MALORTIEA 



MALUS 



1973 



from the lower axils. They are warmhouse subjects, 

 and useful where very small palms are desired, as in a 

 Wardian case. 



M. grdcilis, Wendl. Sts. slender, ringed, 18-24 in. or more high: 

 Ivs. slender-petioled, about 9 in. long and broad, split to the 

 rachis at the top, and the 2 halves lobed, the lobes entire or notched, 



split near the rachis 

 to form holes: spadix 

 erect, branched, bear- 

 ing scattered sessile 

 male and female fls. ; 

 stamens 10-12. Guat- 

 emala. B.M. 5291. 

 M. simplex, Wendl. 

 Slender cespitose little 

 palm, with oval slen- 

 der - petioled mostly 

 simple Ivs. which are 

 acuminate -toothed 

 and more or less shal- 

 low - notched at the 

 apex: spadix few- 

 branched, with sessile 

 fls. Costa Rica. B. 

 M. 5247. M. TuSrck- 

 Tietmti.Damm. Height 

 about 16 in., the sts. 

 thin and about \Yi 

 lines thick and bear- 

 ing a crown of about 

 15 geonoma-like dull 

 green Ivs. : If .-blade 

 cuneiform, 6 in. long 

 and 2 in. broad, not 

 bifid, with 19 veins 

 either side of midrib 

 and the blade some- 

 what folded between 

 them, the margin cren- 

 ulate; petiole about 

 1 in. long. Guatemala, 

 4,500 ft. altitude. G. 

 W. 12, p. 99. Recent. 



L. H. B. 



MALPIGHIA 



(Marcello Mal- 

 pighi, 1628-1693, 

 distinguished na- 

 turalist at Bolo- 

 gna, who wrote on the anatomy of plants). Malpig- 

 hiacese. Trees and shrubs, sometimes grown under 



lass for ornament, but known mostly from the Barba- 

 os cherry, cultivated in the American tropics. 

 Leaves opposite, short-stalked, glabrous or tomen- 

 tose, entire or spiny-toothed : fls. axillary and terminal, 

 clustered or corymbose, rarely solitary, red, rose or 

 white; calyx with a pair of thick glands on the back of 

 some or all the 5 sepals; stamens 10, all perfect, the 

 base of filaments glabrous; ovary 3-celled; styles 3, dis- 

 tinct: drupe 3-pyrenous, not winged, the stones with 

 3-5 crests or wings on the back. Species 30-40 in 

 Trop. Amer., extending as far north as S. Texas. Small 

 describes 29 species in N. Amer. Fl. XXV, p. 152 

 (1910). 



?labra, Linn. BARBADOS CHERRY. Fig. 2308. Shrub, 

 t., glabrous, the branches slender: Ivs. ovate to 

 elliptic, entire, usually pointed, having a few biscuspi- 

 date hairs which disappear early: umbels 3-5-fld.; fls. 

 %in. across, rose-red, the petals erose or fringed: drupes 

 red or scarlet, about the size of a cherry, acid, with 

 thin skin, used for jam and preserves; seeds large, 4- 

 angled. S. Texas to N. S. Amer.; W. Indies. B.M. 813. 

 Widely planted in tropics, and offered hi S. Fla. Prop, 

 by cuttings, and seeds germinate readily. 



mexicana, Juss. (M. guadalajarensis, Rose). Lvs. 

 ovate to obovate-lanceolate, either acute or obtuse, 

 pubescent or tomentose: cymes one-third to one-half 

 length of Ivs.; fls. purplish, about %in. across; sepals 

 ovate to ovate-lanceolate, densely pubescent : f r. nearly 

 globose, red. Mex. Offered in S. Calif. 



coccigera, Linn. Lvs. oval or ovate to suborbicular, 

 obtuse, rounded or emarginate, mostly sinuate-dentate, 

 glabrous at maturity, shining above: cymes short- 

 peduncled; fls. pink; sepals oblong or ovate-oblong, 



2307. Malope trifida. ( X 



with large glands: drupe nearly globose, red. W. Indies. 

 Listed in S. Fla. as a good holly-like plant useful for 

 dwarf hedging. L. H. B. 



MALUS (Greek for apple). Rosdcese. APPLE. Most 

 botanists prefer to unite the apple and pear in the one 

 genus Pyrus; this is the method of Bentham & Hooker 

 in "Genera Plantarum," and of Focke in Engler & 

 Prantl's "Pflanzenfamilien," although the recent 

 excellent work of Schneider, "Handbuch der Laub- 

 holzkunde," keeps them distinct, as do some of the 

 recent American authors. The evident botanical 

 distinctions between the two groups are slight, appar- 

 ently not sufficient for easy or clear determination by 

 the unprofessional student. These differences lie in 

 the usual presence of grit-cells in the fruits of Pyrus 

 and their usual absence in Malus; in the hypanthium 

 of the former being nearly closed by a cushion, and in 

 the latter free or open; in the cavity about the stem of 

 the fruit in Malus, a contrast which does not hold in 

 Pyrus; and in the styles of Pyrus being distinct or 

 nearly distinct, whereas in Malus they are more or less 

 united. The different degrees of union of the styles 

 has been made a basis for distinguishing the named 

 varieties of apples among themselves, and the character 

 does not appear to be important enough to be made 

 the basis of generic separation. It is not impossible 

 that the pears and apples may have had a different 

 phylqgenetic origin, but this fact itself would not be 

 sufficient in generic description. The apples are small 

 trees and bushes, of some fifteen to twenty species in 

 the North Temperate Zone. In this Cyclopedia, the 

 cultivated apple species are described under Pyrus; 

 the names of the leading species under Malus are as 

 follows: 



M. sylvestris, Mill.=Pyrtts Malus. 



M. prunifolia, Borkh.=F. prunifolia. 



M. baccata, Borkh.=P. baccata. 



M. coronaria, Mill.=P. coronaria. 



M. ioensis, Brit. = P. ioensis. 



M. Soulardii, Brit.=P. Soulardii. 



M. angustifolia, Michx. = P. angustifolia. 



M. Halliana, Koehne=P. Halliana. L jj B 



2308. Malpighia glabra Barbados cherry. ( X %) 



