1360 



PITCHER PLANTS 



PITTOSPORUM 



while the parasitic Cytinaceae might be regarded as 

 having degenerated along another .line from the same 

 source. The Australian genus Cephalotus, which has a 

 pitcher strikingly like the pitchers of Nepenthes, may 

 be a wayward relative of the Saxifrage family. Sar- 

 racenia, Darlingtonia and the Venezuelan genus Heli- 

 amphora seem to be more closely allied to one another 

 than to the others and make up the Sarraceniaceae. 

 These are similar in stamens, style and seed to the 

 poppy family. 



PITHECOCTENIUM (Greek, monkey's comb; from 

 the fruit, which is covered with spurs or warts). Big- 

 noniacece. About 23 species of tropical American bigno- 

 nia-like climbers, with racemes of rather large, trumpet- 

 shaped white fls. They are mostly natives of Brazil or 

 Mexico. They belong to a group of genera character- 

 ized by having a short and thick capsule (ovoid or ob- 

 long), and the seeds arranged more or less distinctly in 

 2 or more rows, while Bignonia belongs to a group of 

 genera characterized by a long, linear capsule and seeds 

 arranged in a single row. Generic characters: calyx 

 truncate or minutely 5-toothed; corolla-tube gradually 

 swollen above the cylindrical base, often incurved, 

 limb somewhat 2-lipped, lobes 5, rounded, spreading; 

 stamens 4, didynamous, fixed to the cylindrical part of 

 the tube : capsule densely covered with prickles or 

 warts. The Ivs. have 3 Ifts., or the terminal one is 

 sometimes lacking or transformed into a tendril as in 

 the 2 species below. The following are cult, in S. Calif. 



A. Fls. completely white. 



clematideum, Griseb. (Anemopcegma clematideum, 

 Griseb. Bigndnia dlba, Hort. not Aubl., according to 

 Franceschi). Lvs. sometimes with 3 Ifts., sometimes 

 with 2 Ifts. and a tendril; Ifts. ovate, suddenly con- 

 tracted into a long, blunt acumen, very shortly wedge- 

 shaped at the base: cymes terminal, few-fld., racemi- 

 form or corymbiform. Argentine. Grisebach says his 

 Anemopcegma clematideum must be transferred to 

 Pithecoctenium because of the sessile, muricate cap- 

 sule, the septum slightly reduplicate at the margin and 

 the hilum of the seeds linear, although it approaches 

 the smooth seed of Anemopaegma. (Anemop.aegma dif- 

 fers from Pithecoctenium in having a smooth capsule 

 and seeds in a single series.) 



AA. Fls. while, yellow -throated. 



muricatum, Moq. Lfts. cordate, acute: fls. in a ter- 

 minal, many-fid, raceme ; corolla 1 in. long: fr. 3 in. 

 long. Mex. 



P. buccinatbrium, Mairet. See Bignonia. ^ ]\j 



PITHECOLC-BIUM (Greek, monkey's ear). Legumi- 

 nosoe. A hundred or more species of tropical shrubs or 

 trees, with or without stipular spines: Ivs. bipinnate: 

 fls. usually white, pentamerous, or rarely hexamerous ; 

 corolla tubular or funnel-shaped ; stamens few or very 

 many. For distinction from near allies, see Inga. 

 These plants are cult, in the South, especially Calif., 

 for shade and forage. 



A. Plants spiny. 

 B. Lfts. 1 pair. 



dulce, Benth. (Inga dulcis, Willd., not Mart.). Small 

 tree: Ivs. bipinnate; pinnae 2 pairs; Ifts. usually 1 pair, 

 much narrower on one side of the midrib and with a 

 nearly straight margin, the other side broader, obtuse, 

 but with a minute point at the tip on the upper surface, 

 and a small gland between the forking petioles ; petioles 

 hairy, shorter than the Ifts.: stipular spines very short 

 and straight: racemes terminal : fls. white: pod twisted, 

 red, glabrous. Mexico, Philippines. Consult Inga. 



BB. Lfts. 5-10 pairs. 



Mexicanum, Rose. Tree, 15-20 ft. high: Ivs. with 

 straight, stipular spines (sometimes wanting) 1 line 

 long; pinnae 2-5 pairs; Ifts. 5-10 pairs: inflorescence 

 paniculate: fls. in heads, pedicelled. Mexico, where it 

 is commonly called chino.J. N. Rose says that it has 

 much the habit of the Mesquit, is valuable for its wood 

 and is rapidly becoming exterminated. 



BBB. Lfts. 10-20 pairs. 



breviidlium, Benth. Shrub: pinnse 3-5 pairs; Ifts. 

