ERANTHEMUM 



their foliage. Probubly many of them belong in other genera. 

 —i.. alOo-iuannnatu)u. Lvs. broadly margiiR-d witli white and 

 ^regiUarly suffused si-iy.~E. atrosanguineum. Hort. Int. by 

 W. tiull. 18. .1. Lvs. large, dark wine-purple, or blackish crim- 

 son, oyato entire, oppnsite, stalked. Said to endure the hottest 

 ^J^ P?i"^'-~^ cuZrrrtfn/?). "Lvs. shining, thick, deep-veined."- 

 iL. iLldorado. Lvs. greenish yellow, veins deeper yellow —£ 

 nenum rub rum of Pitcher & Manda's catalogue, presumably 

 a misprint for 7iervi(m'riibrum., has lvs. "irregularly shaped, 

 shaded with light and dark green, and blotched with vellow, 

 which darkens to reddish purple." Possibly = Fitfunia Ver- 

 fichaffeltii. — £". nigresceiis. Presumably with blackish lvs —E 

 pnrpureiun. "Lvs. and stems dark, lurid purple." Siebrecht 

 «v Wadley. 



The following trade names are accounted for in other genera: 

 h. igneiun. See Chama-ranthemuni. — F. >ien:osn)n and z"/^ 

 chellum. See Dsedalacanthus. -^r ^r 



ERANTHIS (Greek, er, spring:, and anthos, a flower; 

 from the early opening of the tluwers). lianiinruMcece. 

 Winter Aconite. Low perennial herbs, with tuberous 

 rootstock: basal lvs. palinately dissected, one stem-leaf 

 sessile or nmploxicaul just beneath the larj^e yellow 

 fl. : sepals 5-8, petal-like; petals small. 2-lipped necta- 

 ries; stamens numerous; carpels few, stalked, many- 

 ovuled, becoming follicles. About 7 species, natives of 

 Europe and Asia. Very hardv, and at borne in balf- 

 6bady places, among 

 shrubs or in the bor- 

 der; very desirable lie- 

 cause of the very earlv, 

 bright tls. Prop, by 

 division of roots. The 

 place where the tubers 

 are planted should be 

 marked duringthe sum- 

 mer, when the foliage is 

 dead. 



The earliest generic 

 name is Cannnaru?/! , 

 which was given in 

 Hill's British Herbal, 

 p. 47, pi. 7 (175G). or 

 51 years before Salis- 

 bury made the name 



hyemS,lis , Salisb. 

 ( ffcllf^'borii s Jnjeni i^lis , 

 Linn.). Fig. 770. Erect, 

 5-8 in.: basal lvs. long- 

 petioled : involucre 12- 

 15-parted. the bright 

 yellow-f^s. always ses- 

 sile; anthers oblong. Jan. -March. Naturalized from 

 Eu. B.M. 3. Mu. 8:43. G.C. II. 11 :245. 



Var. Cilicica, Huth. (E. Cilicica, Schott Sc Kotschy). 

 Much like the above. Involucre of deeper and more 

 numerous lobes; anthers ovate instead of oblong; se- 

 pals broader, being about ^i in. across; follicles always 

 straight. Season a few weeks later. — The stems, when 

 grown in gardens, said to be red-brown. Roots of this 

 were tirst sent to England from its native home near 

 Smyrna in 1892. Rare in Amer. G.C. III. 13:266. Gn. 

 45, p. 192 (note). 



Sibirica, DC. ^luch dwarfer, seldom over 3—4 in. 

 high : fls. bright yellow, a little smaller than those of E. 

 hijeinalis, 5-sepaled. Siberia. 



J. B. Keller and K. C. Davis. 



EREMtTRUS (Greek name, probably referring to their 

 tall and striking aspect in solitary and desert places). 

 EiUdceiv. These hardy desert plants when in flower, 

 with their great flower-stalks taller than a man, and 

 crowned with a spike of fls. from 1—4 ft. long, are 

 amongst the most striking spectacles in the choicer 

 gardens of the iS'orth and East. Their roots are clusters 

 of fleshy fibers : their lvs. all from the root, in dense 

 rosettes, long and linear: fls. white, yellow or rosy; 

 perianth bell-shaped or more -widely spreading, wither- 

 ing and persisting or finally dropping away ; segments 

 distinct or very slightly united at the base; stamens 6: 

 ovary 3-celled; seeds 1-4 in each cell, 3-angled. 



W. M. 



E. robustus and E. B'imalaicus are probably the hardi- 



ERIANTHUS 



539 



770. 



