256 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
CHAPTER XLII. 
ACANTHACEAE. 
Essential Character. Calyx usually 5-leaved, persistent. Capsule 2-celled, the cells two or many seeded, bursting elastically 
Corolla monopetalous, the limb ringent, or 2-lipped, the lower lip with 2 valves. Seeds roundish, hanging by the ascending processes of 
over-lapping the upper in cestivation. Stamens mostly two, both the placenta ; testa loose ; albumen none. Herbs or shrubs chiefly 
bearing anthers, hypogynous. Stigma 2-lobed, rarely undivided. | tropical. 
GENUS I. 
THUNBERGIA, Lin. THE THUNBERGIA. 
IAn. Syst. DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx double ; exterior in 2 leaves, interior shorter than the other, and laciniated with 12 awl-shaped teeth. Corolla 
campanulate, tube inflated, limb 5-lobed, equal. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule globose, beaked, and divided into 2 cells. 
Description, &c. —The germs Thunlergia contains several splendid hothouse climbers ; two of which, and 
perhaps more, will succeed perfectly if treated as annuals and grown in the open air. All the species are very 
handsome, and they are of different and very opposite colours ; one species (T. grandifiora) having purplish- 
blue flowers; another (T. cocchiea), scarlet; another (T. fragrans), white; and another (T. aurantiaca), 
bright orange, while the commonest kind, T. alata, is of a pale buff. They are nearly all natives of the East 
Indies, and are all well deserving of cultivation. 
1.—THUNBERGIA ALATA, Bojer. THE WINGED THUNBERGIA. 
Engravings. —Bot. Mag. t. 2591 ; Bot. Cab. t. 1045; Paxt. Mag. 
of Bot., vol. ii. p. 2; and our fig. 4, in Plate 47. 
Variety. —T. a. 2 albiflora, Hook’s Bot. Mag. t. 3512 ; T. a. var. 
alba, Paxt. Mag. of Bot., vol. iii. p. 28 ; and our fig. 3, in Plate 
47. An accidental variety raised from seeds of T. alata in the Clapton 
Nursery in 1836, and only differing from the species in the colour of 
its flowers. 
Specific Character. —Stem twining. Leaves triangular!y-cordate, 
sinuately toothed, 5-nerved. Petioles winged. 
Description, &c. —The extraordinary beauty of Tltunbergia alata has long rendered it a general favourite; 
and the gardeners generally give it the pet name of Black-eyed Susan. The only objections to its culture were 
that it was at first supposed to require the heat of a stove, and that it was found to be peculiarly liable to the 
attacks of the red spider ( Acarus lellarius). The first of these objections was soon obviated, as it was first 
found to thrive in the temperature of the greenhouse, and afterwards to succeed when treated as an annual in the 
open air ; but the second objection still retains its force, as we know of few plants more liable to be infested by the 
red spider, or from which it is more difficult to dislodge it. The best mode of getting rid of this little enemy is 
to syringe the plant well and frequently over the leaves with hot water, heated to 120°, as a less heat will not 
destroy the insects. When the plants are grown in the open air, they have, however, much fewer red spiders on 
them than when they are grown in a stove. 
Thunlergia alata is a native of the East Indies, and seeds of it were first sent to this country in 1823, from 
the Mauritius, by Mr. Telfair, to the late Mr. Barclay of Bury Hill, by whom so many interesting plants were 
introduced into England. When the plant is treated as a greenhouse climber, it is generally propagated by 
cuttings ; but when it is grown as an annual, the seeds are gathered as soon as they are ripe in October, and they 
