TEEHIA 



TEfiDIA (J. It. Teeilr. (-in-nuin Lntanist. wlm livr^i 

 soiiif time in t'urtuii-al ami difil at. Surinam). Scro/jJi- 

 jil-)rliii-<(r. Two specu's of yuutli African iilaiils. 

 with pink ."-IoIilmI rls. %~:U in. across. TIk'V arc Innlrr 

 to frost. 7'. Iiicidd was introduoeil to sinilln/rn (.'a!i- 

 foniia in liUlO, and Frauoesi.-hi records that it hhionis 

 all the year. Tlie lari;-er-tld. speeirs, T. /nfb.'sr.'ns . 

 peeius not to be l;uo\vn to th(^ American trailc. I'loTh 

 plants emit the rank hcrliaceous siiudi peculiar {>> hen- 

 banes when their folia.L;-c is hruised. and 7'. j'lihi sr, us 

 has the same sort of ^-reasy pubescence. The plants 

 hardly seem worth cultivating: in norllu'rn greenhouses. 

 When they were new to cultivati<.>n tlu'y wore su]>p<.)si:Mi 

 to be biennial herlis. l)ut Beutliam and Hooker call them 

 shrubs. Francesehi writes: " 7'. Im-'uht acts like an an- 

 nual in southern California. U is rather pretty but 

 weedy. It seeds freely. Seems to prefer half sliade. 

 The smell of the foliage is very objcrtionalile." 



Generic characters: cah~s: deeply r)-cut : <'orolla-tub(> 

 cylindrical ; lobes o, rounded, sube(iual ; -^i ameus 4, 

 didynamous, included; anther-cells parallel, disiiuct: 

 ovules numerous in each iocule : berries subi:,iolnise, 

 iudehiscent. 



lilcida, Rinl. <^laln-ous: stem 4-cornered; Ivs. (.1)- 

 loui^-evate. acnmiiiatp, "J in. l^u^'. decussate ; ]iet ioles 

 win -red : I'aiiieles leafy. <lei'ussate : rls. r<.>sy pink : seed.-- 

 mauy, small. S. Afr. B.\\. '.!r.'l{)\). -^y ^j^ 



TELANTHfiRA inanie refers to the fact that all ten 

 parts of the staminal cup are equally developed ) . -!*;/(/- 

 ra)iti}<.-eiC. Alteknantheka. .Vpparently all the Alter- 

 nantheras tised by gardeners as bedding plants behmg 

 to the genus Telanthera, which is ilistinguished from 

 the true genus Alternauthera by having 5 anther- 

 bearing stamens and 5 elongated antherless stam- 

 inodia united iut<.t a cup or tube. In Alternau- 

 thera the tube is short or almost none, the anther- 

 bearing stamens si'Uietimes less than 5. and the 

 .staniiuodia shi>rt or u<;'ine. Of Telantheras tliere 

 are 40 to r>i) species, mostly herl>s, in tropical 

 America and t>ne in western Africa. The lea\"es 

 are entire, ovate to elongated, oppuslre : tis. 

 small, usnally in dense heads in the axils, wliit- 

 ish or si.'me times colored, ].terfect. eacdi sub- 

 tendi-d by '2 bractlets. 



The Alt ern ant h eras of gardeners are nuicli 

 use<l in carpet-bedding and for ril^boii-biu-ders. 

 because of their low, compact growth, the bright 

 colors of the foliage, which holds its character 

 throughout the season, and the ease with which 

 they withstand shearing. They are usually kept 

 witiiin six imdies of the ground. They are tender 

 to frost, and grow best in warm siinny "jihiees. 

 The flowers are im'ons]dimous and of no account 

 to the gardener. They comprise the stock plants 

 for the foundation work in carpet-be(]ding. 



The plants are propagated by cuttings or di- 

 vision. In either case, they must be carried over 

 winter in the greenhouse or in hotbeds, prefer- 

 ably in the houses at the North. The plants 

 should be kept at 00'^ or Go*^ during winter, and 

 rather dry to hold them more or less donnant. 

