Koehleria
Including Brachyloma, Calycostemma, Pearcea, and Tydaea. ORD. Gesneraceae. A genus comprising about sixty species of ornamental stove herbs, often confused with Achimenes and Gesnera, natives of the Western hemisphere, from Bolivia and Peru to Mexico. Flowers often scarlet, golden, or spotted. Leaves opposite, often softly villous. For culture, see Gesnera. I. bogotense (Bogotan). fl. copious, rather large, drooping; corolla full yellow, rich red above, streaked and dotted with red within; tube funnel-shaped, gibbous above; limb spreading, five-lobed; calyx almost entirely free; peduncles single-flowered. Autumn and early winter. l. opposite and ternately verticillate, petiolate, ovate-cordate, serrate, rich velvety-green, mottled and reticulated with white or pale green, always whitest in the middle. Stems erect, but little branched, 1ft. to 2ft. high. Bogota, 1844. Plant hairy. SYN. Achimenes picta (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4126).
I. Ceciliae (Cecilia Franchomme's).* fl. bright rose; inside of the tube white and spotted. l. dark velvety. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Cundinamarca, 1877. I. Deppeanum (Deppe's). fl. orange-red, in four-flowered villous umbels; corolla 1in. long, 1/2in. across, tubular, clavato-ventricose, dilated and somewhat fleshy at its base; limb spreading; lobes sub-equal. Summer. l. 3in. to 6in. long, 1 1/4in. to 2 1/4in. broad, opposite and decussate, petiolate, lanceolate, acuminate, serrated, harshly pubescent and bright green above, white with soft tomentum beneath. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Central America, &c. SYN. Gesneria elongata var. (under which name it is figured in B. M. 3725). I. digitaliflorum (Foxglove-flowered). fl. very large, deflexed, corolla shaggy, rosy-purple above, white beneath; throat white, spotted with crimson; limb green, dotted purple; panicles short, terminal. l. large, ovate-acuminate, hairy. Stems erect, hairy. New Grenada. I. hondense (Honda).* fl., calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed, tipped with red; corolla yellow, 1in. or more long, tubular, sub-ventricose; mouth contracted; limb of five short, equal, spreading lobes; tube clothed with bright red hairs; peduncles longer than the flower, axillary, solitary, or two or three together, hairy. December. l. opposite, spreading, ovate, acute or sub-acuminate, serrate, hairy; petioles 1/2in. to 3/4in. long. Stem erect, 1ft. long. Honda, New Grenada, 1845. This plant may, by a little management in forcing or retarding the tubers, be made to blossom at almost every season of the year. SYN. Gesneria hondensis (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4217).
I. hypocyrtiflorum (Hypocyrta-flowered). fl. orange-red, velvety-pubescent, nearly globose, about 1in. long; mouth nearly closed. l. cordate-ovate, bluntish, velvety, emerald-green, traversed by silvery ribs. Ecuador, 1866. SYN. Gloxinia hypocyrtiflora (under which name it is figured in B. M. 5655). I. Lindenianum (Linden's). fl. white; throat marked on the lower side by a deep violet band; upper lip with a dash of yellow and a narrow zone of purple; tubes short. l. ovate, hairy, olive-green; costa and principal veins marked by broad silvery stripes, and having bright green veins intervening. Stems erect, hairy. Ecuador, 1868.
I. molle (soft). fl. three to five in an umbel, on extremely short peduncles; corolla red, densely hairy, funnel-shaped; lobes of limb orange, spotted with red, acute, reflexed. Winter. l. clothed with long, dense, silky hairs. Stems 1 1/2ft. high, shrubby, hairy. Caraccas, 1819. SYN. Gesneria mollis (under which name it is figured in B. M. 3815).
I. ocellatum (eyleted). fl., calyx hairy, tube red; corolla bright red, drooping, pubescent; limb campanulate, segments marked with white spots, bearing a black dot in the centre; peduncles red, erect, slender, shorter than the leaves. Winter. l. large, opposite, ovate, acuminate, copiously reticulated with veins, and wrinkled; under side purple; upper side dark shining green, glabrous; edges serrated; petioles 1in. or more long, purple. Panama, 1847. Stove. SYN. Achimenes ocellata (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4359).
I. pictum (painted). fl. in a terminal, elongated, leafy raceme; corolla scarlet, yellow beneath and at the mouth, very hairy and velvety; lobes of limb spotted Summer till late autumn. l. opposite or ternate, ovate, acuminate, serrated, hairy, rich red-purple beneath. h. 3ft. Columbia, 1848. (B. M. 4431, under name of Gesneria picta.) I. Schiedeanum (Schiede's). fl. copious from the axils; corolla rich scarlet, between campanulate and infundibuliform, clothed with long hairs; limb five-lobed, yellow, streaked with dotted lines of red; calyx short, turbinate, tomentose; peduncles aggregated, shorter than the leaves, one or three-flowered. November. l. generally in whorls of three, soft and downy above, paler and tomentose beneath. Stem tinged with red. h. 1 1/2ft. Mexico, 1844. (B. M. 4152, under name of Gesneria Schiedeana.) I. Seemanni (Seemann's). fl., calyx shallow, cup-shaped; corolla bright brick-red, a little inclining to orange; tube orange at base, short, nearly cylindrical; limb spotted with deep red, and clothed with glandular hairs; peduncles hairy. October. l. opposite and ternate; lower ones large, broadly ovate or sub-ovate, coarsely serrate, acute, on rather long petioles; upper ones gradually smaller. Stem simple, 2ft. or more high. Panama, 1848. SYN. Gesneria Seemanni (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4504). I. triflorum (three-flowered). fl. in umbels of three, on solitary axillary peduncles; corolla yellow, ventricose, densely clothed with shaggy red hair; mouth spotted; limb five-lobed; calyx woolly, hemispherical. Summer. l. opposite, 4in. to 6in. long, ovate, acuminate, serrate, upper surface dark green, wrinkled with copiously reticulated nerves, and downy beneath, on woolly petioles. h. 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. New Grenada, 1846. SYN. Gesneria triflora (under which name it is figured in B. M. 4342).