Ionidium
(from Ion, a Violet, and eidos, resembling; in allusion to the Violet-like flowers). SYN. Solea. ORD. Violarieoe. A genus comprising forty species of herbs or sub-shrubs, natives, for the most part, of sub-tropical America. Flowers solitary, having the small unequal sepals running into the peduncle at base; petals unequal, lower ones two or three times longer than the rest, carinately-concave. Leaves alternate, or rarely opposite. The roots of several of the species are of economic value, being used as substitutes for Ipecacuanha. Ionidiums are rarely seen in cultivation. The species described below require greenhouse treatment, and a peat and loam compost. Cuttings of the shrubby sorts will root in sand, under a bell glass. The herbaceous species may be increased by divisions, or by seeds.
I. capense (Cape). fl. white; sepals acute, ciliated. Summer. l. alternate, obovate, obsoletely-toothed, pubescent. Stems shrubby, erect. h. 6in. to 12in. Cape of Good Hope, 1824.
I. Ipecacuanha (Ipecacuanha). fl. white; peduncles axillary, solitary, drooping; lower lip very large, emarginate. July. l. ovate-oblong. h. 1 1/2ft. South America, 1822. The roots of this species furnish what is termed White Ipecacuanha.
I. polygalaefolium (Polygala-leaved). fl. greenish-yellow or white; sepals ovate-oblong, acute, pubescent. Summer. l. opposite, lanceolate, rather entire. Stems shrubby, branched, diffuse, procumbent. h. 1ft. South America, 1797.