2094 



MYRIOPHYLLUM 



MYRISTICA 



MYRIOPHYLLUM (Greek, myriad-leaved). Halor- 

 agidacese. PARROT'S FEATHER. Water plants, used in 

 aquaria, fountains and pools. 



One of the eight genera of the widespread water- 

 milfoil family, other genera being Gunnera, Hippuris 

 and Proserpinaca, all with minute or inconspicuous 

 individual fls. but interesting and various in foliage. 

 Lvs. whorled or alternate, emersed and immersed, the 

 former entire, dentate or pinnate, the latter divided 

 into capillary segms. : fls. usually monoecious, dioecious 

 or polygamous, in axillary clusters or spikes; calyx 

 none, or present and minutely 2-4-lobed; petals 2-4; 

 stamens 4-8; ovary 2-4-celled, each cell with a solitary 

 ovule. Species about 20, in fresh water in many parts 

 of the world, from the tropics to the frigid zones. Vari- 

 ous native species are likely to be transferred to ponds 

 and aquaria. 



The parrot's feather is a favorite aquatic plant, with 

 delicate feathery foliage, composed of numerous whorls 

 of finely cut leaves. The one often seen in vases and 

 fountains in public parks has the uncomfortable name of 



stamens 4 or 6; petals rather persistent: carpels 1-2- 

 ridged and roughened on the back. Lakes and rivers. 

 Ont. to Fla. and Minn. WILHELM MILLER. 



L. H. B.f 



MYRISTICA (Greek, alluding to the aromatic quali- 

 ties of the plants). Myristicdcese. NUTMEG. Myris- 

 ticas are of many species, but most of the nutmegs of 

 commerce are the product of M. fragrans, Houtt. (M. 

 moschata, Thunb. M. officinalis, Linn. f. M. aro- 

 mdtica, Lam.), shown in Figs. 2425, 2426. This tree is 

 cult, and naturalized in the W. Indies. The genus 

 Myristica is the only one in the family under the old 

 treatment, but it is now divided by Warburg into 8 

 genera. As delimited, Myristica comprises about 80 

 species in farther India, Austral., and Pacific Isls. As 

 formerly defined they are dioecious trees with alternate, 

 entire, pinnate- veined Ivs., and small fls. in axillary 

 clusters: perianth 2-4- (usually 3-) lobed, in a single 

 series; anthers 3 or more, connate; ovary single, 1- 

 loculed, ripening into a fleshy fr. The nutmeg of com- 



2424. Parrot's feather. Myriophyllum proser- 

 pinacoides (XH). Not to be confounded with 

 species of Cabomba. (See Water-Gardening.) 



Myriophyllum proserpinacoides. It is a half-hardy plant 

 from Chile, with weak stems which grow out of the 

 water about 6 inches. It may be planted in a water- 

 tight hanging-basket, and if water can be kept standing 

 on the surface, the plant will hang gracefully over the 

 edges. Although detached floating branches will per- 

 sist for some time, the plant needs earth in which to root. 

 The other species here described are hardy plants, 

 which are common in our eastern ponds. Any one of 

 them may be gathered for the aquarium, and the last 

 two are procurable from dealers in aquatics and aqua- 

 rium supplies. All of them are readily propagated by 

 long cuttings inserted in the earth or mud of the aqua- 

 rium or pond. (William Tricker.) 



A. Lvs. all alike. 



proserpinacoides, Gill. PARROT'S FEATHER. Fig. 

 2424. Lvs. in whorls of 4-6, 7-12 lines long; segms. 

 10-25. Chile. G.W. 15, p. 680. It has escaped from 

 cult, in N. J., but apparently has not persisted. Differs 

 from the 2 following in being dioecious. The female 

 plant is the one in cult. 



AA. Lvs. above the surface of the water different from those 



below. 



B. Lvs. whorled in 3's and 4's. 



verticillatum, Linn. Floral Ivs. pectinate or pinnati- 

 fid, longer or shorter than the fls.; submerged Ivs. in 

 crowded whorls, the divisions very fine or slender: 

 stamens 8; petals deciduous: carpels even. Canada and 

 N. U. S. Eu. 



BB. Lvs. whorled in 4's and 5's. 

 heterophyllum, Michx. Floral Ivs. ovate, lanceolate, 

 sharply serrate, or even entire, much longer than fls.: 



merce is the seed. This is surrounded by a ruminated 

 aril, which furnishes the mace of commerce. The fr. of 

 M. fragrans is short-pear-shaped, to nearly globular, 

 1^-2 in. long, hanging, reddish or yellowish, some- 

 what fleshy, splitting at maturity into 2 valves and dis- 

 closing the scarlet aril or mace. Inside the aril is the 

 hard nut or shell, and inside the shell is the nutmeg. 

 The details of the mace and nutmeg are shown in Fig. 

 2426. For a full illustrated and historical account of the 

 nutmeg, see B.M. 2756, 2757 (1827). The nutmeg 

 has not been grown to any extent in the western 

 hemisphere, the commercial supply of nuts and mace 

 coming mostly from the E. Indies. L jj g 



The nutmeg tree requires a position in well-sheltered, 

 hot, moist valleys in the tropics from sea-level up to 400 

 or 500 feet; it will grow and produce fruit in Jamaica 

 up to 2,000 feet, but the fruit is not so abundant nor 

 the nut so large as at lower elevations. The soil must 

 be a deep rich loam, well drained. The seedlings 

 have a tap-root which is very easily injured in trans- 

 planting. The method usually adopted for growing 

 them is to sow the seeds in bamboo pots, one in each. 

 When they are ready for planting in their permanent 

 places, the bamboo is slit, and the soil, with the plant, 

 gently put into the prepared hole. It is only when they 

 first flower that it is possible to tell the sex of the tree. 

 Nothing is known of the conditions which determine the 

 sex. In Grenada (British West Indies), the usual pro- 

 portion of male trees to female is said to be as three to 

 one, though sometimes forty or fifty trees close together 

 will all be either male or female. As the trees generally 

 flower when they are six or seven years old, there is 

 great waste in the growth of male trees. In the Botanic 

 Gardens in Jamaica, it has been found possible to 



