Weinmannia
(named after John William Weinmann, apothecary at Ratisbon, author of "Phytanthozaiconographica," 1737). SYN. Leiospermum. ORD. Saxifrageae. A genus embracing about fifty species of stove or greenhouse, glabrous or tomentose trees or shrubs, inhabiting the Malayan Peninsula and Islands, the Mascarene and Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and tropical and temperate South America. Flowers white, small, fascicled or scattered, disposed in simple, terminal and axillary, erect racemes; calyx tube short, the limb four or five-partite; petals four or five, spathulate or ovate, sessile; stamens eight or ten, inserted with the petals. Leaves opposite, coriaceous, petiolate, simple, trifoliolate, or imparipinnate; leaflets usually glandular-serrated; rachis often winged; stipules variable, deciduous. Branchlets opposite, often terete. A selection of the introduced species is here given. They all require stove treatment, and thrive in any light, rich soil. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, inserted in sandy soil, under a glass, in heat.
W. glabra (smooth). fl. white; petals rather longer than the calyx segments; pedicels twin, shortly hirsute. January. l. highly glabrous on both sides, shortly petiolate, imparipinnate; leaflets three to five pairs, oblong-elliptic, slightly acute at base, the margins serrate or crenate-serrate, sometimes nearly entire. h. 6ft. Jamaica, 1815. Shrub. W. hirta (hairy). fl. fascicled-racemose; stamens eight, exserted. May. l., leaflets three or four-jugal, six to ten lines long, elliptic, bluish, serrated above the base, pilose-pubescent chiefly beneath. Branchlets villous-hirsute. h. 6ft. or more. Jamaica, 1820. Tree or shrub. W. ovata (ovate-leaved). fl., fascicles few-flowered, remote; racemes very loose, 3in. long. May. l. elliptic-oblong, somewhat obtuse, acute at base, crenate, 2in. to 3in. long, 1in. to 1 1/2in. broad; petioles two to three lines long. h. 6ft. Peru, 1824. Glabrous tree.
W. pinnata (pinnate). fl. fascicled-racemose; stamens eight, exserted. May. l., leaflets three to seven-jugal, elliptic-oblong, bluish, four to eight lines long, serrated above the base, hispid on the midrib beneath, or glabrescent. Branchlets hirsute with short down. h. 6ft. and upwards. Jamaica, 1815. Tree. W. glabra is (in part) synonymous with this species. W. trichosperma (hairy-seeded). fl., raceme loose. May. l. pinnate; leaflets many, oblong, acute, toothed, obliquely cuneate at base, naked and shining above, slightly pilose beneath. h. 4ft. Valdivia. Shrub. W. trifoliata (three-leafleted). A synonym of Platylophus trifoliata.