Mitraria
(from mitra, a mitre; in reference to the shape of the seed-pod). SYN. Diplocalyx. ORD. Gesneraceae. A monotypic genus. The species is a very ornamental, hardy or half-hardy, diffuse or climbing, pubescent or glabrous, evergreen shrub, or comparatively easy culture, and thriving best in moderately close, rather fibry peat, with plenty of sand. Perfect drainage is very essential. If grown in pots, it requires a cool shady situation; an arid atmosphere is fatal to success. Propagated freely by divisions of the root in spring; or by cuttings, taken any time during spring or summer, and inserted in a light soil, under a bell glass.
M. coccinea (scarlet).* fl. bright scarlet, about 1 1/2in. long, solitary in the axils, on pendent slender pedicels; calyx free; corolla tube elongated, inflated. May to July. l. ovate, acute, small, serrated, sub-coriaceous. Stems scandent. Chiloe, 1848. (B. M. 4462; F. d. S. 385.)