1406 



POMOLOGY 



POPE'S HEAD 



the cherries. The Vladimirs have not, as a rule, been 

 productive in this country. The fruit-buds appear to 

 be sensitive to cold and as easily injured as some of the 

 recognized tender types of cherries. Although the trees 

 are hardy, the introduction of this type has not extended 

 the area of commercial cherry-growing in this country 

 farther north than the regions already outlined by the 

 profitable cultivation of Early Richmond. 



Plums. The plums imported from Russia do not 

 differ materially from those of the domestica type in 

 cultivation in this country. The trees are probably 

 somewhat hardier than Lombard or Green Gage, but 

 the fruit-buds are subject to winter injury wherever 

 Lombard is uncertain. In the main they have been un- 

 productive. Among the most widely tested varieties are 

 Early Red, Moldavka and Merunka, all of the Lombard 

 type. See Figs. 1853-5. 



Pears, These are hardy handsome trees, but none 

 bear fruit of good quality. Where blight is prevalent 

 they are extremely susceptible; while uninjured by ex- 

 treme cold, blight kills them off rapidly. Among the 

 hardiest of the class are Bessimianka (meaning seed- 

 less, which is only partly true), Gakovsky and Tonko- 

 vietka. These thrive wherever the climate admits of 

 the cultivation of the Oldenburg apple. The fruit 

 ripens in August, and rots at the core if allowed to 

 mature on the tree. 



Apricots were brought to Nebraska and Kansas by 

 Russian Mennonites about twenty-five years ago. A 

 few of those named and distributed are likely to be 

 retained in the fruit lists of the West. 



Russian mulberries (Fig. 1904) have been widely 

 sold as fruit-bearing plants by enterprising agents, but 

 their use to the fruit-grower should be restricted to 

 hedging and the formation of wind-breaks. For these 

 purposes they are valuable in the colder and more rig- 

 orous regions. 



Peaches. So-called hardy Russian peaches are sold, 

 but they really belong to Bokara or Turkestan. The 

 peaches of the Baltic provinces do not differ essentially 

 from the ordinary Persian strain in form or hardiness. 



The introduction of the Russian fruits has given us 

 hardy types from which to breed varieties for northern 

 latitudes. In Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin this work 

 is under way. Seedlings and hybrids are appearing 

 each year, which may be considered valuable additions 

 to the fruit lists of these regions. 



Literature. But two books appear to have been 

 written on Russian pomology up to 1868, one by Nicolai 

 Krasno Glasov, 1848, the other by Dr. Regel, director of 

 the Imperial Botanic Gardens, St. Petersburg, in 1868. 

 The latter is called "Russkaya Pomologaya." It con- 



1904. Russian mulberry (X 

 The plant is very variable in character of f ruit and in shape of 

 leaves. See Morus. 



tains a description of 225 varieties of apples, nearly 

 all of Russian origin. A wood-cut of each appears, in 

 addition to 144 colored plates. Gibb calls it "a grand, 

 good fundamental work." American literature on Rus- 

 sian fruits is mainly confined to three sources: the 

 reports of the Montreal Horticultural Society, publica- 



tions of the Division of Pomology, Department of Ag- 

 riculture, Washington, and Bulletins of the Horticul- 

 tural Department of the Iowa Agricultural College. To 

 Charles Gibb, Abbotsford, Can. (Quebec), we are in- 

 debted for the faithful and accurate translation of the 

 names given in the collection imported by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in 1870. This was adopted by the 

 American Pomological Society in 1885. JOHN CRAIG. 



POND-APPLE is Anona glabra. Pond Lily. Nuphar. 

 Pond-weed. Potamogeton. 



1905. Pickerel-weed Pontederia cordata. 



PONTEDERIA (G. Pontedera was an Italian botanist, 

 1688-1757). Pontederiacece. According to Engler (DC. 

 Monogr. Phaner. 4, p. 531) there are two species of 

 Pontederia. P. cordata, with several varieties, occurs 

 in both North and South America; P. rotundifolia is 

 native from Nicaragua to Argentina. Perennial herbs 

 of bogs and ponds, with strong horizontal rootstocks, 

 short spikes of showy blue flowers and mostly cordate- 

 oblong or ovate mostly shining leaves. The North 

 American P. cordata, Linn., PICKEREL-WEED (Fig. 1905), 

 is common east of the Plains region on the borders of 

 ponds and along the margins of slow streams. It is a 

 strong-growing perennial, standing in clumps and send- 

 ing up several strong stems (from well-established 

 plants) 2-4 ft. tall, each stem bearing 1 cordate-ovate 

 leaf-blade and usually several leaf-sheaths: fls. light 

 blue, somewhat 2 -lipped, with 6 linear -oblong and 

 spreading lobes, the middle upper lobe yellow-spotted 

 at the base inside; stamens 6, trimorphous; ovary with 

 3 locules, 2 of which develop no seeds: fr. a 1-seeded 

 utricle. Pontederias are well worth cultivation in bog 

 gardens and shallow ponds, and P. cordata is offered 

 by dealers in native plants. It thrives best in 

 water 10-12 in. deep. It transplants with ease. 

 Propagated mostly by division. It grows as far 

 north as Nova Scotia and Minnesota, and there- 

 fore is perfectly hardy in all parts of the coun- 

 try. B.M. 1156. G.W.F.45. Mn. 7:1. V. 2:196; 

 3:336. For P. crassipes, see Eichhornia speciosa. 



L. H. B. 



PONTHIEVA glanduldsa is a West Indian terrestrial 

 orchid with small greenish flowers. It was advertised in 

 1881 by E. Gillett, of Southwick, Mass., but it is prob- 

 ably not hardy North, and does not appear to be in the 

 trade now. It is figured in B.M. 842 as Neottia gland- 

 ulosa. 



POOR MAN'S WEATHER GLASS. Anagallis ar- 

 vensis. 



POOR ROBIN'S PLANTAIN. Erigeron bellidifoliu* , 

 POP CORN. See Corn. 

 POPE'S HEAD. Melocactus. 



