PLATYSTEMON 



over the forming fruit. Platystemon grows wiId]through- 

 out California, except in tlie mountains, and is said to 

 prefer a loose soil. See Annuals. 



Calif6nucus, Benth. Cream Crps. Lvs. mainly oppo- 

 site, sessile, ligulate, hispid: lis. light yellow to cream 

 color or white, rarely roseate; sepals 3. B.M. 3579. B. 

 R. 20:1679. B.2:65. Gn. 30, p. 313. -The smooth-fruited 

 form figured as P. Uiocarpum in P.C. 2:76 and B.M. 3750 

 is said by the Synoptical Flora to be "a mere state." 

 W. M. 



PLATYSTlGMA (Greek, broad stigma). PapaverAcem. 

 Low. slender California annuals with pale yellow tls. 

 less than 1 in. across. They are among the few plants 

 of the poppy family with entire lvs. They are closely 

 allied to Platystemon, but differ in having the filaments 

 scarcely dilated, 3 stigmas instead of many, and the fr. 

 a capsule which is 3-valved at the apex. Other generic 

 characters: fls. commonly triraerous; stamens numer- 

 ous, free; stigmas not ..^fiilih nr . T^nir species from 

 Calif . and Oregon. P./'. i ^ il;. one with thick 



stigmas and also diffct-- li.it.it, the others 



having leafy and branch 111 u^ 1 1 III-. Ii i^ ti inured in B.M. 

 3575 with pale yellow H». ; m U.K. 2.i:ia54 it is shown 

 with 3 white petals alternating with yellow ones. Platy- 

 stigraas seem never to have been offered for sale in 

 America. 



PLATYTHfiCA (Greek, iroad anther cells). Treman- 

 drAce(€. A heath-like Australian shrub, with foliage like 

 a bed-straw (or Galium) and many 5-pointed starry blos- 

 soms of light purple borne toward the end of the 

 branches. Each flower is about 1 inch across, and its 

 center is marked with a star of red. Platytheca belongs 

 to a small, beautiful and distinct family of Australian 

 shrubs, coTupo.sed of ^ i^em-ra, of which Tetratheca is 

 the dominant i\|i.. Tin Ti' maiidra family resembles 

 the Pnlv-alii fin: ' 1 I 1 'iifureof the capsule, but 

 differs in th. i- _ -livation of the flower; it 



resenililis tlir I' |..t ,i. . n ,ii liaving a very small em- 

 bryo immersed lu L,,i,i..u.- .ill.uiiien, and particularly the 

 genus Cheiranthera in having anthers which open by a 

 pore at the top. The three genera of Tremaudracese are 

 distinguished from one another by the anthers; Tre- 

 mandra differs from the other two in having the anthers 

 jointed with the filaments ; in Platytheca the anthers 

 have 4 cells all in the same plane; in Tetratheca the 

 anthers are 2-celled or 4-celled, with 2 cells in front of 

 the 2 others. 



Other generic characters of Platytheca: floral parts 

 in 5's; stamens in 2 distinct series, with 4 parallel cells 

 in a single plane contracted into a tube at the top : cap- 

 sule opening loculicidally at the edge, with the 4 valves 

 splitting septicidally: seeds glabrous, without appen- 

 dage. Only one species. 



galioldes, Steetz. (P. verticincita,Bail\.}. Lvs. linear, 

 % in. long, about 10 in a whorl, hairy. Said to bloom in 

 June. P.M. 13:171 (as Tetratheca rerticiUata). -This 

 plant deserves to be better known. Cuttings of half- 

 ripened wood root freely under a bell-glass in a shaded 

 house at 60°. Cuttings rooted in February or March 

 will make good plants in 5-inch pots in one year. In 

 summer keep them phinseil outside, but covered with 

 shaded sash. By trimniiii- fre.iuently they will make 

 well-shaped plants, neeilini; no supports. Kept in a 

 coolhouse (45°) during winter, tliey will be covered with 

 bloom in March and April. The flowers last but a short 

 i, but the plant is so free that it is always covered 



PLEIONE 



1371 



with bloom. 



D. Darlington and W. : 



PLECTOCOMIA (Greek, plaited hair; application ob- 

 scure!. PalmAcece. Six species of East-Indian climbing 

 palms which fruit once for all and then die. One of the 

 most interesting species is P. Khasyana, which is fig- 

 ured in B.M. 5105 under the erroneous title of P. Assam- 

 ica. This species has a slender stem 60-80 ft. long, 

 and about as thick as a man's arm, being slightly 

 thicker above than at the base. The lvs. attain 30 ft. 

 and are pinnate only in the lower half, the rest of the 

 leaf being a long, whip-like extension of the rachis of 

 the leaf. A singular feature of this palm is the device 

 by which it climbs. This consists of a series of com- 



pound spines snaped like a downward-pointing Human 

 hand, the back of the hand being yellow and the 5 

 or 6 fingers composed of brown spines. These organs 

 are scattered all along the lower side of the flattened 

 rachis. They hook on the branches of trees and thus 

 enable the palm to climb for light. 



