3272 



STRELITZIA 



STREPTOCARPUS 



than the Ivs. : spathe about 6 in. long, nearly horizontal, 

 purplish at the base, about 6-fld., the fls. orange and 

 blue-purple. Winter. B.M. 119, 120. G.C. III. 54:86. 

 Gn. 60, p. 412; 76, p. 168. Gn.W. 23:185. R.H. 1909: 

 308. Var. citrina, Hort., is cult, abroad. Gn. 78, p. 30. 



BB. Lvs. linear-lanceolate, margin flat. 



parvifdlia, Dry., is at once distinguished by its 

 linear-lanceolate lys. with an equal base and flat margin. 

 S. Afr. The species is probably nob cult. Var. juncea, 



3733. Strelitzia Reginse. (XK) 



Andr. (S. juncea, Link), has Ivs. with practically no 

 blade: spathe green margined with magenta, sepals 

 orange, petals rich blue, white-tipped. S. Afr. B.R. 

 516. R.B. 29, p. 184. 



AA. Plants with finally tall woody sts. 

 B. Base of Ivs. cordate: interior petals white. 



augusta, Thunb. (S. angusta, D. Dietr.). Becoming 

 18 ft. high: Ivs. at the summit of the st. 2-3 ft. long, 

 oblong, acute; petiole 4-6 ft. long: peduncle short, from 

 a leaf -axil: spathe deep purple: fls. on short purple 

 pedicels, all parts of the fl. pure white; petals round at 

 the base. B.M. 4167; 4168. G.C. III. 35:402. 



kewensis, Hort. (S. augusta x S. Regime). Plant 

 about 5 ft. high: Ivs. as in S. augusta but the blades 2 x 

 1J4 ft.: fls. vertical, pale watery yellow, more resem- 

 bling those of S. Reginse, but the small hooded petal is 

 more like the other parent as are the lilac-pink patches 

 at the base of the sepals. Garden hybrid. G.C. III. 

 47:217; 54:87. 



BB. Base of Ivs. obtuse: interior petals blue. 



Nicolai, Regel & C. Koch. Resembling S. augusta in 

 habit and foliage, but the fls. and spathe are much 

 larger and the petals are hastately combined and blue 

 in color. B.M. 7038. F.S. 13:1356. Gt. 7:235. 



. F. TRACY HUBBARD.! 



STREPTOCALYX (twisted calyx). Bromelidceae. 

 There are 7 species of Streptocalyx, according to Mez 

 (DC. Monogr. Phaner., vol. 9), of Brazil. The genus 

 differs from Bromelia in having strongly imbricated 

 broad sepals and long corolla-tube. No species are in 

 the American trade, but S. Furstenbergii, Morr., is 

 described in horticultural literature (sometimes as &ch- 

 mea Furstenbergii, Morr. & Wittm.). It is a stemless 

 pineapple-like plant, with 30-40 rigid lanceolate Ivs. in 

 a dense rosette: cluster a central dense panicle 1-1 K ft. 

 long, with many 2-sided spikes of rather dull fls. S. 

 longifolius, Baker (Bromelia longifolia, Rudgej, has 

 densely rosulate Ivs. 3-6 ft. long, vaginate at base, 

 spinulose at apex and margin, dark-colored on the 

 edges, scaly. Guiana. 



STREPTOCARPUS (Greek compound, meaning 

 twisted fruit). Gesneriacese . CAPE PRIMROSE. Herbs, 

 frequently yillous or lanate, adapted to greenhouse 

 culture; choice plants, grown for the showy bloom. 



Stemless, with 1 or more spreading radical Ivs. or 

 rarely with a st. and opposite Ivs. : peduncles scape-like 

 or axillary, sometimes 1-2-fld., sometimes cymose, 

 several-fld. : fls. pale purple or blue, showy; calyx 5- 

 parted; corolla-tube elongated, cylindrical or spreading 

 above, limb obliquely 2-lipped, posterior lip 2-cleft, 

 anterior larger, 3-cleft; perfect stamens 2; disk short- 

 annular; ovary superior, imperfectly 4-celled: caps, 

 linear, terete, splitting in 2, rarely 4 valves. About 60 

 species, natives of S. Afr. and Madagascar. In Oct., 

 1826, there bloomed at Kew a most interesting gloxinia- 

 like little plant, seeds and specimens of which had been 

 collected in S. Afr. by Bowie, on the estate of George 

 Rex, at Knysna. The plant was described as Didymo- 

 carpus Rexii. It is a stemless plant, with 1 or rarely 2 

 long-tubular nodding pale blue fls. on each of several 

 short scapes, and with several clustered root-lvs. It 

 proved to be a profuse bloomer and easy to grow. "So 

 abundantly does it produce seed," wrote W. J. Hooker, 

 in 1830, "that new individuals come up as weeds in the 

 neighboring pots, and a succession of flowers may be 

 obtained at almost every period of the year." In 1828, 

 John Lindley made the genus Streptocarpus for this 

 plant, calling it S. Rexii, the name it now bears. It 

 appears to have been nearly thirty years after the intro. 

 of S. Rexii that another Streptocarpus bloomed in Eng- 

 land. This second species was S. polyanthus, which may 

 be taken as the type of a group that has one leaf lying 

 on the ground and from the midrib of which arise succes- 

 sive several-fld. scapes. The intro. of this curious plant 

 seems to have revived the interest in streptocarpuses, 

 an interest that has been kept alive by the frequent 

 intro. of other species. The chief stimulus to the sys- 

 tematic breeding of these plants seems to have been the 

 intro. of S. Dunnii, said by J. D. Hooker to be "quite 

 the monarch of its beautiful genus" (but now excelled by 

 S. Wendlandii) . Seeds of this species were sent to Kew 

 in 1884 by E. G. Dunn, of Cape Town. It is one of the 

 monophyllous section to which S. polyanthus belongs. 

 In the meantime, S. parmflorus, a species allied to S. 

 Rexii, had been intro. from the Cape region. With the 

 three species, S. Rexii, S. parmflorus, and S. Dunnii, 

 Wm. Watson of the Royal Gardens, Kew, set to work 

 systematically to breed a new race of Streptocarpus, and 

 his efforts met with unqualified success. When the 

 hybrids came to notice in 1887, the Gardener's Chroni- 

 cle made the following comment on the value of the 

 work: "The results are very striking, and we can hardly 

 doubt that Mr. Watson has set the foundation of a new 

 race of plants, parallel in importance to the Achimenes 

 and Tydaeas." Several hybrid races have now been pro- 

 duced and several interesting species have been intro. 

 from the wild, so that Streptocarpus seems to be 

 destined to become a very important and popular 

 garden genus. 



Bentham and Hooker's treatment divides the Ges- 



