Lysionotus
(from lysis, loosening, freeing, and notos, the back; in reference to the capsule opening with elasticity from the dorsal suture). ORD. Gesneraceae. A genus comprising three (or perhaps four) species of glabrous or pubescent stove herbs, natives of the Himalayas and China. Corolla purplish or pale violet; tube elongated; cymes at the tops of the branches, or in the axils of the upper leaves, long or shortly pedunculate. Leaves ternate, verticillate, membranaceous or coriaceous, toothed or entire. Stems or rhizomes creeping, sub-erect, simple or shrubby-branched. Probably the only species yet introduced is L. serrata. This thrives in a peat and lam soil. Propagated, in spring, by divisions; or by seeds, sown in sandy soil, or on a hotbed.
L. serrata (serrate-leaved). fl. pale lavender, with veins of a deeper colour, irregularly funnel-shaped, about 2in. long; corymbs pedunculate, five to ten-flowered. Winter. l. oblong-lanceolate, acuminated, coriaceous, serrated, reticulately veined. h. 1ft. Sub-tropical Himalayas, 1882. Plant erect. SYN. L. ternifolia. (B. M. 6538.) L. ternifolia (ternate-leaved). A synonym of L. serrata.