METROSIDEROS 



MICHAUXIA 



2045 



back to within 1 or 2 inches of the old growth, put them 

 in a good heat and keep them syringed. They will make 

 a bushy growth, with a good number of shoots. Early 

 in June plunge them in a sunny spot outdoors, with the 

 rim of the pot well covered, and be careful that they do 

 not suffer for water in hot weather. In July, or earlier, 

 mulch the pots with an inch of half-decomposed cow- 

 manure. Before frost, remove the plants to a tem- 

 perature of 45 or warmer if bloom is desired before 

 Easter. (William Scott.) 



A. Fls. red. 



robusta, A. Cunn. Large forest tree, to 100 ft., with 

 an irregular trunk: Ivs. opposite, elliptic -ovate to 

 elliptic-lanceolate, 1-1 ^2 in. long, glabrous, very coria- 

 ceous, obtuse, veiny, with an extra nerve near each 

 margin and parallel: fls. dark scarlet, many in broad and 

 dense terminal cymes; calyx top-shaped. New Zeal. 

 B.M. 4471 (erroneously as M. floridd). R.B. 24:269. 

 Probably not in the trade, the plant sometimes known 

 by this name being Callistemon lanceolatus. There 

 appears to be a white-fld. form of the trade plant. 



tomentdsa, A. Rich. CHRISTMAS-TREE of New Zeal., 

 because of its season of bloom, intro. into S. Calif, 

 many years ago and now offered by nurserymen : much- 

 branched tree to 70 ft., the short trunk becoming 5 ft. 

 in diam. : Ivs. very variable, 1-4 in. long, lanceolate to 

 broad-oblong, acute or obtuse, very thick, usually 

 tomentose beneath : fls. large, dark crimson, in many-fld. 

 terminal cymes, the pedicels and calyces tomentose; 

 stamens numerous, to !*/ in. long. J.F. 2:146. 

 Cheeseman reports it as a "noble and picturesque tree," 

 abundant in the N. Island of New Zeal. 



AA. Fls. yellowish red; stamens red. 



florida, Smith. "Usually a tall woody climber," 

 writes Cheeseman in the New Zeal. Flora, "reaching the 

 tops of lofty trees:" Ivs. opposite, elliptic-oblong, 

 obtuse, veiny, glabrous: fls. yellowish red or orange-red 

 in few-fld. or many-fld. simple or branched cymes; 

 petals orbicular; stamens scarlet, very numerous, to 1 

 in. long. The typical form is not advertised, but only 

 var. variegata, Hort. 



M. floribunda, Hort.=Callistemon lanceolatus. M. lucida, A. 

 Rich., MOUNTAIN RATA, is slightly in cult, in England in an ama- 

 teur way; usually a tall erect tree in New Zeal., but often a bush in 

 subalpine or exposed places: Ivs. elliptic-lanceolate or lanceolate, 

 acuminate, very coriaceous: fls. bright crimson, in broad cymes; 

 calyx-lobes 5, ovate and obtuse; petals oblong, surpassing the calyx- 

 lobes; stamens numerous, 1 in. long. G. C. III. 55:450. G. 36:607. 

 M . scdndens, Soland. (M. buxifolia, A. Cunn.), AKA, is a tall woody 

 climber of New Zeal., with distichous, sessile, small, broadly ovate 

 or orbicular, obtuse very coriaceous Ivs. and small white fls. in 3-fld. 

 cymes; stamens slender, J^in. long. J. F. 1:24. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



L. H. B.f 



METRO XYLON (heart ivood, in allusion to the large 

 pith). Palmdcese. SAGO PALM. A half-dozen or more 

 species of erect monocarpic (fruiting but once) palms 

 of the Malayan Archipelago, New Guinea and Fiji, 

 mostly or often unarmed, ringed below, with pinnatisect 

 Ivs., allied to Raphia. Lvs. terminal, suberect, equally 

 pinnatisect, the segms. opposite and linear-lanceolate- 

 acuminate: spadix large, loosely paniculate: fls. polyg- 

 amous-monoecious or perfect; corolla 3-parted, the 

 lobes oblong; stamens 6, the filaments connate at base; 

 ovary imperfectly 3-celled, the ovules 3: fr. subglobose 

 or ellipsoid, 1-celled and 1-seeded. The species and 

 synonymy are confused. None, apparently, is in cult, 

 within our territory. The sago of commerce is derived 

 from the trunks of M . Iseve and M. Rumphii. The trunks 

 are cut into lengths, split, and the starch washed out and 

 subsequently heated. These grow in the Malay Isls. 



