98 



RAFNIA TRIFLORA. 



This is a plant of great beauty when properly cultivated. The shoot should 

 be stopped to prevent it becoming tall, by which means the plant is made to 

 grow bushy, otherwise it will only be one-stemmed. 



It should be potted in loam, peat, and sand. 



It does not appear to strike readily from cuttings, and therefore care should 

 be taken to impregnate the blossoms to ensure the formation of seeds, which' 

 readily vegetate. Although introduced in 1786, it is a very rare plant even in 

 good collections. 



It flowers in J une and July. 



It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope ; but the plant in the collection of 

 the Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society (from which our drawing 

 was taken) was raised from seeds received amongst many others from New 

 Holland. 



The generic name Rafnia, is in compliment to Mr. C» G. Rafn, a Dane, and 

 a botanical author. The specific name triflora, alludes to the circumstance of the 

 flowers being arranged in threes in the axils of the leaf. 



Fig. 1, standard ; 2, keel ; 3, wing ; 4, germ, stamens, and style. 



