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

More details about Chironia jasminoides Ker-Gawl.
Family Gentianaceae
Category
Region of origin

South Africa

Synonyms
Common Name
Name in the Camden Park Record

Chironia jasminoides 

Confidence level high