GORDONIA 



GRAFTAGE 



659 



GORDONIA (after James Gordon, an English nursery- 

 man; died 1780). Ternstrcemiacece. Ornamental trees 

 and shrubs with alternate, simple, rather large, decidu- 

 ous or persistent Ivs., axillary, showy white fls. and a 

 woody capsule. Only O. pubescens is hardy north to 

 Mass., while the others are cultivated only in sub- 

 tropical regions. They all have very handsome shining 

 foliage, and produce their large white fls. even on rather 

 small plants. They grow best in a somewhat moist, 

 peaty or sandy soil. Prop, by seeds, layers or cuttings 

 from half-ripened wood under glass. About 15 species 

 in the S. Atlantic states and subtrop. and trop. Asia. 

 Fls. solitary and axillary toward the end of the branches; 

 sepals and petals 5, rarely more; stamens numerous: 

 capsule. 5-celled, dehiscent with 2 or many usually 

 winged seeds in each cell. 



P. J. Berckmans writes that a large tree in the Bar- 

 tram garden, near Philadelphia, was long supposed to 

 be the only living specimen of G. pubescens. All other 

 specimens in cultivation are believed to have been 

 propagated from the Bartram tree, which has lately 

 died. All efforts since 1790 to rediscover this tree in the 

 South have failed. 



A. Foliage deciduous. 



pubescens, L'Herit. (G. Altamdha, Sarg. ). Shrub or 

 tree, to 30 ft. : Ivs. obovate-oblong, narrowed into a short 

 petiole, sparingly serrate, bright green and shining 

 above, glabrous, turning scarlet in fall, 5-6 in. long: 

 fls. short-pedicelled, pure white, about 3 in. across; 

 petals roundish obovate, with crenulate margin, con- 

 cave: capsule globular. Sept., Oct. Georgia, but not 

 found again since 1790. S.S. 1:22. G.W. F. 47. Mn. 

 6:201. Gng. 7:167. M.D.G. 1899:25.-One of the few 

 trees that flower in autumn. 



AA. Foliage evergreen. 



Lasianthus, Ellis. LOBLOLLY BAY, Tree, to 60 ft., 

 usually shrubby in cult. : Ivs. obovate-lanceolate, nar- 

 rowed into a short petiole, crenately dentate, dark green 

 and shining above, 4-6 in. long: fls. long-pedicelled, 

 white, 2-2/^ in. across; petals oblong-obovate ; stamens 

 short: capsule ovate. July, Aug. Va. to Fla. and Miss. 

 S.S. 1:21. B.M. 668. 



an6mala, Spreng. Large shrub: Ivs. oblanceblate, nar- 

 rowed into a very short petiole, entire or serrate, dark 

 green above, 3-6 in. long: fls. almost sessile, creamy 

 white, 2-3 in. across; petals roundish obovate. Nov. 

 S.China. B.M. 4019 (as Polyspora axillaris). B.M. 2047 

 and B.R. 4:349 (as Camellia axillaris). 



G. Javdnica, Rolliss. See Schima Noronhae. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



GORSE. Ulex Europceus. 



GOSS^PIUM (name used by Pliny, probably from the 

 Arabic). Malvaceae. COTTON (which see). Probably 

 not more than a dozen original species, although more 

 than 100 have been described. The species which have 

 produced the cultivated Cotton are now much confused. 

 Two or three species are in the trade for ornamental 

 purposes : G. Davidsonii, Kellogg, from Lower Califor- 

 nia, a woody plant with handsome yellow but rather 

 small fls. (1 in. long), and small cordate, mostly entire 

 Ivs. G. Sturtii, F. Muell. A shrub of several feet, more 

 or less marked with black dots : Ivs. broadly ovate, 

 entire: fls. large, purple, with a dark center. 



L. H. B. 



GOUANIA (Antoine Gouan, 1733-1821, professor of 

 botany at Montpelier, France). Rhamnacece. This ge- 

 nus includes the " Chawstick " of Jamaica, a rapid-grow- 

 ing, shrubby vine, with pretty heart-shaped Ivs., grown 

 sometimes for ornament in the extreme South. It is 

 suitable for screening unsightly objects. The stems are 

 chewed in the West Indies. Tooth brushes are made 

 from the frayed ends and tooth-powder from the pul- 

 verized wood. The genus has about 30 species of shrubs, 

 sometimes tall climbers, tendril-bearing : branches 

 long and slender : Ivs. alternated, petiolate, penni- 

 nerved, entire or dentate : fls. in clusters, arranged 

 along axillary and terminal, elongated peduncles ; disk 

 5-lobed; style 3-fld: capsule with 3 indehiscent berries. 



