GOMPHOLOBIUM VERSICOLOR, caulibus pwpurezs. 
(Purple-Btemmed cbaugeable club-pod) 
Class. 
DIADELPHIA. 
Order. 
DECANDRIA. 
Natural Order. 
LEGUMINOS^E . 
Generic Character. — Calyx five-parted, nearly 
equal. Carina of two concrete petals. Vexillum broad. 
Stigma simple. Legume many-seeded, nearly spherical, 
very blunt Don's " Gardening and Botany." 
Specific Character — Plant an upright, rather 
twiggy, small shrub, with sub-angular stems and 
branches, glabrous. Leaves nearly sessile, trifoliate ; 
leaflets linear, rather broadly so in the older parts of 
the plant, acute, almost apiculate at the extremity, 
margins slightly recurved, costate, but with no evident 
nerves or veins. Racemes loose, few (two and three) 
flowered. Pedicels furnished with minute bracteoles. 
Flowers large, handsome. Calyx of five deep oblong- 
acute segments. Keel glabrous. 
Variety. — Stem purple. 
Those who are accustomed to view the many beautiful specimens of horti- 
cultural skill which grace the summer exhibitions near the metropolis, must have 
observed frequently amongst them plants of several species of this handsome genus 
of greenhouse exotics, and especially the G. polymorphism. That species is now a 
well-known favourite, on account of its elegant slender shoots and plenteous 
blooming. The present, however, is a much more vigorous plant, and appears to 
have equal claims upon our attention in its large and handsome blossoms. 
The G. versicolor, figured in the "Botanical Register," is a stout, strong- 
growing plant, from which our variety only differs in having a purple stem. We 
understand, however, that a slender-growing plant, similar in habit to the 
G. polymorphum, with yellowish flowers mottled with red, has crept into the 
nurseries under the name of G. versicolor, and is now circulating as such. 
Our drawing was taken from a specimen obligingly sent to us from Exeter by 
Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, and Co., who imported it from New Holland. 
One recommendation, which most cultivators will appreciate, is its rapid 
growth compared with that of other species. It is well known that slow-growing 
plants are more difficult to preserve in health than those which lengthen with 
greater rapidity. Sometimes, however, it occurs that the former flower more 
copiously in proportion to the space they occupy. But the present plant developes 
flowers with as much freedom as its branches extend ; and it is consequently one 
of the most appropriate kinds for those who are obliged to cultivate New Holland 
plants with a miscellaneous greenhouse collection. 
