XANTHOSOMA 



XENIA 



3523 



the Egyptian taro, and the yautias, taniers, or malangas 

 (Xanthosoma sagittifolium, and other species of this 

 genus) of the West Indies. The botany of the species of 

 Xanthosoma is confused. The conns and cormels (off- 

 sets) of some taros, and the cormels of some varieties 

 of yautia, are free from acridity even in the raw state 



4014. Xanthosoma sagittifolium. 



as cultivated in southern United States. Yautia conns 

 are strong-flavored and are seldom eaten. The young 

 leaves of colpcasia and xanthosoma when properly 

 cooked are said to be equal or superior to spinach. 



A. Caudex a short, thick, erect rhizome. 

 sagittifolium, Schott (Arum sagittifolium, Linn.). 

 YAUTIA. MALAXGA. Fig. 4014. A tropical vegetable. 

 ''Young plants of this are stemless, but in age, from 

 the decay of the old Ivs., an annulated caudex or conn 

 is formed some inches in height, each throwing out 

 stout fibers from the base, and from time to time pro- 

 ducing offsets by which the plant is easily prop., or if 

 suffered to remain the plant becomes tufted, and numer- 

 ous Ivs. are produced from the summit of the short, yet 

 st. -like trunks" (B.M. 4989). Lvs. 1-2 or almost 3 ft. 

 long, broadly sagittate-ovate, suddenly 

 and shortly acute at apex, basal lobes 

 obtuse: spathe large, with a creamy white 

 limb. Trop. Amer. In northern hothouses 

 said to bloom in winter. 



AA. Caudex tuberous. 



Lindenii, Engl. (PhyUotznium Lindenii, 

 Andre). Fig. 4015. Tender variegated 

 foliage plant with large arrow-shaped Ivs. 

 marked with white along the midrib and 

 parallel veins which run therefrom to the 

 margin. I.H. 19:88. A.G. 19:573 (1898). 

 G.W. 5, p. 308. Tuberous plant from 

 Colombia. G. W T . Oliver, in his "Plant 

 Culture," remarks that this stove orna- 

 mental plant should be more used for 

 decorative purposes than it is at present, 

 for it will stand more rough usage than / 

 one would suppose. After a goodly num- 

 ber of leaves have been developed in a 

 warm, moist atmosphere, the plants will 

 maintain a good appearance in a green- 

 house temperature and may even be used 

 as house plants. The Ivs. are firmer in 

 texture than caladiums. Prop, by division. 

 Before repotting, put the pieces in a warm 

 sand-bed to encourage fresh roots. Lvs. 

 oblong-hastate, with acute basal lobes. A 

 very worthy species for ornament. 



223 



X. batariensis, Hort Said to have purple sts. and dark 

 green Ivs., with edible tubers. X. btlophyUum, Kuntn, has a short 

 thick erect rhizome and a cordate-hastate If. Venezuela. Var. 

 caracasanum, C. Koch (X. caracasanum, Schott. Colocasia cara- 

 casana, Engl.), has Ivs. pale green beneath, the posterior lobes 

 more produced at the apex and the midrib and nerves often rosy. 

 Caracas. X. cor datum, N. E. Br. Lvs. glabrous: tube of spathe 

 green; blade yellow-green outside, rose-tinted at base, whitish 

 inside. British Guiana. X. cordifdlium, N. E. Br. Allied to X. 

 sagittifolium, but differing in Ivs. being obtusely round-cordate and 

 spadix bearing club-shaped neutral organs. British Guiana. X. 

 Hoffmannii, Schott. Lf.-stalk whitish with dark purple blotches: 

 spathe with green tube, purple inside, the limb white. Costa Rica. 

 X. maculdtum, Nichols., is described as having immense pale 

 green Ivs. variegated with creamy yellow, the petiole violet-tinted. 

 X. Mafdffa, Schott (Colocasia Mafaffa, Hort). Closely allied to 

 X. belophyllum, has a similar caudex and a cordate-ovate If., but 

 the posterior costs are separated by a right or acute angle, the 

 angle in X. belophyllum being obtuse. X. Marshallii is said to be 

 a very rapid grower, with green Ivs. and dark sts. X. nuero- 

 leonense. Grows to 6 ft. high, and has very large Ivs. which stand 

 almost horizontal. X. ridaceum, Schott. Lvs. primrose, finally 

 green, sagittate-oblong-ovate, 8-16 in. long, 6-12 in. wide: spathe 

 with a tube 4 in. long, the blade 6 in. long, 3 in. wide. 



WILHELM MILLER. 

 ROBERT A. 



XANTHOXYLUM: Zantkoxylum. 



XENIA. When sweet corn is fertilized by pollen 

 from a starchy variety, the grains which result from 

 this union become smooth and hard because packed 

 with starch. In like manner the pollen of a purple- 

 seeded variety Eke the Black Mexican sweet corn, 

 produces purple seeds on ears which would otherwise 

 have white or yellow seeds, and pollen from a yellow- 

 seeded variety produces yellow seeds on the ears of a 

 white-seeded variety. Such direct effects of the pollen 

 are known as xenia (Focke, 1881). While the phenom- 

 enon is best known in Indian corn, it has been demon- 

 strated recently also in rye (von Rumker), in which a 

 green-seeded variety bears yellow seeds if pollinated 

 by a yellow-seeded variety. In both maize and rye, 

 the xenia characters affect only the endosperm 

 (albumen) of the seeds, while characters of the seed- 

 coat show no xenia. The correct interpretation of 

 xenia in maize was given by de Vries (1899) and Cor- 

 rens (1899), and almost simultaneously by Webber 

 (1900). This explanation is briefly as follows: The 

 pollen-tube contains two male nuclei, one of which 

 fertilizes the egg, while the other unites with certain 

 other nuclei of the embryo-sac to form the endosperm- 



4015. Xanthosoma Lindenii. Leaves 1 foot or so long. 



