Coutoubea
(Caribean name of one of the species). SYN. Picria. ORD. Gentianeoe. A small genus of erect stove herbs. Flowers white or purplish, disposed in terminal and lateral spikes or racemes, dense or loose, bracteate; corolla salver-shaped, with an equal cylindrical tube, or naked throat, and a four-parted limb. Leaves opposite, rarely whorled, decussate, sessile, or amplexicaul, one-nerved, thinnish, veined. Stems obscurely tetragonal, usually branched; branches opposite, and thickened at the roots. All are of the easiest culture, requiring the same treatment as other tender annuals. C. ramosa (branching). fl. white, decussate, remote; spikes terminal, axillary , the lower part leafy. June. l. oblong-lanceo-late, acuminate at both ends. Stems divaricately branched. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Guiana, 1824. C. spicata (spicate). fl. decussate, rather close together; corolla white, reddish in the throat; spikes terminal, elongated, loose. July. l. lanceolate, acuminated at both ends. Stem erect, branched. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Guiana, 1823.