PANICUM 



PANSY 



2453 



rather glossy, the seed minutely cross- wrinkled. Native 

 of Afr., early intro. into the W. Indies and Trop. Amer. 

 Cult, for forage in the Gulf States. 



barbindde, Trin. (P. motte of authors, not Swartz). 

 PARA-GRASS. Strongly stoloniferous, as much as 20 ft. 

 long: culms decumbent, rooting at the joints, 6-10 ft. 

 high, robust: sheaths more or less hairy, the blades 

 smooth, 6-20 in. long: panicles 8-15 in. long, consist- 

 ing of numerous ascending racemes with rather crowded 

 spikelets. Intro, from Brazil. P. numididnum, Lam., 

 is a closely related species of the E. Indies, sometimes 

 confused with true para-grass. 



BB. Blades an inch or more broad, pli- 

 cate: panicle narrow, the spikelets 

 interspersed with bristles. 

 sulcatum, Aubl. A tall perennial, i 



4-6 ft., native of Trop. Amer.: Ivs. 



large, 1 in. or more broad, somewhat 



hairy, conspicuously plicate: panicle 



narrow, about 1 ft. long, with many 



ascending branches, bearing shorfr- 



pedicelled spikelets throughout their 



length, and also scattered bristles; 



spikelets pointed; lower glume hah", 



second glume two-thirds the length of 



the sterile lemma and fertile floret, all 



strongly nerved. This and the next 



species belong to the section Ptycho- 



phyllum, which is better referred to 



Setaria. 



palmifolium, Willd. (P. plicatum of 



authors, not Lam.). PALM-GRASS. Fig. 



2747. Resembles the preceding, but 



Ivs. broader and nearly smooth, the 



panicle larger and more bristly: spike- 

 lets similar. G. 3:101. Gn. 12, p. 517; 



31, p. 487; 37, p. 245. R.H. 1862, p. 290. 



A variegated form is figured in F.S. 



17:1743-44 under the name P. foliis 



niveo-vittatis. Cult, in the S. for orna- 

 ment. Native of E. Indies. Woolson, of 



Passaic, N. J., says it grows 4-6 ft. high 



in the hardy border and makes a fine, 



stately grass; useful for winter bou- 

 quets. This grass is known in the trade 



as P. plicatum or less commonly as P. 



excurrens, but the real P. plicatum, 



Lam., through an allied species, is a 



smaller, narrower-lvd. plant of no par- 

 ticular beauty and unknown in cult. The 



true P. excurrens =P. plicatum, Lam. 



P. atrosanguineum of lists is apparently 

 Pennisetum Ruppellii. P. Crus-gdlli='Ecbino- 

 chloa. P. frumentaceum = Echinochloa. P. 

 permdni'cum=Setaria. P. rariegatum=Qplis- 

 menus Burmannii. A g H ITCHCOCK. 



PANISEA (Greek, entirely like, refer- 

 ring to the fact that the labellum is 

 like the other floral parts). Orchidacese. 

 Epiphytic herbs, densely cespitose: 

 sepals and petals somewhat similar, narrow, free; label- 

 lum narrow, with along sigmoid-flexuous claw; column 

 slender, broad-winged above; pollinia 4, almost with- 

 out appendages. About 4 species in the Himalayas 

 and Assam. P. tricallbsa, Rolfe, having pale trans- 

 lucent yellowish green fls.; with 3 yellow calli on the 

 disk tipped with brown, has been grown in botanic gar- 

 dens. Assam. 



PANSY. A favorite garden perennial, commonly 

 grown as an annual; prized for the beauty and indi- 

 viduality of its flowers. The pansy is everywhere a 

 familiar flower. There is much character in it. The 

 flower is often likened to a face. It appeals to personal 

 feeling. In fact, the word pansy is only a corruption of 



2747. Panicum palmifolium. 



the French pensee, meaning thought. The old folk- 

 name, heartsease, is also associated with the familiar 

 place which the plant has occupied; it signifies remem- 

 brance. The pansy is one of the oldest of garden 

 flowers. Parkinson mentions it as a flower-garden 

 subject in 1629. When critical study began to be given 

 to the kinds of plants, the pansy was so distinct from 

 wild species that its specific indentity could not be 

 determined with precision, and, in fact, this is the case 

 to the present day. It is generally considered, however, 

 that it has descended from Viola tricolor (see Viola), 

 a small perennial violet native to the cooler parts of 

 Europe. In its nearly normal or un- 

 improved forms, Viola tricolor is now 

 grown in gardens. (Fig. 2748.) It is a 

 most interesting plant, because hand- 

 some-flowered and variable. The flow- 

 ers of this violet usually have three 

 colors or shades, mostly blue, whitish 

 and yellow, but in the different varie- 

 ties one of the colors strongly predomi- 

 nates. A form with very small and 

 inconspicuous flowers (var. arvensis) 

 has run wild in many parts of the 

 country. 



Pansies are perennial, but they are 

 grown practically as whiter or spring 

 annuals. Commercial growers sow 

 the seeds in fall, and sell great quanti- 

 ties of the seedling plants before win- 

 ter sets in. These plants are flowered 

 in frames or cold greenhouses, or 

 they are planted in the open for 

 spring bloom. Plants are also started 

 indoors in late winter for spring 

 bloom. Pansies delight in cool, moist 

 weather; hence the American sum- 

 mer is not to their liking, and they 

 often perish. A new stock of plants is 

 started every year. 



The modern improved pansies run in 

 strains or families rather than hi defi- 

 nite varieties. These strains are main- 

 tamed at a high grade by the best 

 cultivation and the closest attention to 

 selection. The seed of the best strains 

 is necessarily expensive, for it repre- 

 sents much human care. The stock 

 usually runs down quickly in other 

 hands. It should be renewed from 

 the seed-breeder each year if the best 

 results are to be maintained. These 

 fancy and high-bred strains require 

 extra care in the growing. Most of the 

 best strains are of European origin. 

 They are usually known by the name 

 of the breeder. The chief points of 

 merit in the high-bred pansy are size of 

 flower, brilliancy of coloring, arrange- 

 ment of colors. The flowers may be 

 self-colored (of only one color) or parti- 

 colored. The parti-colored flowers are of three general 

 types: two banner petals and three central petals of 

 different colors; petals all margined with lighter color; 

 petals all striped. There are all grades of intermediate 

 differences. The colors which are now found in pansies 

 are pure white, purple^black, pure yellow, different 

 shades of blue, purple, violet, red-purple. Pansy flowers 

 are now grown 3 inches across. (Fig. 2749.) 



With the above account may be compared Gerard's 

 description of pansies in 1587. He pictures the hearts- 

 ease or Viola tricolor with small violet-like flowers, the 

 petals standing apart from each other. The "upright 

 heartsease," or Viola assurgens tricolor, is represented 

 as a stouter and more erect plant, with rounder but 

 scarcely larger flowers. These are described as follows: 



