34 Gerardia tenuifolia. 



ing arcuate when the plant is advanced. Flowers handsome, very nu- 

 merous, and situated on iiliform peduncles an inch long. Calix small, 

 five-toothed, teeth short. Corolla lake-red, segments large, obtuse, de- 

 lights in dry soils on the edges of woods. This species resembles very 

 much the Gerardia purpurea, which however is a much more robust 

 plant, and differs strikingly from the present species in the flowers, 

 which are sessile. 



The genus to which the present species belongs, was named in ho- 

 nour of John Gerarde, a distinguished herbalist, who flourished in 

 the time of queen Elizabeth. It is an American genus, and rich in a 

 number of showy plants of various coloured ilowers, of which the 

 most common are red and yellow. 



The plate represents the plant as large as nature, specimens being 

 frequently smaller, and occasionally larger than the type from which 

 it was drawn. 



