Plectritis
(from plektron, a spur; in allusion to the calcarate corolla). Including Betckea. ORD. Valerianeae. A genus comprising only three species of erect, hardy, annual herbs, of which two are Californian, and the third Chilian. Flowers pink, in dense, capituliform cymes, axillary or terminal; corolla five-fid, spreading. Leaves entire or sinuate-toothed. Seeds of P. congesta only require to be sown in the open ground in May, in a sheltered situation. It is doubtful, however, whether the genus is still represented in our gardens.
P. congesta (crowded). fl. pink, in oval or oblong heads, often arranged in verticillate, approximate or distant glomerules; corolla manifestly bilabiate, with a small spur much shorter than the tube. June. l. very glabrous; radical ones obovate or spathulate, entire; cauline ones broadly ovate, sessile, slightly toothed; floral ones linear-oblong. h. 9in. to 18in. California, 1826. (B. R. 1094, under name of Valerianella congesta.)