PHYTEUMAS 337 



I. LONGIFLORA (long-flowered). Stems 1 foot high. Leaves downy, 

 oval- lance -sliaped, coarsely toothed. Flowers white, with long and 

 slender tube; May to August. Perennial. Introduced from West 

 Indies, 1752. It should be noted that this plant is of an exceedingly 

 poisonous character, producing dangerous cathartic symptoms. It has 

 been known to prove fatal to horses that have eaten it. 



Cioiture ^^^ directions given for the cultivation of Lohelia 



apply to the Isotomas, except that these require to be 

 grown almost entirely under glass, though in warm sunny positions they 

 may be placed outside in the middle of summer. 



PHYTEUMAS 



Natural Order Campanulace^. Genus Phytemna 



Phyteuma (a classical name applied to a species of Reseda). A genus 

 comprising about thirty species of perennial herbs, of which few have 

 horticultural interest. The flowers are gathered into dense spikes or 

 heads. The more or less oval calyx is five-lobed. The corolla is deeply 

 cleft into five very slender segments that separate slowly. There are 

 Ave stamens; the ovary is two- or three-celled; the style thread-like, 

 divided above into three short slender stigmas. They are natives of 

 Europe and Western Asia. Two species occur locally in Britain. They 

 readily lend themselves to cultivation, succeeding in any good well- 

 drained soil. The smaller species are very suitable subjects for rock- 

 gardens. Propagation is effected by dividing the tufts. 

 Principal Species Phyteuma comosum (tufted). Holly-leaved Rampion. 



"Stems 3 to 6 inches high. Leaves rovmdish-heart-shaped, 

 or oval-lance-shapcd, deeply and sharply toothed. Flowers purple or blue, 

 inflated at base, in umbel-like heads; July. Introduced from Europe, 1752. 



Ph. humile (lowly). Flower-stems 3 inches high. Leaves long, 

 slender-lance-shaped, grass-like. Flowers blue, in globular heads ; July. 

 Introduced from Switzerland, 1825. 



Ph. orbiculare (spherical). Round-headed Rampion. Stems 6 to 

 18 inches high. Radical leaves lance-shaped, stalked ; stem-leaves more 

 slender, stalkless. Flowers deep blue in round heads ; July and August. 

 Native. 



Ph. Scheuchzeri (Scheuchzer's). A tufted plant, 6 to 12 inches 

 high, with lance-shaped leaves of varied breadth, with sharp teeth. 

 Flowers deep blue in dense round heads ; July and August. A native 



