Tab. 7839. 



ERANTHEMUM ateopuepureum. 



Native of the Solomon Islands. 



Nat. Ord. Acantiiaceje. — Tribe Justicie.b, 

 Genus Eranthemum, Linn.; {Betifh. & Mook.f. Gen. Plant, vol. ii. p. 1007). 



Erantiiemtjm: atropurpureu/m ; suffrutex corollis exceptis glaberrimns, ramia 

 tetraquetris, foliis ovatis oblongisve obtuse acumiuatis basi acutis supra 

 atropurpureia nitidis subtus pallida virescentibus purpureo tinctis, nervia 

 utrinque ad 8 supra impressis subtus costaqne prominulis ptirpureis, 

 petiolo brevi, floribus in panicnlam spiciformem obloTigam erectam C- 

 pollicarem di^positia, ramulis paniculse brevissimia oppositis multi-densi- 

 floris, pedicellis calyce brevioribus, bracteolis subulatia, calycis ^ poll, 

 longi segmentia lanceolatia, corollae tubo pollioari gracili fere recto albo 

 intus pubescente, limbi segmentia tubo paullo brevioribus albis basi roseis 

 lineari-oblongis obtusis ciliatis, 2 auperioribua erectis 3 inferioribua 

 deflexis, antheris exsertis, loculia basi rotundatis ecalcaratis, disco tubu- 

 loso, ovario glaberrimo in stylum gracilem attenuate, etigmatibus 

 minutis. 



E. atropurpurenm, Hort. Bull, ex Gard. Ghron. 1875, vol. i. p. 619. 



The flowering of this well-known stove plant is a rare 

 occurrence, though it has been in cultivation for upwards 

 of a quarter of a century. It is one of the many new and 

 interesting novelties procured from the Pacific Islands by 

 Mr. Charles Moore, F.L.S., when Director of the Botanical 

 Gardens of Sydney, New South Wales, and which were 

 imported by and distributed from the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew. It is said to be a native of the Solomon Islands. 



Two other species, probably allied to E. atropurpurenm, 

 have been recorded from the Solomon Islands ; but the 

 descriptions of them are so meagre, being founded chiefly 

 on the coloration of the leaves (their flowers being un- 

 known) that they have little claim to specific rank. One 

 is E. nigrum, Lind. 111. Hortic. vol. xxvii. (1880), 165, 

 t. 404, with terete branches and nearly black foliage ; the 

 other, E. Moorei, Hort Bull., having leaves with a mottled 

 green centre and a broad yellowish margin. Other allied 

 species are E. Whartonianum, Hemsl. in Kew Bullet. 1894, 

 p. 214, and E. pacificum, Engl. Jahrb. vii. p. 475, which is 

 perhaps E. nigrum. 



The specimens of E. atrojmrpureum here figured 

 June 1st, 1802. 



