1926 



TROl'yEOLUM biachyceias. 

 Short-spurred Tropceoluvi. 



OCTANDRIA MOA'OfiFIV/vl. 



Nat. ord. Balsaminace;e, § Trop^eoles;. 

 TROPMOLUM.—Supru, vol. 9.fol. 718. 



T. brachyceras ; foliis peltatisectis segmentis 6-7 oblongo obovatis inlegris ses- 

 silibus, petalis conformibus, calycis segmentis obtusis, calcare brevissinio ob- 

 tusissimo. Hooker et Arnott in Bot. of Beechey's Voyage, p. 14. 



A beautiful little Tropseolum, forming the prettiest pos- 

 sible match for T. tricolor, whose habit it possesses, with a 

 substitution of clear, delicate yellow in the petals for the rich 

 crimson of that species. Like it the present species is not 

 uncommon about Valparaiso, in bushy places in the moun- 

 tains. The Chilians call it Flor de Ferdiz. 



It was originally introduced many years since by Mr. 

 Cruickshanks, but appears to have been lost again ; or at 

 least it was never brought into notice till now, when I have 

 the opportunity of publishing a figure of it from specimens 

 obligingly communicated by the Rev. G. Gumming Rash- 

 leigh of Hyde Lodge, near Winchester, in August last. This 

 gentleman received the roots, with those of many other plants, 

 about three months previously, from a friend at Valparaiso, 

 and is at present the only known possessor of the species. 



It is not a little singular that our gardens should still be 

 without the other beautiful Tropeeoliims that grow wild near 

 Valparaiso. Weeds enough, including common Lucerne, 



* See folio 1547. 



