POPULUS 



PORTLAXDIA 



2765 



to 50 ft., attaining 2 ft. or more in diam., with pubescent 

 not viscid buds and terete branches: Ivs. on young 

 shoots broad-linear (3-6 in. long) or oblong, short- 

 stalked, entire; on short shoots or older parts half as 

 long, ovate to rhombic to orbicular and more or less 

 lobed or cut, at base rounded, cordate or cuneate, the 

 stalk 1-2 in. long: catkins loose; stamens 8-12, scales 

 cut, and disk orbicular; pistillate disk tubular and cleft: 

 caps, to ^iin. long. Egypt and Syria to Cent. Asia and 

 China. Gt. 7, p. 170. It is the "willow" of the Children 

 of Israel; perhaps planted within our range. P. prui- 

 nosa, Sehrenk. is a related tree of Turkestan and S. 

 W. Siberia, with bark on the old trunks distinctly and 

 deeply grooved as in ash and elm, whereas P. euphratica 

 has a shaggy bark: Ivs. ovate-elliptic to reniform, never 

 lanceolate, entire. P. Denhardtidrum, Dode, a tree 

 60-80 ft. high in E. Trop. Afr., from sea-level to 1,500 

 ft. altitude, differs from P. euphratica in 

 female racemes being shorter, perianth 

 more deeply divided, ovary larger, and 

 with a very large plane stigma: petioles 

 twisted, so that the Ivs. hang vertically. 

 Tree used by the natives for dug-out 

 canoes. L. H. B. 



PORANA (native name). Convoknddcex. 

 Large twining annual herbs or shrubs, 

 sometimes grown for ornament. 



Leaves petioled, ovate, entire: infl. 

 cymose or racemose; fls. purple, steel-blue 

 or white; sepals in fl. small, narrow, in fr. 

 all or 3 much enlarged; corolla campanu- 

 late or funnel-shaped, wide- or narrow- 

 mouthed; limb 5-plaited, nearly entire or 

 lobed; ovary 2-celled, 4-ovuled: fr. a 

 globose membranous oblong or obconic 

 caps, indehiscent or 2-valved. About 15 

 species from Trop. E. Afr., oriental 

 tropics and X. Austral.: 1 species reported 

 from Mex. The two following species have 

 been intro. into S. Calif., but are said to 

 be hardly worth growing. P. paniculata, 

 Roxbg. Strong shrubby climber often 30 

 ft. high: Ivs. 5x3 in., pubescent above: 

 panicles terminating ever}' branchlet with 

 innumerable fls. ; sepals in fl. linear-oblong; 

 corolla glabrous, campanulate, white, very 

 short -lobed: caps, globose, hairy. India, 

 Malaya. Gn. 61, p. 323. P.racemosa.Jacq. 

 f . An annual, forming dense, not lofty masses : Ivs. 2-3 x 

 I 1 2 in.: racemes lax; bracts at the forks leafy, sessile, 

 scarious in fruit: sepals in fl. linear-oblong, puberulous; 

 corolla lobed nearly half-way : caps, apiculate, glabrous. 

 India. Called the "snow-creeper" by the English as the 

 masses of white fls. resemble snow in the jungle. 



F. TRACT HUBBARD. 



PORANTHERA (Greek, referring to the anthers open- 

 ing by 4 pores). Euphorbiaceae. Plants rarely grown in 

 greenhouses as ornamental subshrubs. Heathlike, 

 herbaceous to somewhat woody: Ivs. alternate or rarely 

 opposite, small, narrow, margin recurved: fls. small, in 

 dense, short-peduncled racemes or heads, monoecious; 

 calyx imbricate, petals present, at least in the stami- 

 nate fls.; anthers 4-celled, opening by 4 pores; ovules 2 

 in each cell. Five species in Austral. There are no 

 well-known related genera. P. ericifdlia, Rudge. Six 

 to 12 in. high: Ivs. linear, crowded, J^-^in. long: fls. 

 white, in a dense terminal corymb. E. Austral. In 

 cult, in Eu. Peat soil is suitable for its cult. It is 

 prop, from seeds. j. B g. NORTON. 



PORTENSCHLAGIA (named for F. von Porten- 



schlag-Ledermayer, an Austrian botanist, 1772-1822). 

 Vmbflliferae. Perennial herb, tall, much branched: Ivs. 

 ternately pinnatifid with filiform ultimate segms.: 

 infl. a many-rayed composite umbel; fls. polygamous: 



fr. ovate-cylindrical, in cross-section almost circular. 

 One species from Dalmatia. There is also another 

 Portenschlagia which belongs to the Celastraceae and 

 is included in Elaodendron. P. ramosissima, Vis. 

 Tall and much branched: ultimate segms. of Ivs. 

 J^-l in. long: fls. yellowish white; involucral bracts 

 numerous, often membranous at the margins; petals 

 hairy: fr. shortly hairy. Probably sparingly cult, 

 abroad. 



PORTLANDIA (named in honor of a duchess of 

 Portland). Rubidceas. Glabrous shrubs and small trees, 

 useful for the ornamental bloom. 



Leaves opposite, thick-leathery, petiolate, oblong or 

 linear-oblong; stipules between the petioles, connate 

 with the petiole forming a sheath, deciduous: fls. large, 

 1-3-fld. on axillary peduncles; calyx 5-lobed, persistent; 



3148. Portlandia pterosperma. 



corolla large, subcampanulate or funnelform, 5-lobed; 

 stamens 5; ovary 2-celled: fr. an obovoid-oblong caps., 

 turbinate or clavate, leathery. About 10 species, 

 Mex., W. Indies, but little known as horticultural sub- 

 jects; probably useful far S. 



platan tha, Hook. Low shrub lJ^-3 ft. high, gla- 

 brous: Ivs. opposite, nearly sessile, elliptical-ovate, 

 acute, evergreen, subcoriaceous; stipules broadly trian- 

 gular, obtuse: calyx-lobes 4, spreading, leafy, lanceo- 

 late; corolla white, broadly funnelform approaching to 

 campanulate, 5-lobed, the lobes spreading, ovate. 

 Amer. B.M. 4534. Requires moist tropical green- 

 house heat and a mixture of loam and leaf-mold or 

 peat-soil. Prop, by cuttings. 



pterosperma, Wats. Fig. 3148. Shrub or small 

 tree, 2-10 ft.: Ivs. thin and deciduous: fls. numerous 

 upon the young slender branches, 2 at nearly every 

 node, pure white, funnelform, nearly 3 in. long; lobes 

 of the corolla triangular, folded edge to edge in the bud 

 so that it is strongly angled. Mex. G.F. 2:209 (adapted 

 in Fig. 3148). Probably hardy in the Gulf states and 

 possibly in cult. 



Other species which may appear in cult, are P. cocdnea, Swarta, 

 a Jamaican species with scarlet fls. and yellow anthers, and P. 

 grandifldra. Linn., a native of the W. Indies with white fls., red- 

 dish inside at the throat and 5 in. long, growing 10-14 ft. high. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



