Agapetes
(from agapetos, beloved; in reference to the showy character of the plants). ORD. Vacciniaceae. A genus containing about eighteen species of warm greenhouse or stove evergreen shrubs. Flowers corymbose and racemose; corolla tubular. Leaves alternate, coriaceous. They are all worthy of cultivation, but only two or three species are grown in England. Peat, turfy loam, and sand, in equal parts, is the best compost for them; and young hardened cuttings will strike in sandy soil, under a hand glass, in stove temperature. A. buxifolia (Box-leaved).* fl. bright red, about 1in. long, tubular, wax-like, disposed in corymbs. April. l. small, oval oblong, bright green, leathery; branches spreading, twiggy. h. 5ft. Bootan. A. setigera (bristly). fl. red, about 1in. long, tubular, numerous, in lateral and corymbose racemes, furnished with bristly hairs. l. scattered, lanceolate, acuminated, on very short robust petioles. Pundua Mountains, 1837. A. variegata (variegated). fl. scarlet, about 1in. long, tubular, lateral, corymbose. l. on short petioles, lanceolate, acuminated, denticulated, attenuated at the base, veiny. Khasia, 1837.
