with 4 or 5 lines of reversed hairs. Stamens inserted into the
mouth of the corolla, equal in number to the lobes, and
alternating with them. Filaments white, the points only free,
cylindrical. Anthers oblong, incumbent, bilocular, emarginate
at the base, of a dark purple; cells linear, marginal, opening
lengthways, united by a broad connectivum. Pollen yellowish
green. Style slender, filiform, smooth, white. Stigma
exserted, clavate, green, 2-lobed, the lobes erect, blunt,
thick, pressed together, the edges revolute, minutely papillose
on their inner surface. Ovarium turbinate, compressed,
2-celled, with a transverse partition, crowned by a prominent,
notched disk. Placentce 2, filiform, erect, opposite, fixed to
the partition a little above its base. Ovula small, flat, orbicular,
with a membranous border.
This is an exceedingly elegant plant, its delicate and
graceful form, and its long scarlet blossoms, contrasted with
its broad deep green foliage, render it one of the most beautiful
objects than can well be conceived. It is, doubtless,
the M. glabra of Chamisso and Schlechtendahl, who enumerate,
in the work above quoted, several other nearly related
species, differing chiefly in the degree of pubescence,
and in the proportions of the calycine segments ; but whether
these are really distinct species, or mere varieties of the
cordifoHa of Martins, I cannot offer a satisfactory opinion, as
I do not possess sufficient materials for that purpose.
My highly-valued friend, Mr. Neill, whose choice collection
at Canonmills, near Edinburgh, has long been celebrated
in the annals of botany, for the number of new plants
which have been raised in it, has the merit of first introducing
to the British gardens the present showy species of Manettia,
which was raised from seeds collected by Mr. Tweedie, in
woods on the banks of the Rio Uruguay, in the republic of
Buenos Ayres.
Our drawing was taken from a plant which blossomed
in the above-mentioned collection, in September last, by
Mr. Humble, a promising artist, resident at Edinburgh.
The plant appears to thrive best in a mixture of sandy
peat and loam, is of easy culture, and is readily increased
liy cuttings, planted in sand and placed in ai'tificial heat.
Like most of the plants from the same country, it will doubtless
succeed well in the open border during Summer.
The genus was named by Linnaeus, at the request of his
correspondent Mutis, after Xavier Manetti, Professor of
Botany at Florence. D. Don.
1. Stamen. 2. P istil. 3. Section o f the Ovarium,
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