THERMOPSIS 



AA. Pod slraighl or only sUghtly curved at the apex. 

 B. Plant 3-5 ft. high. 

 CaroUniina, M. A. Curtis. Stem stout, smooth, sim- 

 ple: Ivs. liing-petioled; If ts. obovate-oblong, silky be- 

 iifHth; stipules large, clasping; raceme 6-12 in. loug, 

 ereot, rigid, manv-tfd.: pod 2 in. long, erect, villous and 

 lioary. June, July. Mts. of N. C. 



BB. Plant 1-3 ft. higli. 

 c. Stipules longer than the petiole. 

 montina, Nutt. Plant 1% ft. high, somewhat sillsy- 

 pubescent: Ifts. oblong-obovate to oblong, 1-3 in. long: 

 tis. in long spikes : pod straight, erect, pubescent. 

 May, June. Western states. B.M. 3611. B.E. 15:1272 

 (both erroneously as T. fabacea). Sometimes called 

 " Buffalo pen " in the west. 



cc. Stipules shorter than the petiole. 

 D. Kacenies axillary. 

 fabicea, DC. Resembles T. montana and has possibly 

 been confounded with it in the trade. It differs in hav- 

 ing more spreading pods and larger and more com- 

 pressed seeds. May, June. Siberia. 



DD. ifnOHlfs Ir nil inn I. 

 mailis. M. A. Curtis. St.-m c-n-.t. branched. 2-.') ft. 

 hieh, pubescent: Ifts. ol.i.vat.- oblciii.'. 1-2 in. long: ra- 

 cemes 6-10 in. long: pod slightly curved at the end, 

 2^ in. long. May-July. Va. and is'orth Carolina. 



T. Cashmeridna, Hort. Saul, does not appear to be known to 

 botanists. j. B. Keller and F. W. Barclay. 



THESPfiSlA (Greek, divine; :i|'l'li'ati..ii .l"u).tful). 

 Miilfdce<E. A genus of a few sprcit-^ nf tall rnes or 

 shrubs native of tropical Africa. A>ia aii.l th. Mands of 

 the Pacific They have the aspect cf llibis.-us and may 

 be distinguished by the confluent stigmas, more woody 

 capsule and the obovoid compressed seeds. 



popiilnea, Soland. A small tree with the younger por- 

 tions covered with peltate scales; ivs. Imiy-petioled. 

 ovate, cordate, acuminate, li in. an,,-,: lU. axilhirv. 

 2-3 in. across, yellow. Trop. .\ \ ,ii,l the 



islands of the Pacific. -Cult, in s. . : , ■ ■ , M-.nnl- 



iug to Franceschi, it succeeds inii, m \,;in, i moist 



locations. He also notes the Hs. a^ \ ar> ihk ii uni yellow 

 to purple. p. w. Barclay. 



THEVfiTIA (Andre The 

 monk who traveled in Brazi 

 book on French Guiana in whi 

 Apocyniee<f. A tropical Ai 

 species of trees or shrubs » 

 lightly penniveincd leav.-s 



i90, a French 

 la and wrote a 

 is mentioned). 

 ;is of about 7 

 L', l-nerved or 

 large yellow 



Then!,. I I,, ,.,i..h.i, the Yellow Oleander of Florida 

 gardens, is ;i \ . ry ornamental small evergreen shrub, 

 growinir lii\unanil\ in rich, sandy soil, not too moist 

 and not too dry, uitiniately attaining a height of 6 to 8 

 feet and almost as much in di.imeter. The foliage is 

 abundant, light glossy green and reminds one of the 

 oleander, but the Ivs. are narrower. The pale yellow 

 flowers are abundantly i.mdiu-pd. The frnit. which is of 



the size and sumewhaT of rbe for f a liii-korv nut, is 



regarded as poi- us l.^- tl,,, ii,,-r-,„,~. Tlir 'i'hevetia 



can stand a few .IrLTr.^s of iiosi , i,,it it was killed out- 

 right onFebrutirv 7, l.s'.l,"'.. wh.-n tli>- t lionnotn.ti.r went 

 down to 18° F. If banked with .Iry st.nd in tall it does 

 not suffer much, though the top may be killed. 

