KHBUM 



BHUBABB OBDEB 



MUBHLENBECKIA 771 



grow, they are particularly suitable for 

 growing in smoky localities. 



R. acuminatum. — ^A native of Sikkim 

 about 3 ft. high, remarkable for having 

 slender roots several feet long. Leaves 

 broadly heart-shaped, with a deep sinus, 

 tapering to a point, somewhat downy 

 below, and having slender stalks chan- 

 nelled on the upper side. Flowers lurid 

 or brownish - purple, or blood-red, in 

 slightly branched panicles. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R australe. — A Nepalese species with 

 branched spindle-shaped roots and leafy 

 stems 6-10 ft. high. Leaves roundish, 

 broadly heart-shaped, obtuse, flat, 3-4 in. 

 long, on slender, more or less furrowed 

 stalks about 4 in. long. Flowers in long 

 dense racemose panicles ; calyx purple. 



Culture Se. as above. This species 

 retains the freshness of its foliage for a 

 long time, especially if the flower stems 

 are not allowed to develop. 



R. Emodi. — A fine Himalayan species 

 6-10 ft. high with blunt broadly ovate 

 heart-shaped slightly wavy leaves having 

 5-7 reddish nerves and half-round stalks. 

 Flowers whitish, in dense clustered 

 panicles. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. nobile. — A beautiful Sikkim species 

 about 3 ft. or more high, with thick fleshy 

 roots sometimes many feet long. Leaves 

 large bright glossy green with red stalks 

 and nerves and fragile pink stipules. 

 Flowers green, very small, in short 

 branched panicles concealed by pale 

 yellow bracts, some of which are edged 

 with pink. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. oiBcinale. — A stately ornamental 

 species 8-10 ft. high, native of Thibet. 

 Leaves large roundish kidney-shaped 

 5-nerved and cut into 5 short unec[ually 

 incised lobes at the edges. Flowers 

 greenish, small, in dense spikes. 



Culture do. as above. This is con- 

 sidered to be the finest Ehubarb in cul- 

 tivation. 



R. palmatum. — A rather slow-growing 

 species about 5 ft. high, native of E. and 

 N. Asia, with roundish heart - shaped 

 palmately lobed 3-5 -nerved leaves; 

 lobes ovate-oblong or lance-shaped, acute, 

 undivided incised toothed or pinnately 

 cut._ Flowers in a leafy panicle. The 

 variety tamguticum is a beautiful one. 



with longer and narrower leaves and 

 less deeply lobed. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. Rhaponticum. — ^This is the common 

 Rhubarb which has been grown in British 

 gardens for more than 300 years. It is a 

 native of Siberia, and reaches a height of 

 3 or 4 ft. It has roundish deeply heart- 

 shaped wavy smooth green leaves on 

 long thick fleshy stalks, channelled or 

 flattish above, rounded below. Flowers 

 whitish, in dense leafy clustered panicles. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. undulatum. — A native of Siberia, 

 Tartary &c., with smooth green stems 

 4-5 ft. high, and large ovate heart-shaped 

 wavy 5-7-nerved leaves, smooth above, 

 rather downy beneath, on long half-round 

 stalks, channelled above. Flowers in 

 dense clustered panicles. 



Culture dc. as above. 



There are other kinds of Rhubarb, the 

 most noteworthy being compactum, from 

 E. Siberia, with broadly oval wavy lobed 

 leaves ; Bibea, a very rare Persian plant, 

 with broad roundish or kidney-shaped 

 leaves 3 ft. wide, characterised by their 

 stiffness and protuberances ; one of the 

 most ornamental features, however, is 

 probably the number of scarlet 3-winged 

 fruits, which are borne in huge trusses 

 after the blossoms ; hyhridum, a garden 

 form somewhat like palmatum, with 

 broadly oval heart-shaped wrinkled leaves ; 

 rugosum, from Siberia, with leathery 

 wrinkled and puckered leaves. From this 

 species, which is readily recognised by its 

 thick leaf-stalks, have been derived the 

 Victoria, Lincoln, Prince Albert, and 

 other Rhubarbs. (See p. 1154.) 



MUEHLENBECKIA.— A genus of 

 climbing shrubs or undershrubs with 

 alternate stalked, sometimes small round- 

 ish leaves, sometimes larger heart-shaped 

 deltoid or sagittate, and sometimes linear. 

 Flowers small, within sheathing clustered 

 bracts, polygamous, subdioecious. Peri- 

 anth composed of 5 nearly equal lobes or 

 segments, the 3 outer ones of which are 

 sometimes larger. Stamens 8, reduced 

 to short staminodes in the female flowers, 

 or absent. Fruit a blunt or acute 3-angled 

 nut, enclosed in a more or less fleshy 

 perianth. 



Culture and, Propagation. — Muehlen- 

 beckias flourish in sandy loam, and are 

 excellent plants for covering rocks, boul- 



3d2 



