1362 



PLACEA 



side, ami is kept at 37° or 40° F. at iiiglit, ari<l leave 

 them alone. They go to rest about August aud push 

 up about December, flowering in May. In a pot they 

 ought to have their exact time of rest, and must be 

 buried in the soil, which ought to be very rich, but in 

 pots they are not certain to flower. They must be 

 planted with at least an inch of soil over their necks, 

 and they prefer a loose soil. I use thoroughly decom- 

 posed cow manure (three and four years old), mixed 

 during decomposition with one-third silver sand." 



Generic characters: perianth fmin.l shaynd, with 

 scarcely any tube; corona funnel slia|H .1. iii-i rticl at the 

 base of the segments, deeply cut, ihr .h\ i-i.iti- iidtched, 

 stamens inserted inside the coii.na; <.\:uy tc.|. -shaped, 

 3-celled; ovules many, superpo.scil; .slylu decliuate: 

 stigma capitate, obscurely 3-lobed. 



OTokta, Miers. Bulb 1 in. thick : Ivs. 2, linear, appear- 

 ing with the fls. : scape 6-9 in. high: umbel 4-G-fld.: 

 perianth-segments 1-lJi in. long. B.R. 27:50. Gn. 

 54:1202. 



P. granditlhra. Lem., is thrice as big as P. omata, 



P.S. 20:2047 (erroneously as P. ornata). 



W. 



PLAGIANTHUS (Greek, oblique flower). MalvAceie. 

 About 11 species of tender shrubs and herbs from Aus- 

 tralia, New Zealand and Van Dieman's band, with large 

 or small white 5-petaled flowers. They are hardy in the 

 most favored parts of England. The finest species is 

 P. Lyalli, which, however, is not easily prop, by cut- 

 tings. This species is grown as a pot plant or for 

 cutting. The house treatment given Daphne will suit 

 it well. None of the species is offered in America. 

 They are known as "Ribbon Trees." 



Generic characters: Bractlets none or distant from 

 the calyx: caly.^ 5-toothed or cut ; column of stamens 

 divided at the apex into many filaments : cells of ovary 

 2-5, rarely 1 or many: ovules solitary, pendulous; car- 

 pels in a single series : style-branches longitudinally 

 stigmatose within. Foliage and infiorescence various. 

 Distinguished from Abutilon by the number of ovules. 



A. Fls. large, 1-1)4 '"• across. 

 Lyalli, Hook. Small branching tree, 20-30 ft. high: 

 Ivs. 2-4 in. long, cordate-ovate, doubly crenate, pale or 

 white beneath ; petiole 1-lK in. long: fls. I-IV4 in. 

 across, numerous, drooping, in axillary clusters of 3-5; 

 styles pink; calyx campanulate. July. B.M. 5935. Gn. 

 44:917. G.C. III. 4:209.-Said to be evergreen below 

 3,000 ft. in New Zealand, deciduous above. 



Fls. small. 



less 



LAmpenii, Booth. Bdtaiiii'ally only a variety of P. 

 pulehellus, but hortieultuiailv iii'"iii|iaralilv superior. 



Shrub, attaining 6-8 ft.; h s. ..I,l,,im la lati', 4-5 x 



J^-1 in., sharply serratt' : lis. iji slicirl, a\illary leafy 

 panicles, very numerous and crowded ; styles very 

 small. Van Dieman's Land. G.C. II. 22:201. 



pulchfiUus, Gray [Abutilon pulcMllum, Sweet. A. 

 pulchrum, Uon). Tall shrub: Ivs. lanceolate, cordate, 

 acuminate, 2-3 in. long, coarsely crenate: fls. few, 

 clustered along raohis of axillary racemes: ovary 

 5-celled. Australia. B.'M..21b'HSida pulcliella). 



H. A. SiEBKECHT and W. M. 



PLAGIOBOTHRYS (Greek, plaqios, sideways, and 

 bothyns, ].it or hollow; wherefore the name should have 

 been written Plaiiiobolhrus). Botraqindcecr Nme spe- 

 cies of low-growing, commonly diffuse annuals tiom 

 western America, with small white fls. Hi 11 1" lon.'s /' 

 yiothofiilvus, Gray, which was once advertisi <l h\ i>M r k 

 under its synonym Fritrichium notluifiih im iiii\ 

 This plant has no horticultural standing' mil is no 

 longer advertised. See Gray's Sjn. Flora of N Amer 



FLANEBA (after J. J. Planer (1743-1789), professor 

 of medicine at Erfurt; author of several books on bot- 

 any). [Jrticdee(ff. Water Elm. Monoty pic genus, allied 

 to Ulmus and Celtis: Ivs. pinnately veined, alternate: 

 fls. polygamous, with deeply 4-5-lobed calyx; staminate 

 fls. short-stalked, in clusters at the base of the young 



PLANTAGO 



branchlets, with 4-5 stamens; pistillate or perfect ones 

 on rather slender stalks, l-:i in the axils of the lower 

 Ivs.: fr. a small iiiiiri.air thh. The only species is P. 

