Cuphea
(from kyphos, curved; in reference to the form of the capsule). ORD. Lythraceae. Very pretty greenhouse herbs or sub-shrubs. Flowers usually drooping; calyx tubular, coloured; peduncles interpetiolar, one or many-flowered. Leaves opposite, rarely in whorls, quite entire. Only a few of the numerous species are generally grown. Cuttings of the perennial sorts strike freely in March or April, if placed in brisk bottom heat; but by far the better method is to sow seed, in January or February, and grow the seedlings on in rich soil, repotting when necessary. Most of the dwarf species will succeed if finally placed in 6in. pots, and fed with liquid manure when these are filled with roots. Cupheas are of easy culture, and a few, particularly C. ignea, propagated from cuttings, are well adapted for greenhouse decoration, or for small beds in the flower garden in summer. C. aequipetala (equal-petalled). fl. purple. June. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1859. SYN. C. ocimoides.
C. cinnabarina (cinnabar). A synonym of C. pinetorum. C. cyanea (blue). fl. yellow and red, alternate. July. l. ovate-oblong, acute, rounded at the base. Branches and calyces clammy and hispid. Andes. Evergreen. SYN. C. strigillosa. (B. R. 32, 14.) C. Hookeriana (Hooker's). fl. vermilion and orange, curved, cylindrical, disposed in dense panicles. l. lanceolate. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Mexico, 1877. A novel and striking under-shrub. SYN. C. Roezlii. (R. H. 1877, 469.) C. ignea (flery). fl. bright scarlet, apetalous, with a black and white expanded limb. Summer. l. nearly glabrous, lanceolate. h. 1ft. Mexico, 1845. Evergreen. SYN. C. platycentra. (F. d. S. 180.) C. jorullensis (Jorullan). fl. red; pedicels one to three together, alternate, racemose at the tops of the branches; calyx clammy. Summer. l. oblong-lanceolate, acute, on very short petioles, rounded at the base. Branches compressed, clothed with pubescence. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1856. Evergreen. C. lanceolata (lance-shaped). fl. bluish, sub-spicate, sub-secund. July. l. opposite, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, hairy. h. 1 1/2ft. Mexico, 1836. Plant ascending, clammy, hispid from brown hairs Annual. Evergreen. SYN. C. silenoides. (B. M. 4362.) C. Melvilla (Melvilla). fl., calyx red at the base, and green at the apex, long; racemes terminal, simple, many-flowered. May. l. sessile, lanceolate, attenuated at both ends. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Guiana, 1823. Herbaceous perennial. (B. R. 852.) C. miniata (vermilion). fl. pale vermilion, solitary, axillary, on short pedicels. June to September. l. ovate-acuminate, covered with white bristles. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1843. Evergreen. (F. d. S. 65.) C. ocimoides (Basil-like). A synonym of C. aequipetala. C. pinetorum (pine-wood-loving). fl. crimson or deep purple, panicled. July. l. nearly sessile, ovate-lanceolate, strigose. Branches ascending. h. 1 1/2ft. Mexico, 1850. Evergreen. SYN. C. cinnabarina. (F. d. S. 527.) C. platycentra (broad-centred). A synonym of C. ignea. C. procumbens (procumbent). fl., petals rose-coloured; sepals purplish; pedicellate, solitary, deflexed. June. l. opposite, shortly petiolate, ovate-lanceolate. Branches procumbent. Mexico, 1816. Stove annual. (B. R. 182.) C. Roezlii (Roezl's). A synonym of C. Hookeriana.
C. silenoides (Silene-like). A synonym of C. lanceolata. C. strigillosa (coarse-haired). A synonym of C. cyanea. C. Zimapani (Zimapani's). fl. blackish-purple, purple. Autumn. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1878. Evergreen. (B. M. 6412, under name of C. lanceolata.)