38 



AILANTHUS 



a young state. For street planting, the fertile plant 

 only should be used, because the male exhales a disa- 

 greeable odor when flowering, and the pollen is said to 

 cause catarrhal troubles. It grows in almost any soil, 

 but best in a light and some- 

 what moist one, and stands dust 

 and smoke well. Var. erythro- 

 c&rpa {A. enithrocdrpa, Carr. 

 A. rhbra, Hort.). Lvs. darker 

 green above and more glaucous 

 beneath ; fr. bright red, very 

 effective iu late summer and 

 autumn. Var. pendulif6Ua,Carr. 

 Lvs. very large, drooping. — The 

 Ailanthus foliage gives a tropi- 

 cal effect when the growth is 

 very strong. If plants are cut 

 back to the ground after they 

 have become established (in two 

 or three years after planting), 

 they will throw up very strong 

 shoots and make an excellent 

 screen, as shown in Fig. 55. 

 This practice may be repeated 

 year after year. Sumacs, pau- 

 lownias,basswoods, mulberries, 

 and other fast-growing things 

 may be treated in this way. 

 The Ailanthus foliage is very 

 like that of the Cedrela (which 

 see for illiistr.Ttion of differ- 



.-./.„, l;..xl.-. Tiilltree: lvs. 



54. Agrostis 



AIEA (an anoifiir I .r. . 1, i/,ii:' i-i l',,ii., «., ,. 



ece. Hair Grass. Al-'um. r,,i;i;, ,!;>',_• ,i,i, ,., ,,,,i,!i,i 

 grasses, with sli'ii'iM-. I — . i-'ini.'i. Limim--.- -[■;!.. I. i- 

 very small, of tw" ii'i-tVct .■,.niimi"ii^ il.iwir-: il.iw.rin- 

 glume acutely 2-cleft at the apex, bearini; a sh-ndcr 

 twisted awn below the middle. Eu., N. Afr. — This genus 

 is much confused with Agrostis by florists. Nat. from 

 Eu. and cult, for dry bouquets. 



caTyophyllia, Linn. (Agrdsfis flegans, Hort., not 

 Guss.). A slender and elegant tufted annual, 10-20 in. 

 high, bearing a very diffuse panicle of purplish and at 

 length silvery scarious spikelets. 



61egrans, Gaud. (Agrdstis ^legang, Hort., not Guss.). 

 A slender, erect and very pretty annual, from a few 

 inches to a foot high, with widely spreading capillary 

 panicles of many small spikelets. 



A. ccesjyitosa, Linn.= Deschampsia csespitosa.— 4. cceritlea, 

 Linn.= Molinia coerulea, Monch. — 4. flexuosa, Linn.= Des- 

 P. B. Kenkedt. 





AIB-PLANT. In common speech, any plant which 

 grows on the trunk or in the top of another plant is 

 called an air-plant. The proper term is epiphyte (that is, 

 (/roichifj nil n plant). In horticulture, the term air-plant 

 is n-^iirillv :M'rl'''' to ij.iptn-tal orchids, tillandsias, and 



til'!' \!,,-t.,( -1.. vv upon old bark, perhaps de- 



rivii ' 111. ntfrom the bark, butmost 



ot II Tliey are not parasites,— do 



nut ill in . III. II -iii.|..iri I ii.iu the Juices of the host. 



KJtGHHut ijoked ; the calyx not bilabiate). LaUAtce. 

 Bugle Weed. Hardy herbaceous European perennials, 

 creeping by stolons. Height 6-12 in.: fls. numerous, in 

 whorls, normally blue or purple, with rosy or white 

 varieties. Prop, by division or seeds. 



Genev^nsis, Linn. {A. rugbsa , Hort. A . alpina, Hort. ) . 

 St. erect : cauline lvs. oblong-elliptic or obovate, nar- 

 rowed at the base ; lower ones petiolate : floral lvs. ovate 

 orwedge-shaped, coarsely toothed, sparsely hairy: upper 

 fl. -whorls spicate ; lower whorls distant. 



55. Ailanthus shoots; 



nflowcr plants. 



pyramidilis, Linn. St. erect : cauline Its. obovate, 

 hardly petiolate, in a 4-sided pyramid; floral lvs. broadly 

 ovate, the highest often colored; all lvs. entire: fl. whorls 

 usually all spicate. 



rfiptana, Linn. St. prostrate : lvs. ovate or obovate, 

 entire or sinuate, shiny.— A low, dense, fast-spreading 

 creeper, excellent for covering shady slopes. The t)*pical 

 and white-fld. forms are less cult, than the following : 

 Var. riibra, Hort. More valued for its dark purple lvs. 

 than its blue fls. Var. yarieg&ta, Hort. Lvs. splashed 

 and edged creamy yellow. 



metdllica var. crispa, Hort., int. by 

 Henderson, 1899, is described as dwarf 

 (4-5 in.), with curled, metallic glossy and 

 blue fls. in a pyramidal spike. A bed- 

 ding plant, int. from Germany. 



J. B. Keller and W. M. 

 ARABIA (from Akebi, its Japanese 

 name). Birberiddcew. Twining glabrous 

 shrubs: lvs. long-petioled, digitate, coria- 

 ceous: fls. monoecious in axillary racemes, 

 pistillate at the base, staminate at the end 

 of the raceme ; sepals 3: fr. consisting of 

 one or more very large, oblong berries 

 with numerous .seeils. Two species in 

 .lapan and (Miina. Very ornamental, hardy 

 climbing shrubs of graceful appearance, 

 especially adapted for places in which 

 very dense shade is not wanted. They 

 require a sunny position and well drained 

 *-._ soil; also valuable in the cool greenhouse 



for covering pillars and walls, growing 

 best in a sandy compost of loam, leaf soil 



