GLOXINIA DIGITALIFLORA. 
(Fox-glove-flowered Gloxinia.) 
Class. 
DIDYNAMIA. 
Order. 
ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Natural Order. 
GESNERACEJ3. 
Generic Character.— CaZy^ adnate to the ovarium, 
by the middle ; limb five-parted, free. Corolla semi-su- 
perior, oblique, funnel-shaped or campanulately sub- 
ringent, gibbose behind at the base ; tube ventricose ; 
limb spreading ; upper lip two-lobed, lower one three- 
lobed. Stamens four, didynamous, with the rudiment 
of a fifth behind. Glands five, perigynous. Capsule one- 
celled, two-valved ; placentas two, parietal, two-lobed. 
Seeds numerous, ohlong.~Don's Gard. ^ Bat. 
Specific Character.— P?an« a tuberous-rooted peren- 
nial. Stems from six to nine inches high. Leaves 
broadly ovate, obtuse, thick and rigid, very slightly 
hairy. Floivers axillary, chiefly collected towards the 
summits of the stems. Corolla unusually long and con- 
tracted ; limb with five nearly regular roundish seg- 
ments, of a purplish crimson colour. 
This beautiful and distinct species is of very recent introduction, and has 
flowered in several of the London nurseries. From a specimen which bloomed in 
the nursery of Mr. Knight, King's Road, Chelsea, our present drawing was 
prepared about four months ago. It is no doubt of Mexican or Soutb American 
origin, though we have no information as to its exact native locality. 
It belongs to the caulescent part of the genus, producing stems from six to nine 
inches in height, with the flowers so closely arranged as almost to cluster at the top 
of them. From other allied species it is easily known by its short, somewhat 
roundish, and very thick, leathery, yet firm and rigid foliage, which is borne in 
opposite pairs, with scarcely any stalk ; and by its particularly long and small-tubed 
flowers. The latter, too, have an unusually regular limb, which is of a rich purplish 
crimson hue, resembling greatly the colour of the flowers of Achimenes grancliflora. 
Like the rest of the genus, it appears to be a stove herbaceous perennial, 
requiring a peculiarly moist heat while it is growing, and remaining dormant in 
winter, when it should be kept very dry. One of the great points in the cultivation 
of this plant, and the whole of the tribe, is to give them a highly enriched and open 
soil, such as a good light loam, with a large proportion of decayed manure or leaf 
soil mixed with it ; and, in addition to this, to furnish them at once, after they 
have fairly started into growth, with a pretty roomy pot. With these aids, and a 
VOL. X. — -NO. cxvii. c c 
