Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Chironia jasminoides Ker-Gawl.

Frost tender evergreen shrub with tetragonal stem, lance-shaped leaves, and red or purplish, salverform flowers borne at the tops of the branches.  To 90cm.  [RHSD, Don].

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘A species long since upon record; having been published by Linnaeus, in the name of one of his disciples [Willdenow], from a spontaneous specimen in the Herbarium of the learned Burmann.  Yet it does not appear in the Hortus Kewensis; nor is it known by any figure; the one under the name, in the Illustrations of Genera by the Chevalier De Lamarck, obviously representing a different species.  Native of the Cape of Good Hope, but it does not seem to be known when or by whom introduced.  The drawing was made from a plant in the nursery of Messrs. Whitley, Brames, and Milne, at Parson’s Green; where it flowers in February and March in the greenhouse, requiring the same treatment as the Cape heaths.’  [BR f.197/1817].

‘It produces its elegant flowers in the autumn.  They last for a considerable time, occasionally closing and opening again, and that at uncertain seasons.’  [LBC no.27/1817].  ‘All the sorts [of Chironia] are easily induced to form a compact, large-sized specimen; and when well managed, they become literally covered with bright-coloured flowers, which keep going for months together’.  [Gard. Chron. 1853]. Introduced to Britain in 1812.  [JD].

History at Camden Park

Listed in the 1843, 1845 and 1850 catalogues.

Notes

Chironia jasminoides Lam.  = Chironia nudicaulis L.f.

Chironia jasminoides L. (1817) = Chironia tetragona L.f.

Published Mar 05, 2009 - 04:58 PM | Last updated Mar 03, 2010 - 08:48 AM

Illustrated are the lance-shaped leaves and purplish-red salverform flowers.  Botanical Register  f.197, 1817.

Chironia jasminoides Ker-Gawl. | BR f.197/1817 | BHL

Family Gentianaceae
Category
Region of origin

South Africa

Synonyms
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Chironia jasminoides 

Confidence level high