"A yet more wonderful provision of nature," says 

 Hooker, "is observed in the young and yet unfolded 

 leaves of these plants during the period when they in- 

 sert themselves upwards among the branches of the 

 forests, for then these spines are upright and lie flat 

 against the stalk of the leaf, not becoming reflexed till 

 they are needed as a means of support." Probably all 

 the species pos.sess these flagellifnrm leaves and re- 

 markable sjiin.-s. The wliiii-like leiif-tiiis m.-iv act as ten- 

 drils. The L. nil- I- In!.. i,it..-,>. II I., .■nil r. 1,1, ,rs, and only 

 one spe.-i. - 1 1- n .! ... n,, 1 >, | , ,., ,,us is allied 

 to the i-iii' • ),- climbers. 



William Will -..11 \ n'. .: i. 1 1 n n ..!' a I'lectoconiia 



is a shell compi.s. .i : I. tiirhtlv overlapping 



scales, inclosing 11 1. ,i i.li has a solid whitish 



albumen almost a- i Watson adds that 



young plants are ..1 11 .111. 111. 1. ini tlieir spiny lvs. are a 

 drawback, and the l>s. are mu.li more easily broken 

 than those of most pahn.s. 



elong4ta, Mart. Lvs. very large; Ifts. 1-lK ft.x2 in., 

 sparsely white powdery beneath, with 3 very slender 

 parallel nerves or costa>. Penang, Sumatra, Java.— 

 Offered in 1890 by Reasoner Bros. 



PLECTOPdMA. A few species, now apparently much 

 hybridized, all referred to Gloxinia. 



PLECTBANTHUS (Greek, spurred flower). Labidtw. 

 A large and uninteresting genus of herbs and snb- 

 shrubs, widely scattered, bearing rather small or small- 

 ish fls., ranging from blue and purple to lilac. There 

 are said to be some species with fls. nearly an inch long. 

 The genus is closely allied to Coleus, being distin- 

 guished by having the stamens free instead of united at 

 the base into a tube, which is distinct from the corolla. 

 In other respects the genus has wide limits of variation. 

 Sixty-six species are described in DC. Prod. 12:55 

 (1848). Sometimes called Cockspur-flower. 



fruticdsus, L'H^rit. South African shrub, 3-4 ft. 

 high : lvs. 4 in. or more long, petiolate, broadly ovate, 

 doubly dentate: racemes laxly panicled: whorls about 

 3-6-fld.: fls. blue; pedicles 1% in. long; corolla-tube 

 spurred above the base: fruiting calyx declinate. — Said 

 to be an elegant shrub. Ernest Braunton has a specimen 

 at Los .\ngeles, which is 4 ft. high and 6 ft. through. 



PLECTBONIA (Greek, cockspur; referring to the 

 spines). Hubidcece. About 70 species of shrubs or 

 small trees, found in the Old World, mostly in the trop- 

 ics. They are more or less spiny and have somewhat 

 funnel-shaped, 5-parted fls., with retiexed segments val- 

 vate in the bud, and a hairy or naked throat. Calyx 

 obovate or oblong; stamens 5, in the throat; style 

 short; stigma subc.ipitate, of 2 approximate lamellie: 

 berry obovate-oblong, compressed, didymous, 2-stoned: 

 stones indehiscent, 1-seeded. 



spindsa, Klotzsch. Very spiny South African shrub, 

 5-8 ft. high: lvs. fasciculate, oval or obovate, obtuse, 

 entire, 1-1}^ in. long: racemes or panicles shorter than 

 the lvs.: peduncles axillary. 5-12-fld.: corolla-tube 

 shorter than the limb; throat naked. Int. by Frances- 

 chi, Santa Barbara. 



PLEIdNE (from Greek ravthologv: Pleione, mother 

 of the Pleiads). OrehidAceo'. A small genus closely 

 related to Coelogyne, but having annual deciduous lvs. 

 and pseudobulbs. Natives of the mountains of India, 

 extending to elevations where snow and frost are not 

 uncommon. Few species are cultivated in America. 

 See Orchid. 



macuIAta, Lindl. Pseudobulbs round, flattened, de 

 pressed at the top, forming a fleshy ridge around the 

 summit: lvs. lanceolate, from inflated sheaths: fls. pre- 

 ceding the lvs., on short peduncles; sepals and petals 

 lanceolate, spreading, white; labellum funnel-shaped, 

 with 5-7 fringed lamellse extending the entire length of 



