CUNONIA 



CUPHEA 



913 



CUNONIA (named for John Christian Cuno, who 

 catalogued his garden in Amsterdam at the middle of 

 the 18th century). Cunoniacese; formerly included in 

 the Saxifragacese. A half dozen trees or shrubs of the 

 southern hemisphere, one of which is sometimes grown 



under glass. 

 Lvs. opposite, 

 petiolate, thick 

 and leathery, 3- 

 foliolate or odd- 

 pinnate: fls. 

 white, in dense 

 spike - like ra- 

 cemes; calyx- 

 tube short, the 

 limb 5 -parted; 

 petals 5; sta- 

 mens 10 : fr. a co- 

 riaceous beaked 

 caps. C. capen- 



1143. Cuphea hyssopifolia. \^ sis, Linn., in 



moist woody 

 places in Cape 

 Colony, is a large glabrous shrub or tree to 50 ft. : Ifts. 

 2-3 pairs, oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate: fls. small, 

 very numerous, in opposite racemes, the stamens much 

 exserted. Said to be of easy cult, in a sandy-peaty soil; 

 prop, by cuttings of half-ripened wood. L H. B. 



CUPANIA: Blighia. 



CUPHEA (Greek, curved; referring to the prominent 

 protuberance at the base of the calyx-tube) . Lythracese. 

 Mostly small greenhouse and conservatory plants. 



Plants often clammy: Ivs. opposite, rarely whorled 

 or alternate, ovate, lanceolate, or linear, entire: the 

 fls. are often borne in 1-sided racemes, and some of the 

 species have a very odd look from the bold angle made 

 by the slender ascending pedicel and the descending 

 calyx-tube, with an odd projection at the base. An 

 exceedingly interesting genus of 200 species of tropical 

 and subtropical American herbs and shrubby plants, 

 with remarkable variations in the petals. In C. ignea, 

 perhaps the most attractive of the group, the petals are 

 entirely absent, and the showy part is the brilliantly 

 colored calyx-tube. At the other extreme is C. hyssopi- 

 folia with 6 petals (the normal number in the 

 genus), and all of equal size. Between these 

 two extremes (shown in Figs. 1143 and 1145) 

 are at least two well-marked intermediate 

 types. One of these (exemplified in C. pro- 

 cumbens) has 2 large and 4 small petals : the 

 other (C. Llavea) has 2 conspicuous petals 

 and the other 4 are completely abortive. 

 These two types are unique among garden 

 plants. The series of intergradient forms is 

 completed by C. cyanea, in which there are 

 only 2 petals, and these minute, and C. micro- 

 petala in which there are 12 barely visible 

 petals, alternating with and shorter than the 

 calyx-teeth. In addition to the species de- 

 scribed below, C. Hookeriana, Walp., is cult. , ,, ~ 

 as C. Roezlii, Carr. It has lanceolate Ivs., 

 with vermilion and orange calyx. R.H. 1877 : 

 470. According to many American botanists, 

 the correct name for these plants is Parsonsia, 

 Cuphea apply ing only to another widely separated genus. 



Nearly all cupheas are grown from seed and treated 

 as tender annuals, but C. ignea is chiefly propagated by 

 cuttings. They are of easy culture, and the whole series 

 is worth growing. 



INDEX. 



A. Petals 6, but very minute and inconspicuous. 



1. micropetala, HBK. (C. eminens, Planch. & Lind.). 

 St. shrubby, more or less branched, 1-2 ft. high: 

 branches and calyx scabrous: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute at both ends, but without a distinct petiole, rigid, 

 scabrous: fls. borne singly in succession at a point 

 above the axils, which distinguishes this species from 

 all others here described; petals 6, minute, borne 

 between the calyx-teeth, and shorter than them; calyx 

 12-toothed, scarlet at the base, yellow towards the top, 

 greenish at the mouth; stamens and filaments red; 

 ovary 2-celled, many-seeded. Mex. HBK. Nov. Gen. 

 Sp. 6, p. 209, t. 551. R.H. 1857, p. 151. F.S. 10:994. 

 The picture first cited shows a 1-sided raceme, the 

 second a panicle and the third a common raceme. In 

 this species the calyx-tube is the attractive portion, 

 while the petals are inconspicuous. The tube is not 2- 

 lipped, but almost regular. See page 3567. 



AA. Petals 6, all conspicuous, but 2 of them much larger 

 than the others. 



2. lanceolata, Hook. (C. Zimpdnii, Roezl). An erect 

 sticky annual, 3-4 ft. high, the branches stout, purplish 

 green: Ivs. petiolate, opposite and alternate, %-3 in. 

 long, entire: fls. axillary, solitary, purple or reddish 

 purple, often deflexed; stamens hardly longer than the 

 petals. Sept., Oct. B.M. 6412. A good, showy her- 

 baceous border plant. 



3. procumbens, Cav. Annual, herbaceous, 1 ft. high, 

 procumbent, sticky-pubescent, with characteristic pur- 

 plish hairs : Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, with white hairs, 1 Yy- 

 3 in. long, gradually decreasing in size until they be- 

 come bract-like; petiole short: fls. numerous, peduncles 

 longer than the petioles, 2 or 3 times shorter than the 

 calyx; calyx 6-tpothed, purplish at the base, green at the 

 tip, with 12 raised streaks, and a pubescence like that 

 of the st. ; petals 6, the 2 larger ones on the upper lip 

 of the calyx purple; filaments included. Mex. B.R. 



alba, 8. 

 compacta, 8. 

 cyanea, 6. 

 eminens, 1. 

 Galleottiana, 6. 

 hyssopifolia, 5. 



ignea, 9. 

 lanceolata, 2. 

 Llavea, 7. 

 mjcropetala, 1. 

 miniata, 8. 

 pinetorum, 4. 



platy centra, 9. 

 procumbens, 3. 

 purpurea, 3. 

 strigulosa, 6. 

 Zimpanii, 2. 



1144. Cuphea Llavea. 

 (Natural size) 



182. C. purpurea, Hort. F.S. 

 4:412. R.B. 22:85, said to be a 

 hybrid between C. miniata and C. 

 viscossima, is probably not distinct. 



4. pinetorum, Benth. Perennial and somewhat 

 woody, usually procumbent: Ivs. lanceolate, ciliate, 1-2 

 in. long: fls. purple, the calyx %in. long, colored; sta- 

 mens 11, the filaments unequal. In sandy plains. Mex. 

 A useful plant S. 



AAA. Petals 6, all of the same size. 



5. hyssopifdlia, HBK. Fig. 1143. St. shrubby: 

 branches numerous, strigose: Ivs. lanceolate, rather 

 acute, obtuse at the base, glabrous above, strig^ose- 

 pilose along the midrib and veins, as may be seen with a 

 hand-lens: fls. with their slender pedicels scarcely 

 longer than the Ivs.; calyx glabrous; petals 6, somewhat 



