3510 



WATSONIA 



WEEDS 



EE. Fls. rose-red or white. 

 F. Lvs. ]/z-%in. wide: spikes about 12-fld. 

 Meriana, Mill. This seems to be the dominant 

 species of the genus and hence the most variable and 

 the one most interesting to the plant-breeder. In its 

 widest sense it includes W. iridifolia, but for horti- 

 cultural purposes it will be convenient to consider the 

 latter a distinct species. W. Meriana is best restricted 

 to the commonest type at the Cape, which is a rose-fid, 

 species 3-4 ft. high, the st. usually branched, Ivs. 

 M-%in. wide, and the spikes 12-20-fld. This is the 

 plant figured in B.M. 418 as Antholyza Meriana. Gn. 

 17:390 is more typical in color. The white-fld. form, 

 which is rarer in nature, is treated under W. iridifolia, 

 Baker says that there are scarlet-fld. forms of this spe- 

 cies, but he gives them no name, and it is probable that 

 all such should be referred to W. angusta. 



FP. Lvs. wider: spikes denser, 20-fld. or more. 



iridifolia, Ker-Gawl. (W. Meriana var. iridifolia, 

 Baker). This is treated by Baker as a variety of W. 

 Meriana characterized by broader Ivs. than the type: 

 fls. closer and more numerous, white or pinkish. For 

 horticultural purposes it will be convenient to treat it 

 as a distinct species and restrict the name to the pink 

 or rose-colored type. 



Var. O'Brienii, N. E. Br. (W. alba, Hort. W. 

 O'Brienii, Mast. W. iridifolia var. alba, Wm. Robin- 

 son. W. Ardernei, Hort. W. Ardernei var. alba, Hort. 

 W- Meriana var. alba, Hort. W. Meriana var. 

 Ardernei, Hort.). WHITE WATSONIA. A variety with 

 pure white fls., discussed on page 3509. Gn. 17:390; 43, 

 p. 229; 51, p. 284; 61, p. 89; 72, p. 17. J.H. III. 29: 

 219. G.C. III. 11:305; 19:143; 52:129. A.G. 20:573. 

 G. 26: 235; 37: 285. R.B. 27, p. 33. G.M. 49:477. G.L. 

 27:180. R.H. 1910, pp. 504, 505. 



DD. Spikes dense, SO-50-fld. 



densiflora, Baker. This very distinct and handsome 

 rose-colored species more nearly resembles a gladiolus 

 than any other by reason of the density and regularity 

 of its pyramidal inn.: sts. unbranched, 2-3 ft. high: 

 spikes a foot long: fls. bright rosy red. B.M. 6400. 

 There is a choice variety with pure white fls. Var. alba, 

 Hort., was intro. as early as 1891. 



cc. Sts. shorter, mostly 1-2 ft., unbranched. 

 D. Tube 1 y%-2 in. long. 



coccinea, Herb. This showy scarlet-fld. species differs 

 from W. Meriana in its st. being shorter and unbranched, 

 the spikes fewer-fld., and the styles a trifle longer: st. 

 1 ft. high: spikes 4-6-fld.: corolla-tube elongated, 

 longer than the limb, the lobes spreading, oblong, 

 acutish. B.M. 1194 (W. Meriana variety). J.H. III. 

 53:61. 



DD. Tube 1 y<z-2 in. long. 



hftmilis, Mill. This species has rose-red fls. apparently 

 the same size and color as W. densiflora but only 4-6 

 in a spike and the st. only a foot or so high: corolla- 

 lobes oblong-lanceolate, acutish. B.M. 631. A varie- 

 gated form figured in B.M. 1193 as W. roseo-dlba has 

 a spike of 8 flesh-colored fls. with broad bands and 

 splashes of scarlet. 



AA. Upper part of tube short and broadly funnel-shaped. 

 rosea, Ker. Robust rose-colored species, growing 

 4-6 ft. high and the fls., though fewer than those of W. 

 densiflora, are perhaps capable of greater size: spikes 

 about 15-fld.: Ivs. lorate-lanceolate : corolla-limb nod- 

 ding, subcampanulate. B.M. 1072. G. 26:445. Gn. 77, 

 p. 484. J.H. 111.44:162. WILHELM MILLER. 



F. TRACY HusBARD.f 



WATTLE: Acacia. 



WAXBERRY: Symphoricarpos. W. Myrtle: Myrica cerifera. 

