Ruizia
(named in honour of Don Hippolite Ruiz, author, in conjuction with Pavon, of "Florae Peruvianae et Chilensis"). ORD. Sterculiaceoe. A genus consisting of only three species of stove shrubs, natives of Bourbon. Calyx five-parted; petals five, unequilateral, flat, persistent; staminal cup bearing twenty to thirty fertile stamens; peduncles axillary, cymosely many-flowered. Leaves palmi-nerved, entire, lobed, or nearly dissected, tomentose beneath. Two of the species have been introduced, and are worth growing. They thrive in a compost of loam, peat, and sand. Propagated by cuttings, which will root freely, if inserted in similar soil, under a hand glass, in heat.
R. lobata (lobed-leaved). fl. pale reddish. May. l. cordate, crenated, three to five-lobed, oblong, hoary beneath, smooth above; middle lobe longest and acuminated. h. 6ft. 1818.
R. variabilis (variable-leaved). fl. pale reddish. May. l. of the flowering branches palmatifid, those of the sterile ones palmately parted, hoary beneath. h. 10ft. 1792.