HELIOPHILA TRIP I DA. 
(Trifid Suncress.) 
Class. 
TETRADYNAMIA. 
Natural Order. 
BRASSICACE^E. 
Order. 
SILIQUOSA. 
eneric Character. — Calyx of four sepals, equal at 
t base. Petals four, alternate with the sepals, dis- 
p ;d crosswise, distinct and free. Stamens six, two 
c diich are shorter than the rest. Anthers two celled, 
1 sting inwards. Carpels two, closely connected 
t ither by one pistil. Stigmas two. Silique elongated, 
r jly oblong or oval, two-celled and two-valved. Dis- 
i ment linear or oval ; valves flat, or in the long 
.< pies somewhat convex. Seeds depressed. Coty- 
Ims two, opposite, incumbent, linear, plaited twice 
(jiswise. 
Specific Character. — Plant annual. Stem herba- 
ceous, smooth, glaucous green, dividing at the neck