3216 



SPIRANTHES 



crisped, sometimes lobed or toothed blade; pollinia 2, 

 powdery. Some 200 species, distributed in all parts of 

 the world except the cold regions, but particularly 

 abundant in the tropics of S. Amer. 



A. Fls. in 3 rows: Ivs. persistent at the flowering-time. 



cernua, Rich. NODDING LADIES' TRESSES. Lvs. 

 mostly basal, linear or linear-oblanceolate: st. 6-25 

 in. high, usually pubescent above, with 2-6 acuminate 

 bracts: fls. white or yellowish, fragrant, nodding or 

 spreading, in a spike 4-5 in. long; lateral sepals free, 

 the upper arching and connivent with the petals; label- 

 lum oblong, rounded at the apex, crisp. Aug.-Oct. Nova 

 Scotia to Minn, and south to Fla. B.M. 1568 (as Neottia 

 cernua) ; 5277. B.R. 823. A.G. 13:467. V. 11:13. 



3670. Spondias 

 cytherea. 



Romanzoffiana, Cham. & Schlecht. Lvs. linear to 

 linear-oblanceolate, 3-8 in. long: st. 6-15 in. high, 

 leafy below: spike 2-4 in. long: fls. white or greenish, 

 ringent; sepals and petals broad at base, connivent into 

 a hood; labellum oblong, broad at the base, contracted 

 below and dilated at the apex, crisp. July, Aug. N. 

 Amer. G.C. II. 16:465; 26:400. 



lucida, Ames. St. 4-10 in. high, glabrous or pubes- 

 cent, bearing 4-5 lanceolate or oblanceolate Ivs. near 

 the base: fls. small; sepals and petals white, lateral 

 sepals free, narrowly lanceolate, the upper one some- 

 what united with the petals; labellum quadrate-oblong, 

 yellowish above, not contracted in the middle, wavy- 

 crisp, obtuse or truncate. June- Aug. Maine to Minn, 

 and Va. 



SPONDIAS 



AA. Fls. alternate, appearing in a single spiral row. 

 B. Lvs. present at the flowering-time. 



praecox, Wats. (S. graminea var. Wdlteri, Gray). 

 Lvs. linear, 4-12 in. long, grass-like: st. 10-30 in. high, 

 glandular pubescent above, leafy: spike 2-8 in. long: 

 fls. white or yellowish, spreading; lateral sepals free, 

 the upper one connivent with the petal; labellum 

 oblong, contracted above and dilated toward the apex. 

 July, Aug. N. Y. to Fla. and La. 



BB. Lvs. mostly withered at the flowering-time. 

 simplex, Gray. Root a solitary oblong tuber: Ivs. 

 basal, ovate to oblong, short, absent at the flowering- 

 time : st. very slender, 5-9 in. high : spike about 1 in. long: 

 fls. white; labellum obovate-oblong, eroded and crisp. 

 Aug., Sept. Mass, to Md. A.G. 13:466. 



gracilis, Beck. Roots clustered: Ivs. 

 basal, obovate to ovate-lanceolate, petioled, 

 mostly dying before the flowering-time: 

 st. 8-18 in. high, bearing a slender, many- 

 fld., 1-sided or twisted spike: fls. white, 

 fragrant; sepals longer than the labellum, 

 the lateral ones free; labellum oblong, 

 dilated in front, crenulate or wavy-crisp, 

 thick and green in the middle. Aug.-Oct. 

 E. N. Amer. A.G. 13:466. 



S. colorata, N.E. Br. (Neottia speciosa, Jacq.)= 

 Stenorrhynchus. HEINRICH HASSELBRING. 



^ SPIRODELA: treated under Lemna. 



SPIRONEMA (name means spiral 

 thread, alluding to structure of the fila- 

 ments). Commelinacese. One species, S. 

 frdgrans, Lindl., is sometimes listed abroad 

 for hothouse culture, an odd herb from 

 Mex. Sometimes raised under glass for 

 the delicious fragrance and for the trans- 

 parency of its parts: st. fleshy, 2 ft. and 

 more high: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, sheath- 

 ing, parallel- veined: fls. white, clustered 

 and nearly sessile in a terminal branched panicle, small, 

 the petals paleaceous and diaphanous, the 3 sepals 

 greenish; stamens 6. B.R. 26:47, where it is written 

 that the plant will be cherished "because its thin and 

 delicate tissue allows the hidden motion of its fluids 

 and the subtile texture of its fructifying organs to be 

 watched with ease and pleasure." It is very little 

 known as a horticultural subject. 



SPONDIAS (from a Greek word used by Theo- 

 phrastus). Anacardidceae. A small genus of tropical 

 trees, allied to the mango (Mangifera indica) and the 

 cashew (Anacardium occidentale) , cultivated for their 

 fruits and often used for hedges because of the readi- 

 ness with which large branches, when ^cut and used as 

 posts, take root and grow. 



Leaves usually clustered toward the ends of the 

 branchlets, alternate, imparipinnate, with opposite 

 Ifts. : fls. polygamous, small, shortly pedicellate, dis- 

 posed in racemes or panicles; calyx small, deciduous, 

 with 4 or 5 valvate segms.; petals 4 or 5, valvate; 

 stamens 8-10, inserted at the base of the disk; styles 

 3-5, free at the apex; ovary sessile, 3-5-loculed, with 

 1 ovule in each locule: fr. a fleshy drupe, with a 

 1-5-loculed woody endocarp. Species about 12, several 

 of which are common in the W. Indies, Mex., and 

 elsewhere in Trop. Amer.; one species comes from the 

 Society Isls., another from India. 



cytherea, Sonn. (S. dtttcis, Forst.). Or AHEITE- APPLE. 

 POMME CYTHERE. CAJA MANGA. Vi or Eyi in Tahiti. 

 Fig. 3670. Erect, stately tree, with rather stiff branches, 

 up to 60 ft. in height: Ivs. 8-12 in. long; Ifts. 11-13, oval- 

 oblong, 2^-3 in. long, 1-1 % in. broad, acuminate, ser- 

 rate: panicle 8-12 in. long; fls. whitish: fr. oval or obo- 



