Philesia
(from phileo, to love; alluding to the beauty of the flowers). ORD. Liliaceae. A monotypic genus. The species is a glabrous, much-branched, greenhouse shrub. It thrives best in peaty soil, but grows slowly. In sheltered positions in Ireland, and in Southwestern England, it succeeds in the open air. Suckers are thrown up, by which the plant may be increased. P. buxifolia (Box-leaved).* fl. red, showy, but smaller than those of Lapageria (to which this shrub is allied), solitary or very few at the tips of the branches, very shortly pedicellate; outer perianth segments erect, inner ones twice or thrice as long, somewhat spreading above; stamens six. June. l. alternate, very shortly petiolate, oblong, coriaceous, one-nerved, very slenderly reticulate-venulose; margins revolute. h. 4ft. Chili, &c., 1850. (B.M. 4738.)