2062 



MONOCH^TUM 



Allied to Rhexia, but differing in the clavate-append- 

 aged connective and other minor characters: mostly 

 erect, pilose: Ivs. 5-7-nerved, ovate or lanceolate: fls. 

 paniculate, medium size, purple or rose; calyx-lobes 4, 

 narrow, deciduous or persistent; petals 4; stamens 8, 

 unlike, with glabrous filaments: fr. a 4-valved caps. 

 Species 30-40, Mex. to Peru. They are said to be of 

 easy cult.; see Melastoma and Medinilla for similar 

 plants. Prop, by cuttings. 



A number of species may be found in the collections 

 of fanciers. Probably the one most likely to be cult., 

 and which is now offered abroad, is M. sericeum, 

 Hort. (probably M. sericeum, Naudin= properly M. 

 Bonplandii, Naudin). There is also a garden var. 

 multiflorum of it, with handsome mauve fls. produced 

 in abundance in spring. M. Bonplandii is shrubby, the 

 branches somewhat hirsute: Ivs. ovate, 5-nerved, 

 entire, short-petioled, villous, and pubescent beneath: 

 fls. axillary or terminal, violet. S. Amer., in the 

 Amazon region. L jj g 



MONOCHORIA (name refers to the one separate 

 stamen). Sometimes misspelled Monocharia. Pon- 

 tederidcese. A very few species of rhizomatous herbs 

 allied to Pontederia but differing in the absence of 

 perianth-tube, in erect rather than versatile anthers, 

 and the ovary 3-celled and many-ovuled rather than 

 1-celled and 1-ovuled. The species are aquatic herbs 

 in the tropics or subtropics of E. Asia, Afr., and Aus- 

 tral., with long radical and short cauline Ivs., the blade 

 cordate-ovate or lanceolate : raceme appearing to arise 

 from the petiole of a scape-lf., bearing many blue or 

 violet fls. Probably none is in the trade. M . vagindlis, 

 Presl, of India, bears long-petioled oblong-lanceolate 

 cordate acute Ivs. with hollow petioles and is eaten 

 when young as a pot-herb: 2 ft. high: fls. blue. G.W. 

 11, p. 388. 



MONODORA (Greek, single gift, in allusion to the 

 solitary flowers). Annonaceas. Trees, or shrubs, often 

 with more or less climbing habit. 



Flowers extra-axillary or opposite the Ivs. or some- 

 times terminal, borne on a long bracteolate usually 

 pendulous peduncle. This genus forms a distinct 

 tribe distinguished from all other Annonacese by a 

 1-celled compound ovary with numerous ovules 

 attached to the inner walls. The fls. are composed of 3 

 valvate sepals, a corolla of 6 petals united at the base, 

 many short stamens crowded on a spheroid receptacle 

 bearing 2 elongated parallel pollen-sacs capped by the 

 dilated apex of the connective. The ovary borne on the 

 summit of the receptacle expands into a 

 shield-like process, very much like that of 

 a poppy, the upper surface of which is 

 stigmatic. The spherical gourd-like fr. is 

 closely packed 

 \ / / with seeds hav- 



// ing the small 



embryo and 

 wrinkled endo- 

 sperm which is 

 characteristic of 

 all Annonaceae. 

 This genus 

 though of Afri- 

 can origin was 

 first established 

 from a plant 

 growing in Jamaica, certainly intro. from Afr. with 

 negro slaves. Of the 11 species described by Engler & 

 Diels, all African, 2 are of economic importance. They 

 are little known as horticultural subjects. 