 10-20 pairs, oblong-linear, 2-3 lines long. Along the 

 Rip Grande in Texas, where the evergreen foliage is 

 said to be readily eaten in winter by sheep and goats. 

 Franceschi says the whitish fls. are much sought bv 

 bees. 



AA. Plants spineless. 



Saman, Griseb. Tall tree: pinnae 2-6 pairs; Ifts. 2-7 

 pairs, obliquely obovate or obovate-oblong: corolla yel- 

 lowish ; stamens light crimson. The fls. are balls of red 

 stamens an inch or two in diameter. Trop. Amer. G.C. 

 III. 11:557. Called Rain-tree because it bursts into leaf 

 and flower at the beginning of the rainy season. A rapid- 

 growing tree planted throughout the tropics for its dense 

 shade and also because its pods filled with rich sugar 

 pulp are eagerly eaten by cattle and horses. ^ jyj 



PITS will be discussed under Winter Protection. 



HTT6SPORT7M (Greek, pitch seed; in allusion to 

 the resinous coating of the seeds). Pittosporacece. 

 About 100 species of hardy or half-hardy evergreen 

 shrubs or small trees, met with chiefly in the southern 

 hemisphere and largely in Australasia. Lvs. alternate, 

 mostly entire, the terminal ones in subverticillate ro- 

 settes: fls. mostly solitary or umbellate in the axils of 

 the terminal Ivs., regular, the parts in 5's; sepals dis- 

 tinct or connate at base; petals connivent or cohering 

 at base: ovary 1-celled; placentae 3, parietal; style 1; 

 stigma 1 : fr. a globular woody pod, 2-many-seeded. 

 Handsome, often fragrant evergreen shrubs cult, in the 

 greenhouse at the East, in the open in Calif, and the 

 South. Prop, by seeds, or cuttings of the half-ripened 



wood. 



J. BURTT DAVY. 



Pittosporums at Los Angeles: P. undulatum is used 

 considerably for hedges, for which purpose it is very 

 good. A specimen in Singleton Court about 25 years 

 old is more than 25 ft. high. It seeds very profusely 

 each year, and the blossoms are very sweet in smell 

 and, owing to their great number, make a fine show. 

 This tree is nearly as far through the top as it is high. 

 P. nigricans or P. eugenioides do not grow as com- 

 pact. The undersigned knows of some specimens of 

 P. eugenioides that are 35 ft. high and 12 ft. through 

 the top. The only other kinds at all common here are 

 P. viridiflorum, crassifolium, Tobira and its var. 

 variegatum and P. tenui folium. The latter is similar 

 to what goes here under the names of P. eugenioides 

 or nigricans, except that the Ivs. are about one-third 

 the size. P. revolutum and rhombifolium are less 

 known in cultivation here. 



ERNEST BRAUNTON. 



crassifolium, 1. 

 eugenioides, 3. 

 nigra, 2. 

 nigricans, 2. 

 phillyraeoides, 4. 



INDEX. 



Balphii, 1. 

 revolutum, 6. 

 rhombifolium, 7. 

 tenuifolium, 2. 

 tetraspermum, 9. 



Tobira, 10. 

 undulatum, 8. 

 variegatum, 10. 

 viridiflorum, 5. 



A. Fls. chocolate to almost black: seeds black. 



1. crassifdlium, Soland. (P. Rdlphii, Kirk?). KARO. 

 Tall shrub or small tree of pyramidal growth, rarely ex- 

 ceeding 30 ft. : Ivs. 2-3 in. long, very obtuse, thick and 

 leathery, glabrous and dark green above, clothed beneath 

 with dense white tomentum: pedicels /4-1 in. long: fls. 

 % in. long; sepals linear, densely pubescent: fr. 1 in. 

 long; seeds ripen in about five months. March, April. 

 New Zealand. G.C. 111.26:205. F.S. 21:2151. B.M. 

 5978. Useful for ornamental planting on account of 

 its pale, somewhat glaucous foliage: hardy and espe- 

 cially valuable for wind-breaks along the coast, with- 

 standing the severest gales and uninjured by the ocean 

 spray. 



2. tenuifdlium, Gaertn. (P. nigricans, Hort. P. nlgra, 

 Hort. ? ) . TAWHIWHI. Small tree, 20-40 ft. high, of sym- 

 metrical and compact growth: Ivs. 1/^-2 in. long, acute, 

 thin, dull green, glabrous and shining: pedicels % in. 

 long: fls. % in. long; sepals oblong, acute, glabrous: 

 fr. K in. long; seeds black. April. New Zealand. Used 

 in Calif, for clipped hedges and mass planting. 



