48 



Report upon New or Rare Plants, fyc* 



II. Passiflora obscura. 



P. foliis trilobis subcordatis truncatis velutinis : lobis lateralibus divaricatis 

 integerrimis ; intermedio obsoleto emarginato, petal is emarginatis calyce mino- 

 ribus, calycis tubo rotato depresso, corona interiore pubescente plicata in disco ad 

 basim stipitis incumbente ; exteriore radiato, ovario villoso. 



This small inconspicuous species of Passiflora flowered in the 

 stove in November. It had been raised from seeds brought to 

 the Society from some part of the North Eastern Coast of South 

 America, by Mr. George Don, in 1823 ; the precise place at 

 which the seed was collected is not known. The stem climbs to 

 the height of a few feet, and attaches itself by its tendrils to any 

 object within its reach. The leaves are densely downy, seated 

 on footstalks destitute of glands ; their form is unequally three- 

 lobed, truncate, somewhat cordate at the base, three-nerved, 

 with the two lateral lobes entire, spreading and slightly fal- 

 cate ; the middle lobe being very short and emarginate, and 

 projecting no further than the line formed by the upper curve 

 of the two lateral lobes. The flowers appear towards the 

 end of the branches, are small, pale-green, with a downy 

 pedicel. Segments of the calyx linear from a broad base, 

 obtuse, slightly downy ; the petals shorter than the calyx, 

 generally emarginate at the end, white, half transparent, upon 

 a shallow rotate tube. The disk which surrounds the base of 

 the tube is flat, fleshy, and dilated at top ; the inner corona 

 is plaited, incurved, downy, purple, and has its margin ap- 

 plied closely to the projecting margin of the disk. The outer 

 corona consists of filiform rays, of which those of the inner 

 series are clavate at the end, those of the outer as long as the 

 petals, their upper half being white, their lower purple. The 

 stalk of the columna is round, smooth, a little shorter than 



