ACHIMENES LONGIFLORA. 
201 
ACHIMEHES LOHGEFLORA, Yars. 
Nat. Order .— GesneracevE. 
Generic Character. —Achimenes, P. Brown. Calyx, with 
the tube actuate to the ovary; limb five-parted, the lobes lanceo¬ 
late. Corolla tabular, funnel-shaped, often gibbous at the base 
in front; li m b flat, five-toothed ; lobes sub-equal, sub-rotund ; 
stamens four, didynamous ; anthersjiot coherent; rudiment of 
a fifth stamen inserted on the corolla helow. Glandular nectary 
annular, thin. Style passing into a scarcely thickened oblique 
or somewhat two-lobed stigma. Capsule half two-celled, two- 
valved; placentas parietal, subsessile.—Erect villous American 
herbs. Leaves opposite or in whorls of three, stalked, toothed ; 
pedicels axillary, one-flowered ; corolla scarlet or purple, much 
smaller than in Gloxinia; roots (and axils) bearing scaly bulbils. 
—[Be Cand. Prodr. vii., 535). 
Achimenes longiflora, Bentham. — Leaves in whorls of 
three or four, ovate or oblong, roughly serrate, and like the 
stem, hirsute; pedicles one-fiowered, shorter than the calyx ; 
lobes of the calyx lanceolate, erect, one-fourth of the length of 
the tube of the calyx; limb of the corolla very much spread¬ 
ing. 
Var. alia. —Jaureguia’s Achimenes. Flowers white, with a 
delicate rose-purple eye. A. longiflora alba, Van Houtte ; A. 
Jaureguia, TVarczewitz. 
Var. Tugwelliana. —Tugwell’s Achimenes. Peduncles much 
longer than the calyx; flowers deep rich crimson-purple. A 
hybrid, between A longiflora and patens. 
B ESCRIPTIOH.—Herbs, perennial by filiform stolons, bearing scaly bnds or bulbils. Stem 
erect, herbaceous, rounded, clothed with patent hairs. Leaves opposite or in whorls of three 
or four, between ovate and oblong, acute or somewhat acuminate, serrated, hairy, paler, and 
often purplish beneath. Elowers solitary, but occurring in the axils of almost all the leaves. 
The peduncle in A. Tugwelliana is much longer than in the type of the species, in which it equals 
the calyx. Calyx cut into five deep lanceolate segments. Corolla somewhat salver-shaped; tube 
very long and slender, curved, pale reddish; limb very large, spreading—in A. longiflora alba, 
white, with a delicate rose-purple line radiating from the throat: in A. Tugwelliana deep 
rosy violet—cut into five broad obcordate segments, the two upper somewhat smaller than the 
three lower. Style and stamens included. 
History, &c. —Our drawing of the white variety of A. longiflora was made from a plant in 
the possession of Mr. Henderson, of the Wellington Road Hursery; and we have met with it 
blooming in several other -establishments dining the season. A. Tugwelliana was figured from 
the nursery of Mr. Glendinning, of Chiswick, by whom this showy variety was recently let out. 
The former is an importation from Guatemala, where it was found by M. Warczewitz, by whom 
the name Jaureguia was applied to it in compliment to a Guatemalan lady, who made a drawing 
of the plant. A. Tugwelliana, on the other hand, is an English garden variety, raised by Mr. 
Carmichael, gardener to G. C. Tugwell, Esq., Crowe Hall, near Bath, being a hybrid, the parents 
of which are A. longiflora and A. patens. 
Culture. —The Achimenes are annual in their mode of development, forming scaly bulbils 
during their period of growth, these remaining inactive until excited by external influences. 
The routine of culture is to start them in succession during the spring, commencing as early as 
may be required; this may be done in a hotbed frame, or in a stove or propagating house. 
They are grown hi light rich earth, in which the mould from decayed leaves should preponderate; 
and should be put either into wide shallow pots, or into shallow pans, as they do not require 
depth of soil. Single stems, of some of the kinds at least, may be grown into large tufted 
masses, but it is more usual to plant several together. In the earlier stages of their growth, 
they like the moderate heat of a calm mild forcing pit, but as they approach a flowering state they 
may be hardened off to expand their blossoms in a greenhouse, although they do so much finer 
in the warmer temperature of an intermediate stove. When flowering is past, they are allowed 
to die off gradually, and are kept during winter quite dry in any moderately warm place. Eor 
more ample details of culture, see vol. i., p. 126 . 
Erom the number of introduced species and cross-bred varieties now in cultivation, the genus 
Achimenes assumes an important position in reference to summer and autumn decoration; but 
here, as in most other cases, the genius of cultivation is beginning to eclipse even the splendid 
forms which have been obtained from their native land. The subjects of our plate are useful 
additions to the family.—M. 
2 A 
VOL. II. 