 Place them where they will receive only enough 

 light to keep them healthy. (1,1 Cuttings are 

 usually made in August from strong plants grow- 

 ing in the open. The cuttings can be struck in 

 shallow tlats and then wintered in these tlats 

 without transplanting. The cuttings should be 

 well established before winter sets in, else they 

 will remain weak. In March or April they may 

 he potted off, preparatory to using tliem in the 

 open. (2) Division is usually preferred by gar- 

 deners who have ratich bedding to do. The 

 plants are lifted after the first frost, cut hark to 

 three or four inches long, and planted in flats. 

 In March or April, the plants are divided and the 

 parts (with the old roots shortened in) are potted 

 or transplanted to other flats. However grown, 

 the plants should have four to six weeks in a hotbed if 

 possible, before they are placed in the o]ien i^'rouml. 

 Even in the warm greenhouse the_v tisually make slow 

 growth in March and April. 



TKLEKIA 



1770 



Tlie botanical status ..f the -anh-n Alternanllieras is 

 imperfectl}- \imiei'stoo( I , and the -rou|. ]iee<ls careful 

 study from li\iTm' phmis. N'iiraous -ardoi names ran- 

 m-.t be areount.-l for af. ]presi>nt. The conniion -arden 

 AlLernaullno-as appe;ir fo have issued from the ihree 

 following I'.razilian sprcii's. 



A. Acs. rss. u/iaUn hnirmlulv or c/riplir. 

 amuina, Kei;-e|. Vlt^. 'J47,^. Very dwarf: Ivs. Ioul,''- 



laneeolate or ol.lnu- - lanceolate. " sonictiliies ellii.tir, 

 aeumiuale, \-ery short-pel ioled. llie \uuler color mostly 

 green 1ml veiu'cd aud blotrhed willi red and orange': 

 1i. -heads sev-,i|,., sin-le. jn ]iairs oi- ;;'s. aiid teianinal. 

 1.11. 12:447; l-'i iTi.^.s. - To This api^arentlv iM-long the 

 ^■nrdeu names ,ui>ubi/ls. sju'rhi hit i s , sr'ssilis, msea , 

 h'rin/nn-di. 



AA. Lrs. , ssoi/ialhl syninhit, . 



Bettzichiana, lie^-el {A Jlrrua n/Jiri-it pn )-<nniclii<<)ih'y:, 

 Hort.i. bi-. 247s/,. Lvs. narrow. spatuUUe, gradually 

 narrowed inti.> a huii; jM-tioh-. oran--e-red shaded with 

 green: fl. -heads sessile, siu-"le. iu i>airs or li"s, terminal 

 and axillarv. 1.11. 12:440. -To this siiecies appear to 

 belong the ■,-arden naun-s p'n-h, . ir'n-,,]or. annn. >nir<-:a 

 na nil <-i')ii purfu . jut ran iirh iohh s . n- )-slro!itr a iircc and 

 p. itiujor Wiinfzii. iinnjulfirii . 



versicolor, Kegel. Fig. 247sc. Usually becoming 

 taller, much branched, and apparently less nsi-d for 

 carpet-bedding than the others; Ivs. round-spatulate, 

 narrowed into a short petiole, tin- colors mostly in 

 shades of copper-red or blood-red. with y)ati'hes of 

 green between the veins: fl. -heads sessile. sin,L;le or in 

 pairs. l.H. \-2-A-lo.-T. ficoidni is probably to be re- 

 ferred here. j^_ }|_ p.. 



2478. Spray of Telanthera amcena ; also leaf outlines of 

 (a^ T. amcena, i b i T. Bettzichiana. i c > T. versicolor. 



TELEGRAPH PLANT. I>< s»n-,diinu minn,,. 

 TELllKIA is referred to i:npl>tlu.ih,ni u> . T. speciosa. 



is B. Spi:C'i"SH)ll . 



