LOPHOCARPUS 



LOQUAT 



1915 



LOPHOCARPUS: Lonchocarpus. 



LOPHOCEREUS (crest and Cereus). Cactacese. 

 Stout plants growing in clusters, with few ribs. Areoles 

 on lower part of st. very different from the upper ones; 

 flowering areoles bearing long, bristle-like hairs stand- 

 ing at right angles to the st. : fls. several from each areole, 

 small : fr. small, red. Three species have been described. 



Schottii, Brit. & Rose (Pilocereus Schottii, Lem.). 

 Branching from the base, 10-15 ft. high, glaucous: ribs 

 4-10, commonly 5; spines 4-7, very short, thickened at 

 base; areoles of the fruiting area bearing very copious 

 and long (1-3 in.) stiffish twisted bristles : fls. small, pink- 

 ish, about 1 in. long: fr. soft, edible, the size and some- 

 what the color of an olive. N. W. Mex. and Low. Calif . 



L. Sargentianus, Brit. & Rose, CG.F. 4:437;, and L. austrdlis, 

 Brit. & Rose, are occasionally seen in cult. j j 



LOPHOPHORA (Greek, crest -bearing). Cactacese. 

 Depressed globose, often proliferous and cespitose, 

 unarmed except in seedling forms; tubercles conical, 

 bearing at summit the flowering areole filled with white 

 hairs: fls. from the center of the plant, small, pinkish: 

 fr. clavate, naked, pinkish; seeds black. A very dis- 

 tinct genus, sometimes referred to Anhalonium and at 

 other times to Echinocactus. Under the latter genus 

 it was described in Cyclo. Amer. Hort. 



Wflliamsii, Coult. (Echinocactus Williamsii, Lem. 

 Anhalonium Williamsii, Lem. E. Lewinii, Schum. 

 Anhalonium Lewinii, Hennings. L. Lewinii, Thomp.). 

 Hemispherical, from a very thick root, often densely 

 proliferous, transversely lined below by the remains of 

 withered tubercles: ribs usually 8 (in young specimens 

 often 6), very broad, gradually merging above into the 

 distinct nascent tubercles, which are crowned with 

 somewhat delicate penicillate tufts, which become 

 rather inconspicuous pulvilli on the ribs: fls. small, ' 

 whitish to rose. Texas and Mex. The well-known 

 "mescal button," used by the Indians in religious rites. 

 Other Indian vernacular names are: peyotl, peyote, 

 pellote, xicori, hicori, hiculi, huatari, camaba, sefii 

 (Kiowa Indians), ho (Apaches), wokowi (Comanches), 

 mescal-buttons, mezcal-buttons (Oklahoma, Texas), 

 teonanacatl (Ancient Aztecs). This plant is highly 

 esteemed and even held in superstitious reverence by 

 several tribes of Indians in the mountains of Mex. 

 and in the U. S., on account of its narcotic properties. 

 It is said that it produces beautiful highly colored vis- 

 ions. Its taste is bitter and disagreeable, and it some- 

 times causes vomiting. The use of the drug is accom- 

 panied by the loss of a sense of time. Its effects have 

 been compared to those of hasheesh (Cannabis indica), 

 but that narcotic produces delusions of merriment 

 while lophophora causes a condition of ideal content 

 followed by wakefulness. Several alkaloids have been 

 separated from it, among them lophorine, anhalonine, 

 and mezcaline. (See Dixon, W. E., Journ. Physiol., 

 Sept., 1899, p. 71.) This plant was first received by 

 wholesale druggists from Mrs. Anna B. Nickels, of 

 Laredo, Texas, who called attention to the fact that 

 the Indians of N. Mex. and S. W. U. S. "use the plant 

 in manufacturing an intoxicating drink, also for break- 

 ing fevers" and that the tops cut off and Hried are 

 called mescal-buttons. These dried tops, which are 

 often strung and sold in the markets of Mex., look 

 very much like mushrooms and were mistaken for such 

 by the early Spaniards. The Aztecs, who applied the 

 name nanacatl to mushrooms in general, called this 



Elant teonanacatl, which signifies "sacred mushroom," 

 ut they had very imperfect notions of botanical dis- 

 tinctions, and their name may be compared to "pine- 

 apple," which is certainly far removed from an apple. 

