90 THE FLORIST. 



TIGER FLOWERS (TIGRIDIAS). 



BY DR. MACLEAN. 



With the exception of a paper written many years since in the 

 Transactions of the Horticultural Society, and one which lately ap- 

 peared in the Midland Florist, little or nothing has been done to 

 promote the cultivation of the Tiger Flower. This (considering the 

 unrivalled splendour of its flowers, its unique character, and the ea- 

 gerness with which all seek to possess it) is a circumstance much to 

 be regretted, and must be matter of surprise to many florists. True 

 it is that, in the hands of the unskilled amateur, it is soon lost alto- 

 gether, for no plant is more impatient of neglect ; and in wet and 

 unfavourable seasons it is liable, even in the hands of the most skil- 

 ful cultivator, to disappoint his hopes ; its flowers moreover, it is said, 

 are of short duration. But, to my mind, these are but frivolous ob- 

 jections when compared with the many attractive qualities which 

 this gorgeous flower possesses ; and I have little fear of being able to 

 convince those who may chance to read this communication, that the 

 Tiger Flower merits much more attention than has hitherto been be- 

 stowed upon it by modern florists ; and that but little trouble, and 

 still less expense, is required for its successful cultivation. 



But while I express my surprise that florists should have neg- 

 lected the cultivation of this flower, I am altogether at a loss for 

 an explanation of the unaccountable circumstance, that no distinct 

 varieties have as yet been produced from it, and that no one should 

 hitherto have attempted a union between T. pavonia and T. con- 

 chiflora, the prettiest species of this genus that have, as yet, made 

 their appearance in our gardens. These flowers not only unite with 

 each other, but the offspring produced by their union has proved 

 quite as fertile as their parents ; which is rarely, if ever, the case 

 with the offspring of two distinct species. I am, therefore, justified 

 in considering the one merely a variety of the other. But which, 

 it will be asked, is the variety, and which the original plant ? The 

 following circumstance may throw some light upon the subject. 



While I feasted my eyes one morning upon a more numerous 

 expansion of bloom than usual of both species, I beheld in one of the 

 petals of Conchiflora a broad stripe running from the base to the 

 apex, like the stripe in a Carnation ; and its colour resembled that of 

 the petal of Pavonia so nearly, that it immediately struck me the 

 two flowers must be much more nearly related to each other than 

 botanists were willing to believe. The very next morning I arose 

 earlier than usual, that I might deprive some of the flowers of T. 

 conchiflora of their anthers, in order that the pistil might be fertilised 

 with the pollen of T. pavonia. Six flowers (the strongest I could 

 select) were chosen for experiment; and from these the anthers 

 were removed while the morning dew was yet upon the flowers. 

 The anthers, moreover, were removed from every other flower of T. 



