Monnina
(named after Monnino, Count de Flora Blanca, a Spanish promoter of botany). SYN. Hebeandra. ORD. Polygaleae. A genus comprising about fifty species of greenhouse evergreen herbs, shrubs, or small trees, natives of Western America. Flowers usually with a white or yellowish corolla and blue calycine wings; disposed in spike-formed, terminal or lateral racemes. Leaves alternate or scattered. Few of the species have any horticultural value. For culture, see Polygala.
M. obtusifolia (obtuse-leaved). fl. drooping; corolla of five reddish-purple petals, united into one hollow keel, disposed in solitary terminal racemes. June. l. obovate, obtuse, entire, 1in. long, attenuated into a short petiole. h. 12ft. Peru, 1830. A slender, upright shrub. (B. M. 3122.) M. xalapensis (Xalapa). fl. bright blue, in copious racemes; tip of the three-lobed keel yellow. l. alternate, oblanceolate, acute or acuminate, bright green, 2in. to 4in. long. Mexico, 1879. A rather effective shrub. (B. M. 6415.)