MACLEANIA 



MACLURA 



1961 



known in cultivation. They have clusters of brick-red 

 or crimson, tubular flowers each an inch or more long, 

 and often bear tinted foliage. 



Leaves evergreen, alternate, short-stalked, entire: 

 corollas strongly 5-angled, and the 5 tips short, trian- 

 gular, erect or spreading and more or less yellow; sta- 

 mens 10, much shorter than the corolla; disk ring-like 

 or not evident; ovary 5-6-celled, the style filiform; 

 ovules many. One species, M. insignis, is currently 

 offered abroad. Macleanias are probably of difficult 

 cult. M . spedosissima in a large pot on a shelf near the 

 glass, so that its branches may hang gracefully, should 

 be a very striking subject. M. pulchra has the same 

 habit and color of fls., but is perhaps less desirable. 

 M . punctata is perhaps the most desirable of those with 

 erect branches and stiff habit. This may be tried in a 

 warmhouse border, with good drainage and shallow 

 soil, as some of these macleanias have thick fleshy 

 roots and the fibrous parts of the roots are said to keep 

 near the surface. 



insignis, Mart. & Gal. Young foliage on spring 

 growths with tints of red; a small evergreen shrub: 

 Ivs. 1-2 in. long, oblong or elliptic, obtuse or subacute, 

 coriaceous: fls. axillary, scarlet, the cylindrical corolla 

 \Yi in. long; calyx short, minutely 5-toothed; corolla- 

 lobes small and spreading; filaments united to form a 

 tube. Mex. B.M. 7694. G. 32:351; 36:517. A 

 handsome plant both in foliage and fl. for greenhouse. 

 Said to have been first discovered growing epiphytically 

 on oaks at an elevation of 4,000-6,000 ft. in Province of 

 Vera Cruz. 



A number of macleanias mentioned in the literature do not 

 appear to be regularly in the trade, as: M. angulata, Hook. Lvs. 

 ovate, rather coriaceous, obtuse and entire, those on the young 

 shoots delicate and with a deep tinge of red: fls. axillary, in 3's: 

 corolla nearly 1 in. long, bright red with a yellow limb, contracted 

 at the mouth, with 5 prominent angles or ridges. Peru. B.M. 3979. 

 H.U. 4, p. 327. M. longifldra, Lindl. Near M. angulata, but with 

 longer and narrower Ivs., and the fls. less contracted at the orifice 

 and the lobes not yellow. B.R. 30:25. H.U. 6, p. 100. M. 

 pulchra, Hook. Branches long and drooping: Ivs. rather large, 

 glossy, elliptic or oblong, short-petioled, 5-nerved: fls. aggregated 

 in the axils, large, about 1 % in. long, the corolla-tube bright scarlet 

 and the limb yellow. Colombia. B.M. 5465. M. punctata. Hook. 

 Lvs. somewhat secund, sessile or practically so, oval, obtuse and 

 entire, glossy and dotted: fls. crowded in upper axils, on red clavale 

 peduncles; corolla 1 in. long, swollen below, rose-red and the upper 

 pan white tinged with yellow. Andes. B.M. 4426. G.W. 12, p. 

 774. M. spedosissima, Hook. Most beautiful plant in bloom: 

 straggling shrub, with long pendent branches: Ivs. distichous, 2 in. 

 or more long, ovate or oblong-ovate, obtuse, entire: fls. many, droop- 

 ing in axillary fascicles; corolla 1 % in. long, bright scarlet, yellow 

 above, contracted below the small limb. Colombia. B.M. 5453. 



L. H. B. 



2292. Osage orange fruit. Maclura pomif era. ( X K) 

 MACLEYA: Bocconia. 



MACLUDRANIA. Mordcex. A bigeneric hybrid 

 between Maclura pomifera var. inermis and Cudrania 

 tricuspidata. (See Vol. II. p. 911.) M. hybrida, Andre, is 

 a small tree with yellowish furrowed bark and short 

 woody spines: lys. alternate, glabrous, violet beneath, 

 oval, long-acuminate. 



MACLURA (after Wm. Maclure, an American geolo- 

 gist). Syn. Toxylon. Mordcese. OSAGE ORANGE. BOW- 

 WOOD. Tree chiefly grown as a hedge plant, also planted 

 as an ornamental tree for its handsome bright green 

 foliage and the conspicuous orange-like fruit. 



