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|genus=Aspidistra
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Aspidistra (Greek, a small, round shield; referring, probably, to the shape of the stigma). Liliaceae. A popular florists' plant, grown for its stiff, shining, beautiful foliage, which is sometimes striped.
Leaves all radical, many, long, gradually narrowed into petiole, the rhizome thick and sometimes creeping: fls. inconspicuous and borne close to the ground; perianth wide-campanulate, 8-lobed; stamens 8, attached on the tube, the filaments very short; ovary 4-celled: fr. a globose indéhiscent 1-seeded berry.— Three or 4 species in Himalaya, China and Japan. The casual observer never suspects that Aspidistra is a liliaceous plant. The parts of the fl. in monocotyledons are typically in 3's. The genus Aspidistra is considered abnormal, as usually having its parts in 4's. This tetramerous state (which is here considered the normal one, and described below) is pictured in B.M. 2499, but the species was first described upon a trimerous state, and pictured in B.R. 628. In A. lurido; the trimerous state must be regarded as an exceptional reversion: in A. typica, B.M. 7484, the trimerous state is thought to be constant.
Aspidistra is invaluable to the florist in decorative work, owing to its ability to withstand rough usage, dust, heat, cold and drought. The foliage is very useful when cut for mixing with amaryllises when they are used as cut- f flowers, lasting for weeks in good condition; for such purposes the aspidistra may be planted under greenhouse benches in waste places for the production of leaves alone. The variegated variety is often seen, but a poor soil must be used or the variegation will speedily disappear. To increase the plants, divide in early spring when repotting, shaking out the old soil from the roots and separating the leaves, putting several in a pot of a useful size, a 6-inch being large enough to hold a number of leaves and their roots.
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| name = ''Aspidistra''
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