Myristica, Dunal. CALABASH NUTMEG. Lvs. short- 

 petioled, the blade firmly membranaceous or paper- 

 like, glabrous, obovate or oblong-elliptical, cuneately 

 narrowed toward the base, which is obscurely cordate; 



(XI) 



2384. Monogramma trichoidea. 



apex more or less acuminate, primary lateral nerves 

 10-20, prominent beneath, curving upward, connected 

 by secondary nerves almost at right angles to them: 

 fls. fragrant, solitary, long-pedunculate, the peduncle 

 bearing at or above the middle an ovate-lanceolate or 

 suborbicular bracteole often more or less acuminate at 

 the apex; outer petals more or less ovate-lanceolate, 

 gradually narrowing toward the apex, undulate-cris- 

 pate, white or yellowish, and variegated with purple 

 or brown spots; interior petals shortly clawed, ovate- 

 cordate obtuse, auriculate and pilose at the base; 

 stigma with the circular margin scalloped or entire: fr. 

 globose, more or less longitudinally striate or obscurely 

 ribbed, with the pericarp thick, woody and gourd-like, 

 often 4-6 in. diam., and hanging on a peduncle 24 

 in. long. An African tree endemic in the forests of 

 Sierra Leone, Upper Guinea, Kamerun, Gabun, the 

 Lower Congo, and Angola. In its native habitat it 

 often reaches a height of 60 ft. or more; but in cult, it 

 is usually much smaller. The aromatic seeds, with 

 the endosperm ruminate like that of a nutmeg, are 

 highly prized by the native Africans. They are used 

 medicinally and as a spice for seasoning food, and are 

 offered for sale in local markets, strung together 

 like rosaries. 



angolensis, Welw. ANGOLA CALABASH NUTMEG. A 

 shrub or tree sometimes reaching the height of 12 ft. : 

 fls. very fragrant; outer petals undulate-crispate, varie- 

 gated with purple, broadly ovate, erect and curving 

 inward above the essential parts; inner petals rose- 

 tinted or whitish in color, borne on a long narrow claw, 

 dilated into a transversely elliptical or subrhomboia 

 pilose limb: fr. is ovoid-ellipsoid, longitudinally striate 

 and abruptly apiculate. The aromatic seeds are used 

 in the same way as those of the preceding species. 



W. E. SAFFORD. 



MONOGRAMMA (Greek, a single line; alluding 

 either to the grass-like Ivs. or to the elongated linear 

 sorus). Polypodiacese. A tropical Old World genus of 

 several small species of grass-like ferns, rarely seen in 

 cult. M. trichoidea, J. Smith (Fig. 2384), is a tiny 

 bark-inhabiting plant with thread-like Ivs., 1-2 in. long, 

 native in the Philippines. It is of exceptional interest 

 from the collector's standpoint because it is without 

 exception, so far as known, the simplest and most deli- 

 cate fern in existence. Its habitat is like that of most 

 filmies and the cultural conditions required are also 

 similar. R . c. BENEDICT. 



MONOLENA (Greek words referring to the single 

 spur-like appendage on the anterior side of the anther- 

 connective). Melastomacese. About 5 species of stem- 

 less somewhat fleshy herbs from Cent. Amer., Colombia 

 and Peru, one of which is a small hothouse foliage 

 plant, cult, like bertolonia, and known to the trade as 

 Bertolonia primulse flora. All the species have a charac- 

 teristic rootstock, composed of clusters of short thick 

 rhizomes, prominently scarred by the falling of the Ivs., 

 and the fls. are numerous, and resemble a primrose 

 about 1 in. across, 5-petaled, pink, and borne on slender 

 scapes: Ivs. long-petioled, oblong to orbicular, entire or 

 dentate. See Bertolonia. 



primulaeflora, Hook. f. (Bertolonia primulseflbra, 

 Hort.). Glabrous: Ivs. leathery, broadly elliptical, the 

 margins dentate and ciliate : calyx-lobes broadly ovate- 

 rounded. B.M. 5818. F.S. 18, p. 162. G.C. 1870:309. 

 It has metallic green Ivs. 4-6 in. long, with 3-5-par- 

 allel veins, the under surface of the Ivs. being a showy 

 rosy purple. 



MONOLOPIA (Greek, one garment or husk; refer- 

 ring to the involucre, the scales of which are united at 

 base or into a cup). Composite . Yellow-fld. woolly 

 annuals from Calif., with 8-10 pistillate rays which 

 are 2-4-toothed or lobed : Ivs. alternate (or lower ones 

 opposite), sessile, entire or pinnately parted: peduncles 



