1370 



PLATYCLINIS 



small, pale yellow fls.: sepals and petals obovate; la- 

 bellum cuneate-rotund, auriculate at the base. Summer, 

 Philippines. I. H. 25:323 (as Vendrochilum glnmaceum) . 

 G.F. 2:485. 



Cobbi&na, Hemsl. (DendrochXhim Cobbiinum, Reichb. 

 f . ) . Lvs. oblong-lanceolate : fls. in a zigzag raceme, pale 

 yellow, with an orange lip; sepals and petals triangular- 

 oblong ; labellam cuneate-fan-shaped, retuse. Nov., 

 Dec. Philippines. Heinkich Hasselbring. 



PLATTCODON (( reek '^ ^V^ 

 phiti/\ broad and kndnii 

 bell referring to the 

 shape of the flower). 

 Campatiulitc 



typio genus of very handsome 

 hardy herbaceous perennials, with 

 blue or white bell-shaped flowers; 

 hence the name " Chinese " or "Jap- 

 anese Bellflower." This plant was 

 first placed in Campanula by Jac- 

 quin and later, by Schrader, in 

 Wablenbergia; and it is still s 

 times cult, under these names. In 

 1830 it was given a new genus 

 (Platycodou) by A. DeCandolle. It 

 is distinguished from Campanula 

 by its broadly cup-shaped flowers, 

 tlif stamens dilated at the base, and 

 the ciipsule opening at the top and 

 not at the sides. From Wablenber- 

 gia it differs in the valves of the 

 capsule being opposite to the calyx- 

 lobes instead of alternate with 

 them Several supposed species have been described at 

 ditferent times, but there seems to be no doubt that the 

 genus is distinctly nionotypic and that all forms can be 

 referred as forms of the type P. grandiflorttm, which 

 has been widely distributed and thereby greatly modi- 

 fied. It has been found in a wild state from Daburia to 

 Manchuria, in China, in Siberia, Corea and Japan. 



Platycodon requires a medium sandy loam, and does 

 not succeed in either extremely stiff or sandy soils. It 

 is particularly sensitive to ill-drained soils. Under suit- 

 able soil conditions it is pirfictly hardy and will even 

 stand considerable iH-^^'Ierr. It is desirable to keep the 

 stems tied during tin- s.as,,ii. f.ir if once allowed to fall 

 they can never be raised w itbuut breaking. In autumn 

 the old stems should not be cut away, but the plant al- 

 lowed to die off naturally; otherwise the crown may be 

 injured. It can be propagated either by division or by 

 seeding, the latter being more surely successful and 

 therefore preferable; l.^M, -, :i -nater variety of flow- 

 ers is obtained in t' ^! r. care and skill are 



necessary in pro|Ki_ :-i..n. because of the 



fleshy rootstock. Ii i- i. -; :. ^ "Uiplished in spring, 

 when the plant is ljit;ikiiig miu uevv growth. 



PLATYSTEMON 



grandifldrum, DC. {Campdnnla grntuli flora, Jacq. 

 Wiihlenhi'rijin ip-a ii<1ifldra , Schrad.). Chinese or Jap- 

 anese I!f.i.i,-ii,. .wEK. Balloon Flower. Fig. 1849. 

 Plant 1-.' It. lii^'h. forming a dense, branching bush of 

 upri(.'lit li;iliit: Ivs. lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, gla- 

 brous, tiii.'in^illy toothed: fls. large and open, attaining 

 3 in. in diuni., produced from tips of branches, inflated 

 in the bud, hence sometimes called "balloon flower"; 

 corolla 5-lobcd, blue, pale blue-white, or variegated. 

 June, Julv. G.C. III. 28:223. J.H. III. 30:123. P.S. 22: 

 2.S32. B.M. 252. -Var. Album. A white-flowering 

 form Var automnUe. Later-flowering form from 

 Manchuria Gn. 45, p. 4(12. R.H. 1848:361; 1853: 



Var Jap6mcjun (P. Japdnicum, Hort.) is of 



stronger and bushier growth and freer-flowering. 



The flowers average 2K in. across; the inner and 



lobes alternate with one another, giving the 



thr n| pearance of a 10-pointed star. —This va- 



I til t procured by Dreer in 1895 from Leonard 



I \ IIS France, who offered it as a novelty that 



It I roved to be a flrst-class and desirable sort 



1 I n tested by Dreer since, who considers it 



th o lod hardy perennials. 



Mariesi(P J/dWfsi, Hort.). Recently introduced 

 i_l ind from Japan by Maries, and supposed to be 

 il with var glaucvm of Siebold. It does not ex- 

 it in height growth stouter and more compact : 

 k( 1 than m the type: fls. are as large or larger 

 and varying in color from deep purplish 

 1 hi t 1 il. blue or lavender and white. G.C. III. 14:163. 

 ( M 37 3j JH 111.35:29. Gn. 27:483; 45:964. -Var. 

 semi plenum Fls semi-double, and varying in color 

 from purple to white ; said to have been developed 

 from var nihiim Var. striatum. A garden form with 

 I liK or white fls striped with white or blue. 



Arnold V. Stc-benrauch. 

 PLATYCRATEK (Greek, platys, broad, and crater, 

 bowl, dUuding to the broad, enlarged calyx of the ster- 

 ile fls.). Saxifragdceae. A monotypic genus allied to 

 Hydrangea. The species is a prostrate shrub, with op- 

 posite serrate lvs. and white, comparatively large fls. in 

 long-peduncled, loose cymes, the marginal ones sterile 

 and with enlarged calyx; petals 4; stamens numerous: 

 fr. a 2-celled many-seeded dehiscent capsule. It is not 

 hardy north, and of little decorative value. It thrives 

 best in rather moist, porous soil and partly shaded po- 

 sition and is easily prop, by seeds, greenwood cuttings 

 under glass, or layers. 



argTlta, Sieb. & Zucc. Prostrate shrub: lvs. oblong 

 to oblanceolate, cuneate at the base, acuminate, glabrous 

 except on the veins beneath, thin, light green, 3-6 in. 

 long: cymes 3-10-fld.,on a 1-2-in. long peduncle: fls. 

 slender-pedicelled, the sterile ones apetalous, 1 in. 

 with broad, obtuse sepals; fertile smaller, with 

 lanceolate sepals half as long as the oblong-ovate petals. 

 July. Japan. S.Z. 1:27. Gt. 15:516.-U.seful for rock- 

 work in greenhouses. Alfred Rehder. 



PLATYLOHA is a name for ferns of the genus Pellrra 

 which have a narrow indusium and a broad sorus. For 

 Phityloma Bridgesii and P. falcaia, see Pellma. 



PLATYSTfiMON (Greek words referring to the dilated 

 filaments). Papaverciced. Cream Ccps. A half-hardy 

 annual growing about a foot high and bearing 6-petaled 

 pale yellow fls. 1-1 M in. across. This plant is iiliprop- 

 erly called California Poppy in some catalogues. It is 

 Inferior to the common and California poppies in hardi- 

 ness, in strength and variety of color, and in size of fls., 

 but it is interesting botanically in four respects: (1) It 

 is unique in the poppy family in its fruit, which is not 

 a capsule but is composed of numerous carpels that 

 separate at maturity into linear parts, which are monili- 

 form (i.e., compressed at intervals like the links of a 

 necklace), each joint containing a single seed. (2) It is 

 remarkable for the dilation of the filaments of the an- 

 thers, which are numerous and separate. (3) It is one 

 of the few abnormal members of the poppy family with 

 entire lvs. (4) The petals are not shed quickly, as in 

 the common poppies, but they wither and remain closed 



