PLATYCODON 



PLATYLEPIS 



2711 



conical, loculicidal within the lobes of the calyx, 5- 

 valved. One species, E. Asia and Japan. This plant 

 was first placed in Campanula by Jacquin, and later, 

 1 iy Schrader, in Wahlenbergia ; and it is still sometimes 

 cult, under these names. In 1830 it was made a sepa- 

 rate genus (Platycodon) by A. DeCandolle. It is dis- 

 tinguished 

 from Cam- 

 panula by its 

 broadly cup- 

 shaped fls., 

 the stamens 

 dilated at the 

 base, and the 

 caps, opening 

 at the top 

 and not at 

 the sides. 

 From Wahlenbergia it 

 differs in the valves of 

 the caps, being oppo- 

 site to the calyx-lobes 

 instead of alternate 

 with them. Several supposed 

 species have been described at 

 different times, but there seems 

 to be no doubt that the genus 

 is distinctly monotypic and that 

 all forms can be referred as 

 forms of the type P. grandi- 

 florum, which has been widely 

 distributed and thereby greatly 

 modified. It has been found in 

 a wild state from Dahuria to 

 Manchuria, in China, in Siberia, 

 Korea, and Japan. 



Platycodon requires a medium 

 sandy loam, and does not succeed 

 in either extremely stiff or sandy 

 soils. It is particularly sensitive 

 to ill-drained soils. Under suit- 

 able soil conditions it is perfectly hardy and will even 

 stand considerable neglect. It is desirable to keep the 

 stems tied during the season, for if once allowed to 

 fall they can never be raised without breaking. In 

 autumn the old stems should not be cut away, but the 

 plant allowed to die off naturally; otherwise the crown 

 may be injured. It can be propagated either by division 

 or by seeding, the latter being more surely successful 

 and therefore preferable; besides, a greater variety of 

 flowers is obtained in this way. More care and skill are 

 necessary in propagation by division, because of the 

 fleshy rootstock. It is best accomplished in spring, 

 when the plant is breaking into new growth. 



One of the best single varieties of P. grandiflarum 

 is "Die Fee." large and very free-flowering, sky-blue. 

 Of the numerous semi-double and double sorts may be 

 noted Goos & Koenemann's German introductions: 

 Capri, deep blue, medium tall; Multiflora, with thickly 

 set clear blue bells; Seidenball, lilac-purple, and the dark 

 blue Vineta. Of French origin are Cloche bleue, navy 

 blue, and Globe azure, sky-blue. (Richard Rothe.) 



grandifldrum, DC. (Campanula grandiflora, Jacq. 

 Wahlenbergia grandiflora, Schrad.). CHINESE or JAP- 

 ANESE BELLFLOWER. BALLOON FLOWER. Fig. 3066. 

 Plant 1-2 ft. high, forming a dense, branching bush of 

 upright habit: Ivs. lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, gla- 

 brous, unequally toothed: fls. large and open, attaining 

 3 in. diam., produced from tips of branches, inflated 

 in the bud, hence sometimes called "balloon flower;" 

 corolla 5-lobed, blue, pale blue-white, or variegated. 

 June, July. G.C. III. 28:223. J.H. III. 30:123; 54: 

 331. F.S. 22:2332. B.M. 252. F.E. 15:647. G. 30: 

 421. Gn.W. 6:713. R.B. 39:347. Var. album, Hort. 

 A white-flowering form. Var. autumnale, Voss. (P. 

 aulumnale, Decne.). Later-flowering form from Man- 



172 



3066. Platycodon 

 grandiflorum, (XM) 



churia. Gn. 45, p. 462. R.H. 1848:361; 1858, p. 547. 

 G. 2:211. H.F. 8:172. J.F. 3:250. 



Var. japonicum, Hort. (P. japonicum, Hort.), is of 

 stronger and bushier growth and freer-flowering. The fls. 

 average 2^ in. across; the inner and outer lobes alter- 

 nate with one another, giving the fl. the appearance of a 

 10-pointed star. This variety was first procured by 

 Dreer in 1895 from Leonard Lalle, Lyons, France, who 

 offered it as a novelty that season. It proved to be a 

 first-class and desirable sort and has been tested by 

 Dreer since, who considers it one of the good hardy 

 perennials. 



