Blumenbachia
(in honour of John Frederick Blumenbach, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Gottingen, and distinguished as a comparative anatomist). ORD. Loasaceae. Elegant branched, climbing or trailing, annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, generally covered with stinging hairs, which are very objectionable. Flowers axillary, solitary, bracteate, very pretty and interesting. Leaves opposite, lobed. They are of easy culture in ordinary garden soil. Propagated by seeds, which should be sown in pots, in spring, and placed in a gentle heat, where they will germinate in about a fortnight. When the seedlings are large enough, and after having been previously hardened off, they may be planted out in their flowering quarters, or potted on and trained to a trellis.
B. chuquitensis (Chuquitan).* fl. solitary, axillary, with five to ten boat-shaped red petals, which are yellow within. September. l. oblong-lanceolate, pinnate; segments pinnatifidly lobed. Peru, 1863. Half-hardy climbing perennial. (B. M. 6143.) B. contorta (twisted).* fl. orange-red, with cup-shaped green scales within. July. l. oblong-ovate, pinnatifid; lobes incisely toothed. Peru. Greenhouse climber, but may be grown against a wall, out of doors, during the summer. (B. M. 6134.) B. coronata (crowned).* fl. of pure glossy whiteness, quadrangular, crown-shaped, 2in. in diameter each way. June. l. narrow, bipinnatifid, cut into small segments. h. 1 1/2ft. Chili, 1872. This is an elegant dwarf, tufted, erect biennial, with the pure white flowers imbedded in the metallic lustrous foliage. SYN. Caiophora coronata.
B. insignis (remarkable).* fl. with whitish petals and reddish yellow scales, axillary, on long peduncles, about 1in. in diameter. July. l., lower ones five to seven-lobed; upper ones deeply bipinnatifid. h. 1ft. Chili, 1826. Hardy annual trailer. SYN. Loasa palmata. (B. M. 2865.)