T R I 



T R I 



744. Dryandr. in Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 290. — Clafs 

 and order, Hcxandria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Coronana, 

 Linn. Afphodell, JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. none. Cor. of one petal, inferior, cy- 

 lindrical, even, with lix fliallow, regular, marginal teeth. 

 Stam. Filaments fix, inferted into the receptacle, thread- 

 (haped, fimple, ilraight, projefting beyond the corolla, 

 three alternate ones longer than tKe reft ; anthers roundifti, 

 two-lobed. Pijl. Germen fuperior, roundifh ; ftyle of the 

 (hape and length of the longer ftamens ; ftigma acute, fome- 

 what downy. Perk. Capfule ovate, bluntly triangular, of 

 three rather rigid valves, and three cells. Seeds numerous, 

 fmooth, crowded, in two rows, angular. 



Eff. Ch. Corolla tubular, of one petal, with fix mar- 

 ginal teeth. Stamens prominent, ftraight, inferted into the 

 receptacle ; three intermediate ones longeft. Capfule ovate, 

 of three cells, with many angular fmooth feeds. 



The prefent genus is well diftinguifhed from Aletris, as 

 well as from the Veltheimia of fome botanifts ; being, as 

 its author obferves, nearer in charafter to Aloe ; from 

 which, however, it differs greatly in its lefsiucculent habit, 

 and more abfolutely monopetalous corolla ; but efpecially in 

 the long, prominent, unequal, ftraight, not afcending, 

 Jfnmens, and more firm, or harder, capfule. The infertion 

 of the Jlamens into the receptacle, not into any part of the 

 corolla, to fay nothing of other characters, or of the dif- 

 ferent habit, efll-ntially diftinguifhes this from the two other 

 above-mentioned genera. ( See all in their proper places. ) 

 When habit fanftions fuch a divifion of genera, we muft, 

 efpecially in a very natural order of plants, like the prefent, 

 be content with technical charafters which might otherwife 

 feem too flight. Blnndfordia, Sm. Exot. Bot. v. i. 5. t. 4, 

 is diftinguifhed from all the above by its briftly feeds, im- 

 bricated upwards, in a prifmatic capfule. 



1. T. Uvaria. Great Orange -flowered Tritoma. Ait. 

 n. I. Curt. Mag. t. 758. (Aletris Uvaria ; Linn. Syft. 

 Veg. ed. 14. 337. Veltheimia Uvaria; Willd. Sp. PI. 

 V. 2. 182. Aloe Uvaria; Linn. Sp. PI. 460. A. afri- 

 cana, folio triangulari longiffimo et anguftiffimo, floribus 

 luteis foEtidis ; Commel. Hort. v. 2. 29. t. 15.) — I>caves 

 rough with minute prickles on the edges and keel. Corolla 

 cylindrical-clubfhaped. — Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Cultivated in Chelfea garden at the beginning of 

 the 1 8th century. The plant is almoft perfeftly hardy in 

 our climate, flowering in the open ground in Augaft or 

 September, only requii-ing a moderate proteftion from fe- 

 vere froft. The root is tuberous, perennial, tufted, bearing 

 plenty of long, tapering, deep-green, three-edged leaves. 

 Stems thi-ee feet high, round, llout, nearly naked, each 

 bearing a denfe clujier of very numerous, but fhort-lived, 

 drooping Jloivcrs, richly coloured with orange and fcarlet. 

 Corolla above an inch long. Stamens yellow. 



2. T. media. Leffer Orange-flowered Tritoma. Curt. 

 Mag. t. 744. Ait. n. 2. Redout. Liliac. t. 161. (Ale- 

 tris farmentofa ; Andr. Repof. t. 54.) — Leaves fmooth at 



the edges and keel. Corolla cylindrical-clubfhaped Native 



of the Cape of Good Hope, from whence it is faid to have 

 been introduced in 1789, by Mr. Williams, nurfery-man, 

 of Turnham Green. As hardy as the laft, but flowering 

 either in winter or the early fpring, fo that a frame, or 

 greenhoufe, is requifite to have the plant in perfeftion. It 

 is fmaller than the preceding, with a glaucous tinge on the 

 leaves, whole edges and keel are perfeftly fmooth. Stems 

 a. foot and half or two feet high. Flcwers fometimes 

 elegantly tipped with green. 



