The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening

Every genus a Victorian gardener could grow — Abelia to Zygopetalum across four volumes, with each plant's history, species, and culture, by the Curator of Kew.

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Blephilia

(from blepharis, the eyelash; in allusion to the ciliated bracts). ORD. Labiatae. Ornamental hardy perennials, closely allied to Monarda, but differing from it in the calyx tube having thirteen instead of fifteen nerves, and being naked in the throat, while the corollas are much smaller and more dilated. They are of easy culture in ordinary soil. Increased readily by dividing the roots in early spring.

B. ciliata (ciliated). fl. blue; whorls all distinct; bracts ciliated, reddish at top. July. l. almost sessile, ovate-oblong, narrowed at the base, canescent beneath. h. 1ft. to 2ft. North America, 1798.

B. hirsuta (hairy). fl. purple or blue; whorls more numerous than in the preceding; upper ones approximate. July. l. petiolate, ovate, roundly cordate at the base, hairy on both surfaces. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Virginia, 1798. Habit more branched and loose than in B. ciliata.

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