TEEDIA 



TELANTHERA 



3319 



panicles leafy, decussate: fls. rosy pink: seeds many, 

 small. S. Afr. B.R. 209. This species was intro. into 

 tlif . some years ago, but appears to have lost favor. 

 It is said to act like an annual there, but seeds freely 

 and prefers half shade. 



T. pubescent, Burch., grows about 2 ft. high, rusty-pubescent or 

 villous: Ivs. ovate or elliptic, often broader than those of T. lucida. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



TELANTHERA (name refers to the fact that all ten 

 parts of the stamina! cup are equally developed). Ama- 

 rantaceae. ALTERXANTHERA. Small much-used bedding 

 plants, popular in design work because they are com- 

 pact and stand shearing well. 



Apparently ail the alternantheras used by gardeners 

 as bedding plants belong to the genus Telanthera, which 

 is distinguished from the true genus Alternanthera 

 by having 5 anther-bearing stamens and 5 elongated 

 antherless staminodia united into a cup or tube. In 

 Alternanthera the tube is short or almost none, the 

 anther-bearing stamens sometimes less than 5, and the 

 staminodia short or none. Of Telantheras there are 40- 

 50 species, mostly herbs, in Trop. Amer. and 1 in W. 

 Afr. The Ivs. are entire, ovate to elongated, opposite: 

 fls. small, usually in dense heads in the axils, whitish 

 or sometimes colored, perfect, each subtended by 2 

 bractlets. In Engler & Prantl, Die Xaturlichen Pflan- 

 zenfamilien, Schinz retains Telanthera under Alter- 

 nanthera. not dividing the group. 



The alternantheras of gardeners are much used in 

 carpet-bedding and for ribbon-borders, because of 

 their low compact growth, the bright colors of the 

 foliage, which holds its character throughout the 

 season, and the ease with which they withstand shear- 

 ing. They are usually kept within 6 inches of the 

 ground. The plants are tender to frost, and grow best 

 in warm sunny places. They comprise the stock 

 plants for the foundation work in carpet-bedding. The 

 flowers are inconspicuous and of no account to the 

 gardener. 



The plants are propagated by cuttings or divi- 

 sion. In either case, they must be carried overwin- 

 ter in the greenhouse or in hotbeds, preferably in 

 the houses at the North. The plants should be 

 kept at 60 or 65 during winter, and rather 

 dry to hold them more or less dormant. Place 

 them where they will receive only enough light 

 to keep them healthy. (1) Cuttings are usually 

 made in August from strong plants growing in 

 the open. The cuttings may be struck in shal- 

 low flats and then wintered in these flats without 

 transplanting. The cuttings should be well estab- 

 lished before whiter sets in, else they will remain 

 weak. In March or April they may be potted 

 off, preparatory to using them in the open. (2) 

 Division is usually preferred by gardeners who 

 have much bedding to do. The plants are lifted 

 after the first frost, cut back to 3 or 4 inches 

 long, and planted in flats. In March or April, 

 the plants are divided and the parts (with the 

 old roots shortened hi) potted or transplanted to 

 other flats. However grown, the plants should 

 have four to six weeks in a hotbed if possible, 

 before they are placed in the open ground. Even 

 in the warm greenhouse they usually make slow 

 growth in March and April. 



The botanical status of the garden alternan- 

 theras is imperfectly understood, and the group 

 needs careful study from living plants. Various 

 garden names cannot be accounted for at pres- 

 ent. The common garden alternantheras appear 

 to have issued from the first three following 

 Brazilian species. 



A. Lvs. essentially lanceolate or elliptic. 

 amcena, Regel. Fig. 3785. Very dwarf: Ivs. 

 long-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, sometimes 



elliptic, acuminate, very short-petioled, the under color 

 mostly green but veined and blotched with red and 

 orange: fl.-heads sessile, single, in pairs or 3's, and 

 terminal. I.H. 12:447; 15:558. To this apparently 

 belong the garden names amabilis, spectabUis, sessilis, 

 rosea, Reinhardii. 



AA. Lvs. essentially spatulate. 



Bettzickiana, Regel (originally, in 1862, spelled as 

 here, but changed by the author in 1862 to Bettzichir- 

 ana,). Fig. 3785. Plant described as suffruticose and 

 erect, the st. branched at base and terete, adpressed- 

 pilose but becoming glabrous: Ivs. narrow, spatulate, 

 narrowed into long petiole, apex acuminate and some- 

 what mucronate: fl.-heads sessile, single, hi pairs or 

 3's, terminal and axillary; bracte ovate-lanceolate, acu- 

 minate, nearly or quite entire; staminodia much 

 shorter than stamens, 2-3-cut at apex. To this varia- 

 able species appear to belong the garden names picta, 

 tricolor, aurea, awea nana compacta, paronychioides, 

 versicolor aurea, magnifica, and others. Var. typica, 

 Regel (Alternanthera paronychioides, Hort.), is low, 2-3 

 in. tall, with olive-colored Ivs. and the upper ones red 

 at apex. Var. spathulata, Regel (A. spathulata, Lena.), 

 is 6-8 in. tall, the st. and Ivs. red. I.H. 12:445. 



versicolor, Regel. Fig. 3785. Usually becoming 

 taller, much branched, and apparently less used for 

 carpet-bedding than the others: ITS. round-spatulate, 

 narrowed into a short petiole, the colors mostly in 

 shades of copper-red or blood-red, with patches of 

 green between the veins: fl.-heads sessile, single or in 

 pairs. I.H. 12:440. 



ficoidea, Moq. St. herbaceous, repent at base and 

 ascending, angled and striate, glabrous, or puberulent 

 above and in the If .-axils: Ivs. spreading or deflexed, 

 short-stalked, broadly lanceolate, attenuate and some- 

 what acute, mucronulate, the margin undulate-repand: 

 heads ><j-Min. long, sessile, solitary or in 2's; bracts 



3785. Spray of Telanthera amoena; also leaf-outlines of a, T. 

 b, T. Bettzickiana; c, T. versicolor. ( XD 



