thickly clothed with leaves, which are from two to four 
inches long, erecto-patent, coriaceous, oblongo-lanceolate, 
acute, scarcely petiolate, of a bluish-green, and paler be- 
neath, reticulated with veins, the sides often turned upwards, 
the margin furnished with numerous sharp, irregular teeth, 
which, under a glass, seem enlarged or glandulose at the 
extremity. Raceme terminal, leafy, the leaves often so re- 
duced in size, as to resemble bracteas, as in the specimen 
here figured : at other times, the leaves are as large as those 
of the stem, and then the flowers may truly be said to be 
solitary and axillary, often terminated with a crown of 
barren leaves. Pedicel shorter than the bractea or leaf, 
downy. Calyx (including the germen) with an hemispher- 
ical tube, green, slightly downy, with five, erect, subulate 
teeth. Corolla of a deep blackish, or blood-purple colour, 
thrice as long as the calyx, curved, with adeep cleft above, _ 
through which the column of stamens and style ascends, 
the-segments slightly downy, spathulate, combined at their 
apices. Filaments purple. Anthers closely combined, 
curved, brownish ash-coloured, the two lower ones slightly 
bearded at the apex. 
Fig. 1. Flower and Bractea; magnified. 2. Leaf: nat. size. 
