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RONDELETIA SPECIOSA. 
(SHOWY RONDELETIA.) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
CINCHONACE^). 
Generic Character Flowers monopetalous, superior. Calyx four or five-cleft. Corolla funnel- 
shaped, four or five-lobed, segments roundish. Stigma bifid. Capsule round, four-valved. Seeds 
several or solitary. 
Specific Character. — Plant a compact, dwarf shrub. Stems smooth, erect, branching, yellow-green, 
slightly coloured with rose-colour when young, afterwards becoming red, and finally, when the wood 
is old, of a reddish brown. Leaves obcordate, that is, betwixt oblong and heart-shaped, acute, 
opposite, dark glossy green on the upper side, paler, and often slightly tinged with red, on the under. 
Flowers terminal, in corymbs, very showy. Calyx five-parted, segments acute, yellowish -green, 
tinged with red. Corolla tube three times the length of the calyx, rose-coloured ; limb five, and 
occasionally six-parted, lobes rounded, very rich orange red, darkest at the extreme edges, and becoming 
lighter towards the centre of the flower ; centre of the flower, bright orange yellow ; eye, dark crimson. 
According to Messrs. Loddiges, this brilliant plant is a native of the Havannah, 
whence it was received at Hackney through the kindness of their friend, W. J. 
Mac Leay, Esq., in 1830, and has since flowered in the stove beautifully. 
The flowers are exceedingly rich in colour, and make a most striking appear- 
ance, being quite as splendid as Ixora coccinea, if not more so. 
It requires the stove, and should be potted in loam and peat, and may be 
increased by cuttings. For further particulars on culture, propagation, &c, see 
vol. 1, page 150. 
The generic name is given in honour of a physician named Rondelet, and 
the specific name from the showy appearance of the plant when in flower. 
