THE ILLUSTRATION HORTICOLE. 



PL. CLXIV. 



APHELANDRA FASCINATOR, linden & andre. 



THE CHARMER APHELANDRA. 



AGANTHACEAE. 



ETYMOLOGY : from Aft!*, simple or single, and «„ v 



GENERIC CHARACTER: calyx quinquepartitus, inaequalis. Corolla hypogyna, run 

 inferioris tripartiti laciniis lateralibus multo minoribus. Stamina 

 «,„«/.«. Ovarium biloculare, loculis biovulatis. S 



to the 1-celled anthers of this genus. 



labio superiore subfornical, bidentato, 

 corollae tubo inserta, inclusa, didynama; antherae uniloculars, 

 tigma bifidum. Capsula teretiuscula, bilocularis, tetraspenna, 



retinaculis 



— Frutices Ai>irri>wf fropimr, /hi its oppositis, 

 )llis spcciosis , nb cur dis 



loculicide bivalvis, valvis medio septiferis. Semina compressa 



spicis axillaribus et terminalibus tetragonis, bracteis oppositis, submembranaceis , bracteohs angusti 



(aut aurantiacis) (Ex Endlich Gen. PI 4074.) 



Aphelandra, Rob. Brown, Prodr. 475. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER: suffruticosa, glaberrima; rami erecti, teretes, rari, ad nodos violacei, sub epidermide lenticellati, 

 juniores vix puberuli; folia ampla, 15 centim. et ultra longa, 9 centim. lata, Hmbo ovato utrinque attenuate basi in petiolum brevem 

 canaKculatttm decurrente, integerrimo, supra viridi-olivaceo nervis vix prominentibus in vitta argentea nitentissima immersis, subtus 

 in tota superficie rubro-violacea nervis paulo elevatis atroviolaceis ; fiores in spicas terminales tetragonas dispnsiti; bracteae ovatae, 

 decussato-biseriatae, ovato-acuminatae, ciliatae, viridi-purpureoque in dorso hneatae ; calycis laciniae-5 acutissimae, tubo corollae duplo 

 breviores; corolla subringens, bilabiata, tubo cylindraceo erecto bracteam superante, 7-8 centim. longa, 5-6 centim. lata, labio 

 superiore porrecto carinato inferioris trifidi lobis lateralibus ovatis patulis ovato unguiculatis, lobo medio duplo majore ovato spa- 



tulato, omnibus integerrimis splendide vividissimeque scarlatinis v. cinnabarinis ; genitalia inclusa; fructus — Nova-Granata, 1872. 



— Ad vivum descripsi in horto Lindeniano. — Ed. A. 



Aphelandra fascinator, Linden et Andre (Lind. Catal. 1873). 



The Charmer ! Such is the appellation chosen by us for 

 this magnificent species from the time it first delighted our 

 eyes. Its name will be on every tongue this year of grace, 

 1874. Neither figure nor description can convey to our 

 senses anything approaching an adequate idea of its splen- 

 dour. Our artist, M. De Pannemaeker, was dismayed before 

 the task of imitating the dazzling vermilion hue presented 

 by its gorgeous spike of flowers, and the delicate silver 

 shades of its foliage, glistening like a Maranta. He felt that 

 the brightest pigments of his palette were a thousand times 

 surpassed by this scarlet powdered with gold, when the light 

 of day was playing upon its polished surface. We experience 

 the same difficulty, and, although the Latin language must 

 preserve for science as truthful a description as possible of 

 this great introduction, we forego an attempt, even, to paint 

 in English words its brilliancy and beauty. The efforts of 

 the painter have exceeded our own, and we once again feel 

 the force of the precept of the Latin poet : That we under- 

 stand and remember what we have seen better than what we 

 have heard. 



Aphelandra fascinator was first discovered no longer 

 ago than the year 1872, in the half-shaded forests of a 

 part of New-Granada, still very little explored. It was 



described and named in the first place in M. Linden's cata- 

 logue, sent out in September, 1873. It is therefore an abso- 

 lute novelty and quite unpublished; and we trust by fa- 

 voured propagation it may soon be in the hands of all 

 desirous amateurs. 



At the time when Aphelandra aurantiaca, discovered by 

 M. Linden in the state of Tabasco, appeared in the " Flore 

 des Serres „ the beauty of the new plant was highly extolled, 

 and deservedly so, by every our. Twenty year- later, in l s <"- 

 A. aurantiaca Roezlii followed and prored tar superior 

 to the type. And more recently A. niieru was introduced 

 from Guyaquil and published in English papers. 



But how much this transcends all of them in its lovely 

 leaves overlaid with silver in regular hands and clothed 

 beneath with a mantle of purple-violet, and in its enormous 

 spikes of flowers of an indescribable colour, as large as the 

 largest of Lobelia splendens and subtended by beautifully 

 striped bracts ! 



We need not further dilate on this grand acquisition. 

 It is in the stoves of plant-lovers that we hope to meet with 

 it soon when all its beauty and elegance shall have been 

 developed by the arts of cultivation. 



E. A. 