Eranthis hyemaUs. 



est of alt the tall, desert-inhabiting plants of the Lily 

 family — a family including the Poker Plant, the Aloes, 

 the Yuccas, and many others that are not so tall and strik- 

 ing in appearance or else too tender to grow outdours in 

 the North. Large specimens of ^. 7-ohustus will annually 

 produce a flower-stalk 8 ft. or more high, with racemes 

 4 ft. long, remaining in bloom for a muuth. After flow- 

 ering the lvs. disappear entirely, but early in spring 

 they reappear, and should then be covered with a box 

 or barrel, to protect the forming fiower-stalk from late 

 frosts. A mound of ashes over the crown in winter is 

 advisable, or a box with water-tight top filled with dry 

 leaves. Both species like a rich soil, moist but well 

 drained, and plenty of water in the flowering period, 

 but none afterwards. Prop, by division, or slowly by 

 seeds. Large plants are expensive, but they can some- 

 times be obtained large enough to flower within a year 

 or so of purchase. It tries one's patience to wait for 

 seedlings to reach flowering size. The flowers look like 

 small stars. -^^ (._ ^^^^ 



A. Elowers rosy. 

 B. Lrs. Unear-ligulate. 



robustus, Rcgrl. Root-fibers thick and fleshy; lvs. 

 glaucous, glabrous, liuear-ligulate, 2 ft. long, 1^2-2 in. 

 wide, r'.tughish on the margin, with minute recurved 

 teeth: raceme 4-4 ^-o in. wide: stamens about as long as 

 the perianth. Turkestan. B.M. 6726. Gng. 6:52, 324. 

 (4n. 46, p. 335. Mn. 8:123. J. H. III. 29:267. 

 BB. Lcs. ovaie-Janccohilc. 



£lwesii, Mi(dicli (/;. EJivf.'si(i)UfS,Hort.). Lvs. light 

 Lrreen, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, flat, not at all rough at 

 the mar:;iu, slmrter than in E. robusti(S, nenrly trian- 

 gular, even more glaucous, and beginning to decay at 

 the time of flowering: perianth segments with a band of 

 deeper color down the middle. Habitat f R.IT. 1897:280. 

 (^n. 54, p. 99. G.C. Ul. 24:137. -Int. by Leichtlin as />. 

 ntbustus, var. EliresH. 



AA. Floivers whifr. 

 Himal^icuB, Baker. Root-fibers thick and fleshy; lvs. 

 9-12, ligulate, firm, persistent, 1-1^2 ft. long, 6-15 lines 

 wide above the middle: raceme 3-3' o in. wide: stamens 

 about as long as the perianth. Himal. B.M. 7076. Gn. 

 49, p. 131. G.C. II. 16:49. 



AAA. FL"--. ■■^(oue shade of ijrUou-. 

 B. Color light yeUoiv. 

 spectibilis, Bieb. Root-fibers thick and fleshy: lvs. 

 6-15, lorate, slightly glaucous* 12-18 in. long, 6-12 lines 

 wide above the middle, noticeably narrowed at the base: 

 raceme 1-lS ft. long, 2 in. wide : stamens orange, 

 finally twice as long as the perianth. Asia Minor, 

 Persia. B.M. 4H70. 



BB. VoJor pure yeUow or orange. 

 Biingei, Baker. Lvs. contemporaiy with the fls., 

 linear, I ft. long, less than 3 lines wide; raceme 4-5 in. 

 long, 2 in. wide : stamens finally twice as long as the 

 perianth. Persia. — Var. perf6ctus, Hort., is sold. 



BBB. Color orange. 

 aurantlacus, Baker. Closely allied to E. Bungei, but 

 live plants have less acutely keeled lvs.: root-fibers 

 tapering upwards, and orange fls. and stamens. Bokhara. 

 Turkestan. B.M. 7113. -^ ^j 



ERIANTHUS (Greek, vooUy floicer). Gramiuecp. 

 Woolly Beakd Grass. Plume Grass. Tall and stout 

 reeddike perennials, with the spikes crowded in a pani- 

 cle and clothed with long, silky hairs, especially in a 

 tuft around the base of each spikelet. Spikelets in pairs, 

 one sessile, the other pedicellate. Glumes 4, the fourth 

 enclosing a hermaphrodite flower and awned. Species 

 about ]8, in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. 



Erianlhus Bavenncv is the best hardy substitute for 

 the pampas grass, which is the most famous of all tall, 

 plumy grasses. For general purposes and for aquatk- 

 groups and bedding it has no peers in the North except 

 Arundo Donax and a few tall bamlioos. These latter, 

 however, are grown for their foliage effects, and while 

 the plumes of Arundo are highly ornamental, they are 

 only an incident in the North, where frost often cuts down 



