Cantua
(from Cantu, the Peruvian name of one of the species). SYN. Periphragmos. ORD. Polemoniaceae. Very pretty erect, branched greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Flowers in corymbs, at the termination of the branches, rarely solitary and axillary. Leaves entire or almost pinnatifid, alternate, petiolate, elliptic, acuminated, or cuneateoblong, glabrous, or downy on both surfaces when young. They are of easy culture in a compost of turfy loam, leafmould, and sand, if good drainage is allowed. Propagated by cuttings, placed in sand, under a hand glass. In the western parts of England, these plants--particularly C. buxifolia--thrive remarkably well in sheltered situations.
C. bicolor (two-coloured). fl. solitary; corolla with a short yellow tube and scarlet limb. May. h. 4ft. Peru, 1846. (B. M. 4729.) C. buxifolia (Box-leaved).* fl., corolla pale red, straight, funnel-shaped, with a very long tube; corymbs few-flowered; peduncles tomentose. April. l. cuneate-oblong, mucronulate, quite entire. h. 4ft. Peruvian Andes, 1849. An elegant plant, having the tops of branches, calyces, and young leaves, downy. SYN. C. dependens. (B. M. 4582.) C. dependens (hanging). Synonymous with C. buxifolia. C. pyrifolia (Pyrus-leaved).* fl., corolla yellowish-white, curved; stamens twice as long as the corolla; corymbs terminal, dense-flowered. March. l. elliptic or obovate acute, entire or sinuate-dentate. h. 3ft. Peru, 1846. (B. M. 4386.)