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Antholyza Cunonia. Scarlet-Flowered Antholyza.
Class and Order.
Triandria Monogynia.
Generic Character.
Cor. tubulosa irregularis recurvata. Caps. infera.
Specific Character and Synonyms.
ANTHOLYZA Cunonia corollis rectis, labii quinquepartiti lobis duobus externis latioribus adscendentibus. Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. 3 p. 54. Ait. Kew. v. 1 p. 66.
ANTHOLYZA Cunonia corollis subpapilionaceis: labii lobis duobus externis latioribus adscendentibus. Linn. Syst. Veg. ed. 14. Murr. p. 87.
ANTHOLYZA Cunonia foliis ensiformibus glabris striatis, spica oblonga disticha. Thunb. Prod. Pl. Cap. p. 7.
CUNONIA floribus sessilibus spathis maximis. Butt. cun. 211. t. 1.
CUNONIA Antholyza. Mill. Dict.
No. 343
Amidst that variety of tender bulbous plants which the Cape affords, there are none whose flowers can boast a richer scarlet, than the Antholyza here figured; in their form also, there is a great singularity, and in their mode of growth much elegance; to us indeed it is matter of surprise that this plant should not be more generally cultivated, especially as its culture is attended with so little trouble: Mr. Miller, who grew it in 1756, has minutely described it in his Dictionary; he informs us, that it is easily propagated by offsets, or raised from seeds; the latter, as the plant flowers in April and May, ripen about the middle of June, and should be sown about the middle of August; the plant with the pot in which it has grown, after it has ripened its seeds, should be set by the shed or some dry place, and in the autumn the largest roots should be selected, and three of them planted in a pot of a moderate size, keeping them in an open frame till the approach of winter, when they are to be removed into the house with other greenhouse plants.
This species is found wild in Persia as well as at the Cape.