MOHRIA 



MOMORDICA 



2059 



the Schizsaceae. M. caffrorum, Desv. Lvs. in tufts, 

 9-22 in. long, 2-4 in. broad, tripinnatifid, the pinnae 

 close, the pinnulse oblong, deeply cut or pinnatifid. 

 The Ivs. have a pleasant odor when bruised. Interesting 

 as a rarity but not of commercial value. M. achillese- 

 folia, Hort., is nearly quadripinnatifid, and is said to 

 have a different odor. R. C. BENEDICT. 



MOLINIA (J. Molina, a writer upon Chilean plants). 

 Graminese. A cespitose perennial allied to Eragrostis. 

 Panicle contracted; spikelets sub-cylindrical, 2-4-fld., 

 purplish; glumes short, somewhat unequal; lemma 3- 

 nerved, rounded on back, pointed but awnless. 

 Species 1, native of Cent. Eu. and Temp. Asia, spa- 

 ringly intro. in the U. S. 



caerulea, Moench (Alra caerulea, Linn.). Culms 

 tufted, 1-3 ft. high: Ivs. rather rigid, slender pointed. 

 The usual form in cult, is var. variegata, with striped 

 Ivs., used for bedding. Dept. Agric., Div. Agrost. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



MOLOPOSPERMUM (striped seed, a Greek com- 

 pound). Umbelliferse. One species, M. cicutarium, DC. 

 (Ligusticum peloponneswcum, Linn.), a large perennial 

 of the mountains of S. Eu., grown sometimes for its hand- 

 some dense foliage; prop, by division or by seeds: 3-5 

 ft. with large hollow sts.: Ivs. ternately decompound, 

 the Ifts. lanceolate, with pinnatifid segms.: fls. small, 

 in umbels, the terminal umbels larger, yellowish white, 

 the flowering sts. standing well above the clump of 

 foliage. G.W. 12, p. 411. Hardy in England; thrives 

 in good garden soils. 



MOLTKIA (Count Joachim Gadske Moltke, Den- 

 mark, died 1818). Boraginaceae. About a half-dozen 

 perennial cano-pubescent mostly cespitose herbs allied 

 to Lithospermum, but having stamens exserted and 

 different nutlets; S. Eu. and Asia. Fls. blue or yellow, 

 racemose or in terminal cymes; corolla-tube more 

 or less funnel-shaped, the broad throat naked or 

 hairy, the 5 lobes obtuse, erect or nearly so (spreading 

 in Lithospermum) ; stamens 5. Two or 3 of the species 

 are used more or less in rock-gardens and as alpines. 

 __ petrasa, Boiss. (Lithospermum petraeum, A. DC. 

 Echium persetum, Tratt.), from southeastern Eu., is a 

 good rock-plant, 6-8 in., more or less woody, hoary: 

 Ivs. to \Y<i in. long, narrow-linear to linear-oblong, the 

 margins recurved: fls. deep violet-blue, in simple 

 forked or branching re volute cymes; corolla-tube 

 twice as long as calyx; lobes erect, short and rounded; 

 style slender, exserted. B.M. 5942. B.R. 29:26. 



caerulea, Lehm. Suffruticose, the sts. erect, rigid and 

 thickish, with crowded Ivs., canescent: Ivs. oblong-spat- 

 ulate and obtuse, those on the st. linear-lanceolate and 

 somewhat acute: fls. blue, in scorpioid racemes, the 

 corolla-tube slender and exceeding the calyx; filaments 

 exserted; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate. Asia Minor. 



graminiidlia, Benth. & Hook. (L.graminifolium,Viv.). 

 By some kept in Lithospermum: st. somewhat woody 

 below, but ascending, appressed-hairy: Ivs. linear, 

 revolute: fls. purple-blue, about H m - long, the corolla 

 glabrous and with erect lobes; stamens somewhat 

 exserted. Italy. G.C. III. 47:213. Gn.65,p.l47. Gn.W. 

