ACANTHACEAE. 



87 



speeiosa, Nees, in "Mart. Fl. Bras." ix. 30; (fig. " Bot. Mag." t. 

 5414, as B. affirm). — Brazil. Leaves oval, petioled ; flowers axillary, 

 solitary, very large, scarlet, infundibuliform ; corolla-tube funnel- 

 shaped, 3 \ inches. In the way of macrantha. Syn. Dieter acanthus 

 affinis. A very fine species. 



spectabilis, Nichols., "Diet. Gard." iii. 334; (fig. "Bot. Mag." 

 t. 4494). — Peru. Leaves nearly sessile, ovate, acuminate, attenuate 

 at the base, ciliate at margin and slightly hairy above ; flowers 

 very large, purplish-blue, marked with dark veins, twin in the 

 axils ; calyx deeply divided ; corolla-tube funnel-shaped, curved, 

 3.^ inches long, lobes 5, large, rounded. Syn. Dipterocarpas 

 spectabilis. A very fine, large-flowering species. 



strepens, L., " Sp. PI." 634. — North America. Leaves ovate to 

 obovate-oblong, subrepand, decurrent on to the petiole ; peduncles 

 axillary, 1-3 or more flowered, bracteoles oval, oblong, equalling 

 the calyx ; calyx segments lanceolate-linear, acute, ciliate ; corolla 

 large, tube elongate, infundibuliform, a little longer than the calyx, 

 limb purplish. 



Well suited for a basket or large pan ; a very pretty object when 

 well pinned down, flowering as it does from every axil, 

 tuberosa, L., " Sp. PI." 615. — Central America and West Indies. 

 A tomentose herb. Root consisting of several fleshy tubers ; 

 flowers large, 1-2 on axillary or terminal, long peduncles ; 

 calyx segments long, filiform, as long as the lower cylindric 

 portion of the corolla-tube ; corolla nearly 2 inches long, tube 

 cylindric below, funnel-shaped upwards. 



The two following species might well be introduced : — 

 angfUStior, Nees. — Brazil. A very fine species with a terminal head 



of large crimson flowers. 

 SUbringfens, Nees. — Rio. Very fine large crimson flowers, cultivated 

 in the Grenada Botanical Garden. 



Ruellia superba, Hort., of the Kew List of Tender Dicotyledons 

 (1899) is not, as far as I have been able to find out, a published 

 name. The plant is not now known at Kew. 



Rungia 



eriostachya, Bull, " Mus. d'Hist. Nat. Paris" (1905), 62.— 

 Upper Guinea. Stem pubescent ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, 3 inches 

 long ; spikes crowded ; bracts and calyces with long white hairs ; 

 flowers white and yellow. 



Like other plants of this genus only of botanical interest. 



Ruttya 



ovata, DC, "Prod." xi. 309; (fig. " Thes. Cap." vol. ii. p. 144).— 

 South Africa. Leaves ovate, acuminate, tapering into the very 

 short-winged petiole, up to 5 inches by 2 inches ; spikes terminal, 

 strobiliform, ovate-oblong, densely many -flowered, bracteolate ; 

 bracts subulate ; calyx segments subulate, very long ; corolla 

 bright red, bilabiate, the upper lip erect, flat, slightly bifid, lower 

 deflexed, 3-lobed. A pretty shrub. 



