724 



HELICODICEROS 



from bulb dealers in the fall and flowered under glass 

 in the spring. It is a most vile-smelling plant when in 

 full flower. The plucky artist who drew the accom- 

 panying picture of this arum wrote at the bottom of his 

 drawing, "Air 'em." 



1031. Helicodiceros muscivorus (X 



muscfvorus, Eng. (ff.crinltus, Schott. Arum crinl- 

 tum, Ait. Dracunculus crinltus, Schott). Fig. 1031. 

 Height IK ft. : spathe-limb purple, covered with purple 

 hairs. Corsica. B.R. 10:831. F.S. 5:445. W. M. 



HELICONIA (Mt. Helicon, in Greece, seat of the 

 Muses). Scitamindcece. Foliage plants allied to Musa. 

 Perhaps 25 to 30 species in tropical America. The plants 

 are grown in a warmhouse along with Alocasias, An- 

 thuriums and Calatheas: the directions given for the 

 cultivation of Calathea apply very well to Heliconia. 

 Under the name of Wild Plantain or Balisier, H. Bihai 

 is cult, outdoors in S. Fla. and along the Gulf of Mex. 

 It is an evergreen shrub rivaling the bananas in foliage 

 and scarlet and black flower-sheaths. E. N. Reasoner 

 classes it among plants that sprout up readily in the ex- 

 treme South if killed by frost, and recommends it as a 

 house plant for the South. 



From Musa, Heliconia differs chiefly in having a dry, 

 often dehiscing, 3-loculed, 3-seeded fruit. Fls. in clus- 

 ters below the Ivs., subtended by bracts after the way of 

 Musa; sepals 3, linear, free or somewhat joined to the 

 corolla; corolla short-tubed; stamens 5; staminodium 

 1: Ivs. large and striking, often beautifully marked; 

 stems arising from a strong rootstock. Various species 

 have been introduced into cult., but the following are 

 the only ones appearing in the Amer. trade. 



Bihai, Linn. BALISIER. WILD PLANTAIN. Becoming 

 10-15 ft. tall, banana-like : Ivs. oval or oblong-oval, long- 

 petioled, transversely ribbed, the blades 3-5 ft. long: 

 blossom sheaths very large, scarlet and black, the fls. 

 red or orange. W. Indies and S. A most striking plant, 

 but rarely seen in glasshouse collections. It is natur- 

 alized in the Old World tropics. 



aureo-striata, Hort. Perhaps a form of the preceding 

 Ivs. beautifully striped along both midrib and transverse 

 veins with golden yellow: stems striped with yellow and 

 green: leaf -limb oval-acuminate. I.H. 29:464; 42 p 

 289 (where a list of the best kinds will be found). S.H' 

 2, p. 133. F.R. 3 :493. - Very handsome. The best known 

 kind. 



illustris, Hort., is of the general style of the last, but 

 the rib and veins are marked with pink. Var. rubricaulis, 

 Hort., has more red, the petiole being bright vermilion. 

 R.H. 1896:36 (where a review is made of the species) 

 R.B. 21, p. 69. Gn. 52, p. 359. 



* n SUStifdlia, Hook. Dwarf er: Ivs. long and narrow, 

 1^-2% ft. long, 3-6 in. wide, green : fls. yellowish green, 

 C-10 in each red bract. S. Amer. B.M. 4475. L H B 



HELIOTROPIUM 



HELlOPHILA (Greek, sun-loving}. Cruciferce. This 

 genus includes a blue-flowered half-hardy annual, that 

 grows about 3 in. high and is advertised at present only 

 in the very largest catalogues of flower seeds. The 

 genus contains about 61 species of annual and sub- 

 shrubby perennials, natives exclusively of S. Africa. 

 There are no near allies of garden value. The dehis- 

 cent pod is an important character of the genus. Other 

 important generic characters are pods sessile or pedi- 

 celled, 2-celled, 2-valved: seeds in a single row, often 

 winged. The racemes are long and leafless, and the fls. 

 yellow, white, rosy or sky-blue. Latest monograph in 

 English by Sonder in Flora Capensis 1: 35-54 (1859-60). 

 For general culture, see Annuals. 



