MAURANDIA 



MAXILLARIA 



2013 



gular in outline, serrate; petiole as well as peduncle 

 twining: fls. 3 in. long, rosy pink. Mex. B.M. 3037, 

 3038 (asL. scandens). B.R. 1381. G.C. II. 20: 501. Cult, 

 in S. Calif. 



cc. Corolla-lobes more acute. 



Lophospermum, Bailey, nom. nov. (M. scandens, 

 Gray, not Pers. Lophospermum scandens, D. Don). 

 Fig. 2335. Perhaps a botanical variety of the preceding. 

 Branches long and slender, glandular-pubescent: Ivs. 

 opposite below and alternate above, cordate, subacute, 

 unequally toothed, the petiole twining: corolla twice 

 as long as calyx, rose-purple, obscurely dotted outside, 

 the tube white; lobes triangular ovate, acute or the 

 lower ones nearly obtuse. B.M. 3650. A handsome 

 plant. A hybrid with the preceding is shown in B. 5: 

 242. The plants passing in gardens as M. scandens 

 need to be worked over botanically. 



AA. Plant not climbing, although with pendulous or lop- 

 ping growth. 



Purpusii, Brandegee. Ascending, pendulous or pros- 

 trate, 12-16 in., leafy, with tuberous rootstock: Ivs. 

 long-stalked, more or less triangular-ovate: fls. axillary, 

 long-peduncled, purple-carmine, beautiful. S. W. Mex. 

 A showy tender perennial, blooming the first year 

 from seed, of bushy growth; tubers may be stored in 

 winter. Differs from M. erubescens in being more 

 glabrous and bearing smaller fls.; Ivs. often entire- 

 margined. 



M. Conzdttii, Hort., that has been listed in S. Calif.=M. scan- 



L. H. B.f 



MAURITIA (after Prince Moritz, of Nassau, 1567- 

 1665, patron of Piso and Marcgraf ; by his aid a Natural 

 History of Brazil was published). Palmacese, tribe 

 Coryphinse. Very graceful fan palms, very little grown 

 in America except in botanic gardens. 



Stems very slender, obscurely ringed, almost spine- 

 less: Ivs. pinnately flabelliform, semi-circular, orbicu- 

 lar or wedge-shaped, the lobes lanceolate, acuminate; 

 rachis long or short; petiole cylindrical: ovary perfectly 

 3-celled. There are 6 or 7 species, all Trop. American. 

 Mauritia must be grown in rich soil in a very hot moist 

 house with a day temperature of 80-85. The pots of 

 small plants are often partly submerged in water. 

 G.C. II. 26:491. 



flexuosa, Linn. f. MORICHE PALM. ITA PALM. 

 Sts. without stolons, in nature often 90 ft. tall: Ivs. 20- 

 30, erect-spreading, 9-16 ft. long; blade 2J^-4 ft. long, 

 yellowish beneath; lobes %-lJ^ in. wide; petiole stout, 

 rigid, semi-cylindrical, equaling the blade: fr. nearly 2 

 in. long, depressed-globose; seed \}/% in. long. Trop. 

 Brazil .Offered in 1889 by Reasoner Bros. In the 

 Amazon delta this palm grows to 150 ft. or more in 

 height, with a trunk often 30 in. diam. at base. "The 

 fr. is spherical, the size of a small apple, and covered 

 with rather small, smooth, brown, reticulated scales, 

 beneath which is a thin coating of pulp. A spadix 

 loaded with fr. is of immense weight, often more than 

 two men could carry between them." Wallace, "Palms 

 of the Amazon." It forms extensive forests, and pro- 

 vides material for subsistence and arts of the Indians. 



N. TAYLOR.f 



MAUROCENIA (J. F. Mauroceni, Venetian senator 

 and horticulturist). Celastracese. One shrub in S. Afr., 

 producing a drupe as large as a cherry and called 

 "Hottentot cherry," M . frangularia, Mill. (M. capensis, 

 Sond. Cassine Maurocenia, Linn.). Glabrous, 4-6 ft., 

 with 4-angled twigs: Ivs. coriaceous, opposite, entire, 

 suborbicular to elliptical or obovate: fls. small, green- 

 ish to white, in axillary clusters; calyx very small, 5- 

 parted; petals 5, exceeding the calyx; disk ring-like; 

 stamens 5, exceeding the petals: drupe somewhat juicy, 

 with a hard stone. Cape of Good Hope region. Appar- 

 ently not in the trade. 



MAXILLARIA (Latin, maxilla, jaw; referring to the 

 mentum). Orchiddcese. Mostly pseudobulbous epiphy- 

 tic orchids, resembling lycaste in general appearance. 



Rhizomes short or long, creeping or erect, and clothed 

 with distichous Ivs. : pseudobulbs clustered or scattered 

 on the rhizome, 1-2-lvd. or densely distichophyllous at 



2336. Maxillaria grandiflora. ( X nearly 



the apex of the rhizome: Ivs. leathery or subfleshy, 

 plicate or plane and keeled, distichous: sepals subequal, 

 free from each other but united with the foot of the 

 column and forming a projecting mentum; petals 

 similar or smaller; labellum 3-lobed, movably articu- 

 lated to the foot of the column; lateral lobes erect; 

 middle lobe with longitudinal callosities; the scape 

 arises apparently from the base of the pseudobulb, on 

 the very young leafy axis, but lower down than the 

 corresponding new growth; pollinia 4, seated on a 

 broad, scale-like stipe. Over 100 species, dispersed at 

 various altitudes in Mex., Brazil and the W. Indies. 

 About 15 species are offered by dealers in Amer. 

 Many of these have small fls. and are of value only 

 in collections. They are, however, easily grown, and 

 blossom profusely. Among those given below, the 

 large white-fld. M. grandiflora and M. venusta, and 

 the white and purple M. Sanderiana are probably the 

 best species. The distichous arrangement of the Ivs. 

 distinguishes this genus from Lycaste. For M. Har- 

 risonise and M . tetragona, see Lycaste. 



Maxillarias are of easy culture, and can be grown 

 under various methods of treatment with fair success. 

 The best compost consists of clean peat fiber taken 

 from the several species of Osmunda, and live sphag- 

 num, both chopped rather fine and well mixed together. 

 After the receptacle is half filled with clean drainage and 

 the plant properly placed, the compost should be pressed 

 firmly in around the roots, interspersing it with nodules 

 of charcoal. In their native habitats, many of the 