 aquitica, Gmel. (.1 (/m„,,,„„,s ,,,/„,iiicus, Walt. P. ulmi- 

 filia, Michx.). Suiall iir. . s. mi. times to 40 ft.: Ivs. 

 slKirt-iicti.ilfd, SDiii.what uri.-.|iial at the base, ovate to 

 • ■\:>ir ,.i.|>,iil;, iini-.|ually serrate, glabrous at length and 

 - l"iy. 1X-2H in. long; fr. oval, % in. 



1 J I ilarly crested fleshy ribs. April, lluy. 



^. In :mi.i K>. to Pla. and Tex. S.S. 7:316. This tree 

 IS not Ml fieniTul cultivation and has little to recom- 

 mend it as an ornamental plant. It would not prove 

 hardy north. It will probably thrive best in moist soil 

 and be prop, by seeds sown soon after ripening in Jlay 

 and by layers. The plants sometimes cult, under the 

 name of P.uquatica belong either to Ulmus campestris, 

 var. viminalis, CI. Chinensis, or U. alata, to which the 

 true Planera is similar in foliage, or to some other small- 

 leaved elm. 



=Zelk..n .. 

 =Zelko« :, 

 Zelkowa K. 



PLANE-TKEE. See Plalanus. 



PLANER-TKEE. Planera. 



PLANT (Latin, planta). A plant is a living organism 

 consisting of oneorinore cells, some of which, in most of 

 the higher forms, contain agreen substance— !7i/orojL<;i(//; 

 — by the aid of which they are able in the light to con- 

 struct carbohydrate food-matters (as sugar, starch, etc. ) 

 from carbon dioxid and water. The cell protoplasm 

 assimilates or uses these carbohydrates and is nour- 

 ished by them, and from the elements they furnish it 

 is able to make cellulose, the substance which walls 

 it in, and gives strength and solidity to the plant. 

 Animals do not (as a rule, at least) have chlorophyll, 

 and cannot construct carbohydrates from carbon dioxid 

 and water. Some plants liav.- tin- liaMt of absorb- 

 ing their carbohydrates ria.ly mail.- trmii other organ- 

 isms, and they are destituti' ot' . Iil..i.i]ilivll, as in case 

 of the fungi, lichens, h.-ai.iia, ,111. 1 s.idh- tlnwering 

 plants (e. g., dodiii-r. In, Man |ii|i'', Im c-h di-Ljis, etc.). 

 Such plants are iia.r.- .n- i.ss .l.-rn.rai.d, ami ai-.' phys- 

 iologically like aliiliials. l.iil lli.\ Mill n lain rlMill;;li'()f 

 the typical plant sininnn- s,i iIkH wr an i,ircl\ at a 

 loss where to plaia' iIkin. (irini phf 1,1 - ; 1 1 1 . ai Imn 

 dioxid from the air, anil in 111. ■ |iiM, < ■ ] .hate 



formation they Kivi- ..IT aiiiunn , . -. n. 



However, inthefiirtli.T i-li.nii.-alai 'I ■; 1 n lis 



oxygen is absorbed and carbon dnx .i 1 1 ■ 1, .1 In 

 the plants which are not green (anil r . ilie 



first process is wanting, while tin 1 lai !■. 



These facts have given rise to tlir x : i : and 



lis. i;is|,iiatiiiii — in the process of which oxygen is 

 lis. 111,. .1 ami larlion dioxid is given off— occurs in all 

 lalits ami annuals. Q. E. BeSSEY. 



PLANTAGO (the Latin name) comprises some 200 or 

 lore species of annual or perennial herbs or subshriibs 

 ciurring in man> parts of the «iiild It is a w(fdv 



ol HuUh dilUiLiit Kind I I I I Kib 



cause it affords more or less spring pasturage on diy 

 and sterile soils. The seed is offered by American 

 seedsmen for feeding birds, but not for sowing. In 

 this country, however, it is one of the vilest of lawn 

 weeds, thriving in our hot, dry soils when grass kills 

 out. The only remedy for it is to secure a better stand 

 of grass, and this is made possible by making the ground 