Deciduous, with milky sap: branches with axillary 



thorns: lys. alternate, entire, slender-petioled, with 

 minute stipules: fls. dioecious, minute, apetalous; calyx 

 4-lobed; the staminate pedicelled, in pendulous racemes 

 on spur-like branchlets of the previous year; stamens 4; 

 pistillate sessile, in axillary dense globose heads on 

 short peduncles; ovary 1-celled with a long filiform 

 plumose stigma: drupelets oblong, collected into a glo- 

 bose compound; fr. mamillate on the surface. One 

 species in N. Amer. It is sometimes described under 

 Toxylon, but this name is replaced with Maclura by 

 the "nomina conservanda" of the international rules. 



The osage orange is a medium-sized spiny tree with 

 spreading branches, forming an open irregular head, 

 with rather large bright green leaves changing to clear 

 yellow in fall and with inconspicuous greenish flowers 

 followed by greenish yellow orange-like but inedible 

 fruits in the pistillate tree. It is hardy as far north as 

 Massachusetts. It is not particular as to the soil; its 

 roots are very long and voracious feeders. Much 

 planted for hedges chiefly in the Middle West. The 

 bark of the root is used as a yellow dye; that of the 

 trunk sometimes for tanning leather. In Europe the 

 tree is sometimes grown as food for the silkworm. 

 Propagation is usually by seeds, which germinate 

 readily; also by root-cuttings and by greenwood cut- 

 tings under glass. 



pomifera, Schneid. (M. aurantiaca, Nutt. Tdxylon 

 pomif erum, Raf.). Fig. 2292. Tree, sometimes to 60 

 ft., with furrowed dark orange-colored bark: branchlets 

 light green, soon glabrous: spines 2-3 in. long: lys. 

 ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, soon becoming 

 glabrous, lustrous above, 2-6 in. long : racemes of stami- 

 nate fls. 1-1 M m - lng; heads of pistillate fls. %-l in. 

 across: fr. subglobose, 4-6 in. across, ripening in au- 

 tumn and soon falling. May, June. Ark. to Texas. 

 S.S. 7:322, 323. G.C. III. 16:693. G.M. 33:808, 809. 

 V. 437. Var. inermis, Rehd. (M. aurantiaca var. iner- 

 mis, Andre"). A form with spineless branches. R.H. 

 1896, p. 33. ALFRED REHDER. 



The osage orange, before the advent of wire fences, 

 was an extremely popular hedge plant, meeting general 

 requirements better than any other plant suitable to 

 our climate. It is used considerably, and when prop- 

 erly attended to from the start makes a hedge in a short 

 time of a fairly defensive nature. Most dealers in tree 

 seeds keep seeds of the osage orange, and those who 

 grow the plants procure the seed in spring, drilling it 

 in rows. The osage orange grows readily from seed, 

 even when the latter is a year old. The sowing in 

 rows gives the seedlings a chance to become stocky 

 by fall, and plants 2 feet high the first year are not 

 uncommon. These one-year-old plants are quite 

 good enough for hedging. Nurserymen who grow 

 them for sale usually dig the plants in the fall, 

 storing them away in a cool cellar, the roots buried 

 in sand. They are then sorted into two grades, 

 which compose first- and second-class plants. At 

 the time of grading, the tops are chopped off some- 

 what, leaving about 6 inches of length only. This 

 fits them for planting without more cutting. 



The place where a hedge is desired should be 

 well cleared of all weeds. If cultivated for a year in 

 advance, so much the better, as it will make the keep- 

 ing down of weeds a much easier task. 



There are two ways of planting a hedge; viz., single 

 row and double row. The double row is made by set- 

 ting the plants 9 inches apart each way, the plants in 

 the second row coming between those in the first row, 

 forming a zigzag line. The single row, however, is good 

 enough, and is much easier to cultivate and keep clear 

 of weeds. In single rows set the plants 6 inches apart. 

 The soil need not be over-rich for the osage orange. 

 The plant is a strong grower naturally, and soil in fair 

 condition will give a growth more tractable to form a 

 good hedge than a rank growth from rich soil. 



