Tas. 4229. 
TORENIA Kenan 
Purple-blotched Torenta. 
Nat. Ord. ScRopHULARINE#.—DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Gen. Char. Calyx tubulosus, plicatus, apice oblique 5-dentatus v. bilabiatus, 
labiis 2—3-dentatis. Corolla ringens, labio' superiore bifido, inferiore trifido, 
laciniis subplanis. Stamina fertilia 4, didynama, 2 superiora brevia filamentis 
integris, 2 inferiora ad basin labii inferioris inserta, filamentis elongatis arcuatis, 
basi appendice dentiformi vel filiformi auctis. Anthere per paria cohzerentes 
approximate, biloculares, loculis divergentibus divaricatisve apice confluentibus. 
Stylus simplex, stigmate complanato bilamellato v. simplici (°). Capsula ob- 
longa calyce brevior, bivalvis, valvulis integris margine planis, dissepimento 
parallelo placentifero demum libero.—Herbe ramose, glabre v. villosa, haud 
diffuse. Folia opposita sepius dentata. Flores awillares, oppositi v. fasciculati, 
interdum racemost. Benth. 
Toren edentula; pubescens, foliis late ovatis subcordatis grosse serratis, 
pedunculis axillaribus solitariis vel terminalibus subaggregatis nunc race- 
mosis folio brevioribus demum fructiferis refractis, corollis calyce ovato vix 
longioribus, filamentis omnibus edentulis. 
Torenta edentula. Benth. in Hook. Herb. 
This very pretty annual made its appearance in some earth in 
flower-pots in the stove at Kew, and had no doubt come from 
some part of the East Indies. I at first supposed it was the 
Torenia Asiatica, L., but a slight comparison of the calyx and 
flowers convinced me of my error; and I find it to corrrespond 
exactly with a species from Assam, in my Herbarium, marked 
by Mr. Bentham, ‘ 7. edentula.’ It is, probably, found also in 
other parts of our eastern possessions, and will doubtless appear 
under that name in the forthcoming volume of De Candolle’s 
Prodromus. ‘The broad calyx, as long, or nearly so, as the tube 
of the corolla, is very characteristic of this species, and the two 
deep purple blotches which render the blossoms so bright and 
lively are conspicuous even in my dried specimens. The genus 
was named in honour of Olof Toreen, chaplain of a vessel in the 
Swedish East India Company, who published a voyage to China 
between the years 1750, and 1752. The present species flowered 
with us during the months of July and August. 
MAY Ist, 1846. 
