OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 
97 
CHAPTER XVI. 
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LYTHRARACE7E. 
Essential Character. —Calyx tubular, ribbed, the sinuses between below the petals, variable in number. Capsule covered by the tube of 
the lobes sometimes lengthened out into the other lobes. Petals 4 — 6, the calyx, 1-celled, placenta central (G. Don.') 
inserted into the tube of the calyx. Stamens inserted in the tube 
Description, &c. —The order Lythraracece contains several interesting plants, and among others, the Henna 
( Lawsonia inermis ), so much used by ladies in the East, the Lagerstrcemias, or Pride of India, and the plant 
supposed by some to be the Rosewood of commerce, PhysocaJymna Jtoribunda. The only genera containing 
annual flowers are Lythrum and Cuphea. The annuals in the first genus are wild British plants, and only 
those belonging to the genus Cuphea are cultivated in gardens. Even these plants are by no means beautiful, as 
they have all that peculiarly dark reddish and yet blackish purple, which has made the name of the order be 
derived from the word lytliron , black blood. 
GENUS I. 
CUPHEA, Jacq. THE CUPHEA. 
Lin. Syst. DODECANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx tubular, 12-toothcd. Petals 6—7, unequal. Stamens 11—14, rarely 6—7, unequal, inserted in the orifice of the 
calyx. Capsule 1—2-celled.—(G. Don.) 
Description, &c. —The plants composing the genus Cuphea were separated from those forming the genus 
Lythrum , chiefly because the former have a tubular calyx and unequal petals, while the latter have not a tubular 
calyx, and the petals are equal. There is likewise a difference in the stamens, and in the capsule. 
1.—CUPHEA VISCOSISSIMA, Jacq. VERY CLAMMY CUPHEA. 
Synonymes. —Lythrum petiolatum, Lin. L. Cuphea. Lin. fit. 
Engravings —Brit. Flow. Gard. t. 60 ; and our Jig. 2, in 
Plate 17. 
Specific Character. —Stem erect, branched, clothed with clammy 
pubescence, hispid. Leaves opposite, petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, rather 
scabrous. Flowers pedicellate, solitary, deflexed. Calyx 6-toothed, 
clothed with clammy down. Petals 6, unequal.—(G. Don.) 
Description, &c. —An erect plant, growing from a foot to eighteen inches high, with a dark purple stem, and 
pale dull purple flowers. The stem is branched, and the whole plant is covered with clammy hairs. The flowers 
begin to appear when the plant is not above six inches high, and as it continues growing, the flowers continue 
expanding. It is found wild in America, from Brazil to Pennsylvania, in humid shady places. It was introduced 
in 1776- The seeds are generally raised on a hotbed, and planted out into a moist shady border in June; or 
they may be sown in the open air in April. 
2.—CUPHEA PROCUMBENS, Cav. THE PROCUMBENT CUPHEA. 
Calyx clothed with clammy hairs, 6-toothed. Petals 6, obovate, two 
larger than the rest. The two largest stamens are woolly beyond the 
anthers.—(G. Don.) 
Engravings. —Bot. Reg. t. 182. 
Specific Character. — Stem assurgent. Branches procumbent, 
clothed with clammy hairs. Leaves opposite, on short petioles, ovate* 
lanceolate, rather hispid. Flowers pedicellate, solitary, deflexed. 
Description, &c.— The petals of the flowers are rose-coloured, and the calyx is of a reddish purple, or rather 
lilac tinge, tipped with green. The stem is slender, and it is covered with a purplish pubescence; it is only 
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