H 



PLATE 



CVI. 



N 



A 



O 



Scarlet Houjlonia, 



NE 



CLASS 



IV. 



ORDER 



I. 



TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointal 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Calyx. Perianthium minimum, quadridenta- 



turn, ere^lunij perfiftens. 

 Corolla monopetala, infundibuliformis; tubus 

 '•■ cylindraceus, longus} limbus quadripartitus, 



patens, laciniis fubrotundis. 



Stamina. Fllamenta quatuor, in collo corollse, 

 minima. Antherae fimplices. 



PiSTiLtUM. Grtrmen fuperum, fubrotundum, 

 compreflum. Stylus fimplex, ftaminibus 

 brevier. Stigma bifidum, acutum. 



Pericarpium. Capfula fubrotunda, didyraa, 

 fupra tranfverfe dehifcens^ bilocularis, bi- 

 Talvisj valvulis diirepiraento oppolitis. 





Semina pauca, parva, ovata^ diffepimento adhse- 



lentia. 



Empalement. Cup very fraall, with four teeth;, 

 upright, and remaining. 



Blossom one petal, funnel- Ihapcd^ tube cylin- 

 drical, longi border of four diviiions,fpread- 

 ing, fegments roundifli. 



Chives. Four threads, fixed to the neck of the 

 bloflbm, very fmall. Tips fimple. 



PoiNTAL. Seed-bud above, roiindilh, and flat- 

 • tened. Shaft fimple, fliorter than the 

 chives. Summit fplit in two and Iharp.^ 



Seed-vessel. Capfule roundifli, double, fpUt- 



two 



ting tranfverfely from the upper part, 

 cells, two valvesi the valves oppofite to the 



partition. 

 Seeds a few, fmall, oval, adhering to the parti- 

 tion. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER* 



Houftonia foliis ovatis, glabris, fubternisj caulis 

 debifis, fuffruticofus; floribus terminalibus, 

 coccineis. 



I 



Houftonia with oval, fmooth leaves, growing 

 moftly by threes^ ftera weak, rather ilirub- 



fcarlet. 



REFERENCE TO THE PLATE, 



1. The Empalement and Pointal, the BloflTom taken off. 



2. 



open 



3. The Seed-bud and Pointal, the leaflets of the cup being removed, 



magni 



ified. 



The Houftonia cocclnea has been placed, by fome late botanical authors, under the genus HedyoUsj 

 but fuch authorities can have no weight with us, when oppofed to an eftabliftied name, a nearly genera 

 conformity in the effential generic charafters • and though laft, not the leaft in our eftimation, the cor- 

 roborating teftimony of Sir J. Banks, Bart. P. R. S. &c. by whom it was fent to the Royal Gardens, Ke^» 



in 1793. Ills a 

 of that country 



native of Mexico, South America j and like the Hememerlfes,* Fuchfias, Chelones, K ^ 

 , Is very fubjeft to damp ; but being partly herbaceous, the root is mofl frequeo 



preferred, although the upper part has periihed. Though it requires the proteaion of a greenhoure m 

 winter, it may be made an ornamental plant for the flower borders in autumn, by putting fing 



cuttings, in fmall pots filled with rich earth, into the heat of a hotbed, early in March, they will b« 



m 1799. 



• Thefcare the t'.vofpecus of an old genus, Introduced into the Bot. Mag. of Curtis, under the tUks of 



Olfiu Rnlarh and C. urtictfo/ia. 



