Iochroma cyaneum (Lindl.) M.L.Green

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘In the opinion of Mr. Bentham the plant now figured, which was mentioned in the last volume of this work under the name of Habrothamnus cyaneus, is better separated as a peculiar genus, to which two other species, also found by Mr. Hartweg in Equatorial America, must be added.  “This new genus,” writes Mr. Bentham, “differs from Habrothamnus in the aestivation of the corolla; and as far as I can judge from a not quite ripe fruit, in the fruit and seed belonging to the tribe of true Solaneae not to the Cestrineae.  Mr. Hartweg states that the fruit is pulpy, a sort of berry, and not a dry capsule.”  Mr. Hartweg found this plant in the form of a shrub, from four to six feet high, growing in the mountains of Yangana, near Loxa.  It flowered in the Garden of the Horticultural Society in August, 1844.’  [BR f. 20/1845].  FS p.54 vol.1/1845.  BR misc.72/1844.

History at Camden Park

Listed as Habrothamnus cyaneus among desiderata in a letter to James Backhouse, 10th April 1846.  Recorded as arrived, but crossed out.  [MP A2933-1, p.134].  It was also listed among desiderata in a letter to John Lindley, 15th February, 1848, and marked ‘arrived’ in Macarthur’s copy [A2933-1, p.157].  It was also requested of Loddiges’ nursery on 13th February, 1848 [MP A2933-1, p.172].  It was first listed in the catalogues in 1850 under the name Jochroma tubulosa [T.589/1850].

Notes