MESEMBRYANTHEMUM 



37. pinnatifidum, Linn. f. Sts. dilTuse: Ivs. obovato, 

 1-2 in. lonfi, lyrate pinnatifid: fls. axillary, solitary, 

 pedunculate; petals ;is long as calyx, yellow. B.M. G7. 



DD. Root annual. 



38. pyropeum, Haw. (M . tricolor and .1/. Irkolbrum, 

 Hort.). .\lmost stemless, hrandied from the Ijiusc: Ivs. 

 connate, radical or rising from the Ijase of the st., linear- 

 elongate, semi-cylindrical: fls, solitary, pedunculate, 

 variable in color from light pink with red eye to self- 

 colored white, pink and rwl. B.M. 2144.' G.C. III. 

 43:42. CM. 54:299. 



DDD. Root perennial and the st. becoming somewhat 

 woody. 



39. cordifolium, Linn. Sts. 1-2 ft., diffuse, minutely 

 papillose: Ivs. opposite, 1 in. or less long and nearly as 

 wide, cordate-ovate, somewhat papillose: fls. solitary, 

 Iieduncled, purple, the petals short and linear. A var. 

 variegatum is in cult., and is a good half-hardy trailing 

 plant. 



cc. Slig?nas 10-20. 



40. pomeridianum, Linn. St. simple or forking, the 

 branches ascending, hairy on branches, peduncles and 

 calices: Ivs. lance-spatulate or spatulate, narrowed into 

 a petiole, ciliate: 2 of the calyx-lobes longer than the 

 petals; jietals linear-lanceolate. B.M. 540. 



41. glabrmn, Ait. Glabrous: Ivs. lance-spatulate, 

 petiolate and dilated at base: fls. straw-colored, darker 

 at the eye; lobes of the calyx linear and unequal. 



BB. Lvs. terete or nearly so. 

 c. Branches hispid or bristly. 



42. subcompressum, Haw. Erect, 2 ft.: Ivs. not 

 crowded, i^^in. or less long, narrow, very blunt, green- 

 ish canescent, flattened-terete: fls. solitary, purplish; 

 calyx-lobes unequal. 



43. floribtindum, Haw. Tortuous in growth, the 

 branches not over 6 in. long, more or less decumbent: 

 lvs. less than 1 in. long, very narrow, terete, curved, 

 obtuse, a httle thicker toward the apex: fls. small, 

 axillary, rose-color, the 5 styles exserted, the petals 

 twice longer than the calyx. 



cc. Branches not hispid. 

 D. The lvs. barbate at the apex. 



44. barbatum, Linn. A foot or more tall, difi'use and 

 decumbent: lvs. not crowded, }2in. long, spreading, 



MESPILUS 



204:} 



2367. Common ice-plant — Mesembryanthemum 

 crystailinum. ( X 'A) 



green and pellucid, semi-cylindrical, with 5 or 6 hairs 

 at the end: fls. solitary, reddish, the petals entire and 

 2-3 times longer than the calyx. 



45. stellatum, Mill. Three or 4 in. high, fleshy and 

 tufted: lvs. crowded, 'jin. long, glaucous, .semi-cylin- 

 drical, scabrous, with many hairs at the apex: [K-dun- 

 cles hairy: fls. reddish violet, the calyx campanulate, 

 li'm. long. 



46. densum, Haw. Much like tne last: lvs. longer, 

 flatfish above and convex licneath, ciliate also at the 

 base: calyx longer: fls. reddish violet. K.H. 1869, p. 356. 



DD. The lvs. punctate-scabrous. 



47. elegans, Jacq. (.M. dejlexum, Haw,). Klirubby, 

 6-12 in. or more tall, branchy, whitish or red: lvs. 

 crowded, ' 2in. long and very narrow, very glaucous, 

 scabrous: fls. niunerous, mostly (lanicled, pale red (or 

 whitish), the petals ?2in- long. 



48. polyanthum, Haw. Subshrub to 1 ft., much 

 branched: lvs. much crowded, erect-spreading, very 

 narrow, compressed-semiterete, bluish glaucous, prom- 

 inently dotted: fls. very numerous, ternately panicled; 

 petals rosy violet. 



49. violaceum, DC. Distinguished from the ijreced- 

 ing by the more robust, erect st., less diffuse branches, 

 lvs. longer and a little incrassate: fls. numerous, very 

 long-peduncled, temately panicled; petals entire, twice 

 longer than calyx, violet. 



DDD. The li's. minutely papulose. 



50. subincanum, Haw. Root woody, branched, 

 fibrous: st. erect, branched: lvs. connate, spreading, 

 without dots or papula", recurved and mucronulate at 

 the apex: fls. triciiotomous, subcorymbose, fragrant, 

 white. 



51. Ecklonis, Salm-Dyck. Root woody, branched: 

 st. and branches pubescent, at length glabrate: lvs. 

 depressed triquetrous, minutely papillate and hairy: 

 fls. in 2's or 3's, subtrichotomous, '-2in. diam., white. 



L. H. B, 

 MESOSPINIDIUM (Greek compound; meaning 

 obscure). Orchidaces'. Plants with the habit of a 

 slender odontoglossum, with sheathing leaves at the 

 base of the pseudobulbs. 



Flowers in racemes on panicles ; sepals and petals 

 sub-similar, expanded; labellum with 2 longitudinal 

 ridges, adnate to the column, with rounded lateral 

 lobes and a narrow middle lobe; column long or short; 

 pollinia 2, seated on a rhomboid pedicel. These plants 

 are evergreen coolhouse orchids, and thrive well in 

 baskets of peat and moss, with plenty of water. The 

 plants cult, as Mesospinidium are referred by some to 

 the genus Cochlioda, Mesospinidium has about 5 spe- 

 cies, of which the following is often cult. 



sanguineum, Reichb. f, Pseudobulbs oval, 2-lvd., 

 mottled: lvs. ligulate, sharp-pointed, shorter than the 

 many-fld. drooping panicle: fls. numerous, small, vivid 

 rose; the lower sepals are partially united, oblong; 

 petals cuneate-ovate. Peruvian Andes. B.M. 5627. 



M. vulcdnicum, Reichb. f., is described as Coclilioda vulcanica 

 (Vol, II, p. 809), its proper name, 



Heinrich Hasselbring. 



MESPILUS (Greek substantive name of doubtful 

 significance). Rosaces'. Mespil. Medlar. Woody 

 plants, grown in Europe for the edible fruit and some- 

 times planted in this country. 



From PjTus, with which this genus is sometimes 

 united, Mespilus differs in bearing the fls. singly on 

 leafy growths of the season (the frs., like the quince, 

 having no true detachable peduncles as do pears and 

 apples), and in having the top of the ovaries not 

 covered by the over-growing receptacle, and the pjTcnes 

 reailily .separable. There is but one .species of true 

 Me.spilus, although some authors (e.g., Focke, in Engler 

 & Prantl's "Die Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien") 

 include some of the Crata>gus species in the genus. 

 From Crata-gus it differs in its fr. (as from Pyrus), in 

 the large fls. borne singly, and the more leaf-like 

 calyx divisions. 



germanica, Linn. Medi^ar. Fig. 2368. The only 

 recognized sjiecies: small tree, or sometimes only 

 shrub-like, thorny in the wild but usually unarmed in 

 cult.: lvs. simple and nearly .sessile, lance-oblong or 



