CULTURE OF THE TROPiEOLUM. 21 



plants, and trust that the information thus given may be productive of 

 satisfactory results : — 



The Tropseoluin and its Culture, by the Chairman. 



Remarks on New Native Plants, by Professor Asa Gray. 



Dahlias and their Culture, by Parker Barnes. 



The Culture of the Verbena, by the Chairman. 



Perpetual Roses, by William C. Strong. 



Carnations and Picotees, by B. K. Bliss. 



Our Greenhouses, by the Chairman. 



THE CULTURE OF THE TROP^OLUM. 



BY THE CHAIRMAN. 



This flower, from its earliest discovery and introduction, has been a 

 popular favorite ; as year by year newer varieties ha%'e been discovered, or 

 finer seedlings raised from old favorites, it has steadily advanced in favor, 

 till now the rich man's choicest greenhouse and the poor man's garden 

 alike boast some of the varieties of this beautiful plant. In the limits of a 

 short article, like the present, it will be impossible, of course, to give a 

 detailed description, or even to mention all the varieties ; many are only 

 desirable in a collection, being of inferior beauty, Avhile others are rare, or 

 of difficult culture, and, therefore, found only in the greenhouses of 

 amateurs. 



To treat of all these varieties from personal experiment or observation, 

 we regret, is, at present, not in our power ; we have, therefore, borrowed 

 any desirable facts which, in the course of our reading, we have chanced 

 to meet, and occasionally have copied the description of a variety which 

 we had never seen, or were unable to procure. The materials for this 

 little article have been collected from many sources during the past three 

 years, and, though much may be omitted which might be profitable, the 

 writer trusts some advantage may be gained — some information afforded. 



The name Tropgeolum is derived from the Greek " tropaion," or the 

 Latin " tropsum," a trophy, from the fancied resemblance of the large 

 round leaves to a buckler, and, as some still more fancifully assert, from the 

 spur of the flower resembling a helmet Botanically speaking, the flower 

 is thus described : Natural order, Tropaeolacese. This order contains 

 only the genus Tropscolum and a small annual plant called Magellena 

 porrifolium ; all natives of South America. Linnaean — class, Octandria ; 

 order, Monogynia. 



Trop^olum, hiKNMVs. — Calyx five cleft, somewhat two lipped ; the 

 upper lip or lobe furnished with a spur ; petals, usually five, unequal, some- 

 times two or more. Stamens, eight, entirely free. Ovaries, three, connate- 

 Ovules, solitary, suspended ; style, undivided ; stigma, three lobed ; carpels, 

 bree — each one seeded ; seeds extra albuminous; radicle small. 