Domingensis, Linn. Lvs. usually l%-2 in. long, ellip- 

 tical, glabrate, with blunt, distant serratures ; veins 

 tapering towards the margin : capsule winged, emargi- 

 nate. West Indies. 



GOUMI. See Elceagnus. 



GOURD. In England, a generic name for species of 

 Cucurbita (which see). In America the term is used to 

 designate those cucurbitous fruits which are hard- 

 shelled, and are used for ornament or for the making of 

 domestic utensils. The Gourd of history is probably 

 Lagenaria. In the northern United States, the small, 

 hard-shelled forms of Cucurbita Pepo (var. ovifera) are 

 commonly understood when the word Gourd is used. 

 The Gourds in the Amer. trade are referable to their 

 species as follows: 



Anaconda, Lagenaria vul- Onion-shaped, Cucurbita 



garis. Pepo. 



Apple-shaped, Cucurbita Orange, Cacurbita Pepo. 



Pepo. Ostrich Egg, Cucumis dip- 



Bicolor, Cucurbita Pepo. saceus. 



Bonnet, Luffa. Pear-shaped, Cucurbita Pepo 



Bottle-shaped, Lagenaria vul- (Fig. 597). 



garis. Powder Horn, Lagenaria vul- 



Ca,\&ba,sh, Lagenaria vulgaris. garis. 



Coloquinte, Cucurbita Pepo. Rag, Luffa. 

 Dipper, Lagenaria vulgaris. Serpent or Snake (not Snake 

 Dipsaceous, Cucumis dip- Cucumber, which is a Cucu- 



saceus. mis), Lagenaria vulgaris 



Dish-cloth, Luffa. and Trickosanthes . 



Egg, Egg-shape, Cucurbita Sponge, Luffa. 



Pepo. Spoon, Lagenaria vulgaris. 



Gooseberry, Cucumis An- Sugar Tro ugh, Lagenaria v ul- 



guria. garis. 



Hedgehog, Cucumis dipsaceus. Tashkent, Cucurbita Pepo. 

 Hercules' Club, Lagenaria Turk's Turban, Cucurbita 



vulgaris. Pepo. 



Mate Gourd, small form of Vegetable Sponge, Luffa. 



Lagenaria vulgaris. Wax Gourd, Benincasa cerif- 



Mock Orange, Cucurbita era. 



Pepo. 



L. H. B. 



GRAFTAGE comprises the process and operation of 

 inserting a part of one plant into another, with the in- 

 tention that the part shall grow on the foster root, to- 

 gether with all the questions which arise in relation to 

 the practice. It is a comprehensive or generic term, 

 whereas, grafting is a specific term designating merely 

 the operation. The term Graftage (analogue of the 

 French greffage) was proposed by the present writer in 

 1887. 



Grafting is one of the oldest of the arts of plant-craft. 

 It is probable that the real art of grafting has held more 

 or less as a professional or class secret in the ancient 

 world, for the writers seem to have only the vaguest no- 

 tion of its possibilities and limitations. Vergil writes 

 (Preston's translation) : 



But thou shall lend 



Grafts of rude arbute unto the walnut tree, 

 Shalt bid the unfruitful plane sound apples bear, 

 Chestnuts the beech, the ash blow white with the pear, 

 And, under the elm, the sow on acorns fare. 



It seems to have been a popular misconception that 

 any kind of plant will grow on any other. Pliny asserts 

 that the art of grafting was taught to man by nature. 

 Birds swallow seeds, and these seeds, falling in "some 

 cleft in the bark of a tree," germinate and make plants. 

 "Hence it is that we see the cherry growing upon the 

 willow, the plane upon the laurel, the laurel upon the 

 cherry, and fruits of various tints and hues all spring- 

 ing from the same tree at once." This, of course, is not 

 grafting at all, but the implanting of seeds in earth- 

 filled chinks and cracks, in which the plants find a con- 

 genial foothold and soil. But the ancients have left us 

 abundant testimony that genuine grafting was employed 

 with success. Pliny describes a cleft-graft. He gives 

 several precautions : the stock must be " that of a tree 

 suitable for the purpose," and the graft must be "taken 

 from one that is proper for grafting ; the incision or 

 cleft must not be made in a knot; the graft must be 

 from a tree "that is a good bearer, and from a young 

 shoot;" the graft must not be sharpened or pointed 

 "while the wind is blowing;" "a graft should not be 

 used that is too full of sap, no, by Hercules! no more 

 than one that is dry arid parched;" "it is a point most 



