alba, with white fls., is cult. Var. 

 grandiflorus, Hort., from Lake Baikal, has large open fls., 

 a diffuse habit and a lax arrangement of the whorls of fls. 



Hyssop is a hardy perennial subshrub, 18 inches tall. 

 The whole plant has a strong odor and pungent, bitter 

 taste. The green parts are used in connection with 

 wormwood and other plants in the manufacture of 

 absinthe, occasionally as a pot-herb, and as a flavoring 

 for cold-salad plants. The powdered, dried flowers are 

 similarly employed in soups. The flower-spikes are cut 

 just as the blossoms begin to open, and are dried for use 

 in domestic medicine as a stimulant and expectorant in 

 the treatment of asthma, coughs and other pulmonary 

 troubles. Hyssop is not now so highly esteemed as 

 formerly by the medical profession. 



This plant is readily propagated by seeds, cuttings 

 and plant-division. The seed, generally employed in 

 cold climates, is sown in early spring, either in drills 

 15 to 18 inches apart where the plants are to remain, or 

 broadcast in nursery beds for transplanting, 12 inches 

 apart in June or July. Propagation by cuttings and 

 by divisions may be 

 done in the autumn, 

 but better in the spring, 

 when the plants first 

 start to grow. Green- 

 wood cuttings may be 

 started in the shade in 

 the early summer. They 

 need to be well watered. 

 The soil should be a 

 light, mellow, calcareous 

 or sandy loam, with a 

 warm aspect. Culture 

 and harvesting are the 

 same as for sage, mint 

 and other herbs. The 

 beds should be renewed 

 every three or four 

 years. M. G. KAINS. 



HYSTRIX (Greek, 

 from huslrix, a porcu- 

 pine). Graminese. Peren- 

 nials with simple culms, 

 flat blades and loosely 

 fld. spikes: spikelets 2- 

 4-fld., nearly sessile, 1-3 

 together at each joint of 

 a zigzag rachis as in 

 Elymus, widely diver- 

 gent at maturity ; glumes 

 1 or 2 short awns; lem- 

 mas rigid, tapering into 

 a long awn. Species 4, 

 N. Amer. and Eurasia. 

 H. pdtula, Moench (As- 

 prella Hystrix, Willd.), 

 BOTTLE-BRUSH GRASS is 

 found in E. U. S. and is 

 sometimes used for lawn 

 decoration and for bor- 

 ders. Dept. Agric., Div. 

 Agrost. 20:168. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



1943. Hyssop. Hyssopus 

 officinalis. 



