Cultivated by Miller in 1768; but we had never met 

 with the plant before last summer, when it flowered in the 

 hothouse of Mr. Lee of the Haminei-smith nursery, having 

 been raised from seed from Jamaica. 



The genus has been entirely I'ecast in the Prodromus of 

 Mr. Brown; and defined as follows : Calyx 5-parted (some- 

 times deeply 5-cleft), equal. Corolla funnelform, with a 

 5-cleft spreading slightly unequal limb. Stamens 4, all 

 antherbearing, inclosed; anthers with parallel unappendi- 

 cated cells. Cells of the germen manyseeded. Capsule 

 roundish, subsessile, with the partition grown to the 

 valves. Seeds subtended by brackets (bracketted) . The 

 group thus circumscribed consists of herbaceous caulescent 

 opposite-leaved frequently furred plants; with either axil- 

 lary or terminal flowers. 



The species with two-seeded cells, in the genus, are 

 thus excluded, and distributed into other groups. 



Stem 2-3 feet high, branching, frequently lying along 

 the ground, 4-cornered, smooth, furred at the upper part; 

 the branches consist chiefly of the divisions which constitute 

 the panicle. Leaves petioled, ovately lanceolate, subseri-ate 

 nerved, either slightly hirsute or else roughened; stem-ones 

 the longest; those of the branches frequently falling off 

 while in flower: petioles short. Branches of the panicle 

 opposite dichotomous divaricate ; pedicles one-flowered, 

 flowers largish, either blue or purple. Segments of the 

 calyx long, linear, upright, hirsute, the pubescence glan- 

 dular. Tube of the corolla twice the length of the 

 calyx, wide above, gibbous behind, and flat before; seg- 

 ments of the limb nearly equal ; two hinder ones scarcely 

 shorter than the rest, three front ones more spreading ; all 

 nearly round concave and lapping at the sides: faux com- 

 pressed and paler. Filaments from the base of the tube, 

 two shorter by half than the rest (this seems a mistake, as 

 there is scarcely any inequality mentioned by others) near- 

 ing by pairs : anthers upright, white, bivalved. Germen 

 oblong, taper-pointed: style the length of the tube filiform: 

 stigma bifid, with one lobe longer than the other. Capsule 

 taper-pointed, enclosed by the calyx, bilocular, bursting 

 elastically upon the claw: seeds nearly round, compressed 

 black. The whole plant said to be slightly viscid, with a 

 smell that approaches in some degree to that of Camphor. 



We had no opportunity of describing the plant our- 

 selves. 