 A. Lis. S-10 ill. long, ahoitt J in. wide 



nitida, DC. A tender shrub: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, margins revolute: fls. rather large; corolla 

 white, with a yellow throat. West Indies ; cult, in 

 southern Calif. 



AA. r.rs. r.-n in. long, less than % in. wide. 



nereif6Iia..Iiiss. Known locally in Florida as "Trumpet 

 Flower- and iiHoiiv.-tly as "Yellow Oleander." A ten- 

 der .shnib: h s. linear, shining, margins revolute: 

 fls. about ;i in. long, yellow, fragrant. West Intlies, 

 Mexico. B.M. 2309 (as Cerbera rhevetia).-Ca\t. in 

 S. Fla. and S. California. 



F. W. Barclay and H. Nehrling. 



THINNING FRUIT 1795 



THIMBLEBEEKY. Subus occidentalis &udodoralus. 



THINNING FRUIT. All fruit grows larger and bet- 

 ter, and often becomes more highly colored, other things 

 being equal, when it has an abundance of readily avail- 

 able food. The supply of crude food materials is 

 increased by allowing room rnouu^li to ta'h phitit and 

 by enriching the soil and ke, pini; it siifiineni 1\ iii..ist. 



not possibly grow all of tliein to lam.- size , v, n tliongh 

 an abundant supply of crude food material is readily 

 available. The leaves build up the crude materials 

 taken from the soil and air into organic compounds 

 which the plant must have to sustain its life and sup- 

 port its growth. Fruit-growers often fail to recognize 

 that the fruit depends upon the leaves most directly 

 connected with it for elaborated food, which alone cau 

 nourish it. It is nevertheless true; and for this reason, 

 even when there is no crop on the rest of the tree an 

 overloaded branch needs to have its fruit thinned to 

 secure the highest possible number of fine large fruits. 

 By reducing the number of fruits the proportion of 

 elaborated food for those which remain is increased. 

 Sometimes checking the too vigorous growth of the 

 vegetative parts is also resorted to for the same pur- 

 pose. The latter practice is properly con- 

 sidered under the subject of Pi~nttiiig; 

 the former may be treated under the 

 ■ of Thinning Fruit. 

 In its broad significance Thinning Fruit 

 includes not only picking off some of the 

 immature fruit, but also any pruning of 

 bearing wood to reduce the number of 

 fruits which a plant is allowed to produce. 

 Such pruning is usu- 

 ally done when the 

 plant is in a dor- 

 mant condition. It 

 may be performed on 

 grapes in autumn as 

 soon as the leaves 

 fall. It is then easy 



■ the 



2497. Thmnme fruit. 



(Drawn fiom photogriphs and 

 reduced to ^^ ntturil size ) The 

 Hige septiite frintb indicdte the 

 leUtive gain in size in thmning 

 plums The right h md twig shows 

 relatne st ige of de\ elopnient at 

 which pe-iches should lie thinned 

 the tiYig at the lett lTldlc^tes reH 

 tive distance between thinned 



have passed, so that 

 the amount of bear- 

 ing wood which is 

 taken off may be 

 varied in proportion 

 to the loss of fruit- 

 buds by winter in- 

 jury. The work on 

 peaches and apricots 

 is thus sometimes 

 deferred till the trees 

 bloom, or even later. 

 The sooner a fruit 

 can be relieved from 

 struggling with other fruits for its food the better its 

 chances are for reaching extra large size. It is, there- 

 fore, best to reduce the amount of bearing wood before 

 the blossoms open, as much as can safely be done. 



Perhaps a method of thinning orchard fruits by treat- 

 ing the open blossoms with some sprav niixtnre may 

 eventually be perfected. This would i;i\ o tlo 'rnit the 

 advantage of an increased food sii|i|.ly fiom the lime 

 the blossoms opened. It is known that sii.li treotiiieiit 



strate whether by a in.lirious n^e of this method the 

 setting of fruit to(. al.un.lantly iii,.v 1..- |.i-evented. If 

 this can be done sii.aassfnlly. mm ii labor in thinning 

 by picking off immature fruit might be thus avoided. 



To avoid the extra labor which would be required by 

 thinning immediately after the fruit sets, it is custom- 

 ary to defer the work till the weaker fruits drop. 