Var. Mariesii, Hort. (P. Mariesii, Hort.). Originally 

 intro. into England from Japan by Maries, and supposed 

 to be identical with var. glaucum of Siebold. It does not 

 exceed 1 ft. in height: growth stouter and more com- 

 pact: Ivs. thicker than in the type: fls. are as large or 

 larger than the type and varying in color from deep 

 purplish blue to pale blue or lavender and white. G.C. 

 111.14:163. G.M. 37:35. J.H. III. 35:29.; 63:152. 

 Gn. 27:216; 45:462. A minor form of var. Mariesii, 

 var. nana, Hort., is frequently offered in the trade as 

 being dwarfer and more compact, with white or blue 

 fls. Var. semi-d&plex, Hort. Two and one-half ft. high: 

 fls. rich blue, darker veined, 23^-3 in. across, flattened, 

 and with a second row of corolla-segms. G.M. 43:575. 

 G.C. III. 28:223. Var. semi-plenum, Hort. Fls. semi- 

 double, and varying in color from purple to white; said 

 to have been developed from var. album. Var. striatum, 

 Hort. A garden form with blue or white fls., striped 

 with white or blue. ARNOLD V. STUBENRAUCH. 



F. TRACT HrBBARD.f 



PLATYCRATER (Greek, platys, broad, and crater, 

 bowl; alluding to the broad enlarged calyx of the ster- 

 ile fls.). Saxifragaceae. A monotypic genus allied to 

 Hydrangea. The species is a woody plant, with oppo- 

 site serrate Ivs. and white, comparatively large fls. in 

 long-peduncled, loose cymes, the marginal ones sterile 

 and with enlarged calyx; petals 4; stamens numerous: 

 fr. a 2-celled many-seeded dehiscent caps. It is not 

 hardy N. and of little decorative value. It thrives best 

 in rather moist, porous soil and partly shaded position 

 and is easily prop, by seeds, greenwood cuttings under 

 glass, or layers. 



arguta, Sieb. & Zucc. Prostrate shrub: lys. oblong 

 to oblanceolate, cuneate at the base, acuminate, gla- 

 brous except on the veins beneath, thin, light green, 

 3-6 in. long: cymes 3-10-fld., on a l-2-in.-long peduncle; 

 fls. slender-pedicelled, the sterile ones apetalous, 1 in. 

 across, with broad, obtuse sepals; fertile smaller, with 

 lanceolate sepals half as long as the oblong-ovate petals. 

 July. Japan. S.Z. 1:27. Gt. 15:516. H.F. 1870:206. 

 Useful for rockwork in greenhouses. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



PLATYLEPIS (Greek, brood scale; presumably refer- 

 ring to the fact that the sepals are broad). Orchidd- 

 ceae. Terrestrial herbs with creeping rhizomes and 

 ascending leafy sts., suitable for the warmhouse: Ivs. 

 petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, membranous: fls. 

 narrow, shortly pedicelled, arranged in dense spikes; 

 bracts ovate; sepals subequal, narrow, free, connivent 

 round the column; lateral united at the base into a very 

 short chin.; petals narrow, slightly cohering with the 

 dorsal sepal into a hood; lip sessile at the base of the 

 column, erect, channelled, broadly ventricose at the 

 base, cohering with the margins of the column; limb 

 very little dilated; column elongated, subterete, cli- 

 nandrium oblong, erect behind the rostellum. About 

 6 species, Trop. and S. Afr. P. australis, Rolfe. Lvs. 

 ovate, 2-4 in. long, 15-21-nerved: infl. erect scapes 

 6-12 in. long, bearing an oblong or elongated many-fld. 

 raceme 2-5 in. long; fls. small, green, with the upper half 

 of the lip white. S. Afr. P. densifldra, Rolfe. Differs 

 from the preceding in having narrower sepals, the 



