THE PERENNIAL TROP/EOLUMS. 



doing best in districts of a cool and moist atmo- 

 sphere, though in a well-chosen spot it may 

 sometimes do well after repeated failure in 

 others but a few yards distant. The roots need 

 shade and often thrive on the north side of ever- 

 greens through which the long shoots ramble, 

 and in this way the plant is seen at its best. In 

 planting, the roots are generally started in pots 

 of light soil which are sheltered from wet until 

 growth has fairly begun and put out without 

 disturbance when the plants are in active 

 growth ; a layer of sandy soil around the tubers 

 preserves them from too much wet. Once es- 

 tablished the plant is best left quite alone, thriv- 

 ingmost in light gravelly soil of evenmoisture; 

 the root fibres show a marked liking for small 

 stones which are often completely netted round. 

 The flowers are succeeded by richly-coloured 

 blue berries in fine contrast with the crimson 

 calyx ; where old roots are not to be had the 

 plant is easily raised from seed. The climate of 

 Scotland is favourable to this fine plant, which 

 is seen growing in many parts with great beauty 

 and luxuriance. 



The Tricolor Trop^olum {T.tricolorum). 

 — The commonest of the greenhouse kinds, 

 easily grown from seed. It flowers in spring 

 and early summer, carrying a profusion of small 

 bottle-shaped flowersabout an inch long, com- 

 posed of a scarlet tube and spur, a dark purple- 

 shaded calyx, and small yellow petals — a com- 

 bination as pretty as it is unusual. The foliage 

 is light and graceful, with leaves divided into 

 five or six lobes and borne on thread-like stems 

 upon trailing shoots of 8 or i o feet. Chili. In 

 southern gardens it may be grown in the open 

 during summer, raised from seed and treated 

 as an annual. Under greenhouse culture it rests 

 during summer, is started into growth in early 

 autumn, and flowers in the following spring. 



Apart from Jarratt's Tro- 

 Varieties. pasolum, now held to be a va- 

 riety of this, there are two 

 or three minor forms differing mainly in their 

 colour ; such areTrico/orRege/tanumandTrico/or 

 Schultzii, in both of which green and yellow 

 are the prevailing colours. 



The Esculent Trop^olum (T. tuberosum). 

 — A pretty half-hardy plant long known but 

 not common in English gardens, where it is 

 less free in flower than most kinds. In Peru it 

 is grown for food upon the mountain slopes up 



287 



to a height of 10,000 feet, the fleshy tubers 

 reaching a considerable size and said to have a 

 flavour ofWatercresswhen boiled; they are dis- 

 tinct and pretty, being of a light yellow colour 

 markedwith irregular crimson-purpleblotches. 

 The plant is a tall climber running easily to 1 2 

 or 1 5 feet, with fleshy stems and rounded five- 

 lobed leaves, the lobes shallow and somewhat 

 abrupt. The flowers are small but finely co- 

 loured, the calyx being a deep red save for a 

 green tip upon the spur, and the petals orange- 

 yellow veined with black. Unfortunately it is 

 often late before it begins to flower, and is cut 

 down by frost before attaining full beauty. In 

 southern gardens the roots pass the winter un- 

 harmed with a covering of ashes, but wherever 

 of doubtful hardiness the tubers are best lifted 

 and stored like Dahlias. To encourage early 

 flowering it should be planted at the foot of a 

 wall or fence, and in fine seasons and sheltered 

 spots remains in beauty till November. Where 

 the soil is heavy it should be mixed with sand 

 and lime rubbish, which often induces flower. 



The Cluster-flowered Trop^eolum (T. 

 umbellatuni). — A tender kind from the equa- 

 torial regions of South America and differing 

 from others in the clustered arrangement of its 

 flowers borne in bunches of four to six blos- 

 soms. These are of peculiar shape, orange-red 

 in colour, with three larger petals and two very 

 small and scale-like. Botanically it is akin to 

 T. pentaphyllum, with rambling purplish stems 

 and many five-lobed leaves. The flowers of 

 orange and red are very narrow, almost tubu- 

 lar, about an inch long with small erect petals 

 and a green tipped spur. The wild plant grows 

 in the high mountains of Ecuador and Peru, 

 forming a fleshy tuber of 3 to 5 lbs. and was 

 sent home by Lobb in 1846. A greenhouse 

 plant flowering in June, but rare in gardens. 



The Violet-flowered Tropveolum (jP. 

 violcejiorum). — A plant related to T. azureum 

 and possibly only a form of it. It is of slender 

 habit with divided leaves, differing from the 

 Blue Tropasolum in its leaflets of unequal size. 

 The flowers are of a fine azure-blue on first 

 opening, with whitish claws to the petals, 

 which are finely toothed at the margin and not 

 entire as in azureum. A native of Chili, it 

 grows among bushes in half-shady places. Its 

 tuberous roots require a season of rest, and 

 treatment as for the greenhouse kinds. 



