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Pavetta (Vernacular name of P indica)

(the vernacular name of P. indica in Malabar). SYNS. Baconia, Crinita, Verulamia. ORD. Rubiaceae. A genus comprising about sixty species of glabrous, pubescent, or tomentose, stove or greenhouse, shrubs or small trees, indigenous in the tropics, and also found in South Africa. They are closely allied to Ixora, but the lobes of the corolla are twisted in the bud; the style projects for some distance from the corolla, and is terminated by a club-shaped stigma. Flowers white or greenish, disposed in trichotomously-branched corymbs, rarely capitate, often bundle-flowered, axillary or terminal. Fruit fleshy, two-stoned. Leaves opposite, petiolate, usually membranous. The following species are sometimes seen in cultivation. For culture, see Ixora.

P. borbonica (Bourbon).l. opposite, oblong-lanceolate, 6in. to 10in. long; ground colour dark olive green, thickly studded all over the surface with white spots, which are shaded with a very light green; midrib bright salmon-red. Stem erect and usually simple. Isle of Bourbon. A very ornamental-leaved, stove plant, respecting which the "Gardeners' Chronicle" remarks: "Pavetta borbonica is a nursery name for a distinct and beautiful plant frequently found in gardens, of which no identification has yet been possible, because, so far as known, no flowers have been produced in cultivation."

P. caffra (Caffrarian). fl. white, sub-umbellate; corymbs terminating in short branches. June to August. l. obovate, almost sessile, glabrous. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1823. A beautiful greenhouse shrub when in flower. SYN. P. corymbosa. (B.M. 3580.) P. corymbosa (corymbose). A synonym of P. caffra.

P. indica (Indian). fl. white; panicle terminal, sub-corymbose, with opposite branches. August to October. l. oval-oblong, acuminate at both ends, petiolate. h. 3ft. to 4ft. India, &c., 1791. Stove shrub. (B. R. 198.)