GIG 



GESNERIACE^:. II. GESNERIA. 



behind ; anthers at first cohering into a round head. Glands 5, 

 or fewer around the ovarium. Capsule dry in the calyx, 1- 

 celled, incompletely 2-valved ; placentas 2, parietal, many- 

 seeded. Seeds scobiform. Perennial plants, furnished with 

 solid fleshy tubers of various forms ; but in most of the species 

 these tubers are nearly globose or placentiform, which send 

 forth the stems every year. The plants are beset with com- 

 pound, articulated hairs, and often with glandular, clammy pili. 

 Stems simple, or branched, woody, or annual, terete, rarely 

 angular. Leaves opposite, or verticillate, on short petioles, 

 entire, toothed, or serrated, thickish, clothed with soft villi, 

 which is often silky, but paler and more densely villous beneath. 

 Buds naked. Leaves complicate. Flowers disposed in opposite 

 cymes, constituting a terminal thyrse ; the peduncles furnished 

 with floral leaves, or bracteas at the base : rarely disposed in 

 racemes or spikes. Corollas scarlet, or purple, rarely green, of 

 one colour, or spotted with others, usually pubescent. This 

 beautiful genus is diffused throughout the tropical parts of 

 America, particularly in the fissures of moist rocks, and in ' 

 shady, moist places. 



* Peduncles radical. 



1 G. TUBEROSA (Mart. nov. gen. bras. 3. p. 29. t. 212.) stem 

 rhizomatoid, horizontal, marked by the cicatrices of the fallen 

 leaves ; leaves opposite, broad-ovate, toothed, cordate at the 

 base, clothed with soft pubescence, but hairy on the nerve and 

 veins beneath ; peduncles from the base of the rhizomatose 

 roots ; limb of corolla erectish, nearly equal ; hypogynous 

 glands twin behind. I/ . S. Native of Brazil, in the mine pro- 

 vinces near Villa Rica, in the fissures of rocks. Tuber nearly 

 globose, 1 to lg inch in diameter. Peduncles radical, erect, 

 numerous. Corollas tubular, erect, scarlet. 



Tuberous-rooted Gesneria. PI. -j- foot. 



* Cymes terminal, umbellate. 



2 G. RUPI'COLA (Mart. nov. gen. bras. 3. p. 30. t. 213.) the 

 whole plant villously pubescent ; stem a span high, leafless at 

 top ; leaves opposite, on short petioles, broad ovate, or obovate, 

 purplish beneath, crenated ; cymes terminal ; limb of corolla 

 erectish, nearly equal ; hypogynous glands 5. Tf. . S. Native 

 of Brazil, in the mine provinces, in high, exposed places. Tuber 

 size of a filbert or walnut. Superior part of stem scape-form- 

 ed. Floral leaves 2, sessile, under the cyme. Corollas tubular, 

 scarlet. 



Rock Gesneria. PI. ^ to f foot. 



3 G. CANE'SCENS (Mart. 1. c. p. 36.) clothed with hoary villi ; 

 stem erect ; leaves opposite, and 4 in a whorl, broad-ovate, 

 acutish at both ends, a little toothed ; cymes terminal, few-flow- 

 ered ; corolla clavately cylindrical : limb short, nearly equal ; 

 hypogynous glands 2, behind. Tf.. S. Native of Brazil, in 

 shady rocky places in the province of St. Paul, and on Serra do 

 Mar. Stem purplish. Leaves 1 to lg inch long. Cyme of 

 3-6-8 flowers. Floral leaves under the cyme sometimes 4. 

 Corolla scarlet, an inch long. Hypogynous glands linear-ob- 

 long, truncate. 



Canescent Gesneria. PI. f to 1 foot. 



4 G. DOUGLA'SII (Lindl. in bot. reg. t. 1110. Mart. nov. 

 gen. bras. 3. p. 33.) clothed with fine pubescence ; stem erect ; 

 leaves falsely verticillate, 4-5-6, rarely opposite, ovate, acute, 

 crenately toothed ; cyme terminal, simple, or compound ; limb 

 of corolla nearly equal ; hypogynous glands twin behind. If. 

 H. Native of Brazil, in woods near Rio Janeiro, and in the 

 tract of mountains of Serra do Mar, in various places. G. 

 maculata, Mart. nov. gen. bras. t. 215. G. verticillata, Hook. 



bot. mag. t. 2776. Tuber nearly globose, 1^ to 2 inches in 

 diameter. Stems solitary, or numerous from the same tuber. 

