Tas. 4208. 
CUPHEA corpata. 
Large redflowered Cuphea. 
Nat. Ord. LyTHRARIEZ.—DoDECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Gen.Char. Calya tubulosus basi superiore gibbus limbo ampliatus, dentibus 
6 erectis, sinubus 6 nunc productis parvis nune obsoletis. Petala 6—7 inequalia. 
Stamina 11-14 rarius 6—7, fauci calycis inserta ineequalia. Glandula crassa sub 
ovario. Stylus filiformis. Stigma simplex aut subbifidum. Capsu/a membranacea 
calyce obtecta 1-2-locularis, demum per placentam deflexam simul cum calyce 
fissa. Semina suborbiculata compressa aptera—Herbe aut Suffrutices. Folia 
opposita rarius verticillata integerrima. Pedunculi inferpetiolares uni- aut rarius 
multiflori. Flores sepius cernui. Calyces colorati. Petala violacea aut alba. D.C. 
Cupnea cordata; pubescens, caule suffruticoso, foliis ovatis (vix cordato-ovatis) 
oppositis subsessilibus integerrimis, racemis paniculatis bracteatis, calyce 
(inter majores) colorato basi superne obtuse calcarato ore oblique 6-dentato, 
staminibus 11 triseriatis, petalis 2 superioribus subrotundatis maximis 4 
minutissimis. 
Cupnea cordata. Ruiz et Pav. Syst. Veget. p. 119. Fl. Peruv. et Chil. Prodr, 
p. 66. 4.11. Ruiz et Pav. Ic. ined. t.114 C. De Cand. Prodr. v. 3. p. 88. 
A truly beautiful plant, from the rich scarlet of its two large 
petals and calyces. Would that all the species of this extensive 
-genus were as distinctly marked as the present one! It is a na- 
tive of hills and woods in Peru, about Huassahuass1, Chaclla, 
Acomayo and Huanuco, and from that country seeds were sent 
to Mr. Veitch of Exeter by his collector, Wm. Lobb, in 1842, 
from which plants were raised that blossomed in August, 1845. 
The plant is kept in the stove and seems to flower freely there: _ 
it may be increased by cuttings. ‘The generic name is derived by 
Jacquin from «iss curved, in allusion to the, curvature of the base 
of the calyx. : 
Various properties are attributed by the Peruvians to this plant, 
which are probably analogous to those of the nearly allied Lythrum 
or Loose-strife. “ Vi vulneraria,” say Ruiz and Pavon, “ apertiva 
et desobstruente pollet. Folia floresque contusi ad partes luxa- 
tas roborandas inserviunt. Flores antiepilectici, saporem parum 
_ viscosum, salino-dulcem, non ingratum habent,” ie 
JANUARY Isr, 1846. | as 
