HOUSTONIA 



HOWEA 



1611 



A. Plant tall (4-lS in.): peduncles many-fld. 

 purpurea, Linn. Tufted, 3-18 in. high, bearing off- 

 SPt.s, glabrous or pubescent: radical Ivs. round-ovate or 

 oblong to lanceolate, short-stalked; fls. in late spring 

 or summer, the corolla funnelform, purple; caly.x-lobes 

 exceeding the half-free caps. Md. and Iowa to Texas. 



KK. Plant lower {1-6 in.): pedxmdes 1-fld. 



caeriilea, Linn. Bluets. Innocence. Quaker Lady. 

 Fig. 1920. Little tufted perennials, 3-(i in. high, the sts. 

 glabrous: radical Ivs. spatulate to obovate, hairy, short- 

 petioled, the St. -Ivs. small: corolla salverform, the 

 tube much exceeding the calyx-lobes, varying from blue 

 to white, with a yellow eye. B.M. 370. Gn.W. 20:8(58. 

 — Charming little plant in gi-assy places in the north- 

 eastern states and southward in the Alleghany region; 

 early sirring. Excellent for rockwork and grassy bor- 

 ders. In gardens, may be treated as annual or biennial. 



serpyllifolia, Michx. Prostrate and extensively 

 creeping: radical Ivs. orbicular to ovate-spatulate and 

 abruptly petioled: corolla rather larger than that of H . 

 cseridea, deep violet-blue (often white). Pa., south- 

 ward. G.W. 12, p. 151. — Early spring. L. H. B.f 



HOUTTEA: Vanhautiea. 



HOUTTUYNU (M. Houttuyn, of Amsterdam, 

 writer on natural history in 1774-1783). Saururdcese. 

 One oriental species, the Cahfornian species being now 

 referred to Anemopsis (p. 287, Vol. I). H. cordata, 

 Thunb., is a perennial herb, growing } 2-3 ft. high, from 

 a creeping rootstock, from Himalaya to China and 

 Japan: st. leafy, nearly simple, angular: Ivs. alternate, 

 simple, broadly ovate-cordate, 5-nerved: fls. very 

 small, naked, in a short spike; stamens 3; short spike 

 subtended bv a corolla-like spathe in 4 ovate spreading 

 white parts." B.M. 2731. G.W. 11, p. 385.— Grows in 

 ditches along waysides, up to 5,000 ft. in India. Per- 

 haps to be recommended for moist places in mild 

 climates. L. H. B. 



HOVEA (probably A. P. Hove, Polish botanist). 

 Syn. Poirelia. Leguminosie. Ornamental, unarmed or 

 seldom thorny, greenhouse shrubs: Ivs. alternate, sim- 

 ple, entire or prickly-toothed, glabrous above, often 

 tomentose beneath; stipules setaceous, minute or none: 

 fls. blue or purple, in axillary clusters or very short 

 racemes or rarely sohtary ; upper lobes of calyx united 

 into a broad, truncate upper lip, the 3 lower ones much 

 smaller, lanceolate; petals clawed; standard nearly 

 orbicular, emarginate: pod sessile or stipitate, the 

 valves at length entirely spreading. — Eleven species, 

 confined to Austral. Best prop, by seeds sown in spring 

 in well-drained pots of sandy peat and placed over a 

 gentle bottom heat. When 2-3 in. high, the points 

 should be pinched out to induce a bushy habit. After 

 they are estabUshed, grow in a cool greenhouse with 

 plenty of air. H. Celsii, Bonpl. (//. ellvptkn, DC.). A 

 tall shrub, sometimes 8-10 ft. high: Ivs. ovate-elliptical 

 to narrow-lanceolate: fls. blue, in clusters or short 

 racemes, the pedicels often as long as or longer than the 

 calyx. B.R. 280. B.M. 2005. L.B.C. 15:1488. Gn. 59, 

 p. 178, desc.;75, p. 225. L. H. B. 



