Saturday 20 February 2010

BRUGMANSIA sanguinea


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BRUGMANSIA sanguinea.
Dark-red Brugmansia.

Linnean Class and Order. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA.
Natural Order. SOLANEAE. Brown prodr. 1. p. 443.
BRUGMANSIA. Calyx tubulosus, ventricosus, 5-angulatus, persistens, apice coarctato 2-3-lobo. Corolla infundibuliformis, 5-plicata, 5-loba: lobis cuspidatis. Stamina 5, inclusa, coarctata. Antherae conglutinatae. Stigma crassum, bilobum, margine revolutum. Capsula 2-locularis, laevis, polysperma. Semina reniformia.
Arbores (Peruviani) foliis petiolatis indivisis, floribus alaribius pedunculatis maximis albis v. sanguineis, fructibus ovalibus pendulis aureis. Genus Omninò, ut videtur, naturale inter Daturam et Solandram locum tenens. D. Don. MSS.
1. B. sanguinea, foliis sinuato-lobatis subtomentosis.
Brugmansia bicolor. Persoon syn. I. p.216. Roem. et Schult.syst. 4. p. 307. Datura sanguinea. Ruiz et Pavon ft. peruv. et chil. 2. p. 15. Kunth in Humb. et Bonpl. nov. gen. et sp. pl. 3. p. 6.
Stem arboreous, rising to the height of from 3 to 12 feet, round, divided at the top, and clothed with an ash-coloured bark. Branches short and leafy, thickly clothed with white-spreading hairs. Leaves alternate, often geminate, ovate-oblong, obtuse, waved and sinuated, with short blunt lobes, copiously clothed on both sides with soft white hairs, above of a dark green, paler beneath, reticulated and rather wrinkled with prominent veins, and furnished with a stout rounded midrib, with lateral branches from 2 to 9 inches long, and from 1 to 5 broad, the base rounded and often unequal; the uppermost entire, but slightly waved. Petioles stout, from an inch to 3 inches long, nearly cylindrical, copiously hairy, slightly flattened above. Flowers solitary, pendulous, issuing from the forks of the branches. Peduncles an inch long, and as thick as a writing quill, cylindrical, copiously clothed with white hairs. Calyx large, ventricose, 5-angled, 5-ribbed, with prominent veins, copiously pubescent, rather contracted at the top, about 3 inches long, the limb cloven with concave lobes. Corolla funnel-shaped, 7 inches long, pubescent, with 15 straight prominent ribs; tube thick and fleshy, with 5 blunt angles, orange yellow, green towards the base; faux inflated, wrinkled and pitted exteriorly ; limb 5-lobed, of a deep orange-scarlet, with the lobes cuspidate and spreading, each being furnished with 3 ribs, the two lateral of which disappear before reaching the summit. Stamens 5, closely associated round the style. Filaments cylindrical, glabrous, pale green, their bases broad, flat, attached to the tube of the corolla, and clothed with shaggy hairs. Anthers erect, half an inch long, attached by their base, cream-coloured, obtuse, with parallel connate cells. Ovarium bilocular, conical, 5-sided, white, surrounded at the base by a 5-lobed fleshy disk, the parietes thick and fleshy. Placenta 2, oblong, fleshy, attached to the partition. Style filiform, glabrous, 4 inches long. Stigma projecting, with 2 short, thick, rounded lobes, revolute at the edges.
It is peculiarly gratifying to us to have to record the first introduction to our collections of this truly splendid plant, which was raised last year at Hayes Place, Kent, the seat of Miss Traill, from seeds collected at Guayaquil, in the state of Equador, by Mr. Crawley, who sent them to his aunt Lady Gibbs, by whom they were presented to Miss Traill. One of the plants survived the winter in the open border, and this also happened to be the first to show flower, which it did in October last. The rest of the plants began to blossom soon after, and all apparently varying in the degree of intensity in colour. In cultivation the plant rarely exceeds four or five feet in height, and evidently possesses a hardier constitution than arborea. It delights in a friable rich soil, and is easily increased by cuttings. In a sheltered border with a southern aspect, we have no doubt of its flowering quite as well as if retained in the conservatory. Both species are natives of Peru, but the sanguinea is found at a much greater elevation than the other. The plant is also found in New Granada, and it has been introduced into Chili, as we have seen specimens collected at Conception by Captain Beechey and Mr. Cuming. In Peru it is called Floripondia encarnado and Campanillas encarnadas, and from the bruised leaves an ointment is prepared, which is said to possess superior healing properties, and from the fruit a highly narcotic intoxicating liquor is obtained.
Our drawing was taken from flowering specimens obligingly communicated by Miss Traill, in the beginning of November.
The genus was named by Persoon after S. J. Brugmans, Professor of Natural History in the University of Leyden.

D.Don.

1. Section of the Ovarium.
Robert Sweet
The British Flower Garden, (series the Second): Containing Coloured Figures & Descriptions of the Most Ornamental and Curious Hardy Flowering Plants; Or Those that are Somewhat Tender, but may still be cultivated in a warm border, needing only a mat, or a garden pot, placed over them in a severe frost; some will require both expedients.
Vol. III Publisher J. Ridgway, M.DCCC.XXXV (1835)

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