MOHRIA 



MOMOKDICA 



2059 



the !>chi£a!acca!. M. caffrbrum, Desv. Lvs. in tufts, 

 9-22 in. long, 2— t in. broad, tripinnatifid, tho piimx 

 close, the piniuiUp ohloii;;, deeply ciil or i)iniiati(id. 

 The lvs. have a plea.sant odor wlien bruised. Interesting 

 as a rarity but not of commercial value. M. achillca'- 

 fblia, Hort., is nearly quadripinnatifid, and is said to 

 have a different odor. r C. Benedict. 



MOLINIA (.1. Molina, a wTiter upon Chilean plants). 

 (immint.T. A eespitose perennial allieil to Eragi'ostis. 

 Panicle contracted; spikelets sub-cylindrical, 2— 1-Hd., 

 purplish; glumes short, somewhat unequal; lemma '.i- 

 nerved, rounded on back, pointed but awnlcss. — 

 Sijeeies 1, native of Cent. Eu. and Temp. Asia, spa- 

 ringly intro. in the U. S. 



casr&lea, Moench (.-lira cscrtdva, Linn.). Culms 

 tutted, 1-3 ft. high: lvs. rather rigid, slender pointed. 

 The usual form in cult, is var. variegata, with striped 

 lvs.. used for bedding. Dept. Agric, Div. Agrost. 

 20:133. A.S.Hitchcock. 



MOLOPOSPERMUM {striped seed, a Greek com- 

 poundj. Umbellifcrae. One species, M. cicutarium, DC. 

 (Ligusticum pcloponnes'i'icutn, Linn.), a large perennial 

 of the mountains of S. Eu., grown sometimes for its hand- 

 some dense foliage; prop, by division or by seeds: 3-.5 

 ft. with large hollow sts.: lvs. ternately decompound, 

 the Ifts. lanceolate, with pinnatifid segms.: fls. small, 

 in umbels, the terminal imibels larger, yellowish white, 

 the flowering sts. standing well above the clump of 

 foliage. G.W. 12, p. 411. — Hardy in England; thrives 

 in good garden soils. 



MOLTKIA (Count Joachim Gadske Moltke, Den- 

 mark, died l.SI.S). Boraginacese. About a half-dozen 

 perennial cano-pubescent mostly eespitose herbs allied 

 to Lithospemium, but having stamens exserted and 

 different nutlets; ,S. Eu. and Asia. Fls. blue or yellow, 

 racemose or in terminal cj-mes; corolla-tube more 

 or less funnel-shaped, the broad throat naked or 

 hairy, the 5 lobes obtuse, erect or nearly so (spreading 

 in Lithospermum); stamens o. Two or 3 of the species 

 are used more or less in rock-gardens and as alpines. 

 _ petriea, Boiss. (Lilhospcrmum pctrasum, A. DC. 

 Echium perselum, Tratt.), from southeastern Eu., is a 

 good rock-plant, 6-8 in., more or less woody, hoary: 

 lvs. to 1)2 in. long, narrow-linear to linear-oblong, the 

 margins recurved: fls. deep violet-blue, in simple 

 forked or branching revolute cjnnes; corolla-tube 

 twice as long as calyx; lobes erect, short and rounded; 

 style slender, ex.serted. B.M. 5942. B.R. 29:26. 



caeriilea, Lehm. Suffruticose, the sts. erect, rigid and 

 thickish, with crowded lvs., canescent: lvs. oblong-spat- 

 ulate and obtu.se, those on the st. linear-lanceolate and 

 somewhat acute: fls. blue, in scorpioid racemes, the 

 corolla-tube slender and exceeding the calyx; filaments 

 e.xserted; calyx-lobes linear-lanceolate. .\sia Minor. 



graminifSlia, Benth. & Hook. (L.graminifblium,W\.). 

 By some kept in Lithospermum: st. somewhat woody 

 below, but ascending, appressed-hairy: lvs. linear, 

 revolute: fls. purple-blue, about 'iin- long, the corolla 

 glabrous and with erect lobes; stamens somewhat 

 exserted. Italy. G.C. HL 47:213. Gn.6.i,p. 147. Gn.W. 

