Hibbertia
(named after George Hibbert, a distinguished patron of botany, who died in 1838). Including Cyclandra, Hemistemma, and Pleurandra. ORD. Dilleniaceae. A genus of about seventy species of stove or greenhouse shrubs or under-shrubs, of which two are from Madagascar, three or four from New Caledonia, and the rest from Australia. Flowers yellow or white, solitary and terminal, or apparently axillary, sessile, in a tuft of floral leaves, or pedunculate. Leaves entire, or rarely largely or remotely dentate, often Heath-like, one-nerved or obscurely reticulate, penniveined. Hibbertias grow freely in peat or loam, either together or separate; a sufficient quantity of sand must, however, at all times be added, to maintain the soil in a healthy, porous condition. The pruning of weak and straggling shoots will need attention. If insects appear, they must be eradicated at once, or they will soon cause the plants to become both unhealthy and unsightly. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sandy peat, under a bell glass. The commonest and most useful species is H. dentata. The undermentioned species require greenhouse treatment, except where otherwise stated. H. Baudouinii (Baudouin's). fl. secund, sub-sessile, 2in. in diameter; sepals green, oblong, concave, apiculate; petals bright yellow, obovate-cuneate, retuse; racemes axillary, equalling the leaves, stout, sub-recurved. Summer. l. crowded towards the ends of the branches, 1ft. long, sessile, narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, entire or minutely serrulate. Stem grooved. New Caledonia. A small stove shrub. (B. M. 6053.) H. crenata(crenate). A synonym of H. grossulariaefolia. H. Cunninghamii (Cunningham's). fl. yellow; sepals thin, broadly ovate, the outer ones more acute; petals slightly notched; peduncles axillary. July. l. linear, mostly pointed; the edges scarcely recurved, narrowed below the middle, but expanded again into a stem-clasping or sagittate base. Branches slender. Western Australia, 1832. (B. M. 3183.) H. dentata. (toothed).* fl. dark yellow, 1 1/2in. to 2in. in diameter, solitary, axillary. Spring and summer. l. oblong, acuminated, smooth, serrated, awned. 1814. Climber. (B. M. 2338.) H. grossulariaefolia (Gooseberry-leaved). fl. yellow, rather small, on filiform peduncles; sepals ovate or lanceolate, acuminate; petals obovate, entire, or nearly so. May. l. distinctly petiolate, ovate or oval-oblong, obtuse, undulate and coarsely toothed, prominently pinnate, veined underneath, glabrous or scabrous above, more or less pubescent or hairy beneath. Stems weak and prostrate, or trailing, loosely pubescent. Western Australia, 1816. SYNS. H. crenata (A. B. R. 472; B. M. 1218), H.latifolia. H. latifolia (broad-leaved). A synonym of H. grossulariaefolia. H. pedunculata (pedunculate). fl., sepals ovate, very obtuse, usually minutely pubescent outside; petals obovate, slightly emarginate. l. narrow-linear, rigid, obtuse; margins revolute, numerous, but not clustered. Stems diffuse, prostrate, or rarely erect. New South Wales. There is a variety, corifolia, figured in B. M. 2672.
H. perfoliata (perfoliate).* fl. pale yellow. Summer. l. ovate, acute, edged with minute distant teeth, perfoliate near the base. Stem shortly trailing, procumbent or erect. West Australia. (B. R. 1843, 64.) H. stricta (upright).* fl. bright yellow, small, profusely produced, solitary, axillary, and terminal. l. linear. Australia. A wiry and much-branching species. There are several forms.
H. volubilis (twining). fl. rather faetid, sessile, the largest of the genus. Summer. l. obovate-lanceolate, nearly entire, mucronate, 3in. to 4in. long. Stems twining. Queensland and New South Wales, 1790. (A. B. R. 126.)