532 



EPACRIS 



purpurascens, R. Br. Lvs. ovate-acuminate, trough- 

 shaped, tipped with a long curved point or spine : fls. 

 short, the calyx nearly equaling the corolla, white or 

 pinkish. There is a double-fid, form. L.B.C. 3:237. 

 G.C. II. 5:340. Probably identical with E. pulchella, 

 Cav. 



obtusifdlia, Smith. Lvs. small, elliptic or linear, thick 

 and obtuse : fls. small, white, the spikes more or less 

 one-sided. L.B.C. 3:292. 



Other trade names are E. ardentissima. Fls. crimson.^. 

 hyacinthifldra, var. candidissima, white, early, and var. ful- 

 gens, pink. E. hybrida superba is merely a catalogue name tor 

 mixed kinds of Epacris.-. rubella. Fls. bright red E. sal- 

 mdnea. L. H. B. 



The genus Epacris (though perhaps not as well known 

 as the Ericas, with which they are usually grown, re- 

 quiring the same culture) furnishes the cool greenhouse 

 with some of the most beautiful hard-wooded flowering 

 plants known, the fls. embracing a good range of color. 

 Where a good variety of these plants is grown, the 

 flowering period extends from the end of January to the 

 end of April. After flowering, the upright or bushy 

 species should receive whatever pruning may be neces- 

 sary to secure a well-shaped plant, while the pendulous 

 varieties will require the shortening of only the strong- 

 est branches to induce a more even growth. If neces- 

 sary, potting should be done at this time, and those 

 which do not need repotting should have the drainage 

 of their pots made perfect, as a water-logged condition 

 of the soil is fatal to these plants. The soil best suited 

 to them is two parts good fibrous peat, one part leaf- 

 mold, and one part silver sand. In potting, small 

 shifts should be given and the soil pressed as firmly as 

 possible in the pots. After potting and pruning, the 

 plants should be placed in a temperature of 60-65, and 

 syringed on all fine days to encourage fresh growth. 

 During the summer they should be placed outside, in a 

 position where they would receive some shade during 

 the hottest part of the day, and the pots should be 

 plunged in ashes or other non-conducting material. 

 Careful watering is necessary at all times with these 

 plants. If allowed to become dry, they will lose their 

 lower Ivs., which spoils their appearance; at the same 

 time a saturated condition of the soil is fatal to them. 

 Though they may be propagated by seeds, the use of cut 

 tings of the young growth is more expeditious. These 

 should be about 1 inch in length and the tip ends of 

 the young growths. They may be inserted thickly in 

 pans of sharp silver sand, with a glass bell-jar placed 

 over them to keep them close. The pans should be 

 plunged in the propagating bed and the cuttings care- 

 fully watered and shaded till rooted. The moisture 

 which collects in the bell- jars should be wiped out two 

 or three times a day, and a little ventilation from the 

 bottom admitted after about the third day, removing 

 the bell-jars altogether as the cuttings become rooted, 

 which usually takes two or three weeks. When nicely 

 rooted, they should be potted singly into thumb-pots 

 and grown along, pinching when necessary to induce a 

 bushy habit. EDWARD J. CANNING. 



It is a good plan to plunge pots of Epacris in an open 



Eosition and cover the plants during June and July with 

 ith racks. About August, begin to remove the racks 

 a few hours each day until the middle of September. 

 Then remove the racks altogether. This practice 

 hardens the wood and insures the setting of buds. A 

 top dressing is a great help to Epacris and all hard- 

 wooded plants. Hay or straw, run through a hay cutter, 

 makes the best dressing. It can be put on quickly and 

 evenly; it protects from the sun; it is light; it dries 

 quickly, and has no bad effects, as manure does in the 

 case of some hard-wooded plants. The writer has found 

 the following sorts do well : Diadem, Eclipse, Her 

 Majesty, Model, Rose Perfection, hyacinthiflora and 

 vars. candidissima and fulgens, impressa alba, miniata 

 vars. superba and splendens, rubra superba. 



H. D. DARLINGTON. 



EPHEDKA (ancient Greek name, used by Pliny for 

 the Horse-tail). Gnetdcece. Generally low, much- 

 branched shrubs, often procumbent and sometimes 

 climbing, the green branches resembling much those of 



EP1DENDRUM 



Equisetum, bearing minute, scale-like, sheathing Ivs. in 

 distant pairs or whorls : fls. inconspicuous, but fr. in 

 some species decorative, berry-like and scarlet. They 

 are but rarely grown, and most of them are tender; half 

 hardy North are E. distachya, foliata, Nevadensis, 

 trifurca. They can be used for covering dry, sandy 

 banks or rocky slopes, and are prop, by seeds or by 

 suckers and layers. About 30 species from S. Europe, 

 N. Africa, Asia and in extra trop. Amer. Fls. dioe- 

 cious, in small aments, forming usually peduncled axil- 

 lary clusters ; staminate fl. with a 2-4-lobed perianth 

 and with the 2-8 stamens united into a column ; pistil- 

 late fl. with an urceolate perianth, including a naked ovule, 

 developing into a nutlet; in some species the bracts of 

 the ament become fleshy, and form a berry-like syncarp. 

