RHEUM 



bearing numerous greenish ris. that give a feathery ef- 

 fect t > the panicle: akene red, winged. Thibet and W. 

 China, oil high table-lands. B.M. 0135. R.H. 1874, p. 95. 

 On 3>, p. 243; 48, pp. 199, 208. Probably the best plant 

 of the genus for general Cultivation, making u most 

 striking foliage plant. It is from the short, thick, 

 branching stem or caudex of this plant that most of the 

 true officinal Rhubarb is derived. Although known to the 

 Chinese for centuries and the product long imported into 

 Europe, the plant was not described botanically until 

 1872. Fig. 2099 is adapted from The Garden. 



R. aciiminntuin, Hook. f. & Thorn. "Probably only a small 

 form of R. Einodi, with acuminate Ivs., but the fls. are consid- 

 rably larger, aii<l though long under cultivation it does not at- 

 tain half the size of that plant, or vary in its character." 

 Hooker. Himalayas. B..M. 4877. It. iwbilt. Hook. f. & Thorn. 

 Stem simple and densely clothed with imbricated downward- 

 pointing bracts that conceal the short axillary peduncles: Ivs. 

 ovate-olilong or rounded, entire. When the fruit is ripe, the 

 shingled bracts are torn away by the winds, leaving the long 

 panicle exposed. 3ft. Himalayas. R.H. 1876, p. 266. I. H. 22:209. 

 G.C. II. 13:793. A remarkable alpine plant. R. Kibes, Linn. 

 3-."> ft.: Ivs. 1 ft. across, cordate to reniform, the margins 

 crisped or undulate, the blade puckered or blistered: fls. 

 green, drooping: frs. about 1 in. long, oblong-cordate, narrow- 

 winged, blood-red, showy. Asia Minor to Persia. B.M. 7591. 

 " Rivas " or " Ribes " is its Arabic name R. spiciforme, Royle. 

 Dwarf: Ivs. thick, orbicular or broadly ovate: fls. white, in a 

 dense spike rising about 2 ft. Western Himalaya. 



L. H. B. 



RHEUMATISM ROOT. Jeffersonia binata. 



RHEXIA (Greek, rupture; referring to its supposed 

 properties of healing). Melastomdcece. MEADOW 

 BEAUTY. A genus of about 10 species of N. American 

 perennial herbs, with opposite sessile or short-petioled, 

 3-5-nerved Ivs. and showy flowers borne in late summer. 

 Fls. terminal, solitary or in cymes; calyx-tube urn- to 

 bell-shaped, narrowed at the neck, 4-lobed; petals 4, 

 obovate; stamens 8, equal, the connective being thick- 

 ened at the base, with or without a spur at the back. 



Rhexia Virginica is found wild in company with 

 side-saddle plants (Sarracenia purpurea) and cranber- 

 ries in the low meadows of Massachusetts. It is what 

 we should call a bog plant. It is a pretty, low-grow- 

 ing, tuberous - rooted plant blooming in summer and 

 chiefly interesting as being one of few species of a 

 genus belonging to a family almost wholly composed 

 of shrubby plants from tropical countries, such as 

 Centradenia, Plerc ma and Medinella. It increases by 

 means of tubers and seeds, and under suitable condi- 



RHIPSALIS 



1513 



A'-'-V;. j>,.. wx 



, ZSi'VSs 

 -;. <' > ; S ' 

 MM*. 



^0^ 



2099. Rheum officinale. 



tions soon makes large clumps. Tubers potted in the 

 autumn and kept in a coldframe force nicely in spring- 

 time. 



>. Stem cylindrical. 



Mariana, Linn. A slender, erect, usually simple- 

 stemmed plant with reddish purple fls. about 1 in. 

 across, in loose cymes: Ivs. short-petioled, oblong to 

 linear oblong, 1-1% in. long, 2-5 lines wide, 3-nerved; 

 anthers minutely spurred at the back. June-Sept. 

 Pine barrens, N. J. to Fla., west to Ky. B.B. 2:474.- 

 Grows in drier places than R. Virginica. 



AA. Stem angled. 

 B. Petal* yellow. 



lutea, Walt. Stem becoming much branched, 1 ft. 

 high: Ivs. smooth, serrulate, the lower obovate and ob- 

 tuse, the upper lanceolate and acute: fls. small, in nu- 

 merous cymes. July, Aug. Pine- 

 barren swamps, N. C. to Fla. and 

 west. 



BB. Petals not yellow. 

 C. Lvs. 6-10 lines long. 

 cilidsa, Michx. Stem nearly 

 simple, 1-2 ft. high: Ivs. ovate, 

 sessile or very short-petioled, 3- 

 nerved: fls. violet-purple, 1-1% 

 in. across, short -pedicelled, in 

 few-fld. cymes; anthers not 

 curved and not spurred at the 

 back. June-Aug. Swamps, Ind. 

 to Fla., west to La. 



CO. Lvs. 1-2 in. long. 

 Virginica, Linn. Fig. 2100. 

 Roots tuber-bearing: stems about 

 1 ft. high, branched above and 

 usually clustered, forming a com- 

 pact, bushy plant : Ivs. sessile, 

 ovate, acute, rounded or rarely 

 narrowed at the base, 1-2 in. by 

 %-l in., usually 5-nerved : fls. 

 rosy, 1-1% in. across, in cymes; 

 petals rounded or slightly retuse ; 

 anthers minutely spurred on the 

 back. July-Sept. Sunny swamps, 

 Me. to Fla., west to Mo. B.B. 2: 

 474. B.M. 968. -This is one of 

 the prettiest of the small wild 

 flowers. When transplanted, it 

 seems to thrive as well in good 

 clay loam as in peaty soils, 

 although it sometimes 

 grows in the latter. 



F. W. BARCLAY and 



T. D. HATFIELD. 



RHINE-BERRY. Rham- 

 nus cathartica. 



RHIPIDODENDRON. See 



Aloe. 



RHIPIDOPTERIS is un- 

 der Acrostichum. 



2100. Rhexia Virginica. 

 (XX). 



RHlFSALIS (Greek, rhips, wickerwork). Cactacece. 

 A mixed assemblage of lengthened epiphytic forms, 

 brought together by a common character of small fls., 

 with the tube short or wanting; here including Harlot a, 

 Lepismium and Pfeiffera. Fls. white or greenish white, 

 except R. cereiformis, rosy, and R. salicomioides, R. 

 pachyptera and R. rhombea, yellow. Fruit without 

 spines or wool, except in R. cereiformis. For culture, 

 see Cactus. 



INDEX. 



A.. Branches round or 

 nearly so in cross-sec- 

 tion : fls. ichite except 

 in the first species : 

 berry imall, white, 

 round. 

 B. The branches of two 



kinds 1. salicprnoides 



2. Saglionis 



3. mesembrianthemoideg 



