﻿12 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



ovary is stalked, its stalk adherent to the tube of the calyx for its lower half. 

 The cylindric style is slightly hairy at the upper part, and terminates in a green, 

 cushion-shaped stigma. The flowers have a delicate fragrance, which has been 

 compared to that of vanilla. The yellow color of the edge of the petals is ap- 

 parently due to the presence of coloring matter in the four or five rows of cells 

 nearest to the margin. Those at the extreme edge are raised into pimplelike 

 elevations, whilst those on the surface of the disk of the petal are flat and sinu- 

 ous in outline, containing in some cases oil in small quantities and minute starch 

 grains, or some substance faintly colored blue by iodine. The thin texture of 

 the petals causes them to be fugacious, and the golden rim which is so beautiful 

 an adornment to the frilled edge very soon turns to dirty brown. These circum- 

 stances detract greatly from the value of the flower in a gardener's eyes, but it 

 must be remembered that the flowers are in clusters and open in succession and 

 that when grown as seen by Welwitsch in Angola they no doubt amply justify 

 his eulogium. 



" Mr. Monteiro, to whom we are indebted for the introduction of this and 

 many other African rarities sent by him at different times to Kew from Angola, 

 thus writes of the Camoensia in his interesting book, Angola and the River Congo 

 (MacMillan, 1875) : 'It was at Quiballa (a large town situated on a low flat- 

 topped hill on the northern limit of Angola) that we were so fortunate as to 

 obtain specimens of the flowers and a quantity of ripe seeds of the beautiful 

 plant named Camoensia maxima by its discoverer, Dr. Welwitsch. We saw in- 

 growing along the sides of the road as soon as we left the gneiss formation and 

 entered on the mica slate ; but more abundantly in the more bare places on the 

 sides of the hills at Quiballa, in the very hard clay of the decomposed mica slate. 

 The Camoensia grows as a hard, woody bush, with rather long straggling 

 branches covered with fine large leaves and bearing bunches of flowers. Its 

 roots spread underground to great distances and shoot out into other plants, so 

 that on attempting to remove what we thought were nice small plants we always 

 came to a great thick root, which we followed and found to proceed from old 

 bushes at a considerable distance. Half a dozen of the seeds germinated on 

 arrival at Kew Gardens, so that I hope this lovely flower will be shortly in 

 cultivation, a welcome addition to our hothouses.' At Kew the plant behaves 

 exactly as described in the above extract, the bed in which it is planted being a 

 mass of woody roots whence numerous suckers spring. These, however, are not 

 allowed to grow, the specimen being limited to about five stems, the thickest 

 being now nearly 2 inches in diameter and very hard. The longest shoots are 

 about 12 feet in length, and they are almost wholly clothed with bright-green 

 trifoliate leaves. New shoots are developed freely all over the plant, and to 

 keep it from becoming a thick tangle many of these are removed annually. It 

 is planted in a hot, moist stove in a raised border of rich well-drained loamy 

 soil, below which there are several hot-water pipes. The stems are trained on 

 wires close to the roof of the house, which is somewhat flat and faces due south. 

 During bright sunshine the house is shaded with an ordinary canvas blind. This 

 plant has been in this position for about 10 years, and all sorts of experiments have 

 been made to induce it to flower ; but although it has always grown most vigor- 

 ously, it has never shown any signs of flowering before this year. Plants tried 

 in the large palm house and other tropical houses, including the succulent house, 

 were not so successful. If planted in a suitable position in a tropical garden, 

 this plant would soon cover an enormous area. We intend to put in cuttings of 

 the branches which are now in flower, in the expectation that they will respond 

 more readily to treatment for flowers than has been the case hitherto. It would 

 be interesting to hear if the plants in Trinidad and Ceylon have flowered regu- 

 larly since they first yielded. Probably the exceptional amount of bright sun- 



