HELIOPHILA TRIFIDA. 
(Trifid Suncress.) 
Class. 
TETR ADYNAMIA, 
Order. 
SILIQUOSA. 
Natural Order. 
BRASSICACEJE. 
Generic Character.— Calyx of four sepals, equal at 
the base. Petals four, alternate with the sepals, dis- 
posed crosswise, distinct and free. Stamens six, two 
of which are shorter than the rest. Anthers two celled, 
bursting inwards. Carpels two, closely connected 
together by one pistil. Stigmas two. SMque elongated, 
rarely oblong or oval, two-celled and two-valved. Dis- 
sepiment linear or oval ; valves flat, or in the long 
siliques somewhat convex. Seeds depressed. Coty- 
ledons two, opposite, incumbent, linear, plaited twice 
crosswise. 
Specific Character. — Plant annual. Stem herba- 
ceous, smooth, glaucous green, dividing at the neck 
into many branches. Pods necklace-like, rather pen- 
dulous. Lower leaves trifid, sometimes quinquefid ; 
lobes entire, filiform. Upper leaves entire. Flowers 
blue, in terminal racemes, sometimes in panicles ; 
pedicels filiform, bractless. 
Synonyme.— Heliophila pinnata. 
Of the numerous species of Heliophila which have been discovered and 
described by various botanists, twenty-four kinds are introduced into this country. 
They are all natives of South Africa, and have been chiefly brought from the neigh- 
bourhood of the Cape of Good Hope. A few are greenhouse evergreen shrubs of 
low growth, but the greater part are half-hardy annuals of easy culture ; all very 
pretty, and certainly deserving the whole of the attention they require. 
Our present subject trifida is not the least interesting amongst them ; its beautiful 
light-blue flowers are produced in great abundance from midsummer until the 
middle of September ; and it also forms a very superior plant when grown in a pot 
for the greenhouse, although by this treatment its flowering season is somewhat 
shortened ; yet this can always be remedied by successive sowings of the seed. 
The soil it requires to be grown in is a mixture of sandy heath mould, light loam, 
and well rotted leaf-mould, equal parts. Sow the seeds like other tender annuals 
about the end of February, and place the pots in a hot-bed or greenhouse. When 
the young plants are large enough to remove, plant them singly into 60-sized pots ; 
and after the frosts are over in May, transfer them to the beds or borders they are 
to occupy ; or repot for furnishing the greenhouse, as is deemed most desirable. 
It is a native of Africa, and was found by its discoverer growing in those 
extensive sandy tracts near Cape Town. In 1819 it was introduced to Hamburgh, 
and from thence found its way into this country through the London Horticultural 
