3384 



TRISETUM 



TRITHRINAX 



TRISETUM (Latin, three and bristles: the florets are 

 3-awned). ^Graminese. Tufted hardy perennials of no 

 real horticultural interest: inn. terminal spike-like or 

 loose panicles: spikelets 2 (rarely 3-5) -fld.; rhachilla 

 prolonged beyond the upper palea; glumes unequal, 

 keeled; lemma membranaceous, keeled, 2-toothed at 

 apex, bearing a slender dorsal awn; palea narrow, 2- 

 toothed. About 90 species, widely distributed through- 

 out the temperate regions of the world. T. flavescens, 

 Beauv. (Avena flavescens, Linn.). Culms 1^-2}^ ft. 

 high, erect, simple, glabrous: sheaths shorter than the 

 internodes; ligule ^in. long; blades l%-5 in. long, 1-3 

 lines wide: panicle open; branches somewhat flexuous: 

 spikelets 3-4-fld. ; glumes smooth or scabrous; awn long, 

 bent, and twisted. Eu., Asia, and intro. into Amer. B.B. 

 (ed. 2) 1:21.7. Not in common cult., but occasionally 

 used in agriculture. F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



3849. Tristania conferta. ( X 1 A) 



TRISTAGMA (Greek, three drops, alluding to the 3 

 nectar-glands of the ovary). Including Stephanolirion. 

 Liliacese. Herbs with subglqbose tunicate corms, used 

 for fall-blooming. Lvs. radical, few, narrowly linear: 

 scape simple, leafless: fls. in a terminal umbel, not 

 numerous, pedicelled; perianth salver-shaped, tube 

 cylindrical, 6-lobed; crown fleshy at the throat or lack- 

 ing; stamens 6, in 2 rows; ovary sessile, ovoid, 3-celled: 

 caps, loculicidally dehiscent. About 7 species, Chile 

 and Patagonia; probably to be planted in spring in 

 this country. 



nivale, Poepp. (Millanivalis, Baker). Lvs. 6-9 in. long, 

 about 2 lines wide: scape slender, about 1 ft. long: fls. 1 

 in. long, 2-8 in an umbel, the segms. linear and greenish; 

 crown none. Now treated by Baker as Brodisea nivalis, 

 Baker. Likely to be offered by Dutch bulb-growers. 



T. narcissoides, Benth. & Hook., does not appear to be in the 

 American trade. It is 1 ft. or more high, with short narrow-linear 

 Ivs., and white fls. bearing a bright orange narcissus-like crown of 

 3-6 broad unequal more or less connate scales. 



F. TRACY HuBBARD.f 



TRISTANIA (in honor of Jules M. C. Tristan, 1776- 

 1861, a French botanist). Myrtacese. Tall trees or 

 shrubs, evergreen, cultivated as greenhouse shrubs in 

 Europe and hardy in California and Florida. 



Leaves alternate or somewhat whorled and approxi- 

 mate at the ends of the branches, rarely opposite : fls. 

 usually rather small, yellow or white, in axillary, pe- 

 duncled cymes; calyx-tube turbinate-campanulate, limb 

 with 5 short segms.; petals 5; stamens numerous; ovary 

 inferior or semi-superior. About 23 species, Malaya, 

 New Caledonia, and Austral. Prop, by half-ripened 

 cuttings in sand under glass, or by seeds. 



conferta, R. Br. (Lophostemon arbor escens, Schott). 

 BRISBANE Box. Fig. 3849. An umbrageous tree attain- 



ing 150 ft.: young shoots and calyx hoary-pubescent: 

 Ivs. 3-6 in. long, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous, usually 

 crowded at the ends of the branches and apparently 

 verticillate: fls. mostly on the branches well below 

 the Ivs.; petals about J^in. long, white and spotted, 

 fringed. Queensland. B.R. 1839 (as T. macrophylla) . 

