Volume XIV. OCTOBER, 1885. No. 10. 
THE GLOXINIA. 
N EARLY all the species that make up this splendid 
genus of flowering plants are natives of South 
America, and are usually found in deep ravines, on rather 
high mountain elevations, and always in damp, much- 
shaded situations. 
If we take into account their distinctness, their con¬ 
tinuous flowering habit, the exquisite colors they possess, 
and the ease with which they may be grown, it will at 
once be admitted that few plants so well deserve atten¬ 
tion as the gloxinias. They flower continuously through 
the spring and summer, and, when grown in pots, are 
invaluable for decorative purposes, while the flowers are 
exceedingly useful for small vases and for all purposes 
where cut-flowers are used. With the gloxinia, as with 
most other flowers, the process of hybridizing has been 
largely resorted to, and the results have been most satis¬ 
factory, although the great improvement in the size, form 
and colors has been more the result of selection and in 
what is known as “ sports ” than all other causes com¬ 
bined. The original kinds, with their drooping flowers, 
have mostly given place to forms with the corolla almost 
regular and nearly erect; this latter peculiarity is an im¬ 
portant improvement, as the border and throat of the 
corolla are fully presented to the eye, and on these parts 
much of the beauty of the flower depends. 
The most interesting class of gloxinias are the spotted 
varieties, and the origin of this class is quite as interest¬ 
ing as the flowers themselves. The following account of 
