Plant Gardens 101

Snapdragon family
Scrophulariaceae
Ne-mee’she-a. African herbs or subshrubs, comprising 50 species.

Description
Stem square and grooved. Leaves simple, lance-shaped, not stalked, in alternating pairs, becoming smaller toward the top. Flowers in terminal clusters, yellow, brown, crimson, pink, blue, white, often 2-colored. Corolla short and tubular, the expanded limb wide, flat, and 2-lipped, the base of the lower lip forming a small spur, the upper being cut into 4 segments.

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Acanthus family
Acanthaceae
Thune-ber’ji-a. Mostly Asiatic or African tender woody or herbaceous vines or shrubs comprising about 100 species, the species below grown for ornament. Sometimes called clock vine.

Description
Leaves opposite, often arrow-shaped at the base. Flowers showy, solitary in the leaf axils, variously colored, and below them 2 or more leafy bracts. Corolla funnel- or bell-shaped, sometimes curved, the limb regular or nearly so, not 2-lipped.

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Mint family
Labiatae
Sal’vi-a. Sage. About 750 species of herbs, subshrubs, or shrubs distributed throughout the tropical and temperate world. The leaves of some species are used as a seasoning.

Description
Stems usually square. Leaves in pairs, opposite, simple, ovalish or lance-shaped, sometimes hairy, the margins toothed or deeply cut into segments, smaller toward the top. Flowers in whorls, the clusters 2- to many-flowered, growing from the axils of small, leafy bracts and arranged in terminal spikes or racemes. Colors varying. Calyx 5-lobed, joined about halfway down. Corolla 2-lipped, 3 lobes in the lower lip and 2 in the upper lip. Stamens 4, in pairs.

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Goosefoot family
Chenopodiaceae
At’ri-plex. A large genus of herbs and salt-tolerant shrubs of wide distribution. One is a secondary garden vegetable, several are troublesome weeds, and a number are cultivated in gardens in arid areas.

Description
Leaves mostly alternate, or rarely opposite, often mealy or whitish. Flowers inconspicuous, mostly unisexual, in simple or branched clusters.

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Borage family
Boraginaceae
My-o-so’tis. Fifty species, mostly European, but a few throughout the north temperate zone.

Description
Usually branching, often weak or prostrate, generally hairy. Leaves alternate, without marginal teeth. Flowers small, in branched or unbranched, sometimes 1-sided, clusters. Calyx short, tubular, 5-toothed at the top. Corolla 5-lobed, the throat crested and often of a different color.

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Evening primrose family
Onagraceae
Low-peez’ia. A genus of American herbs or subshrubs, used chiefly as greenhouse plants.

Description
Leaves small, alternate, broadly lance-shaped, the margin sawlike. Flowers small, produced in clusters at ends of branches. Petals 5, the upper 2 bent upward and having at the bend a glossy piece of hard honeylike tissue that deceives flies. The real nectaries are at the base of the flower. Stamens 2, one fertile, the other petal-like.

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Milkweed family
Asclepiadaceae
As-klee’pi-as. Milkweed . Milky-juiced, rather showy, but sometimes weedy, perennial herbs, including about 200 species, chiefly from the New World, but a few African. The cultivated species are mostly North American.

Description
Leaves opposite or in whorls, rarely alternate; without marginal teeth. Flowers regular, often showy, usually in close, roundish umbels, but sometimes in few-flowered clusters in leaf axils. Corolla with 5 deep lobes.

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Potato family
Solanaceae
Hy-o-sy’a-mus. Very poisonous or medicinal herbs from the Mediterranean region.

Description
Leaves coarsely toothed. Corolla funnel-shaped, whitish or yellowish.

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Daisy family
Compositae
E-mil’i-a.

Twenty species of herbs from the Old World tropics, at least 2 of which are pantropical weeds. Related to Senecio .

Description
Leaves alternate. Flowerheads small, solitary, or clustered, disk-shaped. Involucre cylindrical or cupped.

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Snapdragon family
Scrophulariaceae
A-sa-ri’na. A small genus of tender, usually climbing, herbs native to North America and Europe.

Description
Leaves mostly triangular and flowers showy, 2-lipped, borne in leaf axils. They are closely related to Antirrhinum but differ in the climbing habit and the symmetrical shape of the capsule.

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Potato family
Solanaceae
Brow-wall’i-a. A genus of mostly tropical American herbs, several widely grown, mostly blue-flowered.

Description
Leaves simple, mostly alternate. Flowers solitary or in somewhat 1-sided racemes. Calyx tubular, usually with 5 teeth. Corolla tubular, the 5-lobed limb more or less irregular.

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Madder family
Rubiaceae
As-per’u-la. A large genus of Old World herbs, some cultivated for ornament.

Description
Leaves in whorls of 6 or more. Flowers small, more or less funnel-shaped, and very numerous in forking cymes.

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Mallow family
Malvaceae
Ab-el-mos’kus. A group of 6 or more species, native in s. Asia. They are related to Hibiscus .

Description
Leaves large, palmately lobed or divided. Calyx thin, split along one side, united at the base to the base of the petals and the staminal column.

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Cucumber family
Cucurbitaceae
Mo-more’di-ka. Over 40 species of tropical Asian or African tendril-bearing, high-climbing vines, 2 grown for their decorative fruit.

Description
Leaves alternate, heavy, compound or deeply divided. Male and female flowers separate, sometimes on the same plant, both solitary (in cultivated species), yellow or white, the stalk bearing a prominent bract. Corolla bell-shaped or more open, parted nearly to the base. Fruit oblongish or globe-shaped, splitting at maturity.

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Mustard family
Cruciferae
Lob-you-lair’i-a. A small genus of about 5 species of Mediterranean herbs, related to Alyssum .

Description
Leaves alternate, with unbroken margin. Flowers white, with 4 petals and 4 sepals. Stamens 6.

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Mignonette family
Resedaceae
Re-zee’da. A genus of 50-60 species of erect or reclining herbs, sometimes woody at the base, from the Mediterranean region. A few species are cultivated.

Description
Leaves alternate or clustered, simple or divided pinnately in some species. Flowers small, in long spikes, and composed of 4-7 petals.

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Mallow family
Malvaceae
A-bu’ti-lon. Flowering Maple ; Chinese Lantern . About 150 species of tropical shrubs (rarely herbs) of the mallow family, a few of which are grown as bedding plants.

Description
Leaves alternate, often veined and resembling a maple leaf; some varieties are variegated. Flowers showy, solitary, and borne in leaf axils, usually drooping and often trumpet-shaped.

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Pea family
Leguminosae
Poo-er-ray’ri-a. A genus of Asiatic and East Indian rapid-growing vines, related to Canavalia .

Description
Leaves compound, with 3 leaflets. Flowers blue or purple, pea-shaped, borne in racemes in leaf axils.

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Daisy family
Compositae
Lo’nas. Anthemis Tube. A single herb from the Mediterranean region.

Description
Leaves alternate, coarsely toothed, divided feather-fashion, with the segments linear. Flowerheads small, tubular, without rays, in dense corymbs.

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Daisy family
Compositae
Thell-e-sper’ma. Coreopsis-like herbs comprising about 12 species of w. North America and s. South America.

Description
Leaves alternate and opposite, much divided into threadlike segments. Flowerheads solitary on long stems. The species below differing only in technical characters from Coreopsis .

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