3. T. pumila. Leaft Orange-flowered Tritoma. Ait. 



12 



n. 3. Curt. Mag. t. 764. (Veltheimia pumila; Willd. 

 Sp. PI. V. 2. 182.) — Leaves two-ranked, roughilh at the 

 edges and keel. Corolla cylindrical at the bafe ; bell-fhaped 

 above. — Native of the Cape, from whence it was fent by 

 Mr. Maffon to Kew, in 1774. It flowers late in autumn, 

 and fecms as hardy as the others, but is fmaller than even 

 the laft. The Jloiuers are of an uniform orange, and diftin- 

 guifhed by their bell-fhaped, or globofe, limb. Leaves not 

 at all glaucous. 



Tritoma, in Entomology, a genus of the Coleoptera 

 order of infefts ; the charafters of vfhich are, that the an- 

 tennae are clavated or club-fhaped, the club being perfohate, 

 and the anterior palpi or feelers hatchet-formed. It has 

 feven fpecies, as follow. 



BiPUSTULATUM. Black, with wing-fheaths marked by 

 a fcarlet lateral fpot. Found in England. 



Glabrum. Smooth, black, with pitchy antennae and 

 feet. Found in Sweden. 



DuBiUM. Black, with wing-fheaths and feet teftaceous, 

 ViTTATUM. Red, with black wing-fheaths; fillet red. 

 Found in India. 



MoRio. Black, filky, unth antennas and feet of the 

 fame colour. 



Serkeum. Blackifh, filky, with feet teftaceous. Found 

 in Germany. 



Coi.lare. Black, with the fides of the thorax and ab- 

 domen red. Found in New Holland. 



TRITON, in Ancient Geography, a marfli of Africa 

 Propria, in which is the fource of a river of the fame name ; 

 furnamed by Pliny Pallantias. This lake was 20 leagues in 

 length from E. to W., and about fix leagues wide ; and it 

 contained feveral iflets. The mouth of the river was in the 

 Mediterranean, in the gulf of the Lefler Syrtis. Herodotus 

 mentions this river. — Alfo, a river of the ifle of Crete. 

 Near its fource was a temple, dedicated to Minerva Trito- 



genia Alfo, a town of Africa, in Libya. — Alfo, a town 



of Greece, in Boeotia. 



Triton, in Mythology, a fea demi-god, held by the an- 

 cients to be an officer, or trumpeter, of Neptune, attending 

 on him, and carrying his orders and commands from fea to 

 fea. 



The poets and painters reprefent him as half man, half 

 fifh, terminating in a dolphin's tail, and bearing in one hand 

 a fea-lhell, which ferved him as a trumpet. 



Some of the ancients make him the fon of Neptune, and 

 the nymph Salacia; Hefiod, of Neptune and Amphitrite : 

 Numenius, in his book De Pifcationibus, makes him the 

 fon of Oceanus and Tethys ; and Lycophron, the fon of 

 Nereus. 



But though Hefiod and the mythologifts only fpeak of 

 one Triton, the poets have imagined feveral ; giving fome 

 of them for trumpeters to all the fea-gods, particularly to 

 Neptune and Venus ; accordingly they were frequently intro- 

 duced on the ancient theatre, and in the naumachia. 



In effeft, the Tritons not only officiated as trumpeters in 

 Neptune's retinue, but were alfo fuppofed to draw his 

 chariot, i. e. the fea-fhell in which he rode over the waters : 

 as we find in Virgil, ./Eneid, x. 209 ; Ovid, Metam, 1. lo. 

 333 ; and on a medal of Claudius. 



The fable of the Tritons, no doubt, took its rife from 

 what are called the fea-men, or mermen ; for that there are 

 fuch things as fea-men has been believed in many ages. See 

 Mermaid and Sea-Cow. 



The poets ordinarily attribute to Triton the office of calm- 

 ing the waves, and of making tempefts ceafe. Thus, in the 

 firft of the Metamorphofes, we read that Neptune, defiring 



to 



