1858 



TRITONIA 



THOLLIUS 



nently if given protection of mulch in cold climates. As 

 far north as New York and Mass., however, they are usu- 

 ally best wintered in damp (not wet) earth indoors. The 

 best known kinds are T. crocosmceflora and T. Pottsii. 

 Most of the Latin names in catalogues belong to these, as 

 sulphured, Tigridia pyramidalis, 

 grandiflora, elegans, floribunda. 

 To gardeners, Tritonias are usually 

 known as Montbretias. Garden Tri- 

 tonias grow 1 ft. or more tall, pro- 

 ducing several to many showy flow- 

 ers of a yellow, orange or red color, 

 and bearing several stiffish linear 

 or sword-shaped 

 leaves. Corms 

 small, covered 

 with strongly 

 reticulated 

 sheaths or tu- 

 nics. The peri- 

 anth is tubular, 

 with a spread- 



2581. Tritonia crocosmaeflora (X K). 



2580. Tritonia Pottsi (X 



ing limb of obovate or oblong, 

 nearly equal segments. The 

 stamens are 3, inserted in the 

 perianth-tube, with mostly ver- 

 satile anthers and filiform fila- 

 ments. The pistil has a 3- 

 1 o c u 1 e d ovary, filiform 3- 

 branched style, ripening into a 

 3-valved capsule. 



A. Perianth -segments obovate. 

 crocata, Ker-Gawl. Slender, 

 simple or branched from near 

 the base, bearing few fls. in 

 loose 1-sided racemes: fl. about 2 in. across, tawny yel- 

 low or orange-red, the stamens one -third the length 

 of the perianth-limb. Cape Colony. B.M. 184 (as Ixia 

 crocata). Gn. 54:1181. Var. miniata, Baker (T. min- 

 iata, Ker-Gawl.), has light red fls. B.M. 609. There 

 are color varieties, as purpurea, coccinea, aurantiaca. 

 These plants are usually treated as greenhouse bulbs 

 in the North. 



AA. Perianth-segments oblong. 



rbsea, Klatt. Tall and branched, with short linear Ivs. 

 and loose 6-15-fld. racemes: fl. bright red, with oblong 

 segments (the three lower ones yellow blotched at the 

 base) as long as the tube and anthers just protruding 

 from the tube. Cape Colony. B.M. 7280. Can be left 

 in the open as far north as Mass., if well protected, but 

 are usually safer if taken up. 



P6ttsii, Benth. (Montbretia P6ftsii, Baker) . Fig. 2580. 

 Strong, branching plant 2-4 ft. tall, with several lax ra- 



cemes, and few or several firm narrow Ivs.: fl. about 

 1 in. long, bright yellow tinged red, the tube broadly 

 funnelform and twice longer than the oblong unequal 

 ascending segments, the stamens about half the height 

 of the limb. Natal, Transvaal, etc. B.M. 6722. G.C. 

 III. 7:301, showing how the conns form one above the 

 other. 



crocosmaeflora, Lemoine (T. Pottsii x pollen of Cro- 

 cosmia aurea [Pig. 582, Vol. I]). Fig. 2581. Slender, 

 much branching, erect plant 3-4 ft. high, with several 

 or many sword-shaped Ivs., and loose, more or less dis- 

 tichous racemes: fls. 2 in. across, orange-crimson, with 

 a slender curved tube nearly or quite equaling the ob- 

 long spreading segments. R.H. 1882:124. Gn. 25, p. 363; 

 31:598. G.M. 36:484. Crocosma aurea was introduced 

 (into England) in 1847, and Tritonia Pottsii (into Scot- 

 land) in 1877 by G. H. Potts. Victor Lemoine, Nancy, 

 France, hybridized the two, and the product, T. crocos- 

 mceflora, bloomed in 1880. This hybrid is now the most 

 popular of Tritonias (or Montbretias). 



T. aurea, Pappe. See Crocosmia aurea. T. crlspa, Ker- 

 Gawl. Fl. whitish or pale pink, with oblong obtuse segments, 

 and with crisped Ivs. B.M. 678. T. deiista,'Ker- 

 Gawl. Differs from T. crocata in having a purple- 

 black blotch on tho claw of the ii outer segments. 

 B.M. 622. T. flava, Ker-Gawl. Fls. bright yellow, 

 the segments oblong and the 3 lower ones with a 

 callus in the throat: Ivs. very short. B.R. 9:747. 

 T. hyallna. Baker. Differs from T. crocata in hav- 

 ing the perianth-segments narrowed at the lower 

 part into a claw with hyaline margin. B.M. 704, 

 as T. feiiestralis. T. lineata, Ker-Gawl. Fls. white 

 or pink, with short oblong segments and protrud- 

 ing anthers, of the shape of gladiolus flowers. B. 

 M. 487 (as Gladiolus lineatus). T. scillaris, Baker. 

 Small and slender: fls. pink, with wide-flaring nar- 

 row segments, ixia-like. B.M. 629 (as Ixia poly- 

 stechya). T. securigera, Ker-Gawl. Lvs. short: 

 fls. red or copper -colored, the 3 lower segments 

 with a callus on the claw. B.M. 383 (as Gladiolus 

 securiger). T. undulata, Baker. Lvs. short and 

 narrow, much crisped: fls. pink, with oblong equal 

 segments. B.M. 599 (as Ixia crispa). T. viridis, 

 Ker-Gawl. Lvs. plane or crisped, linear: fls. green, 

 with nearly equal oblanceolate segments. B.M. 

 1275. T. Wilsnni, Baker. Lvs. very narrow linear; 

 racemes simple or forked, lax, few-fld.: fls. white, 

 tinged with purple, the segments obovate-cuspidate. 



L. H. B. 



TROLLIUS (old German trol, something 

 round; in allusion to the shape of the flow- 

 ers. ) Ranunculacew. GLOBE FLOWER. A 

 group of neat, hardy, herbaceous perennials 

 of about 10 species, mostly found in marshy 

 places, of the north temperate zone. Roots 

 fibrous, thickened: Ivs. palmately divided or 

 lobed: fls. large, solitary, yellowish or pur- 

 plish; petals 5 to many, small, unguiculate, 

 with a nectariferous pit at the base of the 

 blade: stamens many: carpels 5 to many, ses- 

 sile, many-ovuled: follicles in a head. Plants 

 of this genus grow freely in a mixture of 

 sandy loam and peat, and in rather damp 

 situations. They may be increased either by 

 seeds, or by dividing the old plants; but the 

 voting plants grow slowly at first, and will not 

 flower before the second season from seed. 



A. True petals shorter than the stamens. 



B. Plant with true stem, Yi to 2 ft. high . . 1. laxus 

 BB. Plant with scapes or scape-like stems 



seldom over 8 or 4 in. high 2. acaulis 



AA. True petals longer than the stamens. 

 B. Lvs. only 5-parted: Ifts. somewhat 

 lobed, cleft and toothed: sepals 



hardly spreading 3. Europseus 



BB. Lvs. smaller, bronze-green ; Ifts. 

 more finely lobed, cleft and toothed: 

 sepals spreading 4. Asiaticus 



laxus, Salisb. Slender, weak stems, K-2 ft. long, 

 somewhat ascending: radical and lower stem Ivs. long- 

 or ghort-petioled: all the Ivs. 5-7-parted; Ifts. cuneate 

 and much cleft and toothed: fls. usually solitary, 1 to 2 

 in. across; sepals ."-7, entire or toothed at the end, more 

 spreading than the other species; petals many, much 

 shorter than the stamens: follicles % in. long, straight 



