BIGNONIA PICTA. 
(Streaky-blossomed Trumpet-flower. 
Class. 
DIDYNAMIA. 
Order. 
ANGIOSPERMIA. 
Natural Order. 
BIGNONIACEiE. 
Generic Character.— Calyx five-parted, cyathiform. 
Corolla with a campanulate throat, five-lobed, ventri- 
cose below. Pod two-celled. Seeds membranaceous, 
winged. 
Specific Character. — Plant an evergreen shrub. 
Leaves simple and conjugate ; leaflets oblong and obo- 
vately oblong, acute, slightly undulated. Peduncles 
two-flowered. Calyx campanulate, with setaceous 
teeth. Corolla with spreading, oblong, obtuse, partially 
undulated lobes, and painted with violet-coloured veins. 
This handsome species has, we find, been in British collections since the year 
1823 ; but, like many of its allies, it is so shy in developing its flowers, that several 
of our friends who have cultivated it for years have never seen a blossom. Plants 
at Messrs. Rollisson's, Tooting, however, perfected some blossoms last year in a 
stove ; and the same specimens have flowered again in the present season. Our 
figure was prepared from these in the month of April last. 
The plant is by no means of a rambling habit, for, although its branches extend 
to a considerable length, it is so well clothed with evergreen foliage as to present, 
at all times, an agreeable appearance. The flowers seem to come out in pairs, 
towards the upper ends of the shoots, and are individually of a large size, being 
almost three inches in breadth. They are of a deep lilac or purplish colour, with 
a whitish throat, and many streaks of a darker tint throughout. 
In the catalogues, the plant is marked as being an inhabitant of South 
America ; and Dr. Lindley suggests, in the Botanical Register, that it is " probably 
a Buenos Ayrean species, though of this there is no certainty." Speaking of the 
whole genus, the same gentleman justly says that 44 people have no notion of the 
rich and varied colours, or of the graceful forms, that are to be had among its 
many species, not to mention the magnitude of its flowers. All the tropics 
contain them ; and the attention of travellers in those countries should be par- 
ticularly directed to sending home their seeds, which soon come up." 
Although, when improperly managed, it is next to impossible to get B. picta 
to bloom ; yet if rightly grown, and suffered to reach its maturity before it is 
