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Mussaenda (Name applied by the Cingalese)

(a name applied by the Cingalese to some of the species). ORD. Rubiaceae. This genus comprises about forty species of mostly stove shrubs or subshrubs, rarely herbs, erect or twining, natives of tropical Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Flowers yellowish, rarely white, in many-flowered terminal corymbs; corolla funnel-shaped, with a five-parted limb and a villous throat. Fruit ovoid, fleshy, naked at the apex from the calyx being deciduous. Leaves ovate, petiolate, villous or glabrous. Several of the species are cultivated chiefly on account of the large coloured floral leaves or bracts, which are formed by the enlargement of one of the calyx segments. Mussaendas are of easy culture in a compost of peat, loam, and leaf mould, in equal proportions, to which may be added a small quantity of silver sand. Propagated, during May or June, by cuttings, inserted in sandy soil, under a bell glass, in heat. The four under-mentioned species are probably the only ones now in cultivation.

M. frondosa (leafy). fl. yellow; tube of corolla one-third longer than the calyx. May to September. l. stalked, oval-lanceolate, and, as well as branches, pubescent. h. 3ft. Tropical Asia, 1805. Erect shrub. (B. R. 517; B. M. 2099, under name of M. pubescens.) M. luteola (yellow).* fl. bright yellow, with an orange centre, 1in. long, slender, the bract-formed calycine leaf 3/4in. long, and pure white; corymbs terminal, trichotomous. Autumn and winter. l. almost sessile, ovate-lanceolate, acute, nerved, tomentose beneath. h. 5ft. to 6ft. Tropical Africa. A very pretty, erect, greenhouse shrub. (B. M. 5573.) M. macrophylla (large-leaved). fl. orange, in terminal, trichotomous corymbs; large segment of calyx white. July and August. l. ovate, downy. Stem simple, ascending. h. 6ft. Tropical Asia, 1845. Shrub.(B. R. 1846, 24.) M. pubescens (downy). A synonym of M. frondosa.

M. uniflora (one-flowered). fl. white, sweet-scented, solitary, with a long tube. l. opposite, cordate-ovate, sub-sessile. Stem slender. Cochin China, &c., 1883. A pretty, vigorous, and free-flowering herb, suitable for basket culture.