Schwenkia
(named after J.T. Schwenck, 1619-1671, a Professor of Medicine at Jena). SYNS. Chaetochilus, Mathea, Matthisonia. ORD. Solanaceae. A genus comprising about a score species of stove herbs or sub-shrubs, natives of South America, one being also found in tropical Africa. Flowers yellowish-green or whitish; calyx five-toothed or five-cleft; corolla with an elongated tube, its limb five-toothed, with two to five club-shaped glands placed between the teeth; stamens exserted or included; peduncles one-flowered or simply few-flowered, paniculate. Leaves entire, ovate or narrow. S. americana, probably the only species in cultivation, is an annual, thriving in any light soil. It may be multiplied by seeds.
S. americana (American). fl. lilac; corolla 1/3 in. long; pedicels scarcely longer, or shorter, than the calyx; panicle slender, many-flowered. August. l. petiolate; lower ones ovate, 1in. to 1 1/2in long, narrowed at base; upper ones oblong; floral ones minute. h. 2ft. Brazil, &c., 1781.