35 



HOITZIA COCCINEA. 



(Scarlet-flowered Hoitzia.) 

 LINNEAN SYSTEM. ^ NATURAL ORDER. 



PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. POLEMONIACE^E. 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Hoitzia (Juss.) Calyx tubulosus, quinquefidus sequalis. Corolla infundibuliformis • limbo 

 quinquepartito subsequali. Stamina quinque sequalia exserta. Capsula trilocularis trivalvis, 

 calyce persistente tecta; loculis oligospermis. Semina compressa nuda externe mucilaginosa. 

 Frutices foliis alternis solitariis serratis. Floribus axillaribus solitariis bracteatis ; corollis 

 coccineis aut viplaceis. — Kunth, Lyn. Plant. JEquinoct. vol. ii. p. 258. 



Calyx tubulose, divided into five equal parts. Corolla funnel-shaped, limb somewhat equally 

 five-parted. Stamens five, equal, projecting beyond the corolla. Capsule three-celled, three- 

 valved, crowned by the persistent calyx. Cells few-seeded. Seeds compressed, naked, exter- 

 nally mucilaginous. Shrubs with alternate leaves, solitary, serrated. Flowers axillary, solitary, 

 bracteate. Corolla scarlet or violet. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



H. coccinea ; foliis sessilibus ovatis ; floribus axillaribus solitariis brevissime pedunculatis ; 

 bracteis lanceolatis subserratis venosis hirtis. 



Leaves nearly sessile, ovate; flowers axillary, 'solitary, very shortly pedunculate; bracts 

 lanceolate, somewhat serrated, veined, hairy. 



Hoitzia coccinea. — Cav. 



Mexicana. — Lam. 



Cantua Hoitzia. — Willd. 



Descb. — Shrubs covered with a white glandular pubescence. Stem a little branched, round, 

 silky, shining, from three to four feet high. Leaves alternate, ovate, lanceolate, nearly sessile, 

 veined, hairy, sharply serrated, each serrature furnished with a point. Bracts lanceolate, 

 nearly entire, white at the margin, green in the centre. Calyx whitish, covered with viscid 

 hairs, divided into five parts, each part furnished with a green rib, and acute. Flowers solitary, 

 disposed in a long paniculate raceme of from two to three feet long. Corolla funnel-shaped, 

 about an inch long, of a pinkish red colour, having the interior of the tube much lighter ; the 

 limb is divided into five roundish lobes. Stamens five, longer than the coi'olla, pinkish, and 

 peculiarly twisted just below the anthers. Anthers brownish, versatile. Style longer than the 

 stamens, and of the same colour, divided at the top into three parts. Stigmas three, covered 

 with viscid hairs. Ovarium angular, pubescent, having at the base an appendage similar in 

 form to a disc. Seeds ? 



F 2 