 Latest monograph by O. Stapf, in Denkschr. Akad. 

 Wissensch., Wien, Vol. 56 (1889), (in German and 

 Latin). 



E. distachya, Linn. (E. vulgaris, Linn.). Low, of ten procum- 

 bent, 1-3 ft., pale or bluish green : Ivs. one-twelfth in. long: 

 aments usually clustered, staminate oblong : fls. with about 8 

 stamens, pistillate 2-fld.: fr. berry-like. S. Europe, W. Asia. 

 Var. monostachya, Stapf. Aments usually solitary. E. foliata, 

 Boiss. (E. Kokanica, Rgl.). Procumbent or erect, to 15 ft., 

 bright or bluish green : Ivs. %-1-lQ in. long : aments usually 

 clustered, ovate; staminate-ovate fls. with 3-4 stamens; pistil- 

 late 2-fld.: fr. berry-like. W. Asia. E. Nebrodensis, Tineo. 

 Erect, with rigid, pale green branches : Ivs. % in. long: aments 

 solitary or few; staminate globular ; pistillate 2-fld. : fr. berry- 

 like. Mediterr. region to Himal. .E. Nevadensis, Wats. Erect, 

 2-3 ft., with pale or bluish green branches: Ivs. >g in.: aments 

 usually solitary; staminate ovate 6-8-fld. ; pistillate 2-fld. : fr. 

 dry, with ovate bracts. Calif., New Mex. E. trifurca, Torr. 

 Erect, with rigid, yellowish or pale green branches: Ivs. in 3's, 

 connate, about % in. long : aments solitary ; pistillate 1-fld. : 

 fr. dry, the roundish bracts with transparent margins. Ari- 

 zona to Colorado. ALFRED REHDER. 



EPIDENDKUM (iipon trees, alluding to their epiphy- 

 tal habit). Ore hiddcece, tribe Epidendrece. Epiphytes: 

 inflorescence simple or branched, nearly always terminal : 

 claw of the labellum more or less adnate to footless 

 column, the blade spreading and usually deeply lobed: 

 pollinia 4, 2 in each anther cell, separated. Nearly 500 

 species discovered and described from central America. 



Epidendrums are noted as the rankest weeds amongst 

 the orchid tribes. The remarkable success in the rais- 

 ing of hybrids, be it in the genus itself, or with the 

 related Cattleya and Laelia, has opened a wide field for 

 the hybridist. Epidendrum seedlings grow freely; the 

 time required to bring them to the flowering stage is 

 little compared with other orchids, and it is but a ques- 

 tion of a short time till the blood of the Epidendrums 

 will be infused into the weaker but more gorgeous 

 flowers of genera more difficult to grow. It is also the 

 long stem and the grace of the racemes of the Epidendra, 

 as well as the odor of some of their species, whrch the 

 hybridist will try to blend with the largeness of short- 

 stemmed flowers, of Cattleyas for instance. We therefore 

 give below a list of the species but rarely found under 

 cultivation, but the value of which will call for and 

 justify large importations of their kind before long. 



GEORGE HANSEN. 



It is scarcely possible to apply any one rule for the 

 cultivation of this widely divergent and large genus, 

 which includes many hundreds of variable individuals 

 geographically distributed all over tropical America. 

 For convenience they are treated under their several 

 separate sections. 



Section I. Barker! a embraces several deciduous, 

 small-growing species which generally deteriorate 

 sooner or later under cultivation. They succeed best in 

 small baskets, suspended from the roof in rough, loose 

 material, such as coarse peat fiber, with a small quantity 

 of live chopped sphagnum moss added to retain mois- 

 ture, this compost freely interspersed with pieces of 

 charcoal or broken crocks or potsherds. They are all 

 subjects for the coolhouse, require a free, moist atmos- 

 phere, shade from the sun while growing, and must be 

 syringed frequently overhead in bright weather. After 

 the plants have matured growth they should be removed 

 to a rather sunny location and be syringed overhead 

 often enough to keep them in sound condition until they 

 start new action. While resting during winter the tern- 



