MYRICA 



MYRISTICA 



1053 



of the fruit, the light-rose-colored one being finer flavored 

 than the dark red. The berries are vinous and sweet and 

 used in all ways like our blackberries. The tree is sup- 

 posed to be able to stand 15 above zero. 



Myrica is a genus of about 35 species of trees and 

 shrubs, often aromatic : Ivs. alternate, entire, or variously 



1450. Myrica Na i in flower (X%). 

 Natural size of the edible fruits is about an inch. 



cut: male fls. borne in short catkins on the new growth ; 

 stamens 2-16, usually 4-6; female fls. mostly solitary: 

 drupe globose or ovoid. 



Nagi, Thunb. (M. rubra, Sieb. & Zucc.). Fig. 1450. 

 Bush or tree: Ivs. 3-5 in. long, oblong-lanceolate, taper- 

 ing at the base, entire or serrate: male catkins axillary, 

 solitary, cylindrical, %-!% in. long; stamens 6-10; fe- 

 male catkins shorter than the male, few-fid. Tropical 

 and subtropical Asia. B.M. 5727. 



M. asplenifblia. See Comptonia. W. M. 



MYKIOC^PHALUS ( Greek, ten - thousand - headed ) . 

 Composite. M. Stuartii is an odd sort of everlasting 

 flower, known to the trade as Polycalymma Stuartii, 

 being offered in only one of the largest American cata- 

 logues of annual fls. It is a half-hardy plant, growing 

 about 1% ft. high and bearing yellow and white heads. 

 Myriocephalus is a genus f about 8 annual or perennial 

 herbs, all Australian, often hoary, especially when 

 young : Ivs. alternate, entire : clusters or compound 

 heads terminal, usually globose or hemispherical: heads 

 , exceedingly numerous and sessile on a broad, very flat 

 receptacle, surrounded by a general involucre of numer- 

 ous narrow bracts in many rows, each usually with a 

 scarious tip or radiating appendage. In M. Stuartii 

 these appendages are 1-2 lines long, broad, white and 

 very conspicuous. Flora Australiensis 3: 557 (1866). 



Stuartii, Benth. (Polycalymma Stuartii, F. Muell. & 

 Sond.). Pubescent or woolly, not much branched: Ivs. 

 linear or lanceolate, 1-2 in. long: clusters hemispherical, 

 1 in. or more across : partial heads 5 -8-fld. : seeds woolly ; 

 pappus of numerous ciliate bristles. 



MYRIOPHYLLUM (Greek, ten-thousand-leaved) . 

 ffaloragdcece. The PARROT'S FEATHER is a favorite 

 aquatic plant, with delicate feathery foliage, composed 

 of numerous whorls of finely cut Ivs. The one which is 



often seen in vases and fountains in public parks has 

 the uncomfortable name of Myriophyllum proserpina- 

 coides. It is a half -hardy plant from Chile, with weak 

 stems which grow out of the water about 6 inches. It 

 can be planted in a water-tight hanging basket, and if 

 water can be kept standing on the surface, the plant 

 will hang gracefully over the edges. The other species 

 here described are hardy plants, which are com- 

 mon in our eastern ponds. Anyone of them can be gath- 

 ered for the aquarium, and the two following are pro- 

 curable from dealers in aquatics and aquarium supplies. 

 Myriophyllum is a genus of about 15 species of aquatic 

 herbs, found from the frigid zones to the tropics. Lvs. 

 whorled, somewhat scattered or alternate, the emersed 

 ones entire, dentate or pectinate, the submerged ones 

 pinnately cut into thread-like segments : fls. small. 



A. Lvs. all alike. 



proserpinacoides, Gill. Fig. 1451. Lvs. in whorls of 4 

 and 5, 7-10 lines long: segments 20-25. Chile. Appar- 

 ently established in Hopkins' pond, Haddonfleld, N. J., 

 having escaped from cult. B.B. 2:505. Differs from the 

 2 following in being dioecious. The female plant is the 

 one in cult. Likely to become weeds. 



AA. Lvs. above the surface of the water different from 



those below. 



B. Lvs. whorled in 3's and 4's. 



verticillatum, Linn. Floral Ivs. longer than the fls., 

 pectinate: stamens 8: petals deciduous: carpels even. 

 Native of Europe, but common in our ponds. 



BB. Lvs. whorled in 4's and 5's. 



heteroph^llum, Michx. Floral Ivs. ovate, lanceolate, 

 sharply serrate: stamens 4: petals rather persistent r 

 carpels 1-2-ridged and roughened on the back. Lakes 

 and rivers. Ont. to Fla. and Minn. 



WM. TRTCKER and W. M. 



MYKfSTICA (Greek, alluding to the aromatic quali- 

 ties of the plants ). Myristicdcece. NUTMEG. Myristicas 

 are of many species (perhaps 80), but most of the Nut- 

 megs of commerce are the product of M. fragrans, Houtt. 

 (M. moschdta, Thunb.; M. officindlis, Linn, f.; M. 

 aromdtica, Lam.), shown in Figs. 1452-3. This tree is 

 cultivated and naturalized in the W. Indies. The genus 

 Myristica is the only one in the family. It is essentially 

 an Asian genus, although species occur in America and 

 Africa, and one in Australia. The Myristicas are dioe- 

 cious trees with alternate, entire, pinnate-veined Ivs., 

 and small fls. in axillary clusters. The perianth is 2-4- 

 (usually 3-) lobed, in a single series : anthers 3 or more, 

 connate: ovary single, 1-loculed, ripening into a fleshy 

 fruit. The Nutmeg of commerce is the seed. This is 

 surrounded by a ruminated aril, which furnishes the 



1451. Myriophyllum proserpinacoides (X 



mace of commerce. The fruit of M. fragrans is short 

 pear-shaped, 1X-2 in. long, hanging, reddish or yellow- 

 ish, somewhat fleshy, splitting at maturity into 2 valves 

 and disclosing the brilliant scarlet lacimated aril or 

 mace. Inside the aril is the hard nut or shell, and 

 inside the shell is the Nutmeg. The details of the mace 



