ULMUS 



in y z -\ in. long pendulous racemes; calyx 5-6-parted to 

 the base: fr. elliptic, deeply notched, densely ciliate, 

 ]., in. long. Sept. Tenn. to Ga. ; sometimes planted in 

 avenues in Ga. ; has proved hardy at the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, Boston. 



r. Ki'ak-i, Sieb.=Zelkova Keaki. U. Verschaffeltii. Hort.= 

 Zelkova Japonica, var. Versehaffeltii. ALFRED REHDER 



UMBELLULARIA (from Latin umbella, a sunshade; 

 having reference to the form of the inflorescence). 

 JjCiuracea'. CALIFORNIA LAUREL. A monotypic genus, 

 comprising a single Pacific coast tree with alternate, 

 simple, exstipulate Ivs.: tls. small, greenish, in simple 

 pedunculate umbels, which in the bud are surrounded 

 with an involucre of 6 caducous bracts; petals none; 

 stamens 9; filaments with an orange-colored gland at 

 base; anthers opening by uplifted valves: fr. a sub- 

 globose or ovoid drupe with hard endocarp. Propagated 

 by seeds. 



URARIA 



1883 



2620. California Laurel Umbellularia Californica (X %). 



Califdrnica, Xutt. (Oreoddphne Califdrnica, Nees). 

 Pig. 2620. Handsome evergreen tree, 20 to 30 or even 

 80 to 90 ft. high, with erect or suberect slender branches, 

 conical outline and dense foliage: Ivs. containing a 

 highly aromatic and volatile essential oil, and burning 

 vigorously in the camp fire, even while green: fls. fra- 

 grant: drupes at first yellowish green, becoming purple 

 when ripe. Dec. to May. One of the most abundant 

 and characteristic of Californian trees, common in moist 

 places, particularly along streams in the Coast Range 

 foothills and mountains, and attaining its greatest 

 size in the cool, fog -moistened alluvial valleys of the 

 coast of northern California and southern Oregon; it is 

 but rarely seen in the drier interior valleys of the state. 

 It often crowns the highest points of the coast range 

 hills, up to about 2,500 feet altitude and far from the 

 nearest spring or other visible sign of moisture, but in 

 such cases the rock strata are nearly vertical and easily 

 penetrated by the long roots which are able thus to 

 reach hidden supplies of water. In such places it usu- 

 ally forms dense clumps or thickets of shrubs or small 

 trees which are frequently shorn by the cutting ocean 

 winds as though by a gardener's shears, suggesting its 

 adaptability for clipped -hedge and wind-break work. 

 The wood takes a beautiful polish and is considered 

 "tho most valuable wood produced in the forests of 

 Pacific North America, for the interior finish of houses 

 and furniture," for which purposes it is extensively 

 used. It is also used in boat-building for jaws, bits, 

 cleats, cross-trees, etc. The branches are occasionally 

 used for poles for chicken -roosts, as the strong odor, 

 pervading wood and bark as well as leaves, is said to 

 keep away lice. The leaves are used for flavoring soups 

 and blancmanges but are too strong to give as agreeable 

 a flavor as those of Laurus nobilis or Prunus Lauro- 

 cerasit.t. The tree is sometimes cultivated for ornament 

 in south European parks and gardens. Professor Sar- 



gent describes it as "one of the stateliest and most 

 beautiful inhabitants of the North American fol 

 and no evergreen tree of temperate reui-.n- sin; 

 t in the beauty of its dark dense crown of lustrous 

 foliage and in the mussiveness of habit which make 

 it one of the most striking features of the California 

 landscape and fit it to stand in any park or garden." 



JOSEPH BCRTT DAW. 

 UMBRELLA LEAF. See Diphylleia. 



UMBRELLA PINE. Sciadopitys. 



UMBRELLA PLANT or UMBRELLA PALM. Cy- 

 perus alternifolinx. 



UNGNADIA (Baron Ungnad, am- 

 bassador of Emperor Rudolph II to 

 the Ottoman Porte, who in the year 

 1576 introduced the common horse 

 chestnut to western Europe by send- 

 ing seeds to Clusius at Vienna). 

 Sapinddcece. A genus of one species, 

 the MEXICAN BUCKEYE, a small tree 

 closely related to the horse chestnut 

 but with foliage like a hickory, the 

 Ivs. being alternate and pinnate, and 

 rose-colored fls. which are borne in 

 small lateral clusters or simple 

 corymbs, appearing with the Ivs. in 

 early spring. The seed, or "bean," 

 has a sweet taste, but is considered 

 emetic and poisonous. The fmit 

 does not have a prickly husk like 

 the horse chestnut: it is a smooth, 

 leathery capsule and strongly 3- 

 lobed. The fls. are about % of an 

 inch across, polygamous, 4-petaled, and the staminate 

 ones have 8 stamens. For fuller account, see Sargent's 

 Silva. 



specidsa, Endl. SPANISH or MEXICAN BUCKEYE. 

 Commonly a slender deciduous shrub, 5-10 ft. high or 

 sometimes a small tree: wood brittle: Ivs. alternate, 

 odd -pinnate; Ifts. 5-7, ovate - lanceolate, acuminate. 

 Common in southwest Texas ; winter-kills in northern 

 Texas at a temperature of zero. S.S. 2:73. F.S. 

 10:1039. Gn. 19, p. 309. -Int. by P. J. Berckmans. 



W. M. 

 UNICORN PLANT. Martynia proboscidea. 



UNlOLA (an ancient Latin name of some unknown 

 plant, derived from unus, one, and said to have been 

 applied by Linnaeus to this genus on account of the 

 union of the glumes). Graminece. Perennials with 

 creeping rootstocks. Species 5, all American. Spike- 

 lets broad and very flat, in loose panicles, several fld., 

 with some of the lower glumes empty; glumes keeled, 

 nerved, pointed, but awnless. Cultivated for the orna- 

 mental panicles, which are suitable for dry bouquets. 



latifdlia, Michx. SPIKE-GRASS. Fig. 2621. Culms 2-4 

 ft.: Ivs. broad and flat, often 1 in. wide: spikelets large 

 and thin, at maturity drooping on slender pedicels, 

 forming a very graceful and ornamental panicle. Pa. to 

 Kan. and southward. Often grown in hardy borders. 

 One of the best of our hardy native, perennial grasses. 



paniculata, Linn. SEA OATS. Culm taller, 4-8 ft. : Ivs. 

 narrow and convolute: spikelets narrower, upright on 

 short pedicels, forming an elongated panicle. Sand- 

 hills along the seashore of the southern states. 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



URARIA (Greek oura, tail, referring to br< 

 Leguminbsas. Eight species of perennial herbs with 

 woody bases, all of which are accounted for in the Flora 

 of British India. They have 1-9 Ifts. and very numer- 

 ous, small or minute fls. in racemes. Standard broad: 

 wings adhering to the obtuse keel; stamens diadel- 

 phous: ovary sessile or short-stalked, few-ovuleil: style 

 inflexed: pod of 2-C small, turgid, 1-seeded, indehiscent 

 joints, often placed face to face. 



The following species is the most desirable of the 

 genus. It grows about 5 ft. high and is crowned by 

 a single terminal raceme sometimes 2 ft. long, densely 



