440 



CYRTOPERA 



CYTISUS 



CYRTOPERA. Consult Cyrtopodiiun Woodfordii. 



C YRTOPODIUM ( Greek for curved foot, from the shape 

 of the lip). OrchidacecK, tribe Vdndeve. Epiphytes: 

 stems fusiform, bearing plicate leaves : sepals and petals 

 equal, free ; column semiterete : pollinia 2, caudicle 

 short, gland ovate: scapes radical, bearing numerous 

 flowers, pure yellow or spotted with crimson. Probably 

 two dozen species, widely distributed in the tropics. 

 They are large-growing plants, with large and showy 

 flowers. They need a rich, fibrous soil with manure. 

 Grow in a warm or tropical house. 



Andersonii, R. Br. Stems 5 ft. high : Ivs. long, lan- 

 ceolate, sheathing at the base: scape often 3 ft. high, 

 branching, bearing many yellow flowers: sepals and 

 petals broad, bright yellow, the labellum brighter, front 

 lobe slightly concave. Specimens with over 100 fls. have 

 been recorded. Tropical Amer. B.M. 1800. 



punctatum, Lindl. Habit as above : scape from 2-3 ft. 

 high, branching about midway, dotted with dull purple, 

 the branches subtended by membranaceous sheathing 

 bracts, which are lanceolate, undulating, and dotted 

 with crimson : sepals oblong-lanceolate, undulate, 

 greenish yellow blotched with crimson; petals similar, 

 spotted at the base; labellum % in. long, fleshy, bright 

 yellow, lateral lobes crimson, midlobe spotted and 

 margined with crimson ; column green. Extensively dis- 

 tributed through S. Amer. B.M. 3507. F.S. 22: 2352.- 

 Var. Saintlegerianum, Hort. (C. Saintlegeridnum, 

 Reich, f.). Has brighter markings on the bracts and 

 flowers. 



Woddfordii, Sims (Cyrtopera Woddfordii, Lindl.). 

 Stems fusiform: Ivs. lanceolate: scape radical, bearing 

 a many -flowered raceme : fls. greenish, with a purple la- 

 bellum; sepals linear lanceolate ; petals oblong. Trinidad, 

 Martinique. B.M. 1814. OAKES AMES. 



CYRTOSPfiRMA (Greek, curved seed). Aroldeoe. 

 This genus includes a handsome warmhouse tuberous 

 foliage plant, with large, hastate red-veined leaves, 

 resembling an Alocasia, but easily distinguished by its 

 spiny stems. It was introduced into cult, in 1880 from 

 the Solomon Islands as Alucasia J6hnstoni, but two 

 years later it flowered, and it became evident that the 

 plant was a Cyrtosperma. This plant was once adver- 

 tised by Pitcher & Manda as Cyrtemeria, apparently a 

 typographical error, as there is no such genus. Cyrto- 

 sperma has 9 species, remarkably scattered in the tropics. 

 They are herbs with tubers or long rhizomes : leaf and 

 flower-stalks often spiny or warty: Ivs. hastate or sagit- 

 tate; petioles long, sheathing at the base. Culture 

 presumably same as Alocasia. 



J61mstoni, N. E. Br. (Alocasia Jdhnstoni, Hort.). 

 Tuberous: petiole 2-254 ft. long, olive green, spotted 

 rose, covered with fleshy, spine-like warts: Ivs. sagit- 

 tate, depressed in the middle, l%-2 ft. long, olive-green, 

 with prominent and beautiful red veins above. I.H. 

 27:395. 



C. ferox, Lind. & N. E.Br., is a second species of this genus, 

 figured in I.H. 39:153, but not known to be in the Amer. trade. 

 It has narrow-sagittate Ivs. on slender, very prickly petioles : 

 spathe rather large, reflexed, greenish white. Borneo. 



CYRT6STACHYS (Greek for arched spike). Pal- 

 mdcece, tribe Arecece. Three Malayan, spineless, pin- 

 nate-leaved palms, sometimes seen in choice collections. 

 They thrive on the treatment given to Areca and Chrys- 

 alidocarpus. Spadix large, branching and pendent: fls. 

 monoecious, the two kinds in one spadix each pistillate 

 accompanied by two staminates with 6 stamens. Two 

 species are offered in this country : 



Renda, Blume. Height 25-30 ft. : leaflets linear or 

 ensiform, obtuse, unequally 2-toothed, delicate gray be- 

 neath, the petioles dark, brownish red. 



