ARGYROCHÆTA. A synonym of Parthenium (which see).
ARGYROXYPHIUM (from argyros, silver, and xyphion, a corn-flag; in allusion to the leaves). ORD. Compositæ. An ornamental greenhouse perennial herb. Involucre campanulate; receptacle conical; heads pedunculate, racemose, or in thyrsoid panicles. Leaves alternate; lower ones close, elongated, thick, on both sides silver-lined. Stems simple or slightly branched. It thrives well in rich sandy loam and leaf mould. Propagated by seed-heads.
C. sandwicense (Sandwich Islands). fl.-heads purplish. l. linear lanceolate, imbricate, clothed, like the stems, with silvery hairs. h. 3ft. Sandwich islands, 1872. SYN. Argyrophyton Douglasii.
ARIA. See Pyrus Aria.
ARISÆMA (from aron, Arum, and sana, a standard; in reference to the close alliance to Arum). ORD. Aroideæ. Small tuberous rooted greenhouse (except where stated otherwise) herbaceous plants. Spathe rolled round the spadix at the base; spadix bearing unisexual flowers below. and rudimentary flowers in the upper part. Leaves peltate, pedate, palmate, or simple. For culture, &c., see [Arum.]
A. concinna (neat).* fl., spathe convolute, tubular at the base; upper portion bent over at the mouth, and gradually narrowed into a tail-like appendage about 3in. long; spathe of the female plant longitudinally barred with white and green, the latter colour being replaced with blue-purple in the male. June. l. solitary, sheathing at the base, and made up of ten or twelve lanceolate, entire, light green leaflets, which radiate from the top of the petiole, the latter being 1ft. to 2ft. high. Sikkim, 1871.
A. curvatum (curved).* fl. crowning a scape which overtops the foliage; tube of spathe cylindrical, green, obscurely striped with white; the elliptic blade arches forward, green on the inner surface, and brownish-red on the outer; spadix produced into a purplish-red tail, about 1ft. long. April. l. pedate. The large bracts, which sheath the base of the stem, are beautifully marbled with dark olive green, red, and light green. h. 4ft. Himalayas, 1871. SYN. A. helleborifolium.
A. galeata (helmeted).* fl., spathe about 4in long; tube and cylindrical side of spathe green, tinted purplish at base, with many longitudinal white lines; inside of the tube purple. July. l. solitary, trifoliate; middle leaflet 6in. long by 3¾in. broad; lateral ones 7in. long and nearly 4in. broad. h. 1ft. Himalayas, Sikkim, 1879.
A. Griffithi (Griffith's).* fl., spathe large, hood-like, brown-violet, with green veins; spadix brown-violet, and the barren end at the base above the flowers has a disk-like projection, while its free extremity is prolonged into a long thread-like appendage. Spring. l. with bold roundish leaflets. h. 1ft. to 1½ft. Sikkim, 1879. Hardy; very handsome. SYN. A. Hookerianum.
A. helleborifolium (Hellebore-leaved). A synonym of A. curvatum.
A. Hookerianum (Hooker's). A synonym of A. Griffithi.
A. nepenthoides (Nepenthes-like).* fl., spathe above the tubular portion extended into two decided auricles, which serve to distinguish it from other species, ochre, brown, green; spadix yellowish Spring. l. pedate, of five lanceolate or oblanceolate leaflets; central one 6in. long, the others shorter. h. 2ft. Himalayas, 1879.
A. præcox (early). A synonym of A. ringens.
A. ringens (gaping).* fl., spathe striped green and white, erect and cylindrical below, then arching suddenly over, and again contracting into a rather small deep purple orifice, with broad, reflexed margins; spadix erect, pale yellow-green. Spring. l., leaflets three, ovate-oblong, acuminate, and produced into a filiform point; peduncle short. Japan. Hardy. SYNS. A. præcox and A. Sieboldi.
A. Sieboldi (Siebold's). A. synonym of A. ringens.
A. speciosa (showy).* fl., spadix deep glossy purple, greenish and white, with a long flexuous prolongation, sometimes nearly 20in. in length; spathe also terminating with a filiform elongation. March. l. solitary, trifoliate; leaflets petioled, dark green, conspicuously edged with blood red; petioles long, mottled with white. h. 2ft. Temperate Himalayas, 1872.
FIG. 148. ARISÆMA TRIPHYLLA.
A. triphylla (three-leaved).* fl., spathe 4in. to 6in. long, striped with broad lines of purplish-brown, with about 1in. of green in the middle; spadix 3in. long, spotted with brown. June to July. l. on long stout petioles, trifoliate; leaflets entire, equal, acuminated. h. 9in. to 1ft. North America, 1664. This is quite hardy. SYNS. A. zebrina and Arum triphyllum. See Fig. 148.
A. zebrina (zebra). A synonym of A. triphylla.
ARISARUM (name of Greek origin). ORD. Aroideæ. A small genus of half-hardy herbaceous plants, possessing but little horticultural interest, and allied to Arisæma. Flowers unisexual, spadix having no rudimentary flowers. Leaves on long stalks, heart-shaped or spear-shaped. The only species in cultivation thrives in a sand, loam, and peat compost. Propagated by seeds or divisions of the root in spring.