Tas. 5884. 
GLADIOLUS pracocepHauwts. 
Native of the Natal Colony. 
Nat. Ord. In1p—Ea.—Tribe GLADIOLEz. 
Guapiotus (Hebea) dracocephalus ; scapo 2-3-pedali, foliis elongato-ensifor- 
mibus 3-14 poll. latis acutis costa media valida, spica laxiflora, floribus 
secundis, bracteis tubo perianthii longioribus anguste oblongo-lanceolatis 
acuminatis viridibus, perianthio horizontali v. subdecurvo sub 2-labiato, 
segmentis 8 superioribus majoribus obovato-ellipticis sordide flavis 
purpureo creberrime striolatis, 2 lateralibus erectis apicibus recurvis, 
postico fornicato decurvo, segmentis 3 inferioribus multo minoribus 
deflexis revolutis oblongo-obovatis obtusis viridibus punctis purpureis 
conspersis, stigmatibus brevibus linearibus. 
At Tab. 5873 was figured a new species of Gladiolus, 
communicated by Mr. Wilson Sanders, remarkable for the 
vivid colouring of its flowers; and we have now from the 
same gentleman, another, and also a new species, no less re- 
markable for the contrast it affords in the lurid hues of its 
flowers, which are wholly unlike those of any of its congeners 
known to me. : 
It was discovered at the foot of the Drachenberg Mountains, 
in the West of the Natal Colony, by Mr. Cooper, Mr. Wilson 
Saunders’ successful 8S. African collector, and was flowered in 
the Hillfield Gardens, Reigate, in August of last year. Mr. 
J. G. Baker, who fortunately for science and horticulture 
has taken up the study of the long neglected petaloid mono- 
cotyledons, informs me that it is certainly not described in 
Klat’s monograph of Gladiolus (Linnea, v. 3), but belongs to 
that author's section Hesea, and further remarks, that with 
the very broad leaves of G. Papilio (Tab. Nost. 5565), it has 
the perianth of G. viperatus (Tab. Nost. 688), which also 
belongs to the two-lipped division, but differs widely in habit 
and the form of the perianth-segments. The publication of 
FEBRUARY lst, 1871. 
