1158 
GESNERIA*® rutila. 
Brilliant Gesneria. 
DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Nat. ord. GESNERIE&. q 
GESNERIA. Supra, vol. 4. fol. 329. 
G. rutila; herbacea, hirsuta, foliis oppositis oblongis grossé crenatis 
utrinque concoloribus, floribus axillaribus solitariis erectis, calycibus 
inflatis, corollis pedicello longioribus. 
Caulis erectus, teres, hirsutus. Folia opposita, petiolata, oblonga, 
grossé crenata, hirsuta, utrinque concolora. Flores axillares, solitari, 
erecti; pedicelli hirsuti, foliis multd breviores. Calyx inferus, inflatus, 
bast presertim pilosus. Corolla coccinea, fere 2 uncias longa, extis 
pubescens, intis et versis basin tubi extis lutea; tubo recto subcylindraceo, 
parm ventricoso; limbo obliquo, laciniis erectis, subrotundis, supertore 
emarginato mult) majore. Glandule- hypogyne, 2, ad basin superiorem 
ovari. 
Native of South America, probably Brazil, whence it 
was imported by the Comte de Vandes, in whose Garden 
at Bayswater it was drawn, in September 1827. 
A stove plant, growing to the height of 2 or 3 feet, and 
propagated by cuttings. 
The stem is erect, round, and hirsute. The leaves 
are opposite, stalked, oblong, coarsely crenated, hirsute, 
of the same colour on each side. The flowers are axillary, 
solitary, erect, with hirsute pedicels shorter than the 
leaves. The calyx is inferior, inflated, pilose, particularly 
at the base. The corolla is scarlet, about 2 inches long, 
a 
* Gesneria was named in honour of the celebrated Conrad Gesner, born 
at Zurich in 1516, and died in 1565. He was one of the first Botanists 
of his age ; and remarkable, among other things, for the value he attached 
to characters derived from the seeds of plants. 
