366 



TROP^OLACEtE. 



[Hypogynous Exogens. 



Order CXXIX. TROPiEOLACEiE.— Indian Cresses. 



Tropseolese, Juss. Mem. Mus. 3. 447. (1817) ; DC. Prodr. 1. 683. (1824) ; Endl. Gen. cclviii.-Limnan- 

 theee, k. Br. in Land, and Edinb. Philosoph. Mag. July 1833 ; Lindley Bot. Reg. t. 1673. (1834) ; 

 Nixus Plantarutn, p. 11. (1833) ; Martins Conspectus, No. 272. (1835) ; Endl. Gen. cclix. 



Diagnosis. Malval Exogens, ivitJi free stamens, no disk, seeds without albumen, and 



an amygdaloid embryo. 



Smooth herbaceous plants, of tender texture and ^vith an acrid taste, traihng or twin- 

 Leaves alternate, without stipules. Peduncles axillary, 1 -flowered. Flowers 



yellow, scarlet, orange, or even blue ! Sepals 3-5, 

 the upper one mth a long distmct spur ; aestiva- 

 tion usually valvate, or very slightly overlapping. 

 Petals 1-5, hypogynous, equal or unequal, with 

 a convolute eestivation, somethnes partially abor- 

 tive. Stamens 6-10, perigpious, distinct ; an- 

 thers innate, erect, 2-celled. Ovary 1, 3-cor- 

 nered, made up of 3 or 5 carpels ; style 1 ; stig- 

 mas 3-5, acute ; o\'ules sohtary, erect, or pendu- 

 lous. Fruit indehiscent, the pieces separable 

 from a common axis, sometimes winged. Seeds 

 large, without albumen, filling the cavity in which 

 they lie; embryo large ; cotyledons 2, straight, 

 thick, consohdated into a single body, or distmct; 

 radicle next the hilum. 



Indian Cresses fomi an Order standing on the 

 limits between the Malval and Geranial Alli- 

 ances. Its valvate calyx is almost the only cha- 

 racter which determmes its preference for the 

 former ; for if that were imbricated and ribbed 

 there would be little to separate Indian Cresses 

 from the Cranesbills. Tropaeolum majus has 

 the very spm* of a Pelargonium, only in the latter 

 the spxu' is adnate to the flower-stalk. Limnanths, 

 which Dr. BrowTi first proposed as a distinct 

 Order, do not seem to be naturally distmguished, 

 and, considering the very small extent of the 

 Oi'der of Indian Cresses, are far better combined 

 with them. If the leaves of Limnanthes Dou- 

 glasii and Tropeeolum majus are chewed, their 

 flavour is so similar that one is hardly able to 

 distinguish them. The principal difficulty in 

 the w^ay of stationing Limnanths with Indian 

 Cresses, consists in the perigpious insertion of 

 the stamens of the former ; but in this instance 

 other considerations must, I think, outweigh 

 that circumstance. Perhaps Lmmanths should 



Fig. CCLIV. 



Fig. CCLIV.— 1. Chymocarpus pentaphyllus ; 2. a longitudinal section of its flower ; 3. ovary of Tro- 

 paeolum majus ; 4. a vertical section of a carpel, showing the position of the OAOile ; 5. a perpendicular sec- 

 tion of a seed. 



