Acalypha
(the name given by Hippocrates to the Nettle). ORD. Euphorbiaceae. Stove ornamental and variegated nettle-like leaved shrubs. Flowers greenish or reddish, inconspicuous, in erect or drooping bracted axillary or terminal spikes; those of the upper portion sterile, of the lower, fertile. The undermentioned only are those most worthy of cultivation. They are very easily grown, with ordinary stove treatment, and in a peat and loam compost. When well cultivated, the leaves of the hybridised varieties are highly coloured, but rather coarse than otherwise. Increased by cuttings under a glass in sandy soil, in stove heat, during April.
A. Macafeeana (Macafee's). l. red, blotched with bronzy crimson. 1877.
A. macrophylla (large-leaved).* l. cordate ovate, russet brown, blotched with paler spots. The best and handsomest stove species.
A. marginata (margined). l. large, very hairy, ovate-acuminate, centre brown, with a distinct margin of rosy carmine, about 1/4in. wide. Fiji Islands, 1875.
A. musaica (mosaic).* l. bronzy green, variegated with orange and dull red. Polynesia, 1877.
A. torta (twisted). l. dark olive, tinted green; margin cut into blunt, oblong segments. Samoan Islands. Remarkable for its curiously contorted foliage. It has erect stems, which are terete, and covered by the leaves in a very singular way.
A. tricolor (three-coloured). A synonym of A. Wilkesiana.
A. Wilkesiana (Wilkes').* l. ovate-acuminate, curiously blotched, mottled, and splashed with red and crimson; ground colour coppery green. h. 6ft. to 10ft. New Hebrides, 1866. SYN. A. tricolor.
A. W. marginata (Wilkes's margined).* l. large, olive brown, margined with rosy carmine. Fiji Islands, 1875.