Centronia
(from kentron, a spur, in allusion to the spurred anthers). ORD. Melastomaceoe. A genus of highly ornamental shrubs, from Mexico, New Granada, Guiana, and Peru. There are nine species; in all probability, that described below is the only one now in cultivation. A compost of sandy peat and leaf mould suits them well. Propagated by cuttings of half-ripened shoots, inserted in peat and sand, under a bell glass.
C. haemantha (blood-coloured). fl. deep purplish-red, too much tinged with violet to thoroughly agree with specific name; in panicles, large. l. shortly stalked, elliptic-obovate, five-nerved, reddish-brown beneath, deep green above. h. 8ft. Ocana, 1852. Greenhouse. SYN. Calyptraria haemantha.