ZOYSIA 



ZYGOCACTUS 



3549 



ZOYSIA (after Karl yon Zoys, an Austrian botanist). 

 Gramineas. Low creeping maritime perennials, some- 

 times used for lawns and putting-greens. Propagated 

 by cuttings of the rhizomes. 



Flowers in a close spike-like panicle; spikelets closely 

 appressed, 1-fld., awnless, the single glume coriaceous, 

 acute, compressed, inclosing the lemma and palea. 

 Species 4. S. E. Asia and Australasia. 



japonica, Steud. KOREAN LAWN-GRASS. PALM- 

 BEACH GRASS. Somewhat coarser than Z. MatreUa, 

 the blades as much as H m - wide, the panicles about 1 

 in. long, often purplish. A native of Japan and China; 

 intro. many years ago from Korea; now grown in Fla. 

 and is hardy as far north as Conn. Recommended for 

 use on sandy soil from N. C. to Fla. Dept. Agric., Div. 

 Agrost. 20:29. 



Matrella, Merr. (Z. pungens, Willd. Osterdamia 

 Malrella, Kuntze). MANILLA GRASS. Sts. creeping, 

 throwing up numerous short leafy shoots and flowering 

 sts. : Ivs. crowded, firm, 1-3 in. long, ending in a sharp 

 hard point; spikes 1-2 in. long; spikelets Jiin. long, 

 smooth and hard. A native of S. E. Asia, E. Indies. 

 Grown in Fla. and along the Gulf Coast. 



tenuifolia, Willd. MASCAREXE GRASS. VELVET- 

 GRASS. Lvs. thread-like, finer than in the other species. 

 Forms a beautiful turf resembling that of red fescue. 

 Native of the Mascarene Isls. Intro, into the U. S. from 

 Guam in 1912. Used in Calif, where it is called velvet- 

 grass, and along the Gulf Coast. 



The name velvet-grass describes it very aptly as 

 it looks like dark green velvet. It grows so thickly that 

 it will smother out any other plant, even Bermuda- or 

 "devil' '-grass. Even if frozen off it will come up from 

 roots. It needs little water, no cutting, will run out all 

 other plants, will not become a pest as it sets no seeds 

 in California, and is lovely in appearance. It is so fine 

 that it may be pulled info thousands of pieces to the 

 square foot and every little piece will grow, so that a 

 small quantity will plant a large area. (Ernest 

 Braunton.) A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



ZYGADENUS (Greek, yoke and gland, some of the 

 species having two glands in the base of the perianth). 

 Liliaces. Smooth and somewhat glaucous perennials 

 with non-bulbous rhizomes or with tunicate bulbs; some 

 of the species are grown in pots, others in the open; inter- 

 esting plants of secondary importance horticulturally. 



Leaves radical or gathered at the base of the St., long- 

 linear, those of the st. small and few: raceme terminal, 

 simple or paniculately branched: fls. perfect or polyg- 

 amous, white, yellowish or greenish; perianth withering- 

 persistent, spreading, the petal-like oblong or ovate 

 sepals 1-2 glandular near the more or less narrowed but 

 not clawed base; stamens 6, free: caps. 3-celled in fr., 

 the cells separate at the top or for their entire length. 

 About 25 species have been described, one of which is 

 Siberian, one Japanese, and the remainder from N. 

 Amer. including Mex. The species of Zygadenus are 

 little known in cult. They are sometimes recom- 

 mended for the wild-garden, where they thrive in wet 

 or boggy places. Increased by division; also rarely by 

 seeds. Some or all of the species have poisonous seeds, 

 bulbs, rhizomes, and foliage, being known as "death 

 camas" (see Bull. No. 125, Professional Paper, U. S. 

 Dept. Agric., May 13, 1915). Monographed by Wat- 

 son. Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 14:278 (1879), so 

 far as American species were then concerned. 



A. Sts. from a creeping rootstock. 



glaberrimus, Michx. Sts. 1-3 ft. high: Ivs. grass-like, 

 channeled, conspicuously nerved, elongated, tapering 

 to a point: panicle pyramidal, many-fld. : fls. perfect; 

 sepals ovate, becoming lance-ovate with a short claw. 

 Va. to Fla. and Ala. B.M. 1703 (as Helonias bracteata). 

 L.B.C. 1330. G.W. 6, p. 269. 



