1384 



POISONOUS PLANTS 



POLEMONIUM 



many remedies for poisoning by Poison Ivy. One of 

 the best is an alcoholic solution of sugar of lead. Ex- 

 tract of grindelia (sold at drug-stores) is sometimes 

 used. Many plants, even amongst the common gar- 

 den species, are poisonous when eaten, but it does not 



1865. Poison Sumac (X K). 



follow that they are dangerous. People do 

 not eat them. See V. K. Chesnut, "Thirty 

 Poisonous Plants of the U. S.." Farmers' 



Bull. 86, U. S. Dept. Agric.; and Bull. 20, Div. of 



Botany. 



POtVREA (N. Poivre, 1719-1786; intendant of Mauri- 

 tius). Combretacece. This includes a South African 

 shrub with orange-red fls. cult, in S. Fla. The genus is 

 referred by Bentham and Hooker to Combretum, a large 

 genus containing some handsome plants that are little 

 known. Poivrea differs from the other Combretums 

 chiefly in the convolute cotyledons. Generic characters 

 of Poivrea (from Flora Capensis) : calyx 5-lobed; petals 

 5; stamens 10, protruded: ovary 2-3-ovuled: fr. oval or 

 oblong or 5-winged; seed solitary, pendulous, 5-angled. 

 Mostly climbing shrubs: Ivs. opposite or alternate, en- 

 tire: spikes axillary and terminal. 



bractedsa, Hochst. Unarmed shrub 8-10 ft. high: Ivs. 

 opposite or in 3's, 2%-3 x 1-1% in.: petals clawed, red- 

 dish, 4 lines long: fr. oval, indistinctly 5-angled. Called 

 "Hiccup-nut" in Cape Colony. 



POKER PLANT. Kniphofia. 

 POKE WEED. See Phytolacca. 



POLEMONIUM (ancient name, probably not from 

 Greek polemos, war, but rather the philosopher Pole- 

 man). Polemonidcece. This includes the JACOB'S LAD- 

 DER, P. cwruleum, an old-fashioned inhabitant of 

 cottage gardens, which owes its popular name to the 

 regular manner in which the numerous leaflets are 

 arranged on the long leaves. It is a 

 hardy perennial herb, growing 1-3 ft. 

 high and bearing 5-lobed, bell-shaped 

 fls. of blue or white, and about an inch 

 across. Probably the finest species, 

 however, is the plant known to all gar- 

 deners as P. Richardsonii, which is a 

 form of P. humile that has doubled or 

 trebled in size in cult. A fine speci- 

 men of P. Richardsonii may have a 

 terminal cluster 6% in. across and 5 

 in. deep, with 24 fls. each 1% in. 

 across. P. confertum differs from all 

 others in the great density of its in- 

 florescence, and by connoisseurs in 

 alpine plants may be regarded as 

 the finest of the genus. Most of the 

 yellow -fid. forms are disappointing. 

 Polemoniums are of easy culture in 

 any deep, rich, loamy soil. P. ccerti- 

 leum and P. reptans do well in partly 

 shaded places not too dry. They are 

 easily raised from fall-sown seed. 

 Also prop, by division. They are im- 

 patient of soil on the leaves, as is 

 likely to occur during rain. Flowers of P. Richard- 

 sonii are fragrant and fine for cutting. 



Polemonium is a genus of about 10 species of herbs 

 natives of the north temperate zone and the mountains 

 of Mexico and Chile. Perennials, rarely annuals, tall or 



dwarf, usually viscid, often with a creeping rhizome 

 which is thick or slender: Ivs. alternate, pinnatisect: 

 fls. blue, violet, white or yellowish; calyx increasing 

 after anthesis; corolla shortly funnel-shaped, broadly 

 bell-shaped or subrotate; lobes obovate: ovules 2-12; 

 capsule 3-valved. Closely allied to Gilia and distin- 

 guished by the declinate stamens and the filaments 

 pilose-appendaged at the base. 



A. Color of fls. blue or white. 



B. Corolla-tube longer than lobes: inflor- 

 escence a dense head. 



cenfertum, Gray. Sticky, smelling of musk, 

 9-18 in. high, from a tufted rootstock: Ifts. 

 very small and so crowded as to seem whorled : 

 fls. honey-scented, deep blue, %-l in. long; 

 corolla narrowly funnel-shaped ; filaments 

 naked or nearly so and not dilated at base. 

 Rockies and Sierras. Gn. 10:48. G. C. II. 

 24:12; III. 27:237. - Intermediate between 

 Polemonium and Gilia. 



BB. Corolla-tube shorter than lobes: inflorescence open. 



c. Plants with thickened rootstocks: Ifts. seldom % in. 

 long. 



humile, Willd. (P. Richard sonii, Grab.). Low, slender 

 plant from somewhat creeping rootstocks: Ifts. 15-21, 

 2-6 lines long: fls. bell-shaped, blue or purplish. July, 

 Aug. Arctic regions. B.M. 2800 (yellow eye). G.C. II. 

 19:793. B.R. 15:1304 (small fls., white eye). It has 

 the odor of ripened grapes. 



Var. pulchellum, Gray. Differs in having smaller fls. 

 ranging from violet and lavender to nearly white and in 

 the viscid pubescence, which is minute. Arctic coast. 

 P. pulchtrrimum , Hook., B.M. 2979, is a more viscid, 

 diffuse and smaller-fld. form with narrower corolla-lobes. 



CC. Plants with slender rootstocks or roots: Ifts. larger. 



D. Height 1-3 ft.: Ifts. numerous. 

 E. Herbage scarcely if at all scented. 

 caeruleum, Linn. JACOB'S LADDER. CHARITY. Fig. 

 1867. Height 1-3 ft.: Ifts. 9-20 lines long: fls. blue, 

 numerous in a thyrse, 1 in. or less across; style ex- 

 serted. May, June. Wet or moist ground, N. Asia, Eu.. 

 N. Amer. Var. album, Hort. (P. album, Hort. Bridge- 

 man), with white fls., is almost as 

 popular as the type. A form with va- 

 riegated Ivs. is said to be more con- 

 stant and decided in the north of Eng- 

 land than in the south. 



1866. Leaf of Virginia Creeper 



Ampelopsis quinquefolia (X %). 

 To compare with Poison Ivy, with which it is 

 sometimes confounded. 



BE. Herbage strong -scented. 

 foliosissimum, Gray. More viscid than P. cceruleum, 

 leafier, with broader Ifts. and the style not exserted. 

 Fls commonly white or cream-colored, rarely violet. 

 Rocky Mts. Cult, in 1890 by Vick, but perhaps never 

 offered in America. 





