3200 



SPARAXIS 



SPARMANNIA 



SPARAXIS (Greek word referring to the torn or 

 lacerated spathes, a character which distinguishes 

 this genus from Tritonia). Iridaceae. WAND-FLOWER. 

 Bulbs or corms with fibrous coating, the plants suitable 

 for outdoor planting but grown mostly under glass. 



Stems simple or slightly branched: Ivs. few, flat, 

 sword-like or broadly linear, erect or falcate: spathes 

 few, remote or sometimes solitary, broad-striate or 

 frequently marked with short brown lines: fls. 1 to a 

 spathe, sessile, rather large, yellow; perianth-tube short 

 and slender, 6-lobed; ovary 3-celled: caps, membrana- 

 ceous, ovoid or oblong, included in the spathe. About 

 3 species, Cape Colony, S. Afr. Sparaxis is a group of 

 spring-blooming Cape bulbs of the Ixia tribe, with 

 spikes of 6-petaled, more or less funnel-shaped fls. 

 1-2 in. across and exhibiting an extraordinary range of 

 color and throat - markings. 

 These plants are less popular 

 than ixias, which they much 

 resemble. The plants are 

 dwarfer and more compact 

 than ixias, usually 6-12 in. high, 

 the spikes are shorter and 

 fewer-fld., and the blossoms 

 are sometimes larger. Sparaxis 

 is essentially distinguished from 

 Ixia and other allied genera by 

 the subregular perianth, uni- 

 lateral and arcuate stamens, 

 and scarious lacerated spathe- 

 valves. 



Although a few plants of 

 sparaxis are occasionally culti- 

 vated in America by bulb-fan- 

 ciers, one may search through 

 many American catalogues 

 without finding them listed. 

 The Dutch bulb-growers offer 

 twenty - five distinct kinds, 

 which is perhaps a quarter of 

 the number of varieties of ixias 

 in cultivation. According to 

 J. G. Baker, there is "only one 

 species in a broad sense, vary- 

 ing indefinitely in the size and 

 coloring of the flowers." For 

 practical purposes Baker recog- 

 nizes the three species given 

 below; of these the most impor- 

 tant and variable is S. tricolor. 

 Sparaxis pulcherrima of the Dutch trade is properly 

 Dierama pulcherrima, Baker. This grows as much as 6 

 feet high and has pendulous bright blood-purple flowers 

 but apparently with pale rose and perhaps other varie- 

 ties (also a white variety). It is distinguished by its 

 pendulous flowers with regular perianth, simple style- 

 branches, equilateral stamens, and large bracts which 

 are not laciniate. B.M. 5555. F.S. 17:1810. Gn. 

 20:588; 44, p. 281. G. 16:386; 29:197. G.L. 27:152. 

 This plant is said by F. W. Burbidge to be "perhaps the 

 most graceful of all the Cape irids." (See Vol. II, page 

 1007.) 



A. Throat of fl. same color as segms. 



B. Fls. small; segms. l^-^in. long. 

 bulbifera, Ker. Corm globose, J^-%in. thick: basal 



Ivs. about 4, linear or lanceolate, J%-1 ft. long: sts. 

 ]/2~\ ft. long, simple or branched, bearing low down 2-3 

 small Ivs., often with bulbils in the axils: fls. solitary 

 or few in a spike, yellow; perianth-tube Kin. long. 

 B.M. 545 (as Ixia bulbifera). To this species Baker 

 refers S. albiflora, Eckl., with fls. whitish inside, and S. 

 violdcea, Eckl., with dark purple fls. 



BB. Fls. larger; segms. 1 in. or more long. 

 grandiflora, Ker. Habit, corm, Ivs., and spathe just 

 as in S. bulbifera but the fls. larger, the limb 1 in. or 



3654. Sparaxis tricolor. 

 (XJO 



more long, usually yellow or purple, and larger anthers. 

