Volume 9 — PLATE DLXX. JUSTICIA NITIDA. Shining-leaved Justicia.

CLASS II. ORDER I.

DIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Two Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx simplex seu duplex. Corolla 1-petala, irregularis. Capsula ungue elastico dissiliens: dissepimentum contrarium; adnatum.

Empalement simple or double. Blossom one-petalled, irregular. Capsule splitting with an elastic claw: partition contrary to the valve; affixed.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER

Justicia fruticosa: foliis ellipticis, acuminatis: racemis spicæformibus, verticillatis: bracteis minutis: pedicellis calycibusque glabris.

Swartz. Flora Indiæ occidentalis.

Habitat in insulis Jamaicæ, S. Christophori, Martiniquæ, S. Crucis, et Guadalupæ.

Justicia with a shrubby stem: leaves elliptic and pointed: raceme in the form of a spike, whorled: floral leaves small: footstalks and calyx smooth.

Native of Jamaica, St. Christopher, Martinique, St. Croix, and Guadaloupe.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

Of this species of Justicia the only figure extant that we know of is a very indifferent representation of it in Sloane’s Jamaica, evidently from a dried specimen. The fine glossy character of the foliage has furnished it with a specific title. The flowers are abundant in succession, but, like most of this genus, of a deciduous or short-lived character. It was introduced to the British gardens, according to Donn’s Catalogue, in 1793, Our drawing was made from a plant brought from the West Indies by Lord Seaforth, which flowered in August 1808 in the hot-stove of A. B. Lambert, esq.