Stigmaphyllon
(from stigma, and phyllon, a leaf; alluding to the stigmas being expanded into a sort of leaf). ORD. Malpighiaceae. A genus comprising about fifty species of handsome, stove, climbing shrubs, natives of tropical America. Flowers yellow; calyx five-parted, eight-glanded; petals unguiculate, unequal, glabrous; stamens ten, unequal, six being perfect; corymbs umbelliform, on axillary and terminal branchlets or peduncles; pedicels minutely bracteate at base, articulated and bibracteolate below the middle. Leaves generally opposite, of two forms, entire or denticulate, rarely lobed; petioles biglandular; stipules minute. The species best known to cultivation are described below. They will grow in a mixture of loam, leaf soil, and peat, with the addition of some sharp sand. Cuttings, made from ripened wood, will root freely if inserted in sandy soil, under a hand glass, in heat, taking about three or four weeks to do so.
S. aristatum (awned). fl., petals fimbriated; umbels pedunculate, few-flowered. June to August. l., cauline ones glabrous, sagittate-hastate, angled, acute; those on the younger branchlets often oblong, entire; petioles biglandular at apex. h. 15ft. Brazil, 1832. (B. R. 1659.) S. ciliatum (ciliated).* Golden Vine. fl. large, three to six in an umbel; petals fringed, with long claws. October. l. opposite, cordate, oblique at the base, smooth, ciliated, glaucous. Brazil, 1796. A tall climber. (P. M. B. xv. 77.) S. diversifolium (variable-leaved). fl., pedicels articulated at the base. June. l. shining above, pubescent or tomentose beneath, ovate or oblong-linear, rounded or almost cordate at base; petiolar glands close to the leaf. West Indies, 1826. Lofty climber.
S. fulgens (brilliant). fl. borne on divided peduncles. Summer. l. glabrous above, silvery beneath with silky down, cordate-rounded, mucronulate, repand, entire; basilar sinus open; petioles biglandular a little below the top. West Indies, &c., 1759. Tall climber.
S. heterophyllum (variable-leaved). fl. several to an umbel, on solitary, axillary peduncles; sepals erect; petals orbicular. December. l. opposite, mostly ovate, waved, entire, very obtuse, mucronate; sometimes broader, almost cordate, deeply three-lobed; lobes oblong, obtuse, mucronate, the side ones spreading. Buenos Ayres, 1842. Tall climber. (B. M. 4014.) S. jatrophaefolium (Jatropha-leaved). fl., petals fimbriated, shell-shaped; umbel many-flowered. Summer. l. palmately five to seven-cleft or parted, acute, serrate-ciliated, cordate, clear light green; petioles biglandular at apex. h. 6ft. Urguay, 1841. (B. R. xxx. 7.) S. littorale (shore-loving).* fl. on pedicels 1/2in. to 1 1/2in. long; corolla 1in. diameter; claw of the petals longer than the sepals; peduncles axillary, solitary, many-flowered; corymbs terminal, simple or compound. Autumn. l. opposite and alternate, long-petiolate. 2in. to 5in. long, varying in shape. South Brazil, 1882. A tall, leafy climber. (B. M. 6623.)