2928 



RHEUM 



RHEXIA 



inopinatum, Prain. Small perennial of recent intro- 

 duction: plant seldom more than 2 ft. high, the foliage 

 clustered at the crown, the st. red and nearly leafless: 

 Ivs. orbicular-oval, gray-green, blades 6-9 in. long and 

 nearly as broad, more or less blistered, not lobed but 

 somewhat irregular-margined, obtuse, the petiole about 

 6 in. long and red-purple: infl. paniculate, bright red or 

 crimson, produced in succession: fr. highly colored, the 

 nutlets orbicular and 3-winged, nearly ^in. across. 



3375. Rheum officinale, showing the foliage crown before flowering. 



Thibet. B.M. 8190. G.C. III. 48:391. A handsome 

 small species, in condition nearly all summer, with 

 attractive red-stalked and red-nerved foliage. 



BB. Foliage more or less lobed, the margins of the Ivs. or 

 segms. usually toothed or notched. 

 c. Lvs. shallowly or obscurely lobed. 

 compactum, Linn. St. tall: petioles sulcate, plane 

 above: If .-blades thickish, broad-ovate, cordate, 

 undulate and obscurely lobed, very obtuse, glabrous 

 and shining above, the margin strongly toothed, the 

 veins very prominent: panicle with drooping branches: 

 achene large, dark-colored. Siberia to China. 



cc. Lvs. deeply lobed or evenly divided. 



palmatum, Linn. (R. sangulneum, Hort.). St. tall 

 (5-6 ft.) and leafy: petioles subcylindrical, the margin 

 rounded: If .-blades broad, suborbicular and cordate, 

 3-5-ribbed, scabrous, deeply palmately lobed; the 

 lobes ovate-oblong or lanceolate, acute, entire, den- 

 tate or pinnatifid: panicle leafy, with pubescent 

 branches, the pedicels scarcely longer than the fls.: 

 achene oblong-oval and subcordate. N. E. Asia. Var. 

 tanguticum, Regel (R. tanguticum, Hort.). Lvs. more 

 elongated and not so deeply lobed. G.Z. 20, p. 17. 

 Var. atrosanguineum, Hort. (var.floribus rubris, Hort.), 

 has a showy dark red panicle. Gn. 60, p. 10. 



hybridum, Murr. Petiole long, canaliculate above 

 and sulcate beneath: If .-blades ovate, 3-5-ribbed, the 

 base cuneate or scarcely cordate, incise-dentate, puberu- 

 lent beneath: panicle lax, leafy: achene large, ovate. 

 Seems to be unknown wild. Perhaps a hybrid series 

 between R. palmatum and R. Rhaponticum or R. 

 officinale. 



Collinianum, Baill. Probably one of the R. hybridum 

 series, with much-cut broad lobes that extend half the 

 depth of the If .-blade: fls. red. China. 



officinale, Baill. Fig. 3375. Robust, with a short, 

 branching st. or crown 4-10 in. high: Ivs. very large, 

 1-3 ft. across, round-oval, more or less pointed or 

 acuminate, hairy, 3-7-lobed, the lobes extending one- 

 third or one-half the depth of the blade and sharply 

 angled-notched: fl.-sts. 3-10 ft., much branched, 

 bearing numerous greenish fls. that give a feathery 

 effect to the panicle: achenes red, winged. Thibet and 

 W. China, on high tablelands. B.M. 6135. R.H. 1874, 

 p. 95. Gn. 36, p. 243; 48, pp. 199, 208; 59, p. 282. G.C. 

 111.55:328. G. 9:341; 18:428; 23, 452, 453. Proba- 

 bly the best species of the genus for general cultivation 



for ornament, making a striking foliage plant. It is 

 from the short thick branching st. or caudex of this 

 plant that most of the true officinal rhubarb is derived. 

 Although known to the Chinese for centuries and the 

 product long imported into Europe, the plant was not 

 described botanically until 1872. 



R. acuminatum, Hook f. & Thorn. Dwarf plant (seldom exceed- 

 ing 3 ft.), like a small form of R. emodi, with acuminate Ivs., but 

 fls. considerably larger: said to be an attractive plant in cult, but 

 to die after flowering: sts. and infl. deep red-purple. B.M. 4877. G. 

 36:659. R. gunneroides, Hort., is a garden hybrid, of German 

 origin, between R. emodi and R. palmatum. Himalayas. R. nobile, 

 Hook. f. & Thorn. St. simple, 3-4 ft., densely clothed with imbri- 

 cated downward-pointing bracts that conceal the short axillary 

 peduncles: Ivs. ovate-oblong or rounded, entire. When the fruit is 

 ripe, the shingled bracts are torn away by the winds, leaving the 

 long panicle exposed, and this may stand while another panicle 

 grows from the crown and perhaps at some distance separated. 

 Himalayas. R.H. 1876, p. 266. I. H. 22:209. G.C. II. 13:793. 

 G.Z. 20, p. 104. A remarkable plant. R. Ribes, Linn. 3-5 ft.: Ivs. 

 1 ft. across, cordate to reniform, the margins crisped or undulate, 

 the blade puckered or blistered: fls. green, drooping: frs. about 1 

 in. long, oblong-cordate, narrow- winged, blood-red, showy. Asia 

 Minor to Persia. B.M. 7591. "Rivas" or "Ribes" is its Arabic 

 name. R. spiciforme, Royle. Dwarf: Ivs. thick, orbicular or 

 broadly ovate: fls. white, in a dense spike rising about 2 ft. W. 

 Himalaya. I H B 



RHEXIA (Greek, rupture, referring to its supposed 

 properties of healing). Melastomaceas. MEADOW 

 BEAUTY. Low perennial often bristly herbs suitable 

 for border and wild-garden planting. 



Leaves opposite, sessile or short-petioled: fls. terminal, 

 solitary or cymose; calyx-tube urn-shaped, adherent to 

 the ovary below, and continued above it, persistent, 

 4-cleft at the apex; petals 4, oblique, falling early; 

 stamens 8: caps. 4-celled, with 4- to many-seeded 

 placentae. About 12 species, N. Amer. 



Rhexia virginica is found wild in company with 

 side-saddle plants (Sarracenia purpurea) and cranber- 

 ries in the low meadows of 

 Massachusetts. It is what 

 would be called a bog-plant. 

 It is a pretty, low-grow- 

 ing, tuberous-rooted plant 

 blooming in summer and 

 chiefly interesting as being 

 one of few species of a genus 

 belonging to a family almost 

 wholly composed of shrubby 

 plants from tropical coun- 

 tries, such as Centradenia, 

 Pleroma, and Medinella. It 

 increases by means of 

 tubers and seeds, and under 

 suitable conditions soon 

 makes large clumps. Tubers 

 potted in the autumn and 

 kept in a coldframe force 

 nicely in springtime. (T. D. 

 Hatfield.) 



A. St. cylindrical. 

 mariana, Linn. A slen- 

 der erect usually simple- 

 stemmed plant with red- 

 dish purple fls. about 1 in. 

 across, in loose cymes: Ivs. 

 short - petioled, oblong to 

 linear-oblong, 1-1J 

 long, 2-5 lines wide, 3- 

 nerved; anthers min- 

 utely spurred at the 

 back. June-Sept. Pine 

 barrens, N. J. to Fla., 

 west to Ky. B.B. 2: 

 474. Grows in drier 

 places than R. virgin- 

 ica. It sometimes has 

 white fls. and there is 

 also a linear-lvd. form. 3376. Rhexia virginica. ( X Yd 



