SYNDESMON 



SYRIXGA 



3297 



mane quinquefolia, appearing before the basal Ivs. 

 March-June. Common in woods and open fields. 

 L.B.C. 10:964. Gn. 35:408; 63, p. 277; 76, p. 305. J.H. 

 111.48:388. B.M. 866. I.H. 6:211. Var. fldre-pleno, 

 Hort. Fls. double. Very pretty. L.B.C. 8:770. F.S. 

 11:1155. R.B. 11:205. K. C. DAVIS. 



SYNECHANTHTJS (Greek, continuous and flower, 

 alluding to the arrangement of the infl.). Pcdmacex. 

 Unarmed gregarious palms, grown in the warmhouse: 



trunk slender, an- 

 nulate, often stolo- 

 niferous: Ivs. termi- 

 nal, equally pinnati- 

 sect, segms. broad 

 or narrow, mem- 

 branaceous, acumi- 

 nate, plicately 

 nerved: spadices 

 several, long- and 

 slender - peduncled, 

 the floriferous erect ; 

 spathes several, 

 tubular, membra- 

 naceous, persistent: 

 fls. green or the 

 male purplish, mi- 

 nute, arranged in 1- 

 2 rows in alternate 

 elongated groups, 

 the superior in the 

 groups male, the 

 inferior female: fr. 

 reddish yellow, 

 shining, ellipsoid, 

 1- seeded. Three 

 species, Cent. Amer. 



3757. Syndesmon thalictroides. (XJs) and Colombia. S. 



fibrosus, Wendl. 



Trunk 4 ft. high, green: Ivs. 4 ft. long, erect and spread- 

 ing; Ifts. numerous, 1-1 ^ ft. long, spreading and rather 

 pendulous, linear-lanceolate: spadices one-third as long 

 as the Ivs., the branches many, very slender, forked: fr. 

 orange-red. Cent. Amer. B.M. 6572. 



SYNGONIUM (Greek name, said to refer to the 

 cohesion of the ovaries). Araceae. Tropical American 

 woody climbing or creeping plants, with milky juice 

 and sts. rooting and If. -bearing at the nodes: Ivs sagit- 

 tate, becoming with age pedately 5-9-parted, on long 

 petioles, with a persistent accrescent sheath: peduncles 

 short: spathe yellowish or whitish green; tube small, 

 ovoid, persistent; spadix shorter than the spathe: 

 staminate fls. with 3-4 stamens, pistillate fls. with 

 oblong-ovoid 2- or abortively 1-loculed ovary: seeds 

 solitary in the locules, pbovoid or globose, black. 

 About 10 species, W. Indies and Mex. to Brazil. Mono- 

 graphed in DC. Mon. Phan., vol. 2, 1879. 



podophyllum, Schott. A tender creeping plant: Ivs. 

 becoming 5-7-pinnatisect, 4-6 in. long; petioles becom- 

 ing 15-20 in. long: tube of the spathe 1-1 M m - long; 

 blade of the spathe 2^ in. long, greenish outside, white 

 within. Mex. The typical form is probably not in cult. 



Var. albolineatum, Engl. (S. olbolineatum, Bull.), 

 has whitish costse and lateral nerves. Offered by John 

 Saul, 1893, presumably as a tender foliage plant. 



F. W. BARCLAY. 



SYNTHYRIS (Greek, together and little door or valve, 

 the valves of the capsule long adhering below to the 

 short placentiferous axis). Scrophulariaceje. Hardy 

 herbaceous perennials, glabrous or pilose: rhizome 

 thick: Ivs. radical, petioled, ovate or oblong, crenate or 

 incisely pinnatisect: peduncles scape-like, simple: fls. 

 racemose or spicate, blue or reddish; calyx 4-parted, 

 segms. narrow; corolla-tube very short or almost none, 



subrotate-campanulate, 4-lobed or none; stamens 2: 

 caps, compressed, obtuse or emarginate, 2-grooved. 

