Reinwardtia
(of Dumortier) (named after K.G.K. Reinwardt, 1773-1822, director of the Botanic Garden at Leyden). SYN. Macrolinum. ORD. Lineae. A small genus (three species) of greenhouse or stove shrubs or sub-shrubs, inhabiting the mountains of the East Indies. Flowers yellow or white, rather large, in very short, fascicle-like racemes, solitary in the axils, or densely corymbose at the tips of the branches; sepals and petals five, the latter fugacious, twisted; stamens eonnate at base, hypogynous; pedicels bracteate. Leaves alternate, membranous, often serrate, penninerved. R. tetragynum and R. trigynum, the only species calling for mention here, are old, winter-flowering, warm green-house plants, worthy of a more extensive cultivation than they at present receive. Cuttings should be taken from the strongest points of old plants, and inserted, in a close propagating frame, some time during April or May. When rooted, they may be grown on singly, in an intermediate temperature, until established, in 5in. or 6in. pots. Pinching should be frequently practised, when the plants are young, to induce a compact habit. A position in frames, where plenty of air and sun can be admitted, is best in autumn, as it is necessary to thoroughly ripen the recently-made shoots for flowering during the winter. A temperature of about 55 deg. will be necessary to open the flowers properly, and keep them from damping-off. Old plants may be cut back, and grown a second year under similar treatment; but they are not generally so strong or satisfactory as new ones annually raised from good cuttings. Red Spider is the most destructive insect to which the plants are subject; frequent and heavy syringings, applied through-out the summer, will keep it in abeyance, and also prove beneficial to the plants. R. tetragynum (four-styled). fl. often 1in. in diameter; styles three or four, united below. l. elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, crenate-serrated. India. Shrub.
R. trigynum (three-styled).* fl. yellow, solitary, or a few umbellately clustered; petals obovate, emarginate, the claws connate into a tube. October. l. ovate-oblong, entire, aristatemucronate; stipules minute. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1799. Shrub. (B. M. 1100, under name of Linum trigynum.)