AZALEA 



AZOLLA 



439 



R. rhombicum. — .4. Rdllisonii, Hort.^R. indicum var. rosiflorum. 

 — .4. Siebdtdii, Miq.=;R. indicum. — .4. spfridsa, Willd.=R. calen- 

 dlllaceum. — •4. squamnia, Lindl.^R. Farrerse. 



Alfred Rehder. 



AZARA (I. N. Azara, a Spanish promoter of science, 

 especially of botany). Flacourtiacese. Ornamental 

 shrubs or small trees gromi for their handsome ever- 

 green foliage and also for their fragrant flowers. 



Leaves evergreen, alternate, short-petioled, entire or 

 serrate, with usually one of the stipules enlarged and 

 If.-like: fls. small, in axillary peduncled racemes or 

 clusters, apetalous; sepals 4-5; with glands between 

 the stamens and the sepals opposite the latter; stamens 

 numerous, rarely 5; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 

 numerous o\'ules; style simple, elongated: fr. a many- 

 seeded berry. — About 20 species in S. Amer., especially 

 in Chile. 



They are handsome evergreen shrubs, with' small 

 or medium-sized foliage, inconspicuous but fragrant 

 flowers, and therefore called "aromo" in Chile. 



They can be grown only in warmer temperate regions; 

 the hardiest species is .4. microphylla. They are some- 

 times cultivated as greenhouse plants and potted in a 

 sandy compost of loam and leaf soil. Propagation is by 

 seeds or by cuttings of mature wood in autumn under 

 glass with slight bottom heat. 



microphylla, Hook. f. From 3-12 ft.: Ivs. obovate, 

 serrate, or nearly entire, '2-/4in. long, shining, gla- 

 brous, the stipules similar, but half the size: fls. greenish 

 in few-fid. clusters; stamens 5: berries orange. Feb., 

 March. Chile. G.C. II. 1:81. Gn. 18, p. 403. Gt. 23, 

 p. 340. F. 1874, p. 221. — Graceful evergreen shrub, 

 regularly pinnately branched, excellent for covering 



walls; the hardiest of all the cult, species; hardy as far 

 north as Washington, D. C. 



GilUesii, Hook. & Arn. Height 10-15 ft.: Ivs. 2J^-3 

 in. long, broad-ovate, with coarse, spiny teeth, gla- 

 brous; stipules orbicular, much smaller: fls. in dense, 

 elliptic, nodding heads, yellow. Feb., March. Chile. 

 B.M. 5178. F.S. 23:2445. G.C. II. 15:401.— The 

 handsomest of all azaras. 



.4. crassifdlia, Hort.=.\. Gillie,sii. — A. derUata, Ruiz. Height 12 

 ft.: Ivs. obovate or elliptic, crenate-serrate: fl.s. yellow, in small 

 corymb.?. Chile. B.R. 1788. — A. iiUeari/dlia, Ruiz. Height 10- 

 20 ft.: Ivs. entire: fls. yellow, in oblong heads. Chile. Has a 

 variegated form. ALFRED RehDER. 



AZOLLA (Greek, to destroy by drying). Salviniacese. 

 A small genus of floating aquatics with small, pinnately 

 branched sts. and minute fleshy 2-lobed Ivs., producing 

 2 sorts of spores in globular sporocarps. The plants 

 multiply rapidly by self-division, and will grow readily 

 in water containing a little nutriment. The species are 

 distinguishable only by microscopic examination. In 

 natural conditions, the plants grow so closely together 

 and multiply so rapidly as to cover very completely any 

 quiet water surface. For this reason, they have been 

 found useful in preventing the propagation of mos- 

 quitos in Germany and Panama. 



caroliniana, Willd. Plant %-! in. long: anchor-like 

 processes of spores with septa. N. Y. to the Gulf of 

 Mex. 



filiculoides. Lam. Plants 1-2 in. long: anchor-like 

 processes without septa. Calif, to Chile. 



L. M. Underwood. 

 R. C. Benedict.! 



