38 



AILANTHUS 



AKEBIA 



a young state. For street planting, the fertile plant 

 only should be used, because the male exhales a disa- 

 greeable odor when flowering, and the pollen is said to 

 cause catarrhal troubles. It grows in almost any soil, 

 but best in a light and some- 

 what moist one, and stands dust 

 and smoke well. Var. eryth.ro- 

 carpa (A. erythrocdrpa , Carr. 

 A. rhbra, Hort.). Lvs. darker 

 green above and more glaucous 

 beneath : fr. bright red, very 

 effective in late summer and 

 autumn. Var. pendulifdlia,Carr. 

 Lvs. very large, drooping. The 

 Ailanthus foliage gives a tropi- 

 cal effect when the growth is 

 very strong. If plants are cut 

 back to the ground after they 

 have become established (in two 

 or three years after planting), 

 they will throw up very strong 

 shoots and make an excellent 

 screen, as shown in Fig. 55. 

 This practice may be repeated 

 year after year. Sumacs, pau- 

 lownias,basswoods, mulberries, 

 and other fast-growing things 

 may be treated in this way. 

 The Ailanthus foliage is very 

 like that of the Cedrela (which 

 see for illustration of differ- 

 ences) . 



A. excelsa, Roxbg. Tall treei Ivs. 

 3 ft. long, abruptly pinnate ; leaflets 

 20-28, teeth without glands. India. 

 Can be grown only in tropical re- 

 gions or in the hothouse. A. fla- 

 vescens, Carr. = Cedrela Sinensis. 

 ALFRED REHDER. 



AIRA (an ancient Greek name for Darnel). Gramin- 

 ece. HAIR GRASS. A genus containing delicate annual 

 grasses, with slender, loose panicle-branches : spikelets 

 very small, of two perfect contiguous flowers : flowering 

 glume acutely 2-cleft at the apex, bearing a slender 

 twisted awn below the middle. Eu., N. Afr. This genus 

 is much confused with Agrostis by florists. Nat. from 

 Eu. and cult, for dry bouquets. 



caryophyllda, Linn. (Agrtstis tlegans, Hort., not 

 Guss.). A slender and elegant tufted annual, 10-20 in. 

 high, bearing a very diffuse panicle of purplish and at 

 length silvery scarious spikelets. 



elegans, Gaud. (Agrostis elegans, Hort., not Guss.). 

 A slender, erect and very pretty annual, from a few 

 inches to a foot high, with widely spreading capillary 

 panicles of many small spikelets. 



A. ccespitosa, Linn.= Desohampsia csespitosa. A. ccerulea, 

 Liinn.= Molinia coerulea, Monch. A. flexuosa, Linn. = Des- 

 ehampsia flexuosa. P g KENNEDY 



54. Agrostis nebulosa. 



AIR-PLANT. In common speech, any plant which 

 grows on the trunk or in the top of another plant is 

 called an air-plant. The proper term is epiphyte (that is, 

 growing on a plant). In horticulture, the term air-plant 

 is usually applied to epiphytal orchids, tillandsias, and 

 the like. Most of these grow upon old bark, perhaps de- 

 riving some of their nourishment from the bark, but most 

 of it from the air and rain. They are not parasites, do 

 not derive their support from the juices of the host. 



AJfrGA (not yoked ; the calyx not bilabiate). Labi&tw. 

 BUGLE WEED. Hardy herbaceous European perennials, 

 creeping by stolons. Height 6-12 in.: fls. numerous, in 

 whorls, normally blue or purple, with rosy or white 

 varieties. Prop, by division or seeds. 



Genevensis, Linn. (A . rugosa, Hort. A . alpina, Hort. ) . 

 St. erect : cauline Ivs. oblong-elliptic or obovate, nar- 

 rowed at the base ; lower ones petiolate ; floral Ivs. ovate 

 or wedge-shaped, coarsely toothed, sparsely hairy: upper 

 fl. -whorls spicate ; lower whorls distant. 



55. Ailanthus shoots ; with a few sunflower plants. 



56. Akebia quinata. 

 The expanded flowers are pistillate; the others are staminate. 



pyramidalis, Linn. St. erect : cauline Ivs. obovate, 

 hardly petiolate, in a 4-sided pyramid; floral Ivs. broadly 

 ovate, the highest often colored ; all Ivs. entire : fl. whorls 

 usually all spicate. 



reptans, Linn. St. prostrate : Ivs. ovate or obovate, 

 entire or sinuate, shiny. A low, dense, fast-spreading 

 creeper, excellent for covering shady slopes. The typical 

 and white-fld. forms are less cult, than the following : 

 Var. rubra, Hort. More valued for its dark purple Ivs. 

 than its blue fls. Var. variegata, Hort. Lvs. splashed 

 and edged creamy yellow. 



metallica var. crispa, Hort,, int. by 

 Henderson, 1899, is described as dwarf 

 (4-5 in.), with curled, metallic glossy and 

 blue fls. in a pyramidal spike. A bed- 

 ding plant, int. from Germany. 



J. B. KELLER and W. M. 

 AKEBIA (from Akebi, its Japanese 

 name). Herberiddcece. Twining glabrous 

 shrubs: Ivs. long-petioled, digitate, coria- 

 ceous: fls. monoecious in axillary racemes, 

 pistillate at the base, staminate at the end 

 of the raceme ; sepals 3 : f r. consisting of 

 one or more very large, oblong berries 

 with numerous seeds. Two species in 

 Japan and China. Very ornamental, hardy 

 climbing shrubs of graceful appearance, 

 especially adapted for places in which 

 very dense shade is not wanted. They 

 require a sunny position and well drained 

 soil; also valuable in the cool greenhouse 

 for covering pillars and walls, growing 

 best ia a sandy compost of loam, leaf soil 



