RONDELETIA
Rondeletia odorata Jacquin
Small, round, heads of many bright, red and yellow flowers mark the Rondeletia. It is a shrub which is not common in Hawaii but may be found in the Royal Hawaiian and Foster gardens. The flowers are tubular, with a bright yellow throat and orange-red lobes. The leaves are opposite and sessile. The shrub grows to about six feet high. It is a native of Mexico and a member of the Coffee family. ([Plate VI])
STAR JASMINE
Jasminum pubescens Willde
(Jasminum multiflorum)
The Star Jasmine takes its name from the starry, white flowers which cover the plant at all seasons. Each has from four to nine, pointed lobes, radiating from the mouth of the slender tube. Ordinarily, they are scentless, but a variety with faint fragrance is now becoming popular. When the flowers fall, they leave a group of coarsely hairy, green calyxes like small green pompons. The plant is at first a sprawling shrub, but later becomes a vine. Its leaves grow in opposite pairs along the length of the shoots. They are pointed and slightly velvety. This plant is widely used in Honolulu. It is a native of tropical Asia, and like all the Jasmines, belongs to the Olive family. ([Plate VI])
GALPHIMIA
Thryallis glauca Kuntze
(Galphimia glauca)
Small, terminal, clusters of bright, yellow, little flowers with red stamens, characterize the Galphimia shrub. It grows about five feet high and has small, glossy, opposite leaves. The yellow flowers bloom most of the year, making the plant popular in gardens.
The word Galphimia, by which it is popularly known, is an anagram of Malpighia, the name of the Italian physician for which the family to which it belongs was named. It is a native of southern Mexico. ([Plate VI])
PLUMBAGO
Plumbago capensis Thunberg
The pale blue flowers of the Plumbago are frequently seen especially in dry places where the plant thickly covers the ground or grows over walls and trellises, often with a heavy undergrowth of dead branches below. The flowers have a long tube and five lobes, and grow in short clusters. Their blue color varies from a soft azure to palest tints, and there is a pure white variety. The species with pink blossoms is Plumbago rosea.
The blue flowering plant is a native of South Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope, as its name indicates. It gives the name of Plumbago to its family. ([Plate VI])