PYKUS 



19. The above sketob (N"o«. 6 to 18) at-eounts for all the apple- 

 - Kke species knomi to be in the American trade, althoagh there 

 may be other l^atin names in &ome of the catalogues. There 

 are few remaining species of the Mains section. — P. cralcegi- 

 flilia, Targ., con.^idered by some writers to l*e of this section, 

 by others to belong to Sorbns, and by still others to be a hybrid 

 between Pyius and Sorbus, is a bnsh or small tree, local in N. 



2037. Pyrus Soulardi (X }>/. 



Italy: lv8. broad-ovate in outline, with several sharp lobes: fls. 

 white, about 1 in. across, in open terminal corymbs : f r. % in. 

 long, elliptic-oblong, red. B.M. "423.— J^. Sikkimemit. Hook. f. 

 "Very similar to P. baccata, but the leaves 'which attain 5x3 

 in.) are more acutely serrate, woolly beneath and on the petiole 

 and on the midrib above, the peduncles and calyx are also 

 wooUy. * * ♦ I suspect it will prove a form of P. baccata." 

 -Hooker. Himalayas, 7,000-10,000 ft altitude. B.M. 7430. 



G.M.41:313. 



L. H. B. 



I'TXIDANTHERA 1475 



PYXlDAHTHtEA (Greek, hox and unthera; the 

 anther.s open transversely like the lid of a box). 

 Diapeneiacea. The PyxiE, Flowering Mo.ss or Pini- 

 BABREN Beauty i.s a pretty little creeping plant, native 

 only to New Jersey and North Carolina, which is 

 covered in early spring with small white, 5-petaled 

 flowers and pink buds. It sometimes blooms side by 

 side with the trailing arbntos. These flowers are sold 

 in the streets of Philadelphia, but the Pyiie is scarcely 

 cultiv;it(-il. It (rrows best in moist, sandy soil. In 

 partial "-huli^ and >oil rich in vegetable mold the buds 

 are pain pink : in full sunlight and poor soil the buds are 

 reddi-L. The Pyxie belongs to a small family of excep- 

 tionally interesting plants remarkable for their beauty. 

 distinctness and geographical distribution. They repre- 

 sent a vanishing race, and there are many different 

 opinions as to their place in the vegetable kingdom. As 

 a genus Pyxidanthera has but one species, anfl its 

 nearest ally is Diapensia, which differs in having the 

 anthers opening longitudinally: also the fls. are pe- 

 duncled in Diapensia. while in P\-xidanthera each flower 

 is solitary at the end of a short branch. Another pecu- 

 liar feature of the Pyxie is the sharp point at the end of 

 each anther. 



Generic characters: sepals 5. oblong, obtuse, reddish 

 at tip; corolla short-bell-shaped. 5-lobed; lobes obovate, 

 erose, persistent; stamens o, inserted in the sinuses; 

 staminodes none : ovary 3-ceUed : ovules many in a cell : 

 capsule loculicidal. 



barbul&ta, Michx. Creeping shrub, with a long tap- 

 root in the center of the tuft: Ivs. narrow, crowded, 

 overlapping, the young ones woolly at the base within, 

 whence the specific name "barbulata." Fls. March to 

 May. B.M. 4592. Mn. 8:33. B.B. 2:583. Gn. 27, p. 209 

 (from Harper's Mag.j. ^_ j£ 



