COLUMNEA SPLENDENS. 
(Splendid-flowered Columnea.)] 
Class. 
DID YN AMI A. 
Order. 
ANGIOSPERMIA, 
Natural Order. 
GESNERACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Calyx inferior, five-parted. 
Corolla tubular, straightish, gibbose behind at the base, 
ringent; upper lip erect, arched; lower one trifid, 
spreading. Stamens four, didynamous ; anthers con- 
nected with the rudiment of a fifth behind. Glands 
one to five around the ovarium. Berry one-celled ; 
placentas two, parietal, two lobed. Seeds oblong.— Don's 
Gard. and Botany. 
Specific Character. — Plant an evergreen shrub, 
climbing or trailing, growing two feet or more in height. 
Branches covered with pale, whitish-brown, smooth 
bark at the bottom, deep green towards the top. Leaves 
opposite, shortly-stalked, ovate-oblong, acuminate, 
thick, fleshy, bright green, shining. Flowers axillary, 
mostly solitary, pendent. Peduncles four inches long, 
slender, hairy. Calyx with long, lanceolate, hairy 
segments. Corolla very large, bright scarlet, a little 
spotted inside with a darker hue. 
Synonymes. — Columnea grandifiora, Nematanthus 
Guilleminiana. 
This extremely handsome plant appears to have been collected at Brazil, and 
sent to the Continent of Europe, where it is known by the name of Nematanthus 
Guilleminiana, and from whence it was received by Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting, 
with whom it flowered last autumn, when the accompanying plate was prepared. 
In England, it passes under the title of both Columnea grandifiora and C. splendens^ 
each of which is appropriate ; but we have selected the latter because it is more 
commonly used, and also because the general appearance of the flowering specimens, 
and the peculiar richness of the individual blossoms, seem to demand such a 
distinctive epithet. 
When better known, and more largely cultivated, it will unquestionably prove 
one of the most showy stove plants we possess. Growing two feet or more in 
height, it may be treated as a sort of low climbing shrub ; and it is in this way that 
Messrs. Rollisson have hitherto managed it. The nature of the species is, never- 
theless, evidently to become pendent, and hence it will, like C. Sckiediana, be an 
admirable sort for suspending, or for elevating on a pedestal of any kind. All the 
lower part of the branches is covered with a nearly white smooth bark ; and this, 
in contrast with the very intense green of the younger and upper portions, has a 
good effect. The foliage is thick and fleshy, something like that of Hoya carnosa, 
but more elegant in figure, and of a particularly lively verdure. It is not so 
distant as that of C. Sckiediana, and the blossoms are produced from its axils. 