 B.R. 258 (fls. white inside, midvein on the back pur- 

 ple). B.M. 541 (as Ixia grandiflora; fls. rich purple, 

 margined lighter) ; 779 (fls. primrose inside, flamed pur- 

 ple outside). The principal named forms are: Var. 

 atropurpfcrea, Hort., dark purple; var. anemonaeflora, 

 Hort., pale yellow; var. Liliago, Baker, white, flushed 

 with claret-purple outside; and var. stellaris, Baker, 

 dark purple, the segms. narrower than the type, oblance- 

 olate and acute rather than oblong. 



AA. Throat of fl. bright yellow, often with a dark blotch on 

 the lower part of each segm. 



tricolor, Ker. Fig. 3654. Differs from S. grandiflora 

 only in the color of the fls., which are very variable but 

 always have a bright yellow throat and often a dark 

 blotch at the base of each segm. B.M. 381 (as Ixia 

 tricolor); 1482. F.S. 2:124. F. 1843:213 (as S. picta, 

 S. purpurea, S. pulchella). According to Baker, this is 

 the favorite species among cultivators. It certainly has 

 the greatest variety of colors and markings. In the 

 works cited the floral segms. range from nearly white 

 through rose, brick-red, carmine, crimson, and light pur- 

 ple to dark purple, excluding blue and yellow, which 

 latter color usually appears in the throat. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



SPARGANIUM (Greek, fillet, referring to the ribbon- 

 like leaves). Sparganiacese. BUR-REED. Marsh or 

 aquatic herbs which may be used in the bog-garden or 

 along the pond-edge. Pflanzenreich, IV, 8. 1900. 



Leaves alternate, sessile, linear-elongate, erect or 

 floating, entire: fls. monoecious, in globular, sessile, or 

 pedunculate heads, the upper bearing 3-androus, naked 

 fls. and minute scales, the lower consisting of numer- 

 ous sessile or shortly pedicelled pistillate fls.; ovary 

 1-2-celled: fr. obovoid or spindle-shaped, 1-2-seeded. 

 About 15 species^ temperate and subf rigid regions of 

 the northern hemisphere and in Austral. Bur-reeds are 

 marsh herbs closely allied to cat-tails but with fls. in 

 globular heads instead of oblong spikes. A few hardy 

 perennial kinds are advertised by collectors of native 

 plants and one or two are procurable from specialists in 

 aquatics. Bur-reeds are desirable only in bog-gardens 

 or in wild-gardening operations. The beauty of these 

 plants often lies in each species being massed alone, as 

 well as in the mixing with other plants. 



A. Infl. unbranched. 



simplex, Huds. Sts. weak and slender, 1^-2 ft. 

 high, unbranched: Ivs. more or less triquetrous: stami- 

 nate heads 4-6; pistillate 2-6, 5-8 lines in diam.: fr. 

 stalked. June- Aug. N. Amer. 



AA. Infl. branched. 

 B. Height 3-8 ft. 



eurycarpum, Engelm. Sts. stout, 3-8 ft. high, branch- 

 ing: Ivs. linear, flat, slightly keeled beneath: staminate 

 heads numerous, pistillate 2-4 on a st. or branch, 10-16 

 lines in diam. : fr. sessile, angled, depressed at the sum- 

 mit. May- Aug. N. Amer. 



BB. Height 2-4 ft. 



ramosum, Huds. Lvs. 3-angled at the base, long and 

 linear: heads 5-9, disposed in axillary and terminal, 

 interrupted spikes, the lowest one larger and pistillate, 

 the others wholly staminate; pistillate heads 8-10 lines 

 in diam. July. Old World. WILHELM MILLER. 



SPARMANNIA (named for Andreas Sparmann, 

 1747-1787). Tiliacese. Shrubs or trees, with soft stel- 

 late pubescence, grown in the greenhouse and also out- 

 of-doors in the southern United States. 



Leaves cordate, dentate, or lobed: fls. white, in ter- 

 minal, umbelliform little cymes; sepals 4, petals 4, 

 naked at the base ; stamens numerous, free ; ovary nearly 

 4-celled: caps, globose, spiny. About 5 species, Afr. 



