Mutisia

Mutisia - Very curious and distinct half-shrubby climbers from Peru, with tendril-pointed leaves. Other kinds are natives of the Chilian Andes, and have simple leaves, rigid in texture, and their habit is, as a rule, bushy and not climbing. They are found at elevations sufficiently high to admit of their being grown out of doors in England, or at any rate in the warmer parts of the country, and yet the Mutisias are scarcely known in our gardens. Some few cultivators have been successful with M. decurrens; once or twice M. ilicifolia has been grown and flowered very well. M. Clematis is the least delicate of the garden Mutisias.

Mutisia Clematis - The first colored picture of this species ever published in any English work was the plate in The Garden, 27th July 1883. It is a tall herbaceous climber, 10 to 20 feet high, with pinnate leaves, terminating in branched tendrils, the leaflets being covered on the under side with a fine silky down. There are very few instances of its successful culture, even in the south. This species is a native of New Grenada, Peru, and Ecuador, at elevations of from 6000 to 11,000 feet.

Mutisia Decurrens - Of this, the most beautiful of the three garden Mutisias, a fine plate will be found in The Garden for 1883, p. 553. Mr Coleman has grown it well amongst Rhododendrons at Eastnor Castle; Mr Gumbleton, Mr Hooke, Mr Ellacombe, and Kew have also had it in good condition. Most cultivators kill this species by planting it in a hot, sunny, dry position. It wants a moist, cool soil, a sunny, airy position, and a few slender Pea-sticks to clamber upon. The stems when mature are wiry, the leaves strap-shaped, with the blade extending a long distance down the stem, forming very conspicuous wings. The midrib is prolonged into a stout wiry tendril, which holds on firmly to anything it once clasps. There are fourteen ray-florets, each half an inch across, spreading, and then curving elegantly downwards, their color being brilliant orange. The disc is bluish-green.

Mutisia Ilicifolia - Native of Chili, where it grows over bushes. The plant has thin wiry stems, and every part is covered with a cobweb-like tomentum. The leaves are about 2 inches long, the margins spiny-toothed, the texture leathery, and the midrib extending beyond the blade, branching and forming a strong twining tendril. The flowers are axillary, 3 inches across, with from eight to twelve ray florets colored pale pink or sometimes white with pink tips; the disc is lemon-yellow. It is a distinct, interesting, and beautiful plant, but very difficult to grow.

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