44 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



I have known the Canary Creeper seed itself in a 

 place that it liked, and come up year after year. One 

 such colony, however, was invaded by a Dorothy 

 Perkins Rose, and even the Canary Creeper had to 

 knuckle under to that robustious plant. 



There are, of course, many beautiful Tropceolums 

 besides the Canary Creeper, albeit we call some of them 

 Nasturtiums. This name has stuck so tightly, in spite 

 of the fact that it is Latin, that we have never been able 

 to get rid of it, and never shall. There actually is a 

 genus Nasturtium, so that the case presents a parallel 

 to Geranium and Pelargonium, the Zonal Pelargonium 

 being almost always called Geranium, in spite of the fact 

 that a totally different class of plants owns the name. 

 Nasturtium and Tropceolum are really further away 

 from each other than Geranium and Pelargonium ; and 

 it is curious to find the reason of the application of 

 the name " Nasturtium " to the Tropoeolums. The true 

 Nasturtiums are Cresses, N. officinale being the well- 

 known Water Cress. " Nasturtium " comes from nasus, 

 nose, and tortus, tormented, in allusion to the acrid 

 smell of the Cress. The leaf of the Tropceolum has 

 much of the pungency of Cress, and was consequently 

 called the Indian Cress. (Why Indian is not clear, as 

 the Tropoeolums are natives of South America.) From 

 this stage it was easy to reach the next, and decide that 

 if the Water Cress was a Nasturtium the Indian Cress 

 must be one also. Country folk often corrupt Nastur- 

 tium to " Sturshon," and when we hear this we realise 

 how far the Tropceolum has gone. The cottagers do 

 more they use the green seeds as a substitute for capers. 



Nasturtiums. It is generally the hardy Tropoeolums 

 which are called Nasturtiums, only the tender varieties 

 being given their proper name. Readers are familiar with 