 A handsome evergreen shade tree, valuable for 

 avenues in hot dry regions, as it withstands great 

 drought; it also produces timber valued for strength 

 and durability. Much grown in New S. Wales as a 

 boulevard tree. Hardy in Cent. Calif ., withstanding an 

 exceptional temperature of 26 F. at Berkeley. 



JOSEPH BURTT DAVY. 



TRISTELLATElA (Latin, three and star: each flower 

 has 3 winged frs. which have the appearance of stars). 

 Malpighidcese. Scandent shrubs, probably adapted only 

 to the warmhouse. Lvs. opposite or verticillate in 4's, 

 entire, petioles usually 2-glandular at the top, base with 

 2 very short stipules: racemes terminal or lateral, some- 

 times paniculate: fls. yellow; calyx 5-parted; petals 

 clawed, keeled outside, sagittate-ovate; stamens 10, all 

 perfect; ovary 3-lobed: samara? 3, many-winged. About 

 20 species, Madagascar, Indian Archipelago, and Aus- 

 tral. T. australis, A. Rich. Strong climbing shrub with 

 pendent shoots: Ivs. ovate or ovate-oblong, 2-4xl-2J4 

 in., glabrous: racemes 2-6 in. long, 12-16-fld. : fls. 

 opposite, short-peduncled, yellow; petals 5, oblong or 

 ovate-oblong, 5-6 lines long; filaments finally deep red. 

 Malaya and Australasia. B.M. 8334. 



TRITELEIA: Brodisea. The following species, listed 

 under Triteleia, is to be combined with the treatment of 

 Brodisea in Vol. I, p. 576. B. uniflora, Baker (Triteleia 

 uniflora, Lindl. Milla uniflora, Graham). SPRING STAR- 

 FLOWER. Lvs. narrow-linear, 1 ft. or less long: scapes 

 8 in. or less tall, bearing a bract-like spathe toward the 

 top: fl. 1 (rarely 2), 1-1 J^ in. across, pale lilac or pale 

 blue, with pointed segms. violet-streaked through the 

 center. Argentina. B.R. 1921. B.M. 3327. G. 3:115; 

 36:610. Gn. 67, p. 203; 68, p. 365. Gt. 61, p. 219. 

 G.W. 15, p. 624. R.H. 1859, pp. 350, 351. Gng. 2:59. 

 Hardy in most of the northern states, although it 

 does not persist long. Grown chiefly as a pot-plant 

 for spring bloom. Var. caerillea, Hort., has porcelain* 

 blue fls. There are other horticultural forms. T. vio~ 

 lacea, with "delicate violet fls.," is probably a form of 

 this species rather than the T. violacea, Kunth, a Chil- 

 ean species. L. jj. B. 



TRITHRINAX (apparently triple Thrinax, alluding 

 to leaf -division). Palmaceae, tribe Coryphex. South 

 American fan palms, some of which are known to be 

 cultivated in the open in the United States. 



The genus is distinguished from allied genera chiefly 

 by the following characters: fls. hermaphrodite; petals 

 imbricate; filaments connate into a tube: carpels dis- 

 tinct; styles long, distinct, terminal in fr. Five species. 

 T. brasiliensis is a little-known palm. It seems to have 

 been confused in the trade with Thrinax Chiico, which 

 is referred in this work to Acanthorhiza Chuco. The If .- 

 segms. of the former are bifid; of the latter apparently 

 not. Andr6 says the first species described below is 

 unique by reason of its sheaths at the base of the Ivs. 

 These, he says, "are composed of fibers which are at 

 first parallel and longitudinal, then obliquely inter- 

 crossed and finally plaited at right angles like the mats 

 of pandanus in which the coffee of the Antilles and 

 Bourbon is exported. At the summit these narrow 

 strips unite and form a series of very long, robust, 

 recurved spines which are evidently designed to pro- 

 tect the fls. and frs. against climbing animals." Not 

 in common cult, in Amer., although 3 of the 5 known 

 species are planted. 



brasiliensis, Mart. Trunk slender, 6-12 ft. high, 2-3 

 in. thick: Ivs. palmate-flabelliform, glabrous and often 