METTERNICHIA (Prince Metternich, 1772-1859, 

 Austria). Solanacese. Probably less than a half-dozen 

 glabrous showy-fld. trees or shrubs of the American 

 tropics, little known in cult, and none of which appears 



to be in the trade: Ivs. entire, shining: fls. solitary or 

 clustered at the ends of the branches, white or rose-red 

 to yellowish; corolla funnelform, tube enlarging above, 

 the limb with 5 or 6 broad lobes; stamens 5, affixed 

 in the base of the corolla, included or somewhat ex- 

 serted; ovary sessile, 2-celled, the style filiform: caps, 

 narrow, 4-valved. M. Wercklei, Schum., Costa Rica, 

 is recently recorded in horticultural literature: sar- 

 mentose evergreen shrub, with edible tuberous root- 

 stock, sometimes epiphytic: Ivs. ovate: fls. in terminal 

 corymbs, like gloxinia in form, corolla 3 in. long and 2 

 in. across, fragrant, white changing to sulfur-yellow. 



L. H. B. 



MEUM (an old Greek name). Umbelliferse. SPIGNEL. 

 One perennial herb, differing botanically from Ligus- 

 ticum mostly in technical characters of fr., sometimes 

 cult, for the ornamental delicate foliage. M. athaman- 

 ticum, Jacq. (Athamdnta Meurn, Linn.), of mountains 

 in Eu., a glabrous tufted aromatic plant with sts. 1-2 

 ft.: Ivs. mostly radical (cauline Ivs. very few, small 

 and less divided), pinnately decompound, the segms. 

 multifid and wide-spreading: fls. white, whitish yellow, 

 or pink, in many-rayed terminal compound umbels of 

 medium size; petals acute, narrowed at base, entire 

 but usually with an incurved point; bracts of involucre 

 few and narrow: fr. J^in. long, not beaked, the carpels 

 with 5 prominent ribs. The rootstock is said some- 

 times to be eaten. Prop, by seeds and division. 



L. H. B. 



MEXICAN TEA: Chenopodium. 

 MEYENIA: Thunbergia. 

 MEZEREUM: Daphne Mezereum. 



MEZONEURUM (Greek meizos, stronger, and neuron, 

 nerve; referring to the strongly developed, winged upper 

 suture of the pod). Leguminosae. A group of about 10 

 species of large usually armed and often climbing 

 shrubs or rarely trees from S. Asia, Afr. and Australa- 

 sia, closely related to Csesalpinia, from which it differs 

 chiefly in its compressed indehiscent pod winged at 

 the upper suture and the short very oblique calyx-tube 

 with the lowest lobe enlarged and concave or all lobes 

 connate into a tube. They can be grown only in tropical 

 or subtropical regions. Only the following species is in 

 cult. M. kauaiense, Hillebrand (Caesolpinia kava- 

 iensis, Mann. C. kauahiensis, Hort.). Tall shrub, to 

 12 ft., with spreading unarmed branches pubescent 

 while young: Ivs. bipinnate, with 2-10 pinnae, each 

 with 9-17 oblong, obtuse and retuse Ifts. about 1 in. 

 long: fls. pinkish purple, in terminal dense racemes; 

 calyx pinkish, glabrous, with the lowest lobe large and 

 concave; stamens exserted, with hairy filaments: pod 

 oblong-obovate, 3-3% in. long, with 2^4 seeds. 

 Hawaiian Isls. Intro, into Calif, in 1907. Called 

 "uhuihi" in Hawaii. For cult, and prop, see Caesalpinia. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



MICHAUXIA (Andre Michaux, 1746-1802, French 

 botanist, who lived for ten years in America and wrote 

 much on American plants). Campanulaceas. A half- 

 dozen species of rather coarse-habited biennial (perhaps 

 perennial) herbs from the Levant. Useful for borders. 



Michauxia belongs, with Campanula and other genera 

 of garden importance, to a group characterized by hav- 

 ing the caps, closed at the top and opening laterally 

 by little holes between the ribs or by small solitary 

 valves. It is distinguished from the other genera of 

 this group by the 8-10-parted corolla with narrow, 

 spreading, finally reflexed lobes and an 8-10-celled 

 ovary. Michauxias are erect plants, hispid or gla- 

 brous: Ivs. irregularly toothed or lobed, the st.-lvs. few: 

 fls. terminal or growing along the branches, the top 

 ones opening first, peduncled or nearly sessile, white or 

 pale rose. Only 2 species are known to any extent as 

 cult, plants. 



