LITCHI 



1893 



In India, layering is often practised, the outer ends of 

 branches being laid across flats of soil suspended upon 

 a light framework of poles. After a notch is made in 

 the under side of the branch, it is covered with soil for a 

 distance of several inches, and kept moist by frequent 

 waterings. Inarching is also practised, the method 

 being the same as for the mango. Seedling litchis are 

 generally used for stocks. The litchi can be grafted on 

 its near relative the longan (Euphoria Longana), but it 

 takes a longer time to effect a union, and it is believed 

 that the tree grows more slowly than when on litchi 

 stock. 



The amount of variation among seedling litchis is 

 considerable; hence the best varieties can be propa- 

 gated only by some vegetative means, though seed- 

 lings are often grown. Grafting and layering have not 

 only the advantage of reproducing a known variety, 

 but trees so propagated come into bearing several 

 years earlier than seedlings. Seeds should be sown as 

 soon as possible after their removal from the fruit, as 

 they do not long retain their vitality. 



The Chinese cultivate several named varieties, and 

 there are at least eight known in India, of which the 

 best are said to be McLean's and Bedana ("seedless"), 

 the latter haying a very small stone which is usually 

 sterile. Firminger mentions one variety in India which 

 is green in color and of a distinct and very sweet flavor. 



F. W. POPENOE. 



LITHOSPERMUM (Greek, stone seed; the seeds like 

 little stones). Boragindcese. GROMWELL. PUCCOON. 

 Low-growing hardy mostly herbaceous perennials of 

 minor importance, some of them attractive as alpines 

 and in rock-gardens. 



Lithospermum has fifty species in extra-tropical 

 regions around the globe, mostly in the northern hemi- 

 sphere: herbs or subshrubs, rough, silky, or bristly: 

 Ivs. alternate, sessile and entire: fls. white, yellow, 

 bluish or violet, in leafy often curved racemes or spikes, 

 sometimes dimorphous as to stamens and style; calyx 

 5-parted; corolla funnel- or salver-shaped, 5-lobed, 

 the tube cylindrical and straight, the throat naked or 

 crested; stamens 5, fixed to the tube; ovary 4-lobed, 

 with a slender style, stigma usually capitate or 2-lobed : 

 plants mostly with red roots. The genus is closely 

 allied to Moltkia, which see. 



In cultivation, the best known is L. fruticosum, a 

 rock-garden trailer, which bears numerous leafy spikes 

 of blue flowers, each about Y^ inch across, from early 

 summer to autumn. L. purpureo-cseruleum is also an 

 old garden plant. The common gromwell, L. officinale, 

 is rarely cultivated as a medicinal herb. Others are 

 procurable from dealers in native plants. Seeds of the 

 gromwell and the western species are procurable, and 

 plants of the other kinds from dealers in rock-garden 

 plants. L. fruticosum is said to be propagated only by 

 cuttings of the previous year's wood; L. multiflorum by 

 cuttings of young shoots. The kinds with red roots 

 yield a dye. L. arvense is an annual or biennial intro- 

 duced weed; but most of the species (and those culti- 

 vated) are perennial. The best known garden kinds are 

 European, but the American species are deserving of 

 greater attention. 



albicans, 7. 

 angustifolium, 6. 

 canescens, 4. 

 fruticosum, 8. 

 Gastonii, 10. 



INDEX. 



Gmelinii, 5. 

 hirtum, 5. 

 linearifolium, 6. 

 multiflorum, 3. 

 officinale, 1. 



pilosum, 2. 

 prostratum, 8. 



Surpureo-cseruleum ,9. 

 ollingeri, 11. 



A. Color of fls. dull white. 



1. officinale, Linn. GROMWELL. Much branched, 

 2-3 ft. high: Ivs. lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2 in. or 

 less long: infl. sparse; throat of corolla crested with 

 appendages; fls. dull white, small; tube about as long 

 as the calyx. Along N. E. roadsides, naturalized from 

 Eu. 



