AND GENEKAL HOETICULTURE. 



313 



PEN 



Pentaptery'gium. From pente, five, and ptery- 

 gion, a small wing. Nat. Ord. VacciniacecB. 



A small genus of green-house shrubs.natives 

 of the temperate Himalayas and the Khasia 

 Mountains. The flowers are red, yellow, or 

 white bedewed with red, rather large and 

 showy. P. flavum, flowers yellow, margined 

 with red ; P. rugosum, flowers nearly white, 

 beautifully marbled with purple or blood-red 

 bands, and P. serpens, with bright red flowers, 

 are the best known species, and are all neat 

 and attractive plants. As they are naturally 

 epiphytal in their habits, they can be grown 

 in hanging-baskets or pots as desired, and 

 are propagated by cuttings. 



Pentarha'phia. From pente, five, and raphis, a 

 needle ; referring to the form of the open 

 calyx. A genus of Gesneracece, composed of 

 shrubby or half-shrubby plants inhabiting the 

 West India Islands, a few being also found in 

 Central America. Several species with bright 

 red, or scarlet flowers are in cultivation. For 

 culture, etc., see Gesnera. 



Pe'ntas. From pente, five ; referring to the 

 number of petals and stamens. Nat. Ord. 

 Rubiacece. 



P. carnea, the best known species, is a very 

 handsome green-house plant with delicate 

 flesh-colored flowers, copiously produced in 

 dense corymbs or cymes. It is valuable, not 

 only for the richness of its flowers, but also 

 for the lengthened period during which they 

 are produced, and although it requires a hot- 

 house to flower freely in winter, yet it may be 

 kept in a green-house, and will then bloom 

 from April till the following October. Propa- 

 gated by cuttings of young shoots in sandy 

 soil in the hot-bed or green-house in spring ; 

 the young plants will bloom freely during the 

 summer. Introduced from South Africa in 

 1842. 



Pentla'ndia. Named after J. B. Pentland, an 

 English consul-general in Peru. Nat. Ord. 

 Amaryllidacece. 



A small genus of very showy green-house 

 bulbous plants from Peru. P. miniata, the 

 most beautiful of the species, bears a solitary 

 lanceolate leaf, appearing before the flowers, 

 which are borne on a solid scape supporting 

 an umbel of about half a dozen drooping ver- 

 milion colored flowers. They flower in early 

 autumn, and should rest during winter, in 

 the same manner as the Amaryllis. They 

 were first introduced in 1836, and are propa- 

 gated by offsets. This genus is included 

 under Urceolina by some authors. 



Pentste'mon. From pente, five, and stemon, a 

 stamen ; there are four perfect stamens and 

 one imperfect. Nat. Ord. Scrophulariacece. 



An extensive genus of hardy and half-hardy 

 herbaceous plants. Several of the species are 

 common from North Carolina to Florida. The 

 more showy species, those usually cultivated, 

 are natives of Texas, Oregon, Colorado, 

 Kocky Mountains, etc., and Mexico. Those 

 introduced into the garden are beautiful 

 plants, growing from one to three feet high, 

 with white, pink, scarlet, blue, or purple 

 flowers, produced freely from April until 

 October. Within the past few years great 

 improvements have been made in the garden 

 varieties or so-called hybrids of the Pent- 

 stemon, by judicious selection of seminal 

 varieties of P. Hartwegii, P. Cobcea, and P. 



PEP 



Gentianoides, which, though they possess a 

 wide variation in color, lack the beautiful 

 clear blue which we find in some of the spe- 

 cies. Most of them grow well in a light loam. 

 They should have as dry a situation as the 

 garden affords, as they suffer more from wet 

 than cold, and are the better of the protection 

 of a cold frame during winter. Several of the 

 Calif ornian species, of late introduction, are 

 very difficult to winter over in the border; 

 being found in a coarse, sandy soil, and their 

 period of rest being the dry season, they 

 seem little inclined to adapt themselves to 

 our climate. The beauty and profusion of 

 the flowers will, however, pay for the protec- 

 tion they may need against the elements. 

 Many of the species will flower the first 

 season from seed, if sown in the green-house, 

 or on an early hot-bed, and once transplanted 

 before being transferred to the open border. 

 The following species are all desirable : P. 

 azureus, P. barbatits, P. campanulatus, P. Cobcea, 

 P. diffusus, P. Fendleri, P. heterophyllus, P. 

 Jaffrayanus, P. Murrayanus, P. procerus, P. 

 Scouleri, etc. 



Peo'ny. See Pceonia. 



Pepero'mia. From piper, pepper, and omoioa, 

 similar. Nat. Ord. Piperacece. 



An extensive genus of green-house ever- 

 green and herbaceous ornamental-leaved 

 plants, abundant in Central and South 

 America, the Sandwich Islands, southern 

 Africa, and the East Indies. The majority 

 are small creeping plants with fleshy leaves, 

 growing on trunks of trees, or on damp rocks ; 

 others are more erect, of a shrubby character, 

 and are terrestrial in their habits. Several of 

 the species have been introduced into the 

 green-house for the sake of their foliage; 

 prominent among them is P. maculosa, a dwarf- 

 growing species, with inconspicuous flowers, 

 but very beautiful foliage. This species is 

 readily increased by leaf cuttings, treated in 

 the same manner as Begonia Rex. It is a 

 native of St. Domingo. First introduced in 

 1790. P. resedceflora, or Mignonette flowered, 

 introduced from New Grenada in 1870, bears 

 small, spire-like spikes of white flowers at the 

 apex of pink stems, the lower portions of 

 which are furnished with small velvety leaves. 

 It is used for button-hole bouquets, and is 

 suitable for florists' work generally. P. brevi- 

 pes (syn. P. prostrata), introduced in 1880, has 

 round, thick, fleshy leaves, variegated with 

 light and dark shades of green, and a brown- 

 ish tinge. They are borne on long slender 

 stems, which appear to the best advantage 

 when pendulous, grow rapidly, and may be 

 readily increased by pegging small portions of 

 the stem down on the soil. It is admirably 

 adapted for basket culture, well-grown speci- 

 mens furnishing beautiful drooping sprays 

 four to five feet long. 



Pepo. " A one-celled, many-seeded, inferior 

 fruit, with parietal placentae, and a pulpy 

 interior, as a Gourd." Lindley. 



Pepper. See Piper. 



Pepper. Bird. Capsicum baccatwn. 



Pepper-bush. Sweet. A common name for 

 Clethra alnifolia. 



Peppergrass. See Lepidium. 

 Pepperidge. See Nyssa. 



