GENERIC CHARACTER.
Calyx. Perianthium monophyllum, quinquepartitum, persistens; laciniis erectis, subulatis.
Corolla. Monopetala, ringens, tubus ventricosus, basi arcta; limbus bilabiatus, labium superius bifidum, rotundatum, reflexum; labium inferius trifidum, laciniis rotundatis, intermedia minore.
Stamina. Filamenta quatuor, sub labio superiori recondita, quorum duo lateralia longiora, fundo corollæ inserta, basi incrassata, lanata, apice incurvata. Antheræ erectæ, versatiles, approximatæ.
Pistillum. Germen sub-rotundum. Stylus filiformis, persistens; longitudine staminum. Stigma obtusum.
Pericarpium. Capsula sub-rotunda, bilocularis, calyce longior, obtusa.
Semina plurima, sub-rotunda, scabrida.
Empalement. Cup one leaf, five divisions, permanent; segments upright, and awl-shaped.
Blossom. One leaf, gaping, tube swelled out in the middle, and pinched in at the base; border with two lips, the upper divided into two lobes, which are rounded, and bent back; the lower has three divisions, the segments rounded, the middle one the smallest.
Chives. Threads four, hid under the upper lip, of which the two side ones are the longest, fixed into the bottom of the blossom, thickened at the base, woolly, and turned inward at the point. Tips upright, slightly fixed by the middle, and approaching.