 Corollas ]j inches long, drooping, rose-coloured, irregularly 

 marked with longitudinal, blood-coloured, or brownish blood- 

 coloured stripes and spots. 



Douglas's Gesneria. Fl. Aug. Sept. Clt. 1826. PI. 2 to 

 3 feet. 



* * * Peduncles axillary, 2, or many-flowered, cymose. 



5 G. LATIFOLIA (Mart, in Otto, et Link, verh. bot. gart. 5. p. 

 218. t. 1. nov. gen. bras. p. 34.) plant tomentosely villous ; 

 stem erect ; leaves opposite, broad, or orbicularly-ovate, obtuse, 

 or elliptic, coarsely toothed ; cymes axillary, crowded upwards 

 into a terminal thyrse ; corolla cylindrical, with an equal tube ; 

 limb short, erect, nearly equal ; hypogynous glands 2, behind. 

 !{.. S. Native of Brazil, in the provinces of St. Paul, and Minas 

 Geraes, in shady, rocky places. Tuber large, a span in diameter, 

 placenta-formed. Stems simple, numerous from the same root. 

 Leaves 4-7 inches long. Cymes 5-12-flowered. Corolla an 

 inch long, beautiful scarlet, villous outside ; tube broadly bi- 

 gibbous from the base downwards. 



Broad-leaved Gesneria. PI. lg to 2 feet. 



6 G. AGGREGA'TA (Ker. bot. reg. t. 329.) clothed with sub- 

 viscid villi ; stem erect, branched ; leaves opposite, rarely 3 in 

 a whorl, oblong-ovate, acutish at both ends, villous, especially 

 on the veins beneath, crenated ; peduncles axillary, 2-4-6-flow- 

 ered, verticillate, 2 to 8, length of corolla, which is coarsely bi- 

 gibbous behind, clavately cylindrical : limb nearly equal, erect ; 

 hypogynous glands 4-5. 1|. S. Native of Brazil, in woods 

 about Rio Janeiro, and elsewhere. G. pendulina, Lindl. bot. 

 reg. t. 1032. This species agrees in some points with the G. 

 latifblia, particularly in the form of the corolla. Corolla before 

 florescence often tricoloured ; that is, scarlet at the base, yellow 

 in the middle, and greenish at top ; tube broadly bigibbous from 

 the base downwards. The 2 hind hypogynous glands are often 

 combined in one. 



Aggregate-flowered Gesneria. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1816. 

 PI. 2 feet. 



7 G. DEPPEA'NA (Cham, et Schlecht, in Linnsea, 5. p. 110.) 

 tomentum on the superior surfaces of the leaves soft, not stri- 

 gosely scabrous ; that on the lower surfaces yellowish white, 

 not fuscescent ; the crenae, tomentum of stems, and peduncles 

 spreading, not reflexed ; anthers exserted ; segments of calyx 

 narrower, more acute, triangular, and the leaves more elongated 

 than in G. elongata, H. B. et Kunth. %. S. Native of Mex- 

 ico, in the woods of Jalapa ; and at the Hacienda de La Laguna. 

 G. vetulina, Willd. herb. no. 11253. Nearly allied to G. ag- 

 gregata, Ker. but differs in the broad, ovate, acuminated, acute 

 calyxes, and the smaller corollas, which are also scarlet. 



Deppe's Gesneria. PI. 



8 G. BULBOSA (Ker. bot. reg. t. 343.) villous ; stem erect ; 

 leaves opposite, broad-ovate, cordate, acutish, serrately cre- 

 nated ; cymes many-flowered, spreading from the axils of the 

 leaves, and disposed upwards into a terminal thyrse ; superior 

 lip of corolla very long ; hypogynous glands 2, behind. 1- S. 

 Native of Brazil, in shady rocky places at Villa Rica ; also on 

 the mountains of Serra dos Orgaos, at the altitude of 2500 to 

 3000 feet. Leaves very like those of G. latifblia ; but is dis- 

 tinguished by the figure of the corolla. It is very variable in 

 the size of the corolla ; and the cymes are sometimes all crowd- 

 ed into a terminal thyrse, and sometimes others are axillary. 

 Corollas scarlet. 



Bulbous-rooted Gesneria. Fl. May, July. Clt. 1816. PI. 2 

 feet. 



9 G. SELLOWH (Mart. 1. c.) stem pilose, branched ; leaves 