AA. Color of fls. yellow or orange. 

 B. Corolla-tube scarcely, if any, exceeding the calyx. 



2. pildsum, Nutt. Mostly unbranched, 1 ft. high: 

 Ivs. linear and linear-lanceolate, 2-4 in. long: fls. dull 

 greenish yellow, crowded in a leafy thyrse; throat of 

 corolla nearly devoid of appendages. W. N. Amer. 



BB. Corolla-tube much longer than the calyx: roots red, 



long and deep: fls. large, showy. (PuccooNS.) 

 c. Floral Ivs. reduced to bracts no longer than the calyx. 



3. multiflorum, Torr. Height 1-2 ft., often panicu- 

 late-branched at summit: Ivs. linear to linear-lanceo- 

 late: fls. numerous, short-pedicelled and sometimes 

 spicate, the corolla about Kin. long and with short 

 rounded lobes, light yellow. Rocky Mts. to W. Texas. 



cc. Floral Ivs. much longer than the calyx. 

 D. Crests of throat little if at all projecting or arching. 



4. canescens, Lehm. PUCCOON, of the Indians. RED- 

 ROOT. INDIAN PAINT. Fig. 2185. Height 9-12 in. or 

 more: Ivs. oblong-linear or the upper ones broader, 

 mostly silky pubescent and obtuse: fls. orange, the 

 limb large and crests in throat prominent although not 

 projecting: fls. nearly without pedicels. Plains and 

 open woods, in sandy soil. Ont. to Ala., west to Ariz. 

 B.M. 4389. G.M. 44:337. 



5. Gmelinii, Hitchc. (L. hirtum, Lehm.). Height 

 1-2 ft.: Ivs. lanceolate or the lower ones narrower: fls. 

 bright orange, mostly pedicelled; glandular ring at 

 base within bearing 10 very hirsute lobes or teeth. 

 Pine barrens, Mich, to Fla. and Colo. 



DD. Crests of throat conspicuous and arching: fls. mostly 

 very long and showy, often of two kinds. 



6. angustifdlium, Michx. (L. linearifolium, Goldie). 



Height 9-12 in. or 

 more : Ivs. all linear : fls. 

 of 2 sorts, the earlier 

 and conspicuous kind 

 bright yellow, with 

 corolla-tube 1 in. or so 

 long, later ones and 

 those of the more dif- 

 fusely branching plants 

 with inconspicuous 

 pale corolla, without 

 crests in the throat 

 and probably clistogen- 

 ous; tube of corolla 2-4 times as long 

 as the calyx in the large fls. Dry soil, 

 Wis. and 111., W. and S. A showy 

 plant in its large-fld. stage; becom- 

 ing freely branched. 



7. albicans, Greene. Related to 

 No. 6, but sts. fewer and simple or 

 nearly so, silvery-hoary: Ivs. linear, 

 with setose hairs: corolla only twice 

 as long as calyx, deep yellow, the 

 lobes crenulate. S. Colo. 



AAA. Color of fls. blue or purplish. 



8. fruticdsum, Linn. (L. prostratum, 

 Lois.). GENTIAN-BLUE GROMWELL. 

 Subshrub, dwarf, trailing or pros- 

 trate, evergreen : Ivs. lanceolate-linear, 

 margin somewhat revolute: fls. deep 

 blue striped red-violet, in terminal 

 leafy spikes; tube of corolla pubescent 

 outside, densely villous at apex, much 

 exceeding the calyx. S. Eu. Gn. 45, p. 

 135. J.H. 111.32:475. G.C. III. 30: 

 238. G.M. 57:455. G. 36:619. H.U. 



2185. Puccoon H- 7:38. Correvon states that L. 

 Lithospermum prostratum, which comes from the W. 

 canescens. ( x Yd Pyrenees, is different from L. frutico- 



