34 Gerardia tenuifolia.
ing arcuate when the plant is advanced. Flowers handsome, very numerous,
and situated on filiform peduncles an inch long. Calix small,
five-toothed, teeth short. Corolla lake-red, segments large, obtuse, delights
in dry soils on the edges of woods. This species resembles very
much the Gerardia purpurea, which however is a much more robust
plant, and differs strikingly from the present species in the flowers,
which are sessile.
The genus to which the present species belongs, was named in honour
of John Gerarde, a distinguished herbalist, who flourished in
the time of queen Elizabeth. It is an American genus, and rich in a
number of showy plants of various coloured flowers, of which the
most common are red and yellow.
The plate represents the plant as large as nature, specimens being
frequently smaller, and occasionally larger than the type from which
it was drawn.
