Loasa

Loasa - Curious prickly annuals with singular flowers and stinging foliage. L. hispida is pretty, growing about 18 inches high, with deeply-cut foliage and short stinging hairs, the flowers 1 inch across, of a bright lemon-yellow, the centre prettily marked with green and white. It blossoms several weeks in succession during August and September. The other kinds in cultivation are the beautiful L. vulcanica, with its pure white flowers and red and white striped centres; L. lateritia, a twining species, with orange-red flowers; and L. triloba. All are natives of the cool regions of Peru and Brazil, and can be grown in the open air during summer. Treated as half-hardy annuals, and grown in a light fertile soil, they are interesting for open borders; the climbing species, such as lateritia, require branches to twine among. Seed.