Villarsia
(named in honour of Dominique Villars, 1745-1814, Professor at Grenoble; he wrote on the plants of Dauphine). SYN. Renealmia (of Houttuyn). ORD. Gentianeae. A genus embracing ten species of South African or Australian, marsh-loving, greenhouse herbs. Flowers yellow or white, cymose; calyx five-parted or deeply five-cleft; corolla broadly campanulate, sub-rotate, the lobes valvate; stamens five, affixed to the tube; filaments filiform. Radical leaves long-petiolate, entire or irregularly sinuate-toothed. Stems simple and leafless, or slightly branched and furnished with a few leaves. The following species are known to cultivation, and form elegant subjects when in blossom. Peat and sand form the most suitable compost, and the pots in which the plants are grown should be placed in water. Propagation may be readily effected by divisions, or by seeds.
V. capitata (headed). fl. yellow, sessile, in compact, globular or depressed heads about 1/2in. in diameter, on long peduncles. Summer. l. long-petiolate, broadly ovate, orbicular, or reinform, coarsely sinuate-toothed or entire, under 1in. long. Stems slightly branched, leafy, 6in. high. Australia, 1879. (B. M. 6420.) V. Crista-galli (cock's comb). A synonym of Menyanthes Cristagalii. V. Humboldtiana (Humboldt's). A garden name for a form of Limnanthemum indicum.
V. nymphaeoides (Nymphaea-like). A synonym of Limnanthemum nymphaeoides. V. ovata (ovate-leaved). fl. citron-yellow; corolla segments crenate-timbriate on the margins, pilose at the base within; cymes terminal, raceme-like. June. l. clustered, coriaceous, oval, entire. Stems ascending, nearly naked. h. 6in. Cape of Good Hope, 1786. SYN. Menyanthes ovata (B. M. 1909). V. parnassifolia (Grass of Parnassus-leaved).* fl. yellow; corolla lobes shortly exceeding the calyx. August. l. long-petiolate, ovate or almost orbicular, entire or sinuate-crenate, slightly cordate or rounded at base, mostly under 1in. long. Flowering stems 1ft. to 2ft. high, loosely paniculate, leafless except small bracts, or a solitary leaf at the first branching. Australia, 1825. (B. R. 1533, under name of V. reniformis.) V. reniformis (kidney-shaped).* fl. yellow; corolla spreading, 3/4in. to 1in. in diameter, the lobes copiously bearded or fringed inside at base. July. l. in a dense tuft, on long petioles, ovate to orbicular or reniform, more or less cordate at base, entire or slightly sinuate-toothed, mostly 1in. to 2in. long. Flowering stems as in V. parnassifolia. h. 6in. to 3ft. Australia, 1820. SYN. Menyanthes exaltata (B. M. 1029). The plant figured in B. M. 1328 as Menyanthes sarmentosa is only a stoloniferous form of this species.