THUNBEEGIA 



ACANTHUS OBDEB 



THUNBEEGIA 735 



Ovary seated on a glandular disc, usually 1 -celled, sometimes 2 or rarely 3-4- 

 celled. Fruit a nut-like capsule or rarely drupaceous, often horned or spiny. 



MARTYNIA (Devil's Horns).— A 

 genus containing about 10 species of 

 annual or perennial tuberous-rooted, erect, 

 or trailing, clammy, downy herbs. Leaves 

 opposite or alternate, long-stalked, heart- 

 shaped, coarsely sinuate-toothed, or pal- 

 mately lobed. Flowers rather large, rosy, 

 violet, or pale yellow, in short terminal 

 racemes. Calyx membranous, rather 

 bladdery -bell-shaped, deeply and unevenly 

 5- lobed or parted. OoroUa tube oblique 

 or decurved at the base, scarcely gibbous, 

 broad at the mouth, with 5 broad spread- 

 ing and somewhat wavy lobes. Perfect 

 stamens 2 or 4 ; imperfect ones (stami- 

 nodes) 1 or 3. Fruit drupe-like, ending 

 in 2 curved diverging beaks or hooks like 

 goat's horns. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 species described below are all annuals 

 and are raised early every spring from 

 seeds sown on a hotbed or in a warm 

 greenhouse. The young seedlings are 

 pricked out and grown on until ready for 

 planting out at the end of May about 1-2 ft. 

 apart. Seeds may also be sown in the 

 open border about May and June. Owing 

 to the hard coats of the seeds they take 

 a rather long time to germinate, but if 

 steeped in warm water for about 24 hours 

 before sowing the seeds will sprout much 



more quickly. For the treatment of 

 annuals in general see p. 78. 



M. fragrans (Craniolaria fragranuB). 

 A Mexican species about 2 ft. high with 

 opposite, lobed, hairy and clammy leaves 

 heart-shaped at the base. Flowers from 

 July to September, crimson-purple with 

 a yellow throat, exhaling a vanilla-like 

 odour. Fruit remarkable, produced up- 

 wards into curved, sharp-pointed, hooked 

 horns, 3-4 in. long. 



Culture do. as above. 



M. lutea, — A Brazilian annual, 1-2 ft. 

 high, with opposite, heart-shaped, rounded, 

 toothed leaves, covered with a glandular 

 down. Flowers in August, large, funnel- 

 shaped, orange-yellow tinged with blood- 

 red inside. 



Culture dc. as above. 



M. proboscidea (M. annua). — A bushy 

 Mexican species 1-3 ft. high, having alter- 

 nate lobed leaves heart-shaped at the base, 

 and emitting a rather nauseous odour 

 especially when bruised. Flowers from 

 July to September, having a yellowish- 

 white tube variegated with green, yellow, 

 and violet spots and lines ; limb violet, 

 dotted and lined with deep yellow and 

 dark violet. Known as the ' Unicorn Plant.' 



Culture dc. as above. 



LXXXVI. ACANTHACEiE— Acanthus Order 



An order of more or less downy herbs or shrubs vyith usually opposite, entire, 

 toothed, or rarely lobed or dissected leaves without stipules. Flowers herma- 

 phrodite, often irregular, in leafy spikes at the ends of the branches. Calyx 

 4-5-lobed, inferior, often unequal and sometimes spiny. Corolla gamopetalous, 

 mostly 2-lipped with 5 lobes. Fertile stamens 4, didynamous, or 2, the fifth 

 stamen rudimentary or wanting. Ovary superior, entire, 2-celled. Capsule 

 2-oelled with 2 or more seeds in each cell. 



This order contains about 1350 species widely distributed over the warmer 

 parts of the globe. There are a large number of them cultivated in greenhouses 

 in this country, but only a few are fit for outdoor cultivation. 



THUNBERGIA.— A genus contain- 

 ing about 30 species of sometimes low 

 somewhat erect herbs, sometimes long 

 climbers. Leaves opposite, ovate lance- 

 shaped, heart-shaped, or hastate. Flowers 

 purple, blue, yellow or white, shortly pedi- 

 cellate, solitary and axillary, or in terminal 



racemes. Calyx ringed, sometimes very 

 short, truncate, or 10-15-toothed, and 

 often enclosed by 2 ovate or lance-shaped 

 leafy bracteoles. Corolla tube incurved or 

 oblique, often flattened, widened above ; 

 hmb spreading with 5 broad, roundish 

 lobes, twisted in bud. Stamens 4, didy- 



