PENNISETUM 



1265 



CC. Shape of It's, elongate, ovate or lanceolate. 



andromedaefdlia, Fe"e. Lvs. 6-12 in. long, 3-6 in. wide ; 

 ultimate divisions l%-2 lines long, linear-oblong, with 

 enrolled edges. California. Sometimes known as the 

 Coffee Fern. 



hastata, Link. Lvs. 6-24 in. long, 6-12 in. wide; ulti- 

 mate divisions ovate or lanceolate, 1-2 in. long, nearly 

 sessile: sori in a narrow marginal line. Eastern and 

 south Africa. Small Ivs. are sometimes only bipinnate. 



P. Stelleri, Beddome (P. gracilis, Hook.), a rare membranous 

 species of the eastern states, is more closely allied to the genus 

 Cryptogramma, to which Prantl lias referred it. 



L. M. UNDERWOOD. 



PELLlONIA (J. Alphonse Pellion, officer in Frey- 

 cinet's voyage round the world). Urticacece. Of this 

 genus we cultivate 2 choice tender creeping foliage 

 plants, suitable for baskets and for the borders of 

 greenhouses under the benches. The genus contains 

 about 20 species of herbs, often creepers, rarely sub- 

 shrubs from tropical and eastern Asia and the Pacific 

 islands. They have alternate, 2-ranked Ivs. which are 

 unequal at the base, entire or serrate: fls. monoecious 

 or dioecious, in dense cymes; perianth segments 5, 

 rarely 4, in fruit sometimes unchanged but usually in- 

 creased and investing the fruit. The following are gla- 

 brous plants from Cochin China, with Ivs. about an 

 inch long and half as wide, and slightly crenate at the 

 margin. All the species known to science are oriental. 

 One of the species was once advertised as a Peperomia. 



Daveauana, N. E. Br. Lvs. dark bronzy olive-green 

 more or less flushed violet or red, with a fern-like figure 

 of light green down the middle of the leaf, the figure 

 being narrowly oblong and crenate. This figure is some- 

 times absent from some of the Ivs. The Ivs. are more 

 acuminate than in the next. R.H. 1880:290 (as Begonia 

 Daveauana, a charming picture). I.H. 29:472 (poor). 



pulchra, N. E. Br. Lvs. dull blackish along the mid- 

 rib and veins, the inter-spaces being light green, the 

 under surface pale purplish. I.H. 30:479. A.G. 15:4. 



W. M. 



PELLITOBY. Parietaria; also an uncommon name 

 of Feverfew, Chrysanthemum Parthenium. 



PELOBIA. See Teratology. 



PELTANDRA (Greek, referring to the peltate an- 

 thers). Aroidece. ARROW ARUM. An east American 

 genus with two species which have been much con- 

 fused. They are stemless herbs, the glossy arrow- 

 shaped leaves arising from strong underground parts: 

 fls. monoecious and naked, the staminate ones on the 

 upper part of the long spadix, the anthers sessile and 

 imbedded and opening by terminal pores, the 1-loculed 

 ovaries attended by 4 or -5 scale-like bodies or stami- 

 nodia: spathe usually exceeding the spadix: fr. a 1-3- 

 seeded, mostly leathery berry, borne in large globose 

 clusters. Peltandras are excellent subaquatic plants, 

 their large thick sagittate leaves always adding variety 

 and interest to margins of ponds and to bog gardens. 

 Single specimens or clumps are usually most prized. 

 Peltandras are easy to colonize. 



undulata, Raf. Lvs. narrow-sagittate, the basal lobes 

 long and nearly or quite acute: spathe 4-8 in. long, 

 green, convolute around the spadix for its whole length: 

 sterile part of the spadix much longer than the pistil- 

 late part: fr. green, 1-3-seeded. In shallow pools or bog 

 margins, N. Eng. to Fla. and W. A.G. 1893:111. The 

 root is composed of thick cords or fibers. 



alba, Raf . Lvs. broader, the basal lobes short: spathe 

 white, the upper part expanded and calla-like : sterile 

 part of spadix little, if any, longer than pistillate part : 

 fr. red, 1-seeded. Va., S. Root tuberous. L. jj. 3. 



PELTOPHORUM (Greek, shield-shaped; referring to 

 the peculiar stigma). Jjegumlnbsce. Six species of 

 splendid tropical trees, belonging to the same tribe 

 with the gorgeous Poinciana and Ceesalpinia, all of 

 which represent a type of structure widely different 

 from our northern pea-shaped flowers, as they have 5 

 distinct petals which are all about the same size and 

 shape. There is a fine colored plate of a Peltophorum in 



Blanco's "Flora of the Philippines," where the golden 

 yellow fls. are nearly 1% in. across, a dozen of them in 

 each raceme, and 4 racemes uniting to form a great 

 panicle. The Philippine species, P. inerme, is probably 

 the same as the Australian one, P. ferrugineum, which 

 Franceschi has introduced at Santa Barbara, Calif., but 

 reports so far unsuccessful. Peltophorums have the 

 Mimosa type of foliage. Each leaf of P. ferrugineum 

 has 8-10 pairs of pinnae, and each pinna 10-20 pairs of 

 leaflets. 



Generic characters: petals 5, roundish; stamens 10, 

 free, declinate; filaments pilose at base: ovary sessile, 

 2 to many-ovuled: pod flattish, indehiscent, with nar- 

 rowly winged margins. 



Peltophorum is distinguished from Caesalpinia and 

 Poinciana by the valvate calyx segments of the latter, 

 while the two former have their calyx segments strongly 

 imbricated. The peculiar stigma of Peltophorum readily 

 distinguishes it from its close allies, Csesalpinia and 

 Hsematoxylon ( log- wood ) . 



ferrugineum, Benth. (P. inerme, Naves). Tree attain- 

 ing 100 ft., taking its specific name from the dense rusty 

 tomentum which covers the young branches, petioles 

 and inflorescence: pod 3-4 x %-l in. wide, bearing 1-3 

 seeds. Australia, Philippines. \y jyj. 



PENNISETUM (penna, a feather; seta, a bristle). 

 Graminece. Contains about 40 species of the tropical 

 regions. One species, Pearl Millet, is cultivated for 

 fodder. The genus is allied to Panicum and Setaria, the 

 spikelets being 1-fld., with usually 4 glumes, surrounded 

 at base by a cluster of bristles and arranged in spikes 

 or spike-like racemes. First glume very small, second 

 longer than fl. -glume. The bristles fall with spikelets 

 instead of remaining attached to rachis as in Setaria. 



\ 



1711. Pennisetum villosum. 

 P. longistylum of gardeners. 



villdsum, Brown (P. longistylum of florists, not of 

 Hochst.). Fig. 1711. Spike broad, 2-4 in. long, and 

 feathery from the bearded bristles: culm 1-2 ft. high, 

 pubescent below the spike. Abyssinia. R.H. 1890, p. 

 489. 



Ruppellii, Steud. (P. Rupelianum of some works). 

 Culms taller and spikes longer and more graceful than 

 the preceding. Abyssinia. R.H. 1897, pp. 54, 55. I.H. 

 42, p. 206 (1895). 



