458 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



LOASA 



style filiform, entire, or 2-3-cleft. 

 twisted ribs. 



MENTZELIA (including Baetonia). 

 A genus containing about 30 species of 

 annual, biennial, or perennial plants with 

 alternate leaves. Calyx tube 4-5-lobed. 

 Petals 5, lanceolate or spathulate, rarely 

 oblong or obovate. Scales none. Stamens 

 numerous, free or in clusters. 



Culture and Propagation. — Ment- 

 zelias and Bartonias are showy plants 

 when in bloom, and are worth a place in 

 summer in the border. They grow easily 

 in ordinary soil and may be raised from 

 seeds sown in slight heat for planting out 

 in May, or in the open in spring. The 

 biennial species shoidd be sown early in 

 autumn in a cold frame, shifting the 

 plants on into pots until spring, when they 

 may be put outside. The annuals treated 

 thus will bloom much earlier the following 

 year. Some of the kinds however do not 

 transplant very well, and are best raised 

 from seeds sown in patches in the open 

 border in April and May, and onwards 

 until about the middle of June to secure a 

 succession of blossom well into autumn. 



M. albescens [Bartonia alhescens). — 

 A pretty Chilian annual or biennial 1-4 

 ft. high, with whitish shining stems and 

 sinuately toothed leaves. Flowers in 

 summer, pale yellow, with 10 petals. 



Culture tf-c. as above. 



M> bartonioides {Eucnide and Micro- 

 sperma hartonioides). — An annual with 

 flexuose and fleshy stems about 1 ft. long, 

 native of the W. United States. Leaves 

 ovate acute, lobed and serrated. Flowers 

 sulphur-yellow, paler beneath, almost 

 \vhite, ovate or obovate, slightly serrated. 



Culture die. as above. 



M. hispida. — A Mexican perennial 1^ 

 ft. high, with almost sessile leaves. 

 Flowers in summer, yellow, with obovate 

 abruptly pointed petals. 



Culture d'c. as above. 



M. IseTicaulis. — A Californian biennial 

 about 2 ft. high, with bright yeUow 

 flowers 2-3 in. across, opening in the 

 morning and closing after midday. M. 

 nuda, with white flowers, is very similar. 



Culture dc. as above. 



M. Lindleyi (Bartonia aiirea). — A 

 showy Californian annual 1- Ij^ ^toothed 

 with oblong linear laop'-' 



Capsule usually 1-celled with straight or 



sessile leaves, 3-5 in. long. Flowers 

 golden -yeUow, Hypericum-like, with a 

 zone of orange at the base, and numerous 

 slender golden-knobbed stamens radiating 

 from the centre. 



Culture dc. as above. May be sown 

 in the open border io patches. 



M. oligosperma. — A perennial about 

 2 ft. high, native of Louisiana. Flowers 

 in early summer, yellow, with pointed 

 petals. 



Culture dc. as above. 



M. ornata [Bartonia decapetala). — A 

 pretty annual about 2 ft. high, native of 

 Missouri, with hairy glandular, deeply cut 

 leaves. Flowers late in summer, 2J-4 

 in. across, white, scented, opening after 

 sunset. 



Culture dc. as above. 



LOASA. — A genus with 50 species of 

 erect, climbing or prostrate herbs with 

 Btiffish stinging hairs. Leaves alterrate 

 or opposite, entire, lobed, or very much 

 divided. Calyx lobes 5, equal. Petals 5, 

 hooded, spreading or erect, more or less 

 united into a beU-shaped corolla, alter- 

 nating with 5 scales, each having 2 3 

 bristles on the back, and 2 awl-shaped 

 appendages at the base. Stamens 

 numerous, in btmdles opposite the petals ; 

 staminodes 10, 2 opposite each scale. 

 Capsule smooth or ribbed, rarely twisted. 



Culture and Propagation. — Only a 

 few species are in cultivation, and these 

 are easily raised from seeds sown either 

 in gentle heat in February or March, or 

 in the open border in May. The traihng 

 kinds may be utilised for covering old 

 tree stumps, arbours, treUises &c. 



L. acanthifolia [L. Placei). — A pretty 

 Chilian annual about 4 ft. high, with 

 pinnately cut and toothed leaves, and 

 yellow flowers in summer. 



Culture dc. as above. 



L. hispida. — A pretty trailing annual 

 about 13 ft. high, native of Lima. Leaves 

 oblong, deeply and pinnately cut, downy. 

 Flowers in July, 1 in. across, bjilfe 

 lemon-yellow, with a green 

 centre. ...^ove. 



iS^fitia (L. aurantiaca ; L. tri- 

 color). — A very pretty trailing Chilian 

 annual or biennial with long-stalked and 



