Flora of New Zealand Series

Herbs or shrubs. Lvs usually opposite, decussate, rarely alternate or whorled, entire or nearly so. Fls 6-merous, zygomorphic, monomorphic, solitary or in racemes, sometimes in verticels; pedicels usually interpetiolar rather than axillary; bracteoles 2 or 0. Calyx tube ± curved, ribbed, usually pouched or spurred at base, often coloured, oblique, usually with an epicalyx tooth between each lobe. Petals 6, rarely fewer or 0, unequal, shortly clawed, inserted near rim of calyx tube. Stamens 6-14, rarely fewer, inserted on upper 1/2 of calyx tube, included or exserted. Disc at base of ovary glandular, asymmetric. Ovary sessile, 2-celled but septum often disappearing early. Ovules 2-many in each cell. Stigma 2-lobed. Capsule enclosed by calyx, dehiscing longitudinally.

c. 250 spp., tropical and subtropical regions of America. Naturalised spp. 2.

Although not naturalised, the Mexican cigar plant, C. ignea A. DC., a glabrous subshrub with solitary fls having a scarlet calyx tube with white, black or purplish tipped lobes, and no corolla, is much commoner in cultivation than either of the 2 spp. mentioned below.