POLEMONIUM 

 DD. Heigid 1 It. or less: Ifts. teu 



POLIANTHES 



1385 



5-15 



rtptans, Linn. Slender, weak and diffuse but never 

 creeping; foliage not viscid or glandular: fls. light 

 blue. Vi in. across, in a sort o£ loose panicle. Open 

 woods, N. Y. to Ala., west to Mo. and Minn. Apr., May. 

 B.M. 1887. -Said to be an easy prey to snails, especially 

 in winter, when they attack the rootstocks. 



Var. Himalayinum, Baker {P. grandiflfmim Hort 

 notBenth. P.otriileiim.yHT.gratHlinurin,,, J W Man 

 Ding). Fls. 1% in. across, lilac-blue or darker the 

 rounded lobes nearly 'A in. across; calyx and axis of 

 panicle very hairy. Himalayas. Described in G C III 

 1:766. 



AA. Color of fls. yelloicish or flesh color 

 B. Fls. salmon or flesh color. 



ctLrneuni, Gray. Rather stout, 1-2 ft. high: Ifts o-i 

 often 1}4 in. long: fls. fading to purplish, I-IS in 

 across. Mountain woods, Calif. — Offered by Pilkington 

 Oregon, 1892, but probably not in cult, now Clo eh 

 allied to P. rephnis. 



BB. Fls. yellowish. 



paucifWrum, Wats. Height 1-2 ft.: Ifts. 16-24 about 

 1 in. long: fls. tubular, the tube 1-lM in. long niutl 

 longer than the lobes. Mex. — The color is said to le 

 a good clear yellow, tinged red outside, but they art 

 probably only cream-colored at best. Offered by J ^^ 

 Manning in 1892, but subsequently dropped. 



F. W. Barclay and W M 



POLIANTHES (name discussed below). Amai il 

 Uddceie. Tuberose. Every one knows the waxy whif 

 Tuberose, a single flower of which will scent a wh 1 

 house. It belongs to a genus of one, or at least of ver\ 

 few, species. It is placed in the subfamily of whi 1 

 the Century Plant (Agave) is the type, but differ ii 

 not having thick, fleshy spiny leaves. Prom its ne u 

 est allies (Proehnyanthes, Beschorneria, Doryanlhe 

 it is distinguished as follows: perianth white tul e 

 long, narrowly funnel-shaped, curved; segments shrrt 

 subequal; stamens aflixed at the middle of the tul 

 not exserted: ovary 3-eelled, free at apex: stigmas 

 ovate, falcate: fr. crowned by the persistent perianth 

 seeds flat. Baker, Amaryllide«, 1888. 



The name Polianthes was given to the Tuberose 1 \ 

 Linnaeus in 1753 in his Species Plantarum, which is u ii 

 ally taken as the beginning of nomenclature. Unfor 

 tunately he wrote "Polyanthes" in an earlier work, 

 published in 1737. This was probably a slip of the 

 pen. Many writers have changed the spelling to Polyan- 

 thus, supposing that Linnseus had in mind the idea of 

 "many-flowered," from polys and tnitlms. Others have 

 supposed he derived it from poli.i, a city. It seems 

 probable, however, as Benthara and Hooker susgest, 

 that Linnaeus had in mind polios, "shining," "white," 

 which is much more applicable to the Tuberose than 

 are the other derivations. Consult Polyanthus for other 

 meanings of the word Polyanthus. 



The name "Tuberose" is derived from tnherosa, this 

 plant being the tuberous hyacinth as distinguished from 

 the bulbous hyacinth. The name therefore is tuber-ose, 



tuberdsa, Linn. Tuberose. Figs. 1868, 1869. Root- 

 stock tuberous : basal Ivs. 6-9 to a stem, linear, l-l^a ft. 

 long, spotted red-brown on back: stem 2-3 ft. high, with 

 8-12 reduced Ivs. : fls. V-A-IY^ in. long, borne in pairs in 

 a lax spike; segments ^-% in. long. Mexico. B.M. 1817. 

 B.R. 1:63. R.H. 1882, p. 429. F. 1881, p. 27. Gn. 47, 



P-- 



figured in Blanc's catalogue is. 



, , species of Agave of the section 



Polianthes maculata. Yon Martins. Von 



. not accounted for by Baker, but according 



plant with a tnber '" 



Manfreda 



Martins' : 



to the original description 



bulb: stem \~*i% ft. high: Ivs. lanceolate or obovate-1 



marked with round or elliptic spots: fls. sessile, in a simple 



spike, greenish yellow, spotted purple. It is probable that P. 



mamdata of Von Martins belongs to another genus. ^^ jj 



There are only two objections to the Tuberose: its 

 odor is too powerful for many people, and, like the 

 calla lily, it has funereal associations. Hence fashion has 



deserted it, at least in America. Nevertheless 6,000,000 

 bulbs a year are now grown in America, and a fifth of 

 them (1,200,000) are used in this country. The Tuber- 

 ose is more popular than ever in Europe. It will always 

 be a standard florists' flower, for the people love it. 



1867. Polemonium c^erult 



Tuberoses in the Home (z'oj-dcH. -Although every 

 florist has Tuberoses and they are cheaper now than 

 ever, thousands of people like to have a Tuberose grow- 

 ing in their own garden. The bulbs are best procured 

 in spring and planted outdoors after all danger of frost 

 is over. The common tall-growing double sort is pre- 

 ferred for this purpose, largely because the fls. open 

 better during the unfavorable dry weather which we 

 often have in October. Cover the bulb about an inch 

 with fine, light soil. A bulb planted out June 1 will 

 bloom in late summer or fall. Before frost comes take 

 up the bulbs and store them over winter in a rather 

 warm (50° F.) , dry place where no frost will touch them. 

 If kept moist and cool during winter the bulbs are likely 

 to rot at the center. Sound tubers will always be green 

 at top or show some sign of life at the growing point. 

 The others are not worth planting. In the far North 

 where the season is short, Tuberose bulbs may be 

 started indoors about the middle of May, the tubers 

 being placed on a layer of damp moss. 



Historical Sketch. -The first date of interest in the 

 history of a garden favorite is usually the time when 

 live plants first reached European gardens and showed 

 signs of popularity. The Tuberose reached Europe some 

 time before 1530. Though a native of Mexico, it came 

 to Europe from India and, like many other tropical 

 American plants of high importance, it was long sup- 

 posed to be native to the Orient. Thus as late as 1629 

 Parkinson calls it Hyacinthus Iniiicus. The plant was 

 brought to Europe by a Catholic priest, and the priests 

 refused all applications for bulbs until 1594. The first 



