ALPINIA 



ALSTRGEMERIA 



53 



nutans, Roscoe. SHELL-FLOWER. Striking plant, reach- 

 ing 10-12 ft., with long, lanceolate glabrous long-veined 

 Ivs.: fls. orchid-like, yellow with pink, sweet-scented, in 

 a long, drooping, terminal, spike-like raceme. E. Ind. 

 G.C.III. 19:301. I.H. 43:259. B.M. 1903. P.M. 13:125. 

 R.H. 1861, 51. Fine for foliage masses, and an old 

 favorite. 



vittata, Hook. (Ambmum vittatum, Hort.). Lower: 

 Ivs. in tufts, lanceolate, with whitish bars or stripes be- 

 tween the nerves : fls. red, in axillary spikes. South 

 Sea Islands. A. F. 8:787. Gn. 4, p. 25. 



albo-lineata,Hort. A plant 

 3-4 ft. high, with broad bands 

 of white and pale green on 

 the elliptic - lanceolate Ivs. 

 Probably a form of some 

 other species. 



Other species are A.Allitghas, 

 Roscoe,fls. in terminal panicles, 

 white and rose ; A. magnified, 

 Roscoe = Amomum ; A. Japon- 

 ica, Miq., once int. into U. S. by 

 Pitcher & Manda ; A. mutica, 

 Rpxbg., fls. white and yellow, 

 with crimson veins, in spicate 

 racemes. ,. H. B. 



ALSEUOSMIA (alsos, 

 grove, and euosme, fra- 

 grance). Capri folidcefe. 

 Tender greenhouse shrub 

 from New Zealand. 



A. macrophylla, A. Cunn. 

 Lvs. 3-6 in. long, elliptic or ob- 

 lanceolate, acute, serrate: fls. in 

 small axillary clusters, droop- 

 ing, iKin. long, creamy with 

 dull red streaks ; corolla lobes 

 fimbriate. B.M. 6951. 



71. Pinna of 

 Alsophila australis. 



ALSIKE. 



Tri folium. 



See Clover and 



ALSOPHILA (Greek, grove-loving}. Cyatheacece. A 

 genus of tropical tree ferns, with simple or forked free 

 veins, round sori, and no indusia. Numerous species are 

 found in the tropical regions of both hemispheres. 



Of the different species of Alsophila, only one is in 

 general commercial use. A. australis is a very graceful 

 and rapidly growing tree fern, with finely divided fronds 

 of a pleasiug shade of light green, with the stipes thickly 

 covered with light brown, hairy scales. It is grown from 

 spores, which can only be obtained from old and large 

 specimens, and which, like the spores of most commer- 

 cial terns, will germinate very freely if sown on a com- 

 post consisting of finely screened soil, leaf -mold and sand 

 in equal parts. To develop a good crown of fronds in 

 old specimen plants which may look starved, the stem 

 may be covered to any thickness consistent with good 

 appearance with green moss, which may be attached 

 with thin copper wire, and which, if kept continually 

 moist, will soon be thickly covered with fine roots. Al- 

 Konhilas should be grown in a temperature of 60 F., 

 and the soil should never be allowed to become very dry. 



Cult, by NICHOL N. BRUCKNER. 

 A. Lvs. bipinnate; rachises merely fibrillose. 



RebSccse, F. Muell. Lvs. ample, from a caudex 8 in. or 

 so high; pinnae 12-15 in. long, with 20-30 pinnules on 

 each side, which are 2-3 in. long and serrate or crenate 

 throughout. Australia. 

 AA. Lvs. tripinnatifid or tripinnate ; rachises armed 



with spines. 



B. Segments long , strongly curved; pinnules tapering 

 to a slender point. 



excelsa, R. Br. Lvs. coriaceous, with more or less 

 woolly rachises; pinnae 6-10 in. wide, with crowded pin- 

 nules, which are provided with about 20 pairs of seg- 

 ments, which are strongly curved and more or less 

 enlarged at the ends. Norfolk Is. -Said to have a trunk 

 60-80 ft. high. 



Codperi, Hook. Smaller than the last: rachises with 

 pale brown scales : pinnae spear-shaped, with linear 

 pinnules 4-5 in. long. Queensland. 



lunulata, R. Br. Lvs. rather thick herbaceous, from 

 smooth rachises; pinnules close, 5-6 in. long, with 20-30 

 pairs of segments, which are finely serrate throughout. 



BB. Segments %in. or less long. 



australis, R. Br. Fig. 71. Rachises straw-colored ; 

 Ivs. ample, with primary pinnae 18 in. long, 6-10 in. wide ; 

 pinnules deeply pinnatifid, with segments broadest at 

 the base, ovate-oblong and sharply serrate. Tasmania 

 and Australia. 



ferox, Presl. (A. aculedta, J. Sm.). Rachises brown- 

 ish; pinnae 12-18 in. long; pinnules narrow, 3-4 in. long, 

 %-%in. wide, with 15-18 pairs of segments, which are 

 narrow and slightly serrate. Trop. Amer. 



AAA. Lvs. quadripinnatifid. 



oligocarpa, Fee. Fig. 72. Rachises smooth, grayish 

 straw-colored ; pinnules 1K-2 ft. long, the segments 

 ligulate, deeply pinnatifid, with blunt lobes ; sori median, 



4-6 on the lower lobes. Columbia. T ,, TT 



L. M. UNDERWOOD. 



ALST6NIA (Dr. Alston, once professor of botany at 

 Edinburgh). Apocynacece. Between 30 and 40 species 

 of trees or shrubs of E. Ind. and Australia, with small 

 wh te fls. in terminal cymes, and simple- entire Ivs. in 

 whorls or opposite. A. scholdris, R. Br., is the Devil- 

 tree or Pali-mara of India, the bark of which is medici- 

 nal. Trees yield caoutchouc. 



macrophylla, Wall. A tall tree, with milky juice, spar- 

 ingly cult, in S. Fla., and perhaps in S. Calif. 



ALSTBCEMEBIA (Baron Alstroemer, friend of Lin- 

 naeus). Amaryllidacece. Coolhouse and stove plants, 

 with tuberous roots, treated as bulbs. Fls. small (2 in. 

 or less long), comparatively narrow, with 6 segments, 

 parted nearly or quite to the ovary, often irregular; 

 stamens mostly declined ; stigma 3-cleft ; sts. slender 

 and leafy, weak, or even disposed to climb. Monogr. by 

 Baker, Handbook of the Amaryllidese. 



Some of the Alstroemerias have survived the winters 

 in Washington of late years only when a heavy mulch 

 has been given, as A. aurantiaca and its form A. aurea, 



72. Alsophila oligocarpa. 



A. Chilensis and its forms. Evidently among the hardi- 

 est are A. Brasiliensis and A . pulchella, although some 

 of the others have not been tried. For outdoor planting, 

 Alstroemerias are at their best in a partly shaded posi- 



