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|genus=Browallia
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Browallia (after John Browall, Bishop of Abo, Sweden). Solandceae. Mostly blue-flowered greenhouse and garden herbs.
A genus of about 6 S. American annuals, with abundant blue, violet or white fls. which are solitary and axillary, or in more or less 1-sided racemes; corolla- tube 15-nerved, straight, which distinguishes it from Streptosolen, in which the corolla is twisted.
The seeds may be sown in the open border, but for the sake of the earlier bloom it is better to start them indoors in early spring and transplant into the open about May 15, where they will bloom profusely all through our hot, dry summers, and until frost. They can be grown in poorer soil than most half-hardy annuals, and make excellent bedding-plants. They are also used for winter decoration, the seeds being sown in midsummer, earlier or later according to the size of the specimens desired. They should be placed near the glass and frequently stopped, in order to produce compact plants. Large specimens are excellent for cutting, and small potted plants should be grown more commonly by florists for home decoration at Christmas. It is even possible to lift flowering plants from the open before the first frost of autumn and pot them for conservatory decoration, although the flowers are likely to become successively smaller. Blue flowers are rare in winter, and browallias are especially desirable for their profuse bloom all through winter and early spring. The flowers are, however, likely to fade, especially the purple ones. In pots under trees, B. speciosa makes an excellent summer plant.
In the names of the early species, Linnaeus commemorated the course of his acquaintanceship with Browall: elata, reflecting the exalted character of their early intimacy; demissa, its rupture; and alienata, the permanent estrangement of the two men.
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| name = ''Browallia''
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