1384 



POISONOUS PLANTS 



many remedies for poisoning by Poison Ivy. On 



the best is an alcoholic solution of sugar of lead. 



tract of grindelia (sold at drug-stores) 



used. Many plants, even amongst the 



den species, are poisonous when eaten, but it does i 



POLEMONIUM 



dwarf, usually viscid, often with a creeping rhi: 

 which is thick or slender: Ivs. alternate, pi 

 fls. blue, violet, white or yellowish; calyx 

 after anthesis; corolla shortly funnel-shaped, broadly 

 bell-shaped or subrotate; lobes obovate: ovules 2-12; 

 capsule 3-valved. Closely allied to Gilia and distin- 

 guished by the declinate stamens and the filaments 

 pilose-appendaged at the base. 



Color of fls. blue or white. 



Uj"^^ 



Polemo 



not eat them. See V. 



Poisonous Plants of the U. S.." Farmers' 

 Bull. 86, U. S. Dept. Agric; and Bull. 20, Div. of 

 Botany. 



POlVBEA (N. Poivre, 1719-1786; intendant of Mauri- 

 tius). Combretdcetf. This includes a South African 

 shrub with orange-red fls. cult, in S. Fla. The genus is 

 referred by Bentham and Hooker to Combretum, a large 

 genus containing some handsome plants that are little 

 known. Poivrea differs from the other Combretums 

 chiefly in the convolute cotyledons. Generic characters 

 of Poivrea (from Flora Capensis): calyx 5-lobed; petals 

 5; stamens 10, protruded: ovary 2-3-ovuled: fr. oval or 

 oblong or 5-winged; seed solitary, pendulous, 5-angled. 

 Mostly climbing shrubs: Ivs. opposite or alternate, en- 

 tire: spikes axillary and terminal. 



bractedaa, Hochst. Unarmed shrub 8-10 ft. high: Ivs. 

 opposite or in 3's, 2K-3 x l-iM in.: petals clawed, red- 

 dish, 4 lines long: fr. oval, indistinctly 5-angled. Called 

 "Hiccup-nut" in Cape Colony. 



POKER PLANT. Kniplwfia. 



POKEWEED. See Phytolacca. 



POLEMONIUM (ancient name, probably not from 

 Greek polemos, war, but rather the philosopher Pole- 

 man). PolemoniAcea . This includes the J • ' - 

 DEB, P. cienileum, an old-fashioned inhabitant 

 cottage gardens, which owes its popular name to 

 regular manner in which the numerous leaflets 

 arranged on the long leaves. It is a 

 hardy perennial herb, growing 1-3 ft. 

 high and bearing 5-lobed, bell-shaped 

 fls. of blue or white, and about an inch 

 across. Probably the finest species, 

 however, is the plant known to all gar- 

 deners as P. Sichardsonii, which is a 

 form of P. hiimile that has doubled or 

 trebled in size in cult. A fine speci- 

 men of P. fficharrlsonii may have a 

 terminal cluster 6% in. across and 5 

 in. deep, with 24 fls. each IH in. 

 across. P. confertum differs from all 

 others in the great density of its in- 

 florescence, and by connoisseurs in 

 alpine plants may be regarded as 

 the finest of the genus. Most of the 

 yellow -fld. forms are disappointing. 

 Polemoniums are of easy culture in 

 any deep, rich, loamy soil. P. carii- 

 leum and P. reptans do well in partly 

 shaded places not too dry. They are 

 easily raised from fall-sown seed. 

 Also prop, by division. They are im- 

 patient of soil on the leaves, as is 

 likely to occur during rain. Flowers of P. Richard- 

 sonii are fragrant and fine for cutting. 



Polemonium is a genus of about 10 species of herbs 

 natives of the north temperate zone and the mountains 

 of Mexico and Chile. Perennials, rarely annuals, tall or 



confSrtiun, Gray. Sticky, smelling of musk, 

 9-18 in. high, from a tufted rootstock: Ifts. 

 very small and so crowded as to seem whorled : 

 fls. honey-scented, deep blue, K-1 in. long; 

 corolla narrowly funnel-shaped : filaments 

 naked or nearly so and not dilated at base. 

 Rockies and Sierras. Gn. 10:48. G. C. II. 

 24:12; III. 27:237. - Intermediate between 

 urn and Gilia. 



BB. Corolla-tube shorter than lobes: inflorescence open. 



c. Plants n-ith thickened rootstocks: Ifts. seldom \i in. 



long. 



hiimile,Willd. {P. Richardsonii, Grab.). Low, slender 

 pl.->nt from somewhat creeping rootstocks: Ifts. 15-21, 

 2-6 lines long: fls. bell-shaped, blue or purplish. July, 

 Aug. Arctic regions. B.M. 2800 (yellow eye). G.C. II. 

 19:793. B.R. 15:1304 (small fls., white eye). -It has 

 the odor of ripened grapes. 



Var. pulcll611um. Gray. Differs in having smaller fls. 

 ranging from violet and lavender to nearly white and in 

 the viscid pubescence, which is minute. Arctic coast. 

 P. piilchfrrimum. Hook., B.M. 2979, is a more viscid, 

 diffuse and smaller-fld. form with narrower corolla-lobes. 



cc. Plants with slender rootstocks or roots: Ifts. larger. 

 D. Height IS ft.: Ifts. numerous. 

 E. Herbage scarcely if at all scented. 

 cserilleum, Linn. Jacob's Ladder. Charity. Fig. 

 1867. HeiL'ht 1-3 ft.: Ifts. 9-20 lines long: fls. blue, 

 numcrcu-* in .-i tliyrse. 1 in. or less across; style ex- 

 serteil. .Ma\. .Tuiir. Wet or moist ground, N. Asia, Eu., 

 N. .\i.i.r. Var. album, Hort. {P. dlbvm, Hort. Bridge- 

 man), with white fls., is almost as 

 popular as the type.— A form with va- 

 riegated Ivs. is said to be more con- 

 stant and decided in the north of Eng- 

 land than in the south. 



1866. Leaf of Virginia Creeper— 



Ampelopsis quinquefolia (X /4). 

 compare with Poison Ivy, with whi( 

 nfounded. 



EE. Herbage strong -scented. 

 foliosisBimum, Gray. More viscid than P. co'ruleum, 

 leafier, with broader Ifts. and the style not exserted. 

 Fls. commonly white or cream -colored, rarely violet. 

 Rocky Mts. Cult, in 1890 by Vick, but perhaps never 

 offered in America. 