 About 15 species, natives of W. N. Amer. Synthyris is 

 nearly related to Wulfenia of S. E. Eu. and the Him- 

 alayas, but the anther-cells are not confluent and the 

 seeds are discoidal. In their native region they are 

 summer-blooming plants with small purplish or flesh- 

 colored spikes or racemes. Border plants. 



reniformis, Benth. (Wulfenia cordala, Greene). A 

 tufted plant about 1 ft. high: Ivs. glabrous, orbicular- 

 reniform, crenately incised, the small lobes sharply 

 toothed, 1-3 in. diam. ; petioles 3-6 in. long: infl. a 

 raceme about o in. long with about 40 purple-blue fls. 

 which are ^in. across; pedicels slender and short; 

 calyx-lobes lanceolate. Ore. and Wash. Gn. 74, p. 165. 

 In England this plant is considered a winter bloomer; 

 it flowers there in Feb. or March, occasionally Nov. 



rotundifolia, Gray. Nearly or quite stemless: Ivs. 

 tufted, cordate-orbicular, 1-2 in. diam., long-petioled, 

 doubly crenate, or crenate-incised, slightly pubescent: 

 scape 4-6 in.: fls. few in a terminal raceme, blue or 

 purple; calyx-lobes ovate, acute. Shady coniferous 

 woods, Ore. p. TRACY HUBBARD. 



SYRINGA (of doubtful meaning; probably from 

 syrinx, pipe, because pipes are made from the straight 

 stems of Philadelphus by removing the pith, and the 

 name Syringa had been originally applied to Phila- 

 delphus but was transferred to the lilac. Philadelphus 

 is still popularly called Syringa). Oleacex. LILAC. 

 Ornamental woody plants grown chiefly for beautiful 

 and showy often fragrant flowers. 



Deciduous, rarely evergreen (S. sempervirens), shrubs 

 or small trees: Ivs. opposite, entire or rarely pinnate, 

 exstipulate: fls. in panicles; calyx small, campanulate, 

 4-toothed; corolla salverform, with cylindrical tube and 

 4-lobed limb; stamens 2; ovary 2-loculed: fr. a leathery, 

 oblong or oval caps., loculicidally dehiscent, with 2 

 winged seeds in each locule. (Fig. 3758.) In S. sem- 

 pervirens the caps, is fleshy, one-seeded, and drupe-like, 

 though dehiscent. About 30 species from S. E. Eu., to 

 the Himalayas, N. E. Asia, and Japan. 



The lilacs are mostly large shrubs with bright green 

 medium-sized foliage and with large showy panicles of 

 lilac, purple, or white flowers followed by brown insig- 

 nificant capsules. They are among the most popular and 

 ornamental flowering shrubs, and 

 hardly any garden or park is found 

 without them. The fragrance of the 

 common lilac is very sweet, as also of 

 S. oblata and S. pubescens. The strong 

 odor of S. chinensis is not agreeable 

 to everyone. S. vittosa and S. Josikiea 

 are almost scentless. S. amurensis and 

 its allies have only a slight odor similar 

 to that of the privet. Almost all species 

 are hardy North, but S. emodi is some- 

 what tender; also, S. pekinensis is not 

 quite so hardy as S. amurensis and S. 

 japonica. The lilacs are very showy 

 in bloom, especially when massed in 

 groups, and groups as a rule are the more 

 effective the fewer different varieties 

 they contain. The mixing of species 

 and varieties differing in habit and 

 blooming season only spoils the effect, 

 and so does too great a variety of 

 colors. S. japonica is the only real 

 tree of the genus; it attains a height of 30 feet. S. 

 vulgaris, S. amurensis, and S. pekinensis sometimes 

 grow into small trees or at least large shrubs 10 to 20 

 feet high. S. persica is one of the smallest species and 

 seldom exceeds a few feet. The first in bloom are S. 

 affinis and S. oblata, followed closely by S. vulgaris, S. 

 chinensis, S. pubescens, S. Julianx, S. persica, S. vil- 



3758. Capsule of 



Syringa vulgaris. 



(X3) 



