Tab. 5334. 



SONERILA GRANDIFLORA. 



Large-flowered Sonerila. 



Nat. Ord. Melastomace^e. — Triandria Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Mores 3-meri. Calycis oblongi, subcylindrici, vel triquetri, rarius 

 turbinati dentes simplices, acuti, SBepius breviores, persistentes aut sero decidui. 

 Petala ovata vel oblongo-ovata, acuminata, nervo medio postice ssepissime 

 piloso. Stamina 3, cum petalis alteruantia, rarissime 6 et tunc alternatim 

 insequalia; antheris nunc subulatis aut linearibus 1 -porosis, nunc ovatis ovato- 

 oblongisve, obtusis, biporosis, interdumqueadmodum brevibus et quasi truncatis; 

 connectivo infra loculos nullo, postice autem supra filamenti insertionem basilarem 

 aut subdorsalem nonnunquam tuberculato. Ovarium oranino aut vix non om- 

 nino adha?rens, triloculare. Stylus filiformis, stigmate punctiformi aut capi- 

 tellato. Capsula calycis tubo persistente vestita, ut plurimum triquetra, apice 

 umbilicata, 3-valvis. Semina magis minusve regulariter ovoidea aut pyramidata. 

 Herba3 interdum suffrutescentes, in India orientali insulisque vicinis indigence, 

 inter Melastomaceas ob jtores trimeros memorabiles, habitu autem heterogeno, 

 caulescentes et subacaules, glabra et hirsutce ; foliis hand infrequenter maxiwe in- 

 cequalibus et heleromorphis ; floribus ut plurimum in racemos scorpoideos dispo- 

 sitis, purpureis ant violaceis, rarius albis, Naud. 



Sonerila grandifiora; erecta, glaberrima, caule fruticuloso nodoso, foliis petio- 

 latis ellipticis utrinque acutis serratis basi 3-5 - nerviis crassis subtus 

 purpurascentibus, petiolo crasso, floribus in cymas curvas terminales dis- 

 posals magnis crasse pedunculatis, calyce elongato turbinato, lobis late 

 ovatis, petalis rubro-purpureis acuminatis, staminibus stylo sequilongis, 

 stigmate simplici. 



Sonerila grandifiora. Wall. Cat. n. 4099. Wight et Am. Prodr. v. 1. p. 322. 

 Wight, let. 995. 



This very beautiful, and apparently extremely rare plant, was 

 flowered by Messrs. Hugh Low and Son, of Clapton, in Oc- 

 tober last. It is a native of the Nilgherrie mountains, where 

 it has, according to Dr. Wight, been found by him in one spot 

 only, namely, the Long Valley between the Avalanche and Sis- 

 panah, where it occurs in great plenty by the banks of a rivulet. 

 It is much the finest species of the genus that has hitherto 

 flowered in this country. 



JANUARY 1ST, 1863. 



