SIPHOCAMPYLUS COCCINEUS. 
(Scarlet Siphon-flower.) 
Class. Order. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, 
LOBELIACEiE. 
Generic Character.— C&lpx adnate to the ovarium ; 
limb five-parted, having the segments shorter than the 
tube of the corolla. Corolla irregular, tubular ; tube 
entire, declinate, rather ventricose in the middle, and 
rather contracted at the base ; limb five-parted, bila- 
biate ; upper lip of two straight or spreading segments ; 
the two lateral segments of the lower lip diverging, 
and the middle one more profound. Stamens and 
anthers combined, the latter bearded. Capsule ovate, 
two-celled, two-valved, dehiscing at the apex.— Don's 
Gard. and Botany. 
Specific Character. — Plant suffruticose, glabrous. 
Stem erect, branching, filled with pith. Leaves with 
a short petiole, ovate, acute, sometimes slightly lobed 3 
doubly serrated. Peduncles axillary, solitary, single- 
flowered, longer than the leaves. Flowers nodding. 
Ovary oblong turbinate, furrowed. Calyx segments 
lanceolate, spreading, serrated, longer than the ovary, 
Corolla bright crimson-scarlet, curved ; tube con- 
stricted at the base below the insertion of the stamens, 
then gradually dilated upwards, and again contracted 
at the mouth ; limb scarcely two-lipped ; segments 
oblong, ovate, acute, nearly equal, incurved. Stamens 
and style included. 
Botanical works contain descriptions, some of which are accompanied with 
figures, of a great many species of Siphocampylus, a large proportion of which are 
said to be the productions of Brazil or New Grenada. A few handsome species 
are already under cultivation ; none of them, however, are nearly equal to the 
present in an ornamental light. 
This beautiful species adds another to the many charming plants for the 
possession of which cultivators are indebted to the noble enterprise of Messrs. 
Yeitch and Son, of Exeter. In the " Botanical Magazine " it is stated to have 
been " sent from the Organ Mountains, Brazil, by Mr. William Lobb ; " but the 
memoranda since kindly supplied to us by Messrs. Veitch and Son, represent it 
as having been discovered by that industrious and discriminating collector, in 
shady places on the banks of the River Chagres, in New Grenada. 
It has been in flower since last May, and has obtained prizes as a new plant at 
the Chiswick and Regent's Park exhibitions. The habit of the species appears to 
be considerably more dwarf and compact than that of any of its cultivated 
congeners ; and the specimen exhibited in July at Chiswick was amply adorned 
with crimson-scarlet blossoms, which rise above the foliage and appear very 
conspicuously. They are upwards of two inches long, with the usual curved 
tubular form, and somewhat swollen in the middle. The specimens exhibited at an 
earlier period were evidently not sufficiently grown to admit of a correct opinion 
