THE LADIES’ FLOWER GARDEN 
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4.—LOASA ALBA , D. Don. THE WHITE LOASA. 
Engraving.— Brit. Flow. Card., Second Series, t. 192. 1 Calyx in segments, long and linear. Exterior appendages hatchet- 
Specific Character. —Canescent. Leaves opposite, palmate, toothed. [ formed and awned.— (Z). Don.) 
Description, &c. —A slender-stemmed plant, with white flowers, introduced in 1832, by Mr. Hugh Cuming, 
from Chili. Seeds of this species are now common in the seed-shops, and o like the others, they may be sown in 
the open border in May. 
5.—LOASA LATERITIA, Hook. THE BRICK-RED LOASA. 
Synonymes — ? Caiophora punicea ? C. cerciifolia or C. carduifolia, 
Presl.; ? Blumanbachia punicea, G. Don ; ? Loasa punicea, Ruiz et 
Pavon ; L. aurantiaca, Hort. ; L. coccinea, Ilort. 
Engravings. —Bot. Mag. t. 3632 ; Bot. Reg. 1838, t. 22 ; and our 
Jiy. 1, in Plate 10. 
Specific Character. —Climbing. Leaves cordate, palmate, lobatc. 
Petals sessile, keeled, and of a brick-red colour. Appendages 3-lobed, 
truncate; each furnished, inside, with two membranous bristles. 
Capsule cylindrical, with spiral ribs. 
Description, &c.— A climbing plant, with large dark red flowers and very curiously twisted capsules, 
which are long and ornamental. It is a native of Tucuman (lying between the Rio de la Plata and the Andes), 
where it was discovered by Mr. Tweedie, a botanical collector, and seeds of it sent to the Glasgow Botanical 
Garden in 1836. It was at first supposed to be tender, and grown in a hothouse, but it was soon found to 
succeed perfectly well in the open border, where it ripened seeds so abundantly as to be now common in every 
seed-shop. The seeds may either be sown in the open border in May, or in a hotbed in March ; but perhaps the 
best way for the amateur to procure fine plants, is to purchase, in the month of May, young plants which have 
been raised by a nurseryman on a hotbed, and are just ready for planting out in the open border. This is indeed 
perhaps the best method to be pursued by persons, not keeping a regular gardener, with regard to all annuals 
which should be raised on a hotbed ; as in this manner half-hardy plants may be procured for a mere trifle, com¬ 
pared with the expense and trouble of a hotbed, at the very time when they are wanted. 
The Loasa lateritia may be trained in many different ways. A plant in Lee’s nursery, Hammersmith, which 
had been raised on a hotbed, and planted out in May, was in August, 1838, a splendid pyramidal mass of flowers 
six or eight feet high ; it having been trained to three stakes tied together at the top. From this plant our 
specimen was taken, and the species is called Loasa aurantiaca in our Plate 10, from that being the name given 
to the plant in the Hammersmith nursery. At Mrs. Lawrence’s villa, at Drayton Green, it was trained over 
lattice-work fourteen feet or fifteen feet high. In other places, banks were covered with it, the stems being 
pegged down in various places to keep them close to the ground ; and in others the plants were drawn through 
hoops, like those used for Dahlias, and suffered to hang loosely over them. In every case the plant was found 
to grow vigorously in the open air, and to continue flowering abundantly till killed by frost. It was grown in 
any common garden soil; but it was found to thrive best in a sandy loam. 
All the kinds of Loasa have very showy flowers, and produce a good effect in a garden when trained over a 
trellis. For this purpose L. lateritia , L. alia , and L. nitida , may be sown at the foot of a low trellis: and as 
the plants grow they may be trained over it. No lady, however, should attempt to train or gather a Loasa, 
without wearing leathern gloves; with this precaution, all the plants belonging to the genus are well suited to 
female culture, as they are easily made to assume any form that may be desired, and their beauty principally 
depends on the manner in which they are trained. They also amply repay attention in watering, &c., ,by their 
increased beauty. 