 W.-Palm: Ceroxylon and Diplothemium. W.-Plant: Hoya carnosa. 

 W.-work: Celastrus scandens. 



WEDELIA (Georg Wolfgang Wedel, professor at 

 Jena, Germany, 1645-1721). Compositse. Scabrous- 

 pubescent or hirsute, annual or perennial herbs or sub- 

 shrubs, suitable for growing in the greenhouse: Ivs. 

 opposite, usually dentate, rarely 3-cleft or entire : head 

 heterogamous; ray-fls. male, disk-fls. fertile or the 

 innermost sterile; involucre ovoid, campanulate or 

 somewhat hemispherical, bracts in 2 rows; corolla yel- 

 low, male ligulate, spreading, apex entire or 2-3- toothed, 

 female regular, tubular, 5-toothed or shortly 5-cleft: 

 achenes glabrous or pilose, smooth or tuberculate, cune- 

 ate-oblong or obovate. About 70 species, natives of 

 the warmer regions of the world. 



oblonga, Hutchins. Glandular-hairy herb, up to 

 nearly 3 ft. high: Ivs. oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute, 3-3 H x %-l in.: peduncles 1M~2 in. long: fl.- 

 heads lemon-yellow, 1M~2 in. diam.; outer bracts leaf- 

 like, inner somewhat scarious; ray-florets about 12, 

 3-toothed. British E. Afr. 



To this genus, Pascalia is referred by recent authors. P. glaiica, 

 Orteg., is from Chile, probably not in cult. The plant cult, under 

 this name in England, and once offered in this country, is prob- 

 ably the plant shown in P.M. 8:125, which is thought to be a 

 Helianthus. It is not hardy and there seems to be little reason 

 for cultivating it here where there are so many hardy sunflowers. 

 P. glauca is an herbaceous perennial, with opposite linear-lanceo- 

 late Ivs., the upper ones entire and lower ones irregularly dentate: 

 heads terminal and solitary, yellow-rayed. 



WEEDS. A weed is a plant that is not wanted. There 

 are, therefore, no species of weeds, for a plant that is a 

 weed in one place may not be in another. There are, 

 of course, species that are habitual weeds; but in their 

 wild state, where they do not intrude on cultivated 

 areas, they can scarcely be called weeds. The common 

 pigweed and the purslane are sometimes vegetables, in 

 which case potato plants would be weeds if they grew 

 among them. 



It would have been a sorry thing for agriculture if 

 there had been no weeds. They have made us stir the 

 soil, and stirring the soil is the foundation of good 

 farming. Even after we have learned that crops are 

 benefited by the stirring of the land, we are likely to 

 forget the lesson or to be neglectful of it unless the 

 weeds constantly remind us of it. Necessity is always 

 the best schoolmaster; and of these necessities, weeds 

 are amongst the chief. 



The one way to destroy weeds is to practise good 

 farming. Judicious tillage should always keep weeds 

 down in cultivated lands. In idle lands weeds are likely 

 to be a serious nuisance. In sod lands they are also 

 likely to take the place of grass when for any reason the 

 grass begins to fail. The remedy for weeds in grass 

 lands, therefore, is to secure more grass. In order to 

 do so, it may be necessary to plow the land and reseed. 

 In some cases, however, it is only necessary to give the 

 land a light surface tillage, to add clean and quickly 

 available fertilizers, and to sow more grass seed. This 

 is the fundamental remedy for weeds on lawns. If such 

 weeds are perennial, as dandelion and plantain, it is 

 advisable to pull them out; but in order to keep them 

 out, a stiffer sod should be secured. The annual weeds 

 that come in the lawn the first year are usually 

 destroyed by frequent use of the lawn-mower. 



Foul lands may usually be cleared of weeds by a 

 short and sharp system of rotation of crops, combined 

 with good tillage in some of the crops of the series. 

 When the land for any reason is fallow as when it is 

 waiting for a crop surface tillage with harrows or 

 cultivators will serve to keep down the weeds and to 

 make the land clean for the coming crop. Often lands 

 that are perfectly clean in spring and early summer 

 become foul in the fall after the crops are removed. 

 Cleaning the land late in the season, therefore, may be 

 one of the most efficient means of ridding the place of 

 weeds. Coarse and rough stable manure, which is not 

 well rotted, may also be a conveyer of weed seed. The 

 seeds of weeds are sometimes carried in the seed with 



