Painted Cup. 66 



CASTILLEJA— PAINTED CUP. 



Natural Order, Rhinanthacea. Linnrcan Class, Didynamia ; Order, An- 

 eiospermia. Generic Distinctions : — calyx ventricoee, two or four cleft ; 

 corolla, two lipped, upper lip long and linear, embracing the style and 

 stamens ; anthers, linear, with unequal lobes ; capsule, ovate, compress- 

 ed* two celled; seeds, numerous, surrounded with a membranaceous 

 vesicle. 



C. coccinea. Leaves and colored bracts, pinnatifidly three cleft ; segments, 

 divaricate ; calyx, bifid, nearly equal with the corolla ; segments, retuse, 

 and emarginate. (PI. 11. Fig. 1.) 



This is a handsome and singular plant. It is a native of 

 most of the United States, and must be familiar, under its com- 

 mon and appropriate name of Painted Cup, to many of our 

 readers. Indeed, this seems to be the only certain and lasting 

 appellation which this poor plant is destined to retain, since, 

 within our own recollection, it has been christened twice anew 

 by botanists. It was first placed by Linnaeus in the genus 

 Bartsia, named in honor of his friend, Dr. Batsch ; it was then 

 separated, and the new genus Euchroma, (signifying well 

 painted,) was created expressly for it, by Nuttall, and it is 

 finally settled in its present genus, by Sprengel, a German bo- 

 tanist, where requiescat in pace. The genus Castilleja is de- 

 rived from the name of a botanist of Cadiz, D. Castillejo. 

 This species owes its brilliant appearance not, as is generally 

 the case, to its corolla, but to the colored bracts, which are of 

 a vivid scarlet, passing into orange. The corolla itself, which is 

 often nearly concealed by these, is yellow. It is said by the 

 British botanists to be very impatient of cultivation in England, 

 . since it there ripens but very few seeds, so that it is easily lost. 

 In fact, although it was introduced into that country in 1787, it 

 soon ran out, and was not restored until 1826. It may be 

 easily cultivated in this country, by sowing the seeds in loose, 

 gravelly soil, early in the spring, and after the plants come up 

 they require very little attention. 

 Vol. IL— 5. 



