SPATHELIA, in botany; a genus of plants belonging to the class of pentandria, and to the order of trigynia. The calyx is pentaphyllous; the petals are five; the capsule is three-edged and trilocular; the seeds solitary. There is only one species, the simplex, which is a native of Jamaica, and was introduced into the botanic gardens of this country in 1778 by Dr Wright, late of Jamaica.