Tas. 8080. 
GLADIOLUS  priuurinus. 
Tropical Africa. 
Irmpea. Tribe Ixigz, 
GuapioLus, Linn.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 709. 
Gladiolus primulinus, Baker in Gard. Chron. 1890, vol. ii. p. 122, et Handb. 
Iridex, p. 222; G. quartiniano, A. Rich., valde affinis, perianthii colore 
recedit. 
Cormus globosus, plusquam 1 poll. diam. Folia circa 3, ensiformia, circa 
1} ped. longa, ad 1 poll. lata, subcoriacea, rigide costata. Scapus ad 
3 ped. altus. Spica 3—5-flora, laxa, secunda; spathez valve lanceolate, 
exteriores ad 1 poll. longw. Perianthium primulinum, immaculatum ; 
tubus 1 poll. longus, parte superiore valde curvatus ; segmenta superiora 
ovata vel obovata, cucullata, acuminata, 2 poll. longa, 1} poll. lata; 
segmento intermedio genitalia tectante; segmenta inferiora quam superiora 
multo minora, deflexa. Stamina quam perianthii segmenta dimidio 
breviora. Stylus quam stamina multo longior. 
While this plant has been regarded by Mr. J. G. Baker 
(Thiselton-Dyer, Fl. Trop. Afr. vol. iii. p. 371) as a form of 
(i, quartinianus, A. Rich., the distinctive clear primrose 
colour of its flowers, without any tendency to become 
spotted or striped, warrants its retention as a species for 
horticultural purposes. 2 
It was discovered in the Usagara Mountains in 1887 by 
Mr. J. T. Last, who sent corms to Kew, where flowers were 
first produced in 1890, Since then it has been sent from the 
“Rain Forest,” opposite the Victoria Falls, by Mr. Francis 
Fox, engineer of the bridge over the Zambesi, who re-intro- 
duced it into cultivation and flowered it at Wimbledon, and 
later by Mr. C. E. F. Allen, Forester to the Rhodesia Rail- 
ways Co., who describes its habitat as ‘‘ one of the wettest 
parts near the Falls,—a perpetual deluge.” He also states 
that the upper perianth-lobes “‘form a kind of umbrella for 
the inside of the flower.”” The plant figured was forwarded 
to Kew by Mr. C. F. H. Monro, of Bulawayo, and flowered 
in a frame in September last. It appears to thrive under 
cultivation, and its exquisite clear yellow flowers make it a 
desirable addition to the cultivated species of this genus. 
Descr.—Corm globose, more than an inch in diameter. 
Leaves about three produced, ensiform, about eighteen 
JUNE Ist, 1906. 