 21 :668. A dwarf shrub with grayish Ivs., said to prefer 

 a dry and sunny place on limestone. L. H. B. 



MOLUCCELLA (diminutive, made from Molucca). 

 Also written Mollucella. Labiatse. Half-hardy annuals, 

 flowering in midsummer, interesting because of the cup- 

 shaped calyx. 



Annual: corolla-tube included, with an oblique hairy 

 ring within, the upper lip erect, the lower trilpbed, the 

 middle lobe broader, notched ; stamens ascending under 

 the hood, the anthers attached by lateral pedicels to the 

 tip of the filament, cells divergent; style bifid: nutlets 

 4, convex on one side, angular on the other, broader 



upward, truncate. Of 25 described names only 2 

 now remain in this genus as accepted species. Bentham & 

 Hooker place this genus near Lamium. Other genera 

 of garden value in which the upper lip of the corolla is 

 concave or vaulted and often villous within are Stachys, 

 Leonurus and Phlomis. From these Moluccella is 

 easily distinguished by its calyx. The fls. are white, 

 tipped pink, scarcely if at all thrust out of the calyx, 

 and borne in whorls of 6-10. 



To this genus belongs the shell-flower, a quaint old 

 annual plant, that self-sows in old-fashioned gardens, 

 but is now rarely advertised for sale. Start the seed 

 in frames in February and March; the seedlings may 

 be transplanted to the rockery or border in May. They 

 seem to like a sandy loam. 



A. Calyx not prickly. 



laevis, Linn. SHELL-FLOWER (so called because of the 

 shell-like calyx in which the seeds nestle like eggs). 

 MOLUCCA BALM. Fig. 2381. Height 2-3 ft. : st. simple 

 or branching below, fl. -bearing almost from the base: 

 Ivs. long-petioled, rounded-subcordate, teeth coarse, 

 round: fls. in whorls, 6-fld.; bracts shorter than calyx- 

 tube; corolla white, shorter than calyx; calyx bears 5 

 small thorns. W. Asia. B.M. 1852. Fls. odorous. 



AA. Calyx beset with long prickles. 



spindsa, Linn. Height 6-8 ft.: Ivs. ovate, deeply and 

 sharply cut: fls. in whorls, 6-10-fld.; bracts subulate, 

 spiny, shorter than calyx-tube; corolla white, limb 

 longer than calyx-tube; calyx wi'h 1 long spine above 

 and 7 others below. S. 

 Eu., Syria. B.R. 1244 

 (as Chasmonia incisa). 

 Annual or biennial, 

 with brownish red 

 square sts., bristling 

 calyx and gaping co- 

 rolla. Said to have been 

 cult, in England since 

 1596. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



A. C. HoTTES.t 



MOMORDICA 



(momordi, from mordeo, 

 to bite, since the seeds 

 appear to have been 

 bitten) . Cucurbitacese. 

 Annual or perennial 

 tendril-climbing herbs 

 of tropical countries, 

 some of which are cul- 

 tivated for ornament 

 and also for the edible 

 fruits. 



Annual or perennial: 

 fls. monoecious or di- 

 oacious, the staminate 

 solitary or panicled, 

 the pistillate solitary; 

 corolla and calyx simi- 

 lar in sterile and fertile 

 fls. ; corolla-segms. 5, 

 often extending nearly 

 to the base, making 

 a rotate or broadly campanulate fl. ; stamens usu- 

 ally 3, the short filaments free, one of the anthers 

 1-loculed and the others 2-loculed; style single and 

 long, with 3 stigmas: fr. oblong or nearly spherical, 

 small, often rough, usually many-seeded, sometimes 

 splitting into 3 valves, but usually indehiscent; seeds 

 usually flattened, often oddly marked or sculptured: 

 tendrils simple, in this distinguished from Luffa. 

 Species about 35, chiefly in Trop. Afr. also Trop. Asia. 

 Two momordicas (M . Charantia and M. Balsamina) are 



2381. Moluccella laevis. 



