GRAMMANTHES CIILOR.EFLORA. 
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GRAMMANTHES CHLOIGEFLORA. 
Nat. Order, Crassulace.ze. 
Generic CHARACTER.-Grammanth.es, D. C.— Calyx campa- 
nulate, five-toothed, erect. Corolla perigynous, tubular, equalling 
the tube of the calyx; limb five or six parted, with oval, ex¬ 
panded lobes. Hypogynous scales wanting. Ovaries five, free, 
one-celled; ovules numerous, on the ventral suture. Capsules 
follicular, five, free, dehiscing longitudinally on the inside, 
many seeded.—( JEndlicher Gen. Plant. 4613). 
Grammanthes chlorceflora , Haw. — Chlora-flowered Gram- 
manthes.—Leaves oblong or elongate, the cordate base, half 
embracing the stem; lateral pedicels at length reflexed; flowers 
yellow and orange inside, with the mark of a reversed V. on 
each lobe. 
Synonymy. — Crassula retroflexa, Thurib. — C. dichotoma, 
Linn. — Ait. Sort. Keio. ed. 1. Vaccanthes chlorseflora, Haw. 
(? Grammanthes gentianoides, D. C. Crassula gentianoides, Lam., 
Pluk.) 
^DESCRIPTION.—A dwarf succulent annual herb, with opposite fleshy leaves, and a tricho- 
tomous cymose habit of branching. The stem rather slender, round, smooth, pale-coloured, 
succulent, and brittle. The leaves opposite, sessile, fleshy, elongate-cordate ; the basal lobes adher¬ 
ent to and half embracing the stem, finely papillose, glaucous beneath. Inflorescence in loose 
cymes. Calyx elongate campanulate, the tube tapering down into the pedicel; limb five- 
toothed ; teeth ovate, overlapping by the edges below; obtuse, fleshy, glaucous, erect. Corolla 
gamopetalous ; the tube narrow below, shorter than the tube of the calyx ; the limb five- 
parted, the lobes ovate-spathulate, imbricated in aestivation; pale beneath, orange or orange- 
red above at the upper expanded portion; green in the narrow part below r , with a deeper red 
marking in the form of a reversed V at the junction of the claw-like portion with the broader 
ovate part, this colour shading into the orange above ; stamens five, adherent to the tube of 
the corolla, and alternate with its lobes ; no hypogynous scales; carpels five, distinct, forming 
five pistils. 
History, &c. —A native of the Cape. There do not appear to be any grounds for dis¬ 
tinguishing G. gentianoides from G. chlorceflora. Plukenet and Lamarck say that the flower 
of the latter is blue, but the yellow and orange corolla of the present plant acquires a bluish 
purple colour as it dries. We refer it to the original species, as it agrees in all essential 
points with the characters given for that, and those attributed to G. gentianoides appear to us 
to be without value.—A. H. 
Our drawing of this charming little annual was made in the garden of the Society of 
Apothecaries at Chelsea. The species w T as originally introduced in 1774, but was lost, and 
appears to have been reintroduced a year or two since. The seeds were offered for sale by 
some of the London seedsmen last season, and had probably been obtained from the continental 
gardens. It has been recently noticed in Paxton’s Floioer Garden (i. p. 15), where by some over¬ 
sight it has been stated to belong to the natural order Gentianacege. It is, however, a Crassu- 
laceous plant, much resembling a Sedum. The colour is variable from yellowish to pinkish. 
Culture. —This is properly a greenhouse annual, and, as a pot plant, makes an admirable 
companion for the Mesenbryanthemum pyropgeum, with which it might also be associated in 
the open air, on dry sunny rock-work during summer. Like that species, however, the flowers 
require sunshine to cause them to develop their beauty, but exposed to the sun, a tuft of the 
plants, when in a flowering condition, forms a mass of yellowish copper-coloured stars of 
remarkable brilliancy. We can hardly imagine a more beautiful little thing for a sunny 
window. The seeds should be sown early in March, along with those of other half hardy annuals, 
in pots, placed either in a greenhouse or in a window, or in a frame with a very mild bottom 
heat, or in a pit, or, in fact, in any place where they will be subjected to a temperate climate. 
After germination, and when they have formed a pair or two of small leaves, they should be 
pricked out in three-inch or five-inch pots, as may be convenient, the plants being placed 
about an inch apart. They should then be placed in a rather close flame, either with or with¬ 
out very slight warmth—the difference being that in one case they will grow faster than in the 
other ; when they are well established, they may be removed to the greenhouse stages, or 
planted out as already suggested. If grown in a window, they must be shaded and kept covered 
by a glass, or some other contrivance until established. A light sandy soil seems to suit them 
well; we have used a mixture of leaf mould with small proportions of loam and sand, and find 
them to grow freely; though it is probable that if the young plants had been stopped before 
they came into flower, they would have had individually a more bushy habit, than those repre- 
VOL. II. 
