GESNERIA RUPESTRIS. 
(rock gesneria.) 
ORDER. 
ANGIOSPERMIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
GESNEREiE. 
Generic Character. — See vol. i. p. 224. 
Specific Character Plant perennial. Root tuberous. Leaves radical, roundish, rugose, somewhat 
concave, rarely more than two or three in number. Leaf- stalk round, from three to four inches 
in length, strong. Flowers solitary, produced very abundantly. Peduncles radical, slender, from 
two to three inches long. Corolla tubular, campanulate. Limb five-parted, segments regular. 
Calyx five-parted. Ovary egg-shaped, many-seeded. 
Numerous as are the splendid species of this genus already known and 
esteemed in our collections, we imagine that the plant from which the accompany- 
ing drawing was taken, contains sufficient merit to excite a lively degree of interest 
and admiration in the breast of every lover of floriculture. The peculiar neatness, 
simplicity, and beauty, of its appearance and habits, the profuse display of its 
pretty blossoms, the great length of time they remain expanded, the astonishing 
rapidity with which fresh flowers are produced after the old ones have faded, and 
the striking contrast that is presented between its large and handsome foliage 
and its elegant blossoms, entitle it to more than ordinary attention and regard, 
and render it at once both interesting and valuable. The following admirable lines 
by an esteemed author will be read with interest in this place — 
" These are thy glorious works, thou Source of good, 
How dimly seen, how faintly understood ! 
Thine, and upheld by thy paternal care, 
This universal frame, thus wondrous fair ; 
This power divine, and bounty beyond thought, 
Adored and praised in all that thou hast wrought, 
Absorbed in that immensity I see, 
I shrink abased, and yet aspire to Thee ; 
CLASS. 
DIDYNAMIA. 
