THEA 



THEOBROMA 



3329 



B.R. 547. L.B.C. 12:1134. B.M. 2080. T. reticulate, Pierre=Ca- 

 mellia reticulata. T. rossfldra, Kuntre=T. maliflora. Seem. T. 

 Sasdnqua, Nois.=Camellia Sasanqua. ALFRED REHDER. 



THECOSTELE (Greek, receptacle and column, in 

 allusion to the shape of the gynostegium, the sheath or 

 covering enveloping the female elements). Orchidacese. 

 Epiphytic herbs adapted to the warmhouse. Pseudo- 

 bulbs fleshy, ribbed, 1-lvd.: Ivs. oblong, leathery: scape 

 recurved from the side of the pseudobulbs, bearing a 

 simple raceme: fls. medium-sized, short-pedicelled; 

 sepals equal, free, spreading rather broad; petals linear; 

 labellum connate at base with the column in a broad 

 tube, lateral lobes erect, falcate, almost curled, midlobe 

 spreading, elongate, sinuate, undivided; column apex 

 appendiculate with 2 falcate wings at the side of the 

 stigma; pollinia 2: caps, ovoid, beakless. About 5 

 species, Malaya. 



Zdllingeri, Reichb. f. Pseudobulbs the size of a nut- 

 meg or narrower: If. 5-9 in. long, oblong or linear- 

 oblong: scape with the raceme 5-8 in. long: fls. %in. 

 diam. ; sepals and narrowly linear petals white, blotched 

 with brick-red or crimson; lip yellowish with a pink 

 pubescent front, side lobes subclavate, sigmoid, mid- 

 lobe broadly obcordate. Lower Burma and Malay 

 Archipelago" F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



THELESPfRMA (Greek, wart, seed; the seeds are 

 often papillose). Compdsiis. Glabrous herbs or sub- 

 shrubs grown in the warmhouse or greenhouse, and 

 sometimes planted out-of-doors. 



Leaves opposite or the upper alternate, linear, often 

 filiform, simply or twice pinnately parted or the upper 

 not divided: head medium-sized, long-peduncled, 

 heterogamous: ray-fls. yellow, in 1 row, neutral; disk- 

 fls. purplisli, fertile; involucre in 2 rows, the inner row 

 of bracts campanulate and connate to the middle or 

 more: achenes glabrous, smooth or tuberculate. 

 About 15 species, Mex. and extra-Trop. S. Amer. The 

 genus may be separated from Coreopsis by the form of 

 the involucre, which is in 2 series of bracts with the 

 inner series united to about the middle into a cup, while 

 in Coreopsis the 2 series are distinct and united only at 

 the very base. The seeds, especially the outer ones of 

 the head, in Thelesperma are often tuberculate. 



trifidum, Brit. (T. filifblium, Gray). Annual or 

 biennial. 1-2 l o ft. high, loosely branching: Ivs. twice- 

 pinnate, lobes filiform, outer involucral bracts subulate- 

 linear: rays somewhat spatulate, 3-lobed, disk purple or 

 brown. S. -D.. Mo., and Xeb. to Colo., Texas, New 

 Mex.. and X. Mex. B.B. (ed. 2) 3:500. Probably 

 rare in cult. 



hybridum, Voss (Cosmidium Burridgeanum, Hort.). 

 Fig. 3792. A hardy annual, 1 ^ ft. high, a hybrid of T. 

 trifidum and Coreopsis tinctoria, from the latter of 

 which it acquires the brown-purple color of its rays: 

 Ivs. bipinnately divided into filiform lobes not wider 

 than the st. This is probably Coreopsis atropurpurea, 

 Hort. F TRACY HcBBARD.f 



THELYMITRA (Greek, woman and cap, alluding to 

 the hood-shaped column). Orchiddcex. Terrestrial herbs 

 with ovoid tubers, occasionally grown in the greenhouse. 

 Lf. solitary, usually with a rather long sheath, linear, 

 lanceolate or rarely nearly ovate: fls. usually several in 

 a terminal raceme, sometimes reduced to 1 or 2, blue, 

 purple, red. or yellow, occasionally with white varie- 

 ties: sepals and petals nearly equal, spreading; label- 

 lum similar: column erect, broadly winged, the wings 

 variable, sometimes extended into a broad lobed hood 

 over the anther, lateral lobes often penicillate or 

 crested: caps, erect, obovoid or oblong, beakless. 

 About 30 species. Austral., Xew Zeal., Xew Caledonia, 

 and Malaya. Cult, similar to that of bletia. None of 

 the species is in common cult., but a number of them 

 are of interest to orchid fanciers. 



T. cdrnea, R. Br. St. slender, often flexuous, 6-12 in. high: Ivs. 

 narrow-linear: fls. 1-3, pink, sepals and petals oval-elliptic, oblong or 

 obtuse, about 4 lines long. AustraL T. irimdes, Sw. St. usually 

 more than 1 ft. high: Ivs. long- linear or linear-lanceolate, flat or 

 channeled, with 1 or 2 shorter ones: fls. blue, pedicellate, usually 

 forming a raceme 4-6 in. long; sepals, petals, and lip elliptic-oblong, 

 9-10 lines long. Austral. T. lonffifMia, Forst. (T. Forsteri, Sw., T. 

 graminea, Lindl. T. pauciflora, R. Br. ). Usually about 1 ft. high: 

 Ivs. long and narrow: fls. blue, lilac, or pink, rather large, several to 

 a raceme, column produced into a broad hood, usually conspicuous 

 from its dark color. Austral. T. rarifgdta. Lindl. St. not very 

 stout, 1 ft. or more high: Ivs. with a villous sheath, blade linear, 

 glabrous, with a much dilated base: fls. 24, purple, large; sepals and 

 petals lanceolate, shortly acuminate or acute, *4-l in. long, varie- 

 gated. AustraL T. teniaa, R. Br. St 1-2 ft. high: Ivs. long and 

 narrow: fls. blue, 6-10; sepals and petals Ji-Jiin. long; column 

 broadly winged. AustraL R TRACY HUBBAKD 



THEOBROMA (Greek, food of the gods). Sterculid- 

 cex. Here belong the trees that produce the seed from 

 which chocolate and cocoa are derived. 



About a score of small trees in Trop. Amer., with 

 large simple thick and strongly nerved entire Ivs., and 

 small fls. which in at least some species are borne lat- 

 erally on the branches rather than in axils: calyx deeply 



3792. Thelesperma 



hybridum. 

 (Flower XJi) 



5-parted or -lobed; petals 5, mostly clawed or narrowed 

 below; fertile stamens 5, opposite the sepals; ovary 

 sessile and 5-celled, many-ovuled, the style filiform: 

 fr. a large woody drupe or pod, with "seeds imbedded in 

 the pulp. The species of prime economic importance is 

 T. Cacao, but other species are probably concerned in 

 the production of cocoa, and the natural history of the 

 group is yet confused. The word "cacao" (pronounced 

 ka-kow') is the name of the plant and the unmanufac- 

 tured product of it; "cocoa" is the manufactured prod- 

 uct, produced from the bean-like seeds, chocolate 

 being the chief commercial commodity. (Coco is a 



