TORENIA. 
(1. Asiatica. 2. Concolor. 3. Edentula. 4. Arracanensis.) 
Class. Order. 
DIDYNAMIA. ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Natural Order. 
SCROPH CTLARIACEjE. 
(Figworts, Veg. King.) 
Generic Character. — Calyx tubular, plicate, 
obliquely five-toothed or bilabiate; lips two or three- 
toothed. Corolla ringent ; upper lip bifid, lower one 
trifid ; segments almost flat. Stamens four, didyna- 
mous ; the two upper onesshort, with entire filaments ; 
the two lower ones inserted at the base of the lower 
lip ; with arched elongated filaments, which are each 
furnished with a tooth-formed or filiform appendage 
at the base ; anthers approximating or cohering by 
pairs, two-celled, cells diverging or divaricate, con- 
fluent at the apex. Style simple. Stigma flattened, 
bilamellate or simple (?) Capsule oblong, shorter than 
the calyx, two-valved; valves entire, with flat 
margins; dissepiment parallel, placentiferous, at 
length free. 
Authorities and Synonym es. — Torenia diffusa, 
D. Don. Prod. Flor. Nepal, 86 ; Torenia cordifolia, 
Benth. in Wall. Cat., No. 3945 ; Torenia trians and T. 
vagans, Rox. Flor. Ind., 3, 96 ; Bonnaya alata, Spreng. 
Syst., 1, 41 ; Henckelia alata, Link • Gratiola alata, 
Roxb. Flor. Ind. ; Torenia Asiatica, Sir IF". Hooker, in 
Bot. Mag., 72, t. 4249. 
Torenia Asiatica {Asiatic Torenia). — Plant an annual, with quadrangular stems 
and opposite branches. Leaves opposite, ovato-lanceolate, denticulate, acute, scabrous. 
Flowers axillary, opposite. Corolla large, ringent, of a purple-blue colour ; tube deep 
purple ; limb two-lipped ; upper lip nearly entire ; lower lip three-lobed, each lobe 
having a deep purple blotch near the outer margin. Two longer stamens with a 
subulate spur. 
A beautiful figure of this fine plant has been given in the " Botanical Magazine," 
4249, and it is truly described by Sir William Hooker, as " one of the most lovely 
plants that has lately been introduced to our stove collections. It seems to have a 
very extensive range in the East Indies " (where it is a native), " growing throughout 
Bengal, in Amboyna, Ceylon, Mergui, Chittagong, Sylhet, in the Madras Peninsula;" 
and, Dr. Wight adds, it is widely diffused in Alpine regions. 
It is very easy of culture, merely requiring to be potted in a mixture of sandy 
loam and peat with good drainage, and the plants placed high in the centre of 
the pots. 
It also forms a good plant for bedding out in warm situations in the flower- 
garden, where it flowers with great freedom, and spreads over the surface of the 
ground. 
