CUPHEA STRIGULOSA. 
(Strigulose Cuphea.) 
Class. 
DODECANDRIA. 
Order. 
MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
LYTHRACE^. 
Generic Character: — Calyx tubular, gibbose at the 
base on the upper side ; limb wide, twelve-toothed, 
with six of the teeth erect, and the other six small or 
nearly obsolete, rising fi'om the sinuses of the inner 
teeth. Petals six or seven, unequal. Stamens eleven 
to fourteen, rarely six or seven, unequal, inserted in 
the throat of the calyx. Gland under the ovarium, 
thick. Style filiform. Stigma simple, or rather bifid. 
Capsule membranous, covered by the calyx, one or two 
celled, at length cleft by the deflexed placenta as well 
as the calyx. Seeds nearly orbicular, compressed, 
wingless. — Don's Gard. and Bot. 
Specific Character. — Stem shrubby. Branches and 
calyxes clammy and hispid. Leaves ovate-oblong, 
acute, rounded at the base, scabrous. Flowers pedicel- 
late, alternate. Petals six, nearly equal. Stamens 
eleven. Filaments villous. Ovarium seven or eighth 
ovulate. 
Many plants which have usually been considered to require a stove or a green- 
house, when, at length, the experiment is made to ascertain whether they are 
capable of existing in a cooler atmosphere, have been found not only to live, but 
to acquire a character infinitely more enchanting. 
The specimen of C. strigulosa which first made us acquainted with the species, 
had been grown in a stove, and although our attention was attracted by the nu- 
merous airy-looking flower-bearing ramifications, yet the blossoms were so void of 
colour, that we passed it by, as deficient in interest. Calling, however, a short 
time after at the Nursery of Mr. Knight of Chelsea, we were surprised to find 
specimens in the open air, and of a much better colour ; whilst other plants in the 
stoves, as in the former case, were of a pale greenish yellow hue. It cannot be 
compared, even in its best condition, with some of the showy members of this 
genus; but, it is, nevertheless, a very interesting species. 
It grows wild at the foot of the Andes near Ibague, and has only recently 
been introduced to this country, through the Continental nurseries. 
The warmth of its natural habitat precludes us from entertaining a hope that it 
will ever prove quite hardy in England. It will, probably, require much the 
same protection in winter as Verbenas and Salvias. When planted out in the 
summer season, a shallow well drained border should be selected, where the roots 
VOL. XI, NO. CXXXI. I I 
