Rhynchanthera
(from rhynchos, a beak, and anthera, an anther; the anthers are beaked). ORD. Melastomaceae. A genus of about two dozen species of glandular or pilose, often bristly, stove, annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, natives of Brazil, Guiana, New Grenada, and Peru. Flowers purple, panicled, often large, showy; calyx tube ovoid or campanulate; lobes five, subulate, lanceolate, or bristly, often persistent; petals obovate; stamens ten, very unequal. Leaves ovate, cordate, or oblong. The only species introduced--R. grandiflora--is a handsome, stove, evergreen shrub. It requires a compost of rich, sandy peat and fibry loam. Ample drainage is essential. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sandy loam, in heat, and covered with a bell glass, which should be slightly raised, in order to permit free circulation, and, at the same time, to prevent damping off. R. grandiflora (large-flowered). fl. numerous, terminal, shortly pedicellate; calyx tube purple, shorter than the narrow teeth, panicle dichotomously branched, corymbiform. Autumn. l. rather large and long-stalked, cordate-ovate, shortly acuminate, serrulated, seven to nine-nerved, slightly bristly. Branches subterete, hairy, or sometimes slightly hispid. h. 6ft. North Brazil, 1873. (B. M. 6011.)