Besleria
(named in honour of Basil Besler, an apothecary at Nuremberg). SYN. Eriphia. ORD. Gesneraceae. Very pretty stove sub-shrubs, usually erect, branched. Peduncles axillary, few-flowered. Leaves opposite, petiolate, thickish; nerves and veins very prominent beneath. Stems sub-tetragonal. A light rich earth, or a mixture of sand, loam, and peat, and a moist atmosphere, are necessary for successful cultivation. Beslerias may be increased by cuttings, which root readily in heat.
B. coccinea (scarlet-berried).* fl. yellow; peduncles axillary bearing three to six flowers in an umbel at top; bracts two, at the division of the common peduncle, orbicularly cordate, toothed, scarlet. l. ovate, glabrous, stiff, a little toothed. Guiana, 1819. Climbing shrub. (A. G. 255.)
B. cristata (crested). fl., corolla yellowish, hairy outside; peduncles axillary, solitary, one-flowered; bracts cordate, toothed, sessile, scarlet. June. l. ovate, serrated. Guiana, 1739. Climbing shrub.
B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. large, campanulate, spotted with red; peduncles axillary, elongated, many-flowered. l. ovate-oblong, acuminated, crenated, densely pilose above, villous beneath, as well as on the branches. h. 3ft. Brazil.
B. Imrayi (Imray's). fl. rather small, yellow, in axillary whorls l. large, lanceolate, serrate, glabrous. Stems quadrangular. Dominica, 1862. Herbaceous perennial. (B. M. 6341.)
B. incarnata (flesh-coloured-berried).* fl., corollas purplish; tube very long, ventricose; lobes of limb reflexed, roundish, unequal, fringed; peduncles axillary, solitary, one-flowered. l. oblong, crenated, tomentose on both surfaces. h. 2ft. Guiana, 1820. Herbaceous perennial.
B. violacea (purple-berried). fl. purple, small; corolla with a curved tube and spreading limb; peduncles racemosely panicled, terminal. Berry purple, edible. l. ovate, acute, quite entire, stiff. Guiana, 1824. Climbing shrub. (A. G. 254.)