 21 :66S. — A dwarf shrub with grayi.sh lvs., said to prefer 

 a drv- and sunny place on limestone. L. H. B. 



MOLUCCELLA (diminutive, made from Molucca). 

 .Mso written Mollucella. LaliialH . Half-hardy annuals, 

 flowering in midsummer, interesting because of the euj)- 

 shapcd calyx. 



.\nnual: coroUa-tube included, with an oblique hairy 

 ring within, the upper lip erect, the lower trilobed, the 

 iHidille lobe broader, notched; stamens a.scending under 

 the hood, the anthers attached by lateral pedicels to the 

 tip of the filament, cells divergent; style bifi<l: nutlets 

 4, convex on one side, angular on the other, broader 



upward, truncate. — Of 25 described names only 2 

 now remain in this genus .as accepted species. Bentham& 

 Hooker place this genus ne.ar Lainiiun. Other genera 

 of garden value in which the upjier lip of the corolla is 

 concave or vaulted and often villous within are Stachys, 

 Leonurus and Phlomis. From these Moluccella is 

 easily ilistingui.shed by its calyx. The fls. are white, 

 tipi)ed pink, scarcely if at all thrust out of the calyx, 

 and borne in whorls of 6-10. 



To this genus belongs the shell-flower, a quaint old 

 annual plant, that self-sows in old-fashioned gardens, 

 but is now rarely advertised for sale. Start tlie seed 

 in frames in February and March; the seedlings may 

 be transplanted to the rockery or border in May. They 

 seem to like a sandy loam. 



A. Calyx not prickly. 

 livis, Linn. ,Shell-Flow-er (so called because of the 

 shell-like calyx in which the seeds nestle like eggs). 

 Molucca B.\LM. Fig. 2:581. Height 2-3 ft. : st. simple 

 or branching below, fl.-bearing almost from the base: 

 lvs. long-petiolefl, rounded-subcordate, teeth coarse, 

 round: fls. in whorls, 6-fld.; bracts shorter than calyx- 

 tube; corolla white, shorter than calyx; calyx bears 5 

 .small thorns. W. Asia. B.M. 1852. — Fls. odorous. 



AA. Calyx beset with long prickles. 



spinosa, Linn. Height 6-8 ft.: lvs. ovate, deeply and 

 sharply cut: fls. in whorls, 6-l()-fld.; bracts subulate, 

 spiny, shorter than calyx-tube; corolla white, limb 

 longer than calyx-tube; calyx with 1 long spine above 

 and 7 others below. S. 

 Eu., Syria. B.R. 1244 

 (as Chasmonia incisa). 

 — .\nnual or biennial, 

 with brownish red 

 .square sts., bristling 

 calyx and gaping co- 

 rolla. Said to have been 

 cult, in England since 

 1596. 



WiLHELM Miller. 



A. C. HOTTES.t 



MOMORDICA 



(momordi, from mordeo, 

 to bite, since the seeds 

 appear to have been 

 bitten). Cucurhilaccce. 

 Annual or perennial 

 tendril-climbing herbs 

 of tropical countries, 

 some of which are cul- 

 tivated for ornament 

 and also for the edible 

 fruits. 



Annual or perennial : 

 fls. mona'cious or di- 

 oecious, the staminate 

 solitarj' or panicled, 

 the pistillate solitary; 

 corolla and calyx simi- 

 lar in sterile and fertile 

 fls. ; coroUa-segms. 5, 

 often extending nearly 

 to the base, making 

 a rotate or broadly campanulate fl. ; stamens usu- 

 ally 3, the short filaments free, one of the anthers 

 1-loculed and the others 2-loculed; .style single and 

 long, with 3 .stigmas: fr. oblong or nearly spherical, 

 small, often rough, usually many-seeded, sometimes 

 splitting into 3 valves, but usually indehiscent; seeds 

 usually flattened, often oddly marked or sculptured: 

 tendrils simple, in this distinguished from LutTa. — ■ 

 Si)ecies about 35, chiefly in Trop. Afr. also Trop. .\sia. 

 Two momordicas {M . Charatilia and M. Balsamina) are 



2381. Moluccella Isvis. ( X M) 