HOVENIA (after David Hoven, Senator of Amster- 

 dam). Rlianindcese. Ornamental shrub or small tree, 

 grown chiefly for its handsome foliage. 



Leaves decifluous, alternate, without stipules, long- 

 petioled: fls. in axillary and terminal racemes; calyx- 

 lobes, petals and stamens 5, style 3-parted: fr. 3-celled 

 and 3-seeded, indehiscent. — One species in Japan, China 

 and Himalayas. 



Hovenia has greenish inconspicuous flowers in 

 axillary pedimcled cjTnes, and small globular fruits on 

 reddish, fleshy and edible peduncles. It grows into a 

 small round-headed tree, with handsome somewhat 

 shining foliage. It thrives best in sandy loam and has 



proved fairly hardy in favorable positions at the 

 Arnold Arboretum. Pro[)agation is by seeds, also by 

 root -cuttings and cuttings of ripened wood under glass. 

 dulcis, Thunb. (//. acirtia, Lindl. //. uixqudlis, DC). 

 Japanese Raisin Tree. To 30 ft.: Ivs. cordate-ovate 

 or ovate-acuminate, serrate, sometimes nearly entire, 

 ahnost glabrous or pubescent on the veins beneath, 

 4-t)in.long: cymes many-fld. Japan, China, Himalayas. 

 S.Z. 73, 74. B.M. 2360. B.R. 501. S.I.F. 2:47. A.G. 

 12:80. Alfred Rehder. 



1920. Houstonia csnilea. 



HOWEA (named for Lord Howe's Island, where these 

 2 species grow). Also written Howeia. Palmdcese, 

 tribe Arbcese. Erect spineless palms known to the 

 trade as kentias, and certainly ranking among the six 

 most popular pahns for house culture. 



Caudex stout, ringed: Ivs. terminal, numerous, 

 dense, equaUy pinnatisect; segms. narrow, acuminate: 

 spadices 2-3 ft. long, solitary or 3-5 from 1 spathe, 

 thick, cylindrical, nodding or pendulous; peduncle 

 long, compressed at the base; spathe solitary, as long 

 as the spadix, cylindrical, 2-keeled toward the apex, 

 longitudinally split: bracts bordering the channels; 

 bractlets scaly: fls. sunk in the deep furrows of the 

 spadix, the staminate nearly an inch long: fr. 13^ in. 

 long, oUve-shapcd. 



They have the habit of Kentia, but their flowers 

 differ widely. Howea belongs to a subtribe in which 

 the flowers in each spadix are attached to the stem 

 between the bases of opposite leaves, while Kentia 

 belongs to another subtribe in which the flowers are 

 attached at a lower point. Also Howea has symmetrical 

 staminate flowers with rotund sepals, while in Kentia 

 the staminate flowers are not symmetrical, the sepals 

 being small and acute. Howea's nearest cultivated 

 ally is Linospadix, from which it is distinguished by 

 the following characters: staminate flowers with very 

 numerous stamens, the anthers erect and fastened at 

 the base; pistiUate flowers with no staminodes; ovule 

 erect. H. Belmoreana is the more popular and, as a 

 house plant may be readily told from H. Forsteriana 

 by the more ascending position of its leaf-segments, as 

 in Fig. 1921; the leaves of H. Forsteriana are more flat 

 or the sides pendent. 



The two species of this genus are beyond a doubt the 

 most popular and also the most satisfactory pahns in 

 the trade for decorative work in general, and in conse- 

 quence of the great and growing demand are grown by 

 tens of thousands in the large nurseries. There does 

 not seem to be any record of either of these si)ecies 

 having borne fruit in cultivation in this country, and the 

 trade, therefore, depends on imported seeds, which are 

 gathered in iminen.se quantities on Lord Howe's Island, 

 usually shipped from thence to Sydney, New South 



