2538 



PENNYROYAL 



PENTAS 



"sweet herbs." It is easily grown, profiting by a win- 

 ter protection of leaves or litter. Propagation is mostly 

 by division. Beds should be renewed frequently. 



PENTACILETA (Greek, referring to five bristles at 

 the base of the pappus). Composite. A few species of 

 low slender- Calif ornian annuals with thread-like 

 alternate Ivs. and small or medium-sized heads, the rays 

 when present usually yellow, sometimes white: the 

 disk-fls. sometimes turning purple. P. aurea, Nutt., 

 growing 3-12 in. high and with 7-40 deep golden rays, 

 was once offered and was pictured in Gt. 33:1153, but 

 it has no horticultural standing. 



PENTAPETES (Greek, having five leaves; an ancient 

 name of some cinquefoil, transferred by Linnaeus to 

 this plant, which has five leafy growths (staminodes) 

 accompanying the stamens; or perhaps to the 5-merous 

 arrangement). Sterculiacese. A pretty red-flowered 

 tender annual, widely distributed in tropical Asia, rare 

 in gardens. 



Species one, P. phoenicea, Linn. Erect branched 

 herb, nearly or quite glabrous, 3-5 ft. : Ivs. 3-5 in. long, 

 hastate-lanceolate, 1-nerved, crenate-serrate; petiole 1 

 in. long; stipules awl-shaped: fls. red, about 1% in. 

 across, opening at noon and closing early following 

 morning; bractlets 3, caducous; sepals 5, lanceolate, 

 connate at the base; petals 5; stamens 20, connate at 

 the base, 15 fertile in 5 groups of 3 each, alternating 

 with 5 staminodes which are nearly as long as the petals; 

 ovary 5-celled; cells many-ovuled: caps, loculicidally 5- 

 valved; seeds 8-12, in 2 series in each cell. B.R. 575. 

 An interesting plant for amateurs in the warmhouse 

 or for cult, in the open in summer. Prop, by seeds 

 and cuttings. L H. B. 



PENTAPTERfGIUM (Greek words, five and a small 

 wing; alluding to the five-winged calyx). Ericaceae. 

 Epiphytic shrubs, glabrous or strigose-hirsute, with 

 alternate subsessile Ivs., rather large and scattered or 

 small and sub-distichously clustered: fls. rather large, 

 axillary, solitary or in few-fid, corymbs; calyx-tube 

 turbinate or hemispherical, 5-winged; limb of 5 per- 

 sistent leafy lobes; corolla tubular, 5-angled, with a 

 limb of 5 suberect or recurved lobes; stamens 10; ovary 

 5-celled. About 6 species, 1 from the Malay Peninsula, 

 the remainder from the temperate Himalayan region. 

 Two species have been occasionally in cult. P. rugbsum, 

 Hook. Fls. pendulous; corolla nearly white, beautifully 

 marked between the 5 angles with purple or blood-red 

 bands: Ivs. almost sessile, subcordate at base, very 

 much wrinkled, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate. Khasia 

 Mts. B.M. 5198. G. 36:617. G.W. 2, p. 502. F. 

 serpens, Klotzsch. Fls. numerous, axillary, hanging 

 along the under side of the branches; calyx green, 5- 

 angled; corolla bright red, with darker V-shaped 

 marking: Ivs. small, lanceolate: sts. slender, drooping: 

 rootstock large, tuberous. Himalayas. B.M. 6777. 

 G.W. 13, p. 90. 



PENTARHAPHIA (Greek, five needles, referring 

 to the form of the open calyx) . Gesnerioceae. Shrubs or 

 subshrubs, one or two of which are grown under glass 

 for the fls. This genus is most commonly treated as a 

 section of the genus Gesneria, but is considered dis- 

 tinct by some. The principal characters of the section 

 are the relatively bare branches, the 1- to several-fld. 

 elongated peduncles borne in the If .-axils: fls. with a 

 crooked cylindrical tube; stamens more or less long- 

 exserted. At least 15 species, Mex., W. Indies, and S. 

 Amer. F. floribtinda, Carr. Much of the material cult, 

 under this name is referable to Gesneria libanensis 

 (Vol. Ill, p. 1333), but some of it may be other species, 

 as there appears to be more than one plant passing 

 under this name. R.H. 1878:30. B.M. 4380. R.B. 25: 

 241. These portraits may not all represent the same 

 plant. 