Lakka, Becc. Petioles green : Ivs. broad, boldly 

 arched, the leaflets unequally 2-toothed. 



CYSTACANTHUS (Greek for bladder Acanthus, be- 

 cause the flowers are inflated ). Acanthacece. Five erect, 

 evergreen herbs of Burma and Cochin China, with 

 showy, sessile fls. in the axils of bracts, the entire in- 



florescence more or less crowded into a terminal panicle 

 or thyrse. Corolla-limb spreading, unequally 5-lobed, the 

 lobes short-rotund : stamens 2: style filiform, the stigma 

 2-toothed: Ivs. entire. One species is cult, in the -Old 

 World, but is not known to be in the Amer. trade. This 

 is C. tiirgida, Nicholson, B.M. 6043 as Meninia turgida, 

 Fua. It comes from Cochin China; 2 ft. or less high, 

 with prominently jointed stems and opposite, elliptic- 

 lanceolate Ivs.: fls. white, yellow in the throat and pink- 

 reticulated on the lobes. Cult, as other warmhouse 

 Acanthads. (See Aphelandra for example.) Prop, by 

 cuttings of young wood. 



CYSTOPTERIS (Greek, bladder-fern). Polypodia- 

 cece. A small genus of hardy native ferns, with deli- 

 cate foliage, and round sori, covered by a delicate indu- 

 sium which is attached under one side and opens at the 

 other, becoming hood-like in appearance and finally 

 disappearing. The 5 species all grow in the north tem- 

 perate zone. Of easy culture in shady, rich borders. 



C. bulbifera, Bernh. Lvs. 8-24 in. long, widest at the 

 base, tripinnatifid, bearing on the under surface of the 

 rachis a series of bulb-like bodies, which germinate and 

 propagate new plants. Thrives best on lime-bearing 

 rocks. Canada to North Carolina. 



C. fragilis, Bernh. Fig. 654. Lvs. clus- 

 tered, 4-8 in. long besides the slender stalks, 

 tripinnatifid, widest above the base. Widely 

 distributed over the world at all altitudes. 

 L. M. UNDERWOOD. 



CtTISUS (Greek name for 

 a kind of clover). Legu- 

 mindsce. BROOM. Mostly low 

 shrubs, rarely small trees : 

 Ivs. trifoliolate, sometimes uni- 

 foliolate, rather small, alter- 

 nate, deciduous or persistent, 

 sometimes few and minute and 

 branches almost leafless : fls. 

 papilionaceous, axillary or in 

 terminal heads or racemes, yel- 

 low, white or purple; sta- 

 mens 10, connate ; style 

 curved : pod flat, dehis- 

 cent, with few or many 

 seeds ; seeds with a cal- 

 lose appendage at the 

 base. About 45 species 

 in S. and M. Europe, Ca- 

 nary Isl., N. Africa and 

 W. Asia. Ornamental 

 free - flowering shrubs, 

 blooming most in early 

 spring and summer. 

 Nearly hardy north are 

 C. hirsutus,C. capitatus, 

 C. scoparius, C. nigri- 

 cans ,C .leucanthus , while 

 the evergreen species C. 

 Canariensis, C. candi- 

 cans, C. filipes are hardy 

 (X y z .) on ly south. Most of the 



species are well adapted 



for borders of shrubberies, and thrive in almost any 

 well drained soil and in sunny position; they naturalize 

 themselves often very quickly in dry, gravelly soil, 

 where few other plants will grow; C. scoparius espe- 

 cially does so. The Cytisus ought to be transplanted 

 carefully and when young, as they do not bear trans- 

 planting well as older plants. Some dwarf species like 

 C. Ardoini, Kewensis, glabrescens, purpureus and 

 leucanthus are very handsome for rockeries. The ever- 

 green C. Canariensis and racemosus are much grown 

 in the north as greenhouse shrubs, blooming profusely 

 in early spring ; also the white-flowering C. albus and 

 filipes make handsome pot-plants, and may be had 

 in bloom in February with gentle forcing. For pot- 

 plants, a light sandy loam with peat added forms a suit- 

 able compost. After flowering the plants should be cut 

 back and repotted as soon as they start into new growth. 



654. Cystopteris fragilis. 



