^:^^5\3i 
I 
m 
GESNERA MACRANTHA-PDRPUREA. 
GESNERA MACRANTHA-PURPUREA. 
Nat, Order, Gesnerace^b. 
GEJfERic CnAuACTEU. — GQSTicx^, 2Iayt.--Cahjx wi\h the tube 
adherent to the base of the ovary, the Umb tive-parted, almost 
unequal. Corolla perigj-nous, tubular, tube with five depres- 
sions at the base, limb rather two-lipped, the lower lip threc- 
lobed. Slamciis inserted on the corolla, four, didynamous, in- 
eluded, with the rudiment of a fifth ; anthers tAvo-cellcd, eoheriuir 
into a dise, at lentrth separating. Occtrij adherent to the base of 
the ealyx, surroimded by five glands, one-celled, with two pari- 
etal, two-lobed placentas ; style simple ; stigiim capitate, ob- 
scurely two-lobed. Capsule coriaceous, one-celled, two-valved, 
T.alves bearing the seeds in the middle. Seeds nimierous, rather 
club-shaped. Embryo orthotropous in the axis of fleshy albu- 
men ; cotyledons short, obtuse ; radicle turned toward the hilumi 
centrifugal.— (.E^Ht^^icAcr, Gen. Flant.) 
Gesneilv nuLBOSA, Ker. — Pubescent-villose ; rhizome tuber- 
ous ; stems herbaceous, erect, round ; leaves opposite and 
ternate, petiolate-ovate, or obovate-elliptical, cordate at the 
base serrato-crenate ; cymes many-flowered, pedunculate, or 
few-flowered, and subsessile by suppression, arranged in a ter- 
minal thyrse in the axils of the uppermost leaves ; ealyx shortly 
five-toothed ; corolla cylindraceous swollen at the base constricted 
above this, and inflated towards the sunmiit, the upper lip oblong, 
straight, two-lobed, the lower shorter, throe-lobed, sub-recurved ; 
filaments hairy, but glabrous at the bases and summits; style 
pubescent ; perigynous glands two, dorsal, obtuse. 
G. MACr.ANTHA-puRPuEEA. — (^0/-^.) — Purplc -marl£ed, large- 
Qowered Gesnera. Hybrid (or variety?). The large scarlet 
flowers marked with purple in the tlu-oat. 
BESCRIPTION. — A handsome herbaceous plaut, about twelve to eighteen inches high, with 
large opposite leaves, and very showy flowers. Stem erect, and clothed especiallj- 
in the upper part with a coloured pubescence. The leaves ovate-lanceolate, somewhat cordate, 
large, — some as much as nine inches long, and six inches broad, — crenate, stalked, covered 
with close, short, and rather stiff haii's. The inflorescence is compact and corjonbose, con- 
sisting of groups of eleven or twelve flowers on short iiedicels in the axils of opposite ovate- 
lanceolate, acute, sessile bracts, succeeding each other closely at the summit of the stem. The 
pubescence, which also clothes the green calyces, has a pleasing effect from the long sUky 
hairs of which it is composed being scarlet in half their length, and white in the rest. The 
long tubular scarlet corolla is somewhat ventricose, two-lipped, the upper lip considerably 
exceeding the somewhat reflexed lower lip ; of a soft and velvet-like texture, marked with 
purple in the throat ; anthers coherent into a disc ; the style exserted. 
HiSTOKT. — This plant is a hybrid, the origin of which is involved in some obscurity. It 
is in the possession of Mr. Henderson, of Wellington Road, who has favoured us with the 
foUowiug information respecting it : — " An imkuowTa Gesnera, of dwarf habit and light scarlet 
flowers, received from Mr. Low, was crossed with G. Cooperii, whence were jjroduced hybrids 
which were called G. macrantha ; one of these was again crossed with another variety (name 
not recorded), and the produce, exhibiting the purple marking in the throat, were called 
G. macrantha-pm-pm-ea." G. bulbosa, to which G. Cooperii is now referred as a variety, is 
an exceedingly variable species ; and possibl}' all the forms which have contributed to produce 
the present plant were varieties of it, in which case it would not be a true hybrid, but a 
crossed variety; and the name should run G. bulbosa, var. macrantha-piu-pm-ea. — A. H. 
Culture. — All the jilants belonging to GesneracoEe are of easy cultivation. Our present 
subject belongs to the tuberous section of the genus, and may be propagated either by division 
of the tubers, by cuttings, or by seeds. The time to di's-ide the tubers is when they have made 
shoots an inch long, the cut part being dressed with fresh Ume. Cuttings afford a better 
mode, and require to be rooted in sand under a bell glass. 
^^'^len you have strong plants, start them in January in a gentle heat, gradually increasing 
the supply of water as the branches progress, and potting the plants when the shoots are about 
two inches long. The best compost is tm-fy loam, peat, and leaf moidd, in about equal proportions, 
to which some charred cow-dung in flaky pieces, and plenty of silver sand, must be added. After 
potting, place the plants either in a dung pit or frame with a nice bottom heat, or in a warm corner 
of the plant stove. As they progress in gro'W'th inure them to full exposure, so that when in 
bloom they may be removed to the Conservatory or greenhouse. WTien the plants have done 
flowering, begin gradually to decrease the supply of water, to bring them to a state of rest ; and 
when the foliage has died off, keep the tubers quite dry until it is time to start into fresh growth. 
By stai'ting a few plants every month, flowers may be had throughout the summer, and by cul- 
tivating a collection, through the '^idnter also. — .4. 
2j 
~ ~ 5^ 
^ 