PENTAS (Greek, five, referring to the floral parts) 

 Rubiacese. Tender herbs and subshrubs, resembling 

 bouvardias and of the same family, grown under glass 

 for the lilac or white bloom. 



Herbs or subshrubs, erect or prostrate, hispid or 

 tomentose: Ivs. opposite, stalked, usually ovate or 

 ovate-lanceolate; stipules multifid or multi-setose: 

 infl. usually corymbose; calyx-lobes 4-6, unequal; 

 corolla pilose, the long tube dilated and villous in the 

 throat; lobes valvate; stamens 4-6, inserted below the 

 throat; filaments short or long; anthers fixed at the 

 back, included or exserted; disk tumid or annular, often 

 produced into a cone after anthesis; ovary 2-loculed; 

 ovules numerous; style-branches papillose: caps, mem- 

 branous or leathery, 2-loculed, loculicidal; seeds 

 minute. There are about 30 known species in Trop. 

 and S. Afr., including Madagascar. Only one is well 

 known in cult., whose color varieties range through lilac 

 and flesh-color to crimson-pink and rosy purple. A good 

 cluster is 3 in. across and contains 20 or more fls., each 

 of which is ^in. across. The fls. are about %in. long, 

 funnel-shaped, and usually have 5 spreading lobes, 

 sometimes 4 or 6. It is mostly grown like bouvardia in 

 warm conservatories for winter bloom, but it is some- 

 times used for bedding in warmer countries, as it gives 

 3 months of rather showy bloom when treated like 

 lantana. In general, the species seem to be less worthy 

 than bouvardias. 



The pentas may be propagated from February to 

 the middle of April. Choose cuttings of half-matured 

 wood and place in a warm propagating-bed; by keeping 

 moist and shaded they will root. Before they have 

 made too long roots, lift and transfer into small pots. 

 They like a sandy open mixture, as of loam, peat, and 

 sand in equal parts for the first potting. Place where 

 they may have shade until well started, when they 

 should have sun. In their growing season, which is 

 from the end of January until autumn, they should 

 have a temperature of 60 to 65 at night with 10 to 

 15 rise during the day with sun. Keep the young plants 

 vigorous by giving larger pots until they are in 6- to 

 8-inch pots. For a compost give them fibrous loam four 

 parts, fibry peat one part, well-decayed cow-manure 

 one part, and enough sand to keep it open. Always give 

 plenty of drainage in the pots, and pot moderately firm. 

 In the spring and summer they will require plenty of 

 water. In the hot days of summer give daily syringing, 

 getting well under the foliage. As they grow, tie the 

 branches out horizontally; they then will break away 

 into a number of growths which will make headway for 

 flowers in autumn. If they show bloom before this 

 time, pinch the flowers out. When the pots become well 

 supplied with roots, give liquid feed once a week. The 

 flowers are very useful for cutting. The care in winter 

 should require a lower temperature; they do well in 

 55 to 58 at night, with about 10 more with sunshine. 

 Give enough water to keep them in good health and a 

 good syringing now and then. After January, they 

 may have any necessary repotting, such as renewing the 

 old compost with a good rich material and growing on 

 as treated the preceding spring and summer with the 

 exception of cutting back the shoots well. (J. J. M. 

 Fan-ell.) 



lanceolata, Schum. (Ophiorrhiza 'lanceolata, Forsk. 

 F. cdrnea, Benth., under which name it is known to 

 gardeners) . Erect or decumbent, 1-2 ft. high, shrubby 

 at base, merely puberulous, not rusty-hairy: Ivs. 1-6 in. 

 long, 4 lines to 2 in. broad, ovate, elliptic or lance- 

 oblong, more or less acute, narrowed at base into a 

 short petiole, the lateral veins many: cymes peduncled 

 or not; fls. nearly sessile, to 1 in. long, dimorphic, 

 naturally pale purple; corolla very hairy at throat. Trop. 

 Afr., Arabia. B.M. 4086. B.R. 30:32. R.B. 21:217. 

 Gn. 21, p. 329. J.H. III. 30:209; 52:417. G.W. 10, p. 

 378. Var. kermesina, Hort. Fls. carmine-rose, tinted 

 violet in throat. R.H. 1870:130. Var. alba, Hort., has 