The plant in the trade is known as H. arabioldes, 

 Sims, which Sonder refers to H. pilosa, Lam., var. in- 

 cisa, Sonder. H. pilosa is a very variable species, with 

 stem 6-24 in. high, erect or diffuse, simple or unbranched 

 from the base: lower Ivs. of ten opposite, the rest alter- 

 nate: fls. normally sky-blue, with a yellow center, but 

 the natural varieties include lilac and yellow. The typi- 

 cal H. pilosa has a stem that is rough with spreading 

 hairs : Ivs. hairy, either oblong or linear, entire or some- 

 times lobed near apex, cuneate at base: pods linear, 

 erect or spreading. Var. incisa, Senders, has Ivs. linear- 

 cuneate, 3-cut at the apex, rarely 5-cut, the lobes linear 

 or acuminate. B.M. 496. ^y ]yj. 



HELIOPSIS (Greek, like the sun). Compdsitce. About 

 10 species of hardy herbaceous plants, bearing numer- 

 ous yellow fls. in autumn, and all native to N. America. 

 They are all perennials except one, and that is not culti- 

 vated. They are not common in gardens because of the 

 more attractive forms in Helianthus. H. Icevis, var. 

 Pitch eriana , however, deserves wider popularity. Heli- 

 opsis has no pappus, while in Helianthus the pappus 

 has 2 awns. In Heliopsis the rays have pistils, but may 

 be fertile or sterile. In Helianthus the rays have no 

 pistils at all. Stem erect, loosely branching: heads 

 yellow, long-stalked, borne in loose terminal or axillary 

 panicles: Ivs. opposite, petioled, 3-ribbed, oblong-ovate 

 to ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed. For culture, see 

 Helianthus. 



laevis, Pers. Stem 3-5 ft. high : Ivs. 3-5 in. long, 

 thinnish, smooth on both sides or roughish above: fls. 

 numerous, l%-2% in. broad, long-stemmed. July-Oct. 

 Open places, Can. to Fla. , west to 111. and Ky. B.M. 3372. 

 Var. Pitcheriana (H. Pitcheriana, Hort.). A dwarf, 

 more branching and bushy form, 2-3 ft. -high, with a 

 spread of 3-4 ft. : fls. produced much more freely than 

 in the preceding and a deeper yellow. One of the best 

 hardy plants for the perennial border, being especially 

 valuable for cutting and for planting in dry places. 

 Int. 1895 by Pitcher & Manda. A.G. 16:323. F.R. 2:259. 



scabra, Dunal. Differs from H. Icevis chiefly in being 

 rough throughout: upper Ivs. sometimes entire: heads 

 few, often solitary. Dry soils, Me. to N. J. and west to 

 Mo. J.H. 33:359. B.R. 7:592 (as H. canescens). Passes 

 into laevis. s> w . F LETCHE R. 



HELIOTEOPE. See Heliotropium. 



HELIOTROPIUM (heliotropic ; turning to the sun) . 

 Boraginacece. A widely spread genus in warm regions, 

 of more than 100 species. Herbs or rarely shrubs, with 

 small flowers in terminal, forking clusters and alter- 

 nate simple leaves: corolla short funnel-form or sal- 

 ver-shape, the throat mostly open (sometimes con- 

 stricted) ; stamens 5, attached to the tube, not exserted, 

 the filaments very short: ovary 4-loculed and splitting 

 into 4 nutlets (or two 2-loculed nutlets) when ripe, sur- 

 mounted by a simple style. There is a Heliotrope (H. 

 Curassdvicum,Liinn.) native to the S. Atlantic states, 

 with white fls. and oblong or linear Ivs.; also a natu- 

 ralized species (H. Indiciim, Linn.) with bluish scented 

 fls. and lance-ovate rugose Ivs. The florists' Helio- 

 tropes seem to be derived from 2 species. H. Peruvia- 

 num, Linn., is perhaps the leading species. Fig. 1032. 

 Lvs. oval or oblong-lanceolate, very veiny, not conspic- 

 uously narrowed at the base : fls. small, in a close cyme, 

 the corolla tube little longer than the calyx. Peru. B.M. 

 141. Vanilla-scented. H. corymbdsum, Ruiz & Pav. 



