Ceratotheca
(from keras, keratos, a horn, and theke, a case, a capsule; in allusion to the horned fruit). SYN. Sporledera. ORD. Pedalineae. A small genus (two species) of erect, pubescent, stove or greenhouse, (? always) annual herbs, natives of tropical and South Africa. Flowers solitary in the axils, shortly pedicellate; calyx five-parted or deeply five-cleft; corolla tube enlarged above, the limb sub-bilabiate, with spreading lobes; stamens four, didynamous. Leaves opposite, or the upper ones alternate, ovate, toothed. C. triloba, the only species in cultivation, is probably a biennial. Seeds should be raised in heat, and the plants, when strong enough, removed to the greenhouse. Rich loam, a sunny position, and plenty of water when growing, are essentials to success.
C. triloba (three-lobed). fl. in opposite pairs, shortly pedicellate, with a minute, imperfect flower at the base of each; calyx erect; corolla pale violet-purple, with darker streaks, 3in. long, pilose. September. l. polymorphous, the lower ones long-petiolate, varying from broadly ovate-cordate to broadly triangular and three-lobed, crenate, the broadest leaves 8in. across; floral ones narrowly ovate, shorter than the flowers. Stem 5ft. high. Natal, 1886. (B. M. 6974.)