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Bertolonia (after A. Bertolini, Italian botanist). Melastomaceae. Excellent warmhouse foliage plants from Brazil.
Always dwarf, and sometimes creeping; the garden forms with membranaceous, 5-11-nerved Lvs. 5-8 in. long, and purple beneath: fls. white, purple or rose- colored, 5-petaled, in scorpipid racemes or spikes. There are only 9 species, 5 of which were distinguished when the last edition was issued. (A. Coigneaux, in DC. Mon. Phan., Vol. VII.) Some earlier botanists do not separate certain allied genera which usually cannot be distinguished by habit alone. The surest character is the inflated and 3-angled or 3-winged calyx of Bertolonia. In Bertolonia, fl.-parts are in 5's, but the ovary is 3-celled. Gravesia has a 5-celled ovary, and Sonerila is trimerous. In Bertolonia, the connective of the anthers has no appendage; in Salping there is a spur below and behind the connective; in Monolena there is a spur in front, and the calyx is not hairy.
Bertolonias are essentially fanciers' plants. It is somewhat difficult to bring out their true characteristics under ordinary stove treatment, as they require a more humid atmosphere than can usually be maintained, even in a small house. The additional shelter of a small frame should be provided, where the atmospheric conditions will be much more easily regulated. A plentiful supply of water at the roots is necessary; syringing or sprinkling overhead is not advisable. — The most convenient method of propagation is by cuttings, which strike readily, in a moderately close propagating-case filled with sharp, clean sand. The pots should be thoroughly clean and drained, and the compost open and porous. They may also be grown from seed. They thrive in dense shade. Old plants are not so brilliant as young ones. (Wm. Scott.)
Bertolonias and their allies furnish an excellent example of Van Houtte's triumphs in hybridization. The two species described below have probably been important factors in the plant-breeding, and Gravesia guttata even more so. Gravesia is a Madagascar plant, and has, perhaps, been crossed with the Brazilian bertolonias. Unfortunately, the pictures in Flore des Serres show no flowers, and the pedigree is not given. The bertonerilas figured and described in l.H. 43, pp. 188 and 189, with colored plates 64 and 68, are presumably hybrids between Bertolonia and Sonerila. Excepting B. maculata and B. marmorata, the following are hybrids:
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