AA. Sts. from a more or less bulbous base. 

 B. Locales of the caps, dehiscing to the base: stamens free 

 from perianth-segms.: glands usually 1 or 2 in 

 the base of the perianth. (Zygadenus proper.) 



C. Glands large, covering nearly the whole base of the 

 perianth-segms.: bulb tunicated. 



D. Fls. usually perfect, rather large. 



elegans, Pursh (Z. glaucus, Nutt. Helonias glaber- 

 rima, Ker. Antidea elegans, Rydb.). Three feet or less 

 tall, the Ivs. J^in. or less broad and very glaucous: 

 bracts purplish: fls. greenish, in simple or sparingly 

 branched racemes, the segms. broad and less than Y^n. 

 long, coherent to the ovary, the fl. opening about J^in. 

 across. Across the continent from New Bruns. and 

 south to New Mex. B.M. 1680. B.R. 24:67. 



Fremontii, Torr. Lvs. an inch or less broad, less 

 glaucous than the above: bracts green: fls. usually 

 larger, rotate, the segms. free from the ovary. Calif, 

 from San Diego north, in the Coast Range. -One of the 

 "soap plants." Said to be the best of the genus for cult. 



Nuttallii, Gray (Toxicoscordion Nutiallii, Rydb.). 

 Lvs. from J4~Min. wide, scarcely glaucous, light green: 

 bracts scarious: fls. %va.. across, in a simple or branched 

 raceme, the segms. free from the ovary. Kans. to Colo, 

 and Texas. 



DD. Fls. polygamous, small. 



venenosus, Wats. Slender, 2 ft. or less tall: Ivs. very 

 narrow (M m - or less), scabrous, not glaucous, the st.- 

 Ivs. not sheathing: bracts narrow, scarious: fls. in a 

 short simple raceme, the perianth free from the ovary, 

 the segms. J4 m - or less long, triangular-ovate to ellip- 

 tic, short-clawed. Calif. Bulb poisonous. 



paniculatus, Wats. Usually stouter, the Ivs. broader 

 and sheathing: raceme compound: perianth-segms. 

 deltoid, acute, short-clawed. Sask. to Calif. Bulb 

 poisonous. 



cc. Glands very obscure: bulb somewhat fibrous, narrow. 

 leimanthoides, Gray (Oceanorus leimanthoides, Small). 

 St. slender and leafy, 4 ft. or less tall: Ivs.^in. or less 

 wide, green on both sides: racemes panicled: fls. about 

 J^in. across, the segms. oblong, not clawed. N. Y. to Ga. 



BB. Locules dehiscing only above middle: stamens inserted 

 on perianth-segms.: glands none: bulbous. (Amian- 

 thium; preferably retained as distinct genus.) 



muscaetoxicus, Regel (Helonias Iseta, Ker. Amidn- 

 thium muscaetdxicum, Gray. Chrosperma muscaetdxi- 

 cum, Kuntze). FLY-POISON. Slender, 4 ft. or less tall: 

 Ivs. rather short, the basal ones varying from %in. to 

 over 1 in. broad, not glaucous: racemes simple: fls. 

 about H m - across, the segms. ovate-oblong and obtuse. 

 N. Y. to Fla. and Ark. B.M. 803; 1540. L.B.C. 10:998. 

 Gn. 57, p. 160. Bulb and herbage poisonous. A fly- 

 poison has been made from the bulb. L. H B 



ZYGOCACTUS (cactus with zygomorphic flowers). 

 Epiphyttum of horticulturists. Coctaceas. CRAB-CAC- 

 TUS. This genus is confined to Brazil, so far as known, 

 where the plants grow as epiphytes upon the trees, 

 along with orchids, growing in large clusters on the 

 branches: sts. flat and jointed, becoming rounded with 

 age, bearing areoles only on the margins and more 

 or less truncated ends, from which grow the new 

 branches and the conspicuously zygomorphic fls. ; ovary 

 devoid of bracts, and those of the tube comparatively 

 large and colored as the petals. The genus is allied to 

 Epiphyllum (Phyllocactus), with which it was at first 

 united; but it is still more closely connected with 

 Schlumbergera. In cult, many forms have been pro- 

 duced through hybridization between the different spe- 

 cies and with Epiphyllum and the allies of Cereus, so 

 that typical plants are rarely met with. 