 Hubert Howe Bancroft mentions this narcotic as a 

 mushroom, and for centuries investigators have sought 

 in vain for a Mexican fungus causing the effects attri- 

 buted to the teonanacatl. Its indentity, however, was 



for the first time established by W. E. Safford at a 

 meeting of the Botanical Society of Washington, May 

 4, 1915. For an account of the history and ceremonial 

 use of this plant, see Journal of Heredity, July, 1915. 



J. N. ROSE. 



W. E. SAFFORD. 



LOPHOSPERMUM: Maurandia. 



LOQUAT. Fig. 2212. The loquat, or biwa of the 

 Japanese (Eriobotrya japonica, Lindl.), is a small ever- 

 green fruit tree with handsome foliage, considered to be 

 a native of China and Japan. It has long been culti- 

 vated in those countries as well as in northern India; 

 within recent years it has become fairly common in 

 the Mediterranean basin, especially in Algeria and 

 Sicily, and in the milder sections of the United States. 

 In Florida and the Gulf States it is seen in dooryards 

 and gardens, but is rarely planted in orchard form; in 

 California its cultivation is conducted commercially. 

 It is also grown in some tropical regions, but does not 

 succeed so well as in the sub tropics. In Japan the 

 annual production is said to be over 20,000,000 pounds. 



The tree, which attains an ultimate height of about 

 25 feet, is more or less densely clothed with elliptical to 

 oblong-obovate, nearly sessile, remotely toothed deep 

 green leaves, varying from 6 to 10 inches or more in 

 length. The small, white, very fragrant flowers, which 

 are produced in fall, are borne in crowded woolly pan- 

 icles 4 to 7 inches long. The fruit, which ripens in spring, 

 varies in shape from spherical to pyriform, in color from 

 pale yellow to deep orange, and in the best varieties is 

 sometimes 3 inches in length. The skin is thin and 

 smooth, but tougher than that of an apple. The flesh 

 is firm and meaty in some varieties, more melting in 

 others, almost white to salmon-orange in color, juicy, 

 and of a sprightly flavor suggestive of a cherry. The 

 seeds, which are about %inch long and dark brown in 

 color, vary from one to eight or nine in number, four 

 or five being common. They occupy a large amount 

 of space in the center of the fruit, the reduction of the 

 proportion of seed to flesh being one of the points most 

 sought in breeding. The loquat is eaten while fresh, or 

 is made into pies, jams, jellies, preserves and the like. 



The tree is successful on a wide variety of soils, but 

 has done best on clay loam. Ikeda, a Japanese author- 

 ity, considers that the fruit reaches its highest degree 

 of perfection when grown near the seacoast. For 

 orchard-planting a piece of well-drained land should be 

 chosen, and the trees set 20 to 24 feet apart. Their 

 culture presents few difficulties; in fact the loquat will 

 thrive and produce good crops with less care than many 

 other fruit trees. It does not require a great amount of 

 fertilizer on reasonably good soils, but leguminous 

 cover-crops have been found highly beneficial. Occa- 

 sional pruning is required to admit light to the center 

 of the tree, and to keep the branches somewhat thinned 

 out. To obtain fruit of good size and best commercial 

 value, it may be desirable to thin the crop as soon as 

 the young fruits have set, leaving no more in a cluster 

 than the tree can properly mature. Picking for market 

 should be done when the fruit has lost its acidity and is 

 fully ripe; if picked too soon the loquat is quite sour. 

 For jelly only acid fruit is used. When packed in 

 boxes holding about thirty pounds, the fruit can be 

 shipped successfully to nearby markets, but for distant 

 markets smaller packages and great care in packing are 

 necessary. 



Pear blight (Bacillus amylovorus) and loquat scab 

 (Fusicladium eriobotryse) are at times troublesome in 

 the California orchards, and a borer is reported from 

 Japan which occasionally attacks the tree. 



While in many countries the loquat is usually propa- 

 gated from seed, there is as much variation among the 

 seedlings as with other tree-fruits, and good varieties 

 can be perpetuated only by some vegetative means of 

 propagation. Both budding and grafting are practised, 



