MESPILUS 



Medlars are easily raised from seeds, althougn seeds 

 like those of Crataegus) may not germinate the first 

 s.,year. On these stocks the named varieties may be 

 '^rafted or budded. Medlars may also be worked on 



pear, thorn (Crata3gus) or quince. The Dutch or Hol- 



landish and the Nottingham are the leading varieties. 



The fruit of the former is often 2% inches in diameter. 



The latter is much smaller, but is better in quality. 



There is also a seedless variety. 



M. grandiflbra, Smith (M. Smithii, DC.), is Crataegus grandi- 

 , flora (see p. 397). Gn. 22, p. 163 and 34, p. 66. L jj % 



MESQUIT of Mexico is Prosopis juliflora (Legumi- 

 i'nosfe). A picture of a Mesquit forest is shown in G. F. 

 11:116. 



METKOSIDEROS (Greek, heart of iron; this and 

 ; other genera of the Myrtle family are called ironwoods). 

 Myrtficece. About 18 species of trees and shrubs, rarely 

 r ;climbers, mostly natives of the Pacific islands from New 

 Zealand to Hawaii. They belong to the class of Austra- 

 lasian shrubs whose chief beauty lies in their long red 

 i anthers. They are somewhat grown for a fancy Easter 

 trade by florists, largely from imported stock. In 

 Metrosideros the flowers are borne in dense 2- or 3-f orked 

 cymes, while in Callistemon they are borne in spikes, 

 i, Leaves mostly opposite: petals 5, spreading; stamens 1 

 (inch or more long, much longer than the petals. The 

 species described below are coolhouse shrubs, and are 

 rarely grown outdoors in the South. 



Apparently the commonest of the Bottle Brushes in 

 the trade is Callistemon lanceolatus, which is passing 

 among florists as Metrosideros floribunda and M. ro- 

 busta. In Fig. 320 (page 218) the plant is shown with 

 apparently terminal inflorescence, but the branch is 

 really terminated by some leaf buds, which develop 

 later, as in Fig. 1398. The handsome plant figured in 

 William Scott's "Florists' Manual," and to which he 

 refers in the following paragraph as Metrosideros ro- 

 buxta, seems to be none other than Callistemon lanceo- 

 latus (see supplementary list). w. jyj. 



The plant known to the trade as Metrosideros robusta 

 has been grown for many years as a cool greenhouse 

 I plant, but it is only within a dozen years that Euro- 

 peans have been sending American florists the compact 

 , little bushes that now arrive with our Azaleas. The 

 city florist can perhaps dispose of one of these Bottle 

 Brushes for every ten plants of Azalea Jndlca. Plants 

 in 6-inch pots, well flowered, fixed with a red ribbon 

 and placed in a modern basket certainly look novel and 

 attractive. The Belgians grow the young plants in peat, 

 as they do most hardwooded plants, but they do very 

 well in good turfy loam with a fourth of leaf-mold. 

 Cuttings of the young growth may be struck in early 

 I spring and planted out in good soil by the end of May, 

 ' but it is cheaper to import stock. When the plants 

 | arrive soak the ball of roots, pot firmly and place them 

 in a house of about 45. Freshly imported plants can- 

 not be forced in much heat, like Azaleas, or they will 

 shed their flowers. Watch them carefully, give them 

 i more heat gradually and they will bloom for Easter. 



Plants unsold the first spring will be much more satis- 

 factory the second year. By the end of April cut them 

 back to within 1 or 2 inches of the old growth, put them 

 in a good heat and keep them syringed. They will make 

 a bushy growth, with a good number of shoots. Early 

 in June plunge them in a sunny spot outdoors, with the 

 rim of the pot well covered, and be careful that they do 

 not suffer for water in hot weather. In July, or earlier, 

 mulch the pots with an inch of half-decomposed cow 

 manure. Before frost remove the plants to a temp, of 

 45, or warmer if bloom is desired before Easter. 



WILLIAM SCOTT. 

 A. Flowers red. 



robusta, A. Cunn. Lvs. opposite, elliptic-ovate, obtuse, 

 veiny, with an extra nerve near each margin and parallel, 

 glabrous: inflorescence a 3-forked cyme: fls.red; calyx 

 top-shaped. New Zeal. B.M. 4471 (erroneously as M. 

 florida). 



AA. Flowers yellowish. 



f!6rida, Sm. Lvs. opposite, obovate-oblong, veiny, gla- 

 brous: inflorescence a thyrse : fls. yellowish; calyx top- 



MICHAUXIA 



1009 



shaped, minutely silky. New Zeal. Not B.M. 4471, which 

 is M, robusta. The typical form is not advertised, but 

 only var. variegata. 



M. floribunda is not advertised in America, but stock im 

 ported by an Ithaca florist under this name from Belgium is 

 Callistemon lanceolatus (Fig. 1398). M. floribunda, Smith, is 



1398. Metrosideros floribunda of the trade, but 

 Callistemon lanceolatus of the botanists. 



thought to have white fls. Lvs. opposite, petiolate, ovate-lanceo- 

 late: fls. in an umbel-like, decussately branched panicle. 

 Australia. M. semperflorens, Lodd.=Callistemon lanceolatus. 

 M. speciosa, Sims=Callistemon speciosus. W.M. 



MEXICAN TEA. Consult Chenopodium. 

 MEYENIA. See Thunbergia. 

 MEZEREUM. See Daphne Mezereum. 



MICHAtTXIA (Andre" Michaux, 1746-1802, French bot- 

 anist, who lived for ten years in America and wrote 

 much on American plants). Campanulaceoz. About 4 

 species of rather coarse-habited biennial herbs from the 

 Orient, of which M. campanuloides is best known. It 

 grows 4-5 ft. high, has irregularly toothed, bristly-hairy 

 foliage and large, curious drooping fls., white, tinged 

 with purple, wheel-shaped at first, later reflexed. The 

 flower is parted nearly to the base into 8-10 oblong seg- 

 ments, l%-2 in. long. This plant is a striking subject 

 for the back of a hardy border. It is easily prop, by seeds 

 (which should be fresh), and likes a well-enriched soil of 

 a light nature. An American dealer offers a climber 

 with bell-shaped fls. under the name of M. campa- 

 nulata but these plants are erect herbs. 



Michauxia belongs, with Campanula and other genera 

 of garden importance, to a group characterized by hav- 

 ing the capsule closed at the top and opening laterally 

 by little holes between the ribs or by small solitary 

 valves. Michauxia is distinguished from the other genera 

 of this group by the 8-10-parted corolla with narrow, 

 spreading, finally reflexed lobes and an 8-10-celled ovary. 

 Michauxias are erect plants, hispid or glabrous: Ivs. ir- 

 regularly toothed or lobed, the stem-lvs. few: fls. termi- 

 nal or strung along the branches, the top ones opening 

 first, peduncled or nearly sessile, white or pale rose. 



campanuloides, L'He"r. Lvs. lanceolate in outline; 

 upper ones sessile, acute, almost clasping: calyx with 

 reflexed appendages shorter than the lobes ; stamens 8. 

 Asia Minor. B.M. 219. j. B. KELLER and W. M. 



