Tas. 4579. 
RONDELETIA versicotor. 
Changeable-lowered Rondeletia. 
Nat. Ord. Rupracrm™.—PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.: 
Gen. Char. Calycis tubus subglobosus, limbus 4-5-partitus, Jodis oblongis 
linearibusve acutis persistentibus. Corolla tubo cylindrico vix apice subventricoso, 
limbo patente 4—5-lobo, lobis subrotundis. dnthere 4-5, in apice tubi incluse, 
sessiles. Stigma bifidum. Capsula globosa, calyce coronata, bilocularis, ex apice 
dehiscens in’ valvulas 2 sepius apice fissas unde swpe 4-valvis videtur, nunc 
loculicido- rarius septicido-dehiscens. Placente centrales. Semina plurima, mi- 
nima, ovato-angulata, sepe 2 tantum in loculo maturescentia.—Arbuscule aut 
frutices omnes ex America. Folia plus minus petiolata aut subsessilia. Stipule 
deltoidee aut lanceolato-lineares, utrinque solitarie indivise, interdum intus hirsute. 
Pedunculi azillares sepius trichotomi, interdum in paniculam corymbosam termi- 
nalem dispositi, rarius tri- imo uniflori. De Cand. 
RONDELETIA versicolor ; pentamera, ramulis foliisque junioribus sericeo-villosis, 
foliis petiolatis ovatis acuminatis basi obtusis subcordatis (siccitate sub- 
coriaceis) supra glabriusculis subtus pubescenti-tomentosis, stipulis late 
ovatis patentibus pubescentibus, panicula trichotoma cymosa densa, floribus 
pubescentibus, calycis tubo globoso limbi dentibus 5 parvis, corolle tubo 
gracili infundibuliformi limbi (tubi longitudine diametro brevioris) lobis 
rotundatis disco sericeis. 
Sent by Mr. Seemann from Boqueta, Veraguas, Central Ame- 
rica, to the Royal Gardens of Kew in 1838. A handsome stove 
shrub, especially when its copious cymes of dense flowers are 
in perfection (March and April), and which are remarkable for 
the play of colours: the tube is yellow ; the limb in bud deep 
rose-colour, changing when they expand to pale rose and then to 
white, with a yellow disc, and having a two-lobed green spot in — 
the centre from the colour of the stigmas, which protrude a little 
beyond the mouth. It does not correspond with any of the 
many species now described of this genus ; its nearest affinity 1s 
perhaps with 2. cordata, Benth. (Rogeria, Planch. and Henfrey) 
from Guatemala, but that is nearly glabrous, and has sessile ~ 
leaves, broad and cordate at the base. : 
Duscr. A moderate-sized shrub, with “very bitter bark. 
MAY Ist, 1851. 
