P L A T E DVI.
R U E L L I A CRIST AT A.
Crested Huellia.
C L A S S IV. ORDER L
TETRANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Four Chives. One Pointai.
ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.
CALYX 5-partitus, Corolla monopetala^ limbo
5-lobo, inacquali. Stamina biconjugata.
Stylus filiformis. Stigma bifidum. Capsula
dissepimentis dentatis, elasticis, dehiscentibus,
Semina pauca.
EMPALEMENT 5-parted. Blossom one petal :
border5-lobedj unequal. Chives by pairs. Shaft
thread-shaped. Summit two-cleft. Capsule
with the partitions toothed^ elastic, and
splitting. Seeds few,
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
RUELLIA cristata, spicis terminalibus^ tetragonis
: coroUis coccineis : oris laciniis in-
Eequalibus, acutis : lacinia inferiore revoluta
: foliis sub-lanceolatisj acuminatisi undula
tisque.
Justicia cristata. Jacq. Hort. Schoen, vol. iii,
tal. 320,
RUELLIA with crested flowers growing in a terminal
four-sided spike. Blossoms scarlet:
the segments of the border are unequal and
pointed: the lower segment is rolled back :
the leaves are nearly lance-shaped, pointed,
and undulated.
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REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.
1. The empalement.
2. A blossom spread open.
3. Seed-bud and pointai, summit magnified.
OP this fine stove plant there is a very good figure in the Hortus Schosnbrunnensis of Jacquin, under
the appellation of Justicia cristata. But finding the generic character accord much better with the
genus Ruellia, we have, in conformity to the sexual system of Linnaeus, given it under that title.
Our figure represents only a side branch of the plant, whose size was congenial to the dimensions of
the work; and although the centre branch would have been, like Jacquin's figure, more splendid, it
would by no means have been so picturesque. It flowered for the first time in this country with A, B.
Lambert, esq., and was introduced by Lord Seaforth from the West Indies.
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