31 



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ACHIMENES pedunculata 



Long -stalked Achimenes. 



DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA. 



Nat. ord. Gesnerace^e, 



ACHIMENES. Botanical Register, 1841. *. 65. 



A. pedunculata ; caule erecto simplici pubescente, foliis par&m inaequalibus 

 petiolatis oblique cordato-ovatis serratis supra sparse pilosulis subtus ad 

 venas pubescentibus, pedunculis subbifloris folio longioribus calycibusque 



inf undibulari elongata, limbi laciniis plani 



_^ MH , w — ^ ^— ^ — — 



supremis minoribus. 



A. pedunculata. Bentham in Plant. Hartweg 



' The shady woods of Santa Maria, in Guatemala, produced 

 this fine species for Mr. Hartweg, who forwarded it to the 

 Horticultural Society, It flowered for the first time in 

 September 1841. 



In appearance it is more like a Gesnera than an Achi- 

 menes, but, if the limits assigned to these genera by DeCan- 

 dolle are the true ones, Mr. Bentham has rightly placed it in 

 Achimenes. For it has a cup-shaped disk and distinct 

 anthers which appear to be among the most important attri- 

 butes of the latter genus. It has too the thin soft foliage ol 

 Achimenes instead of the thick coarse leaves of a Gesnera. 



In a cultivated state the appearance of this species is 

 much improved. The wild specimens have larger leaves and 

 smaller flowers, and look like drawn up plants pulled out o 

 a thicket where they had been struggling with darkness and 

 a scanty soil for their existence. In the hothouse the flowers 

 are more numerous, larger, and of a peculiarly deep scarlet 

 richly marked with rows of crimson spots. It is a good 

 addition to collections. 



June, 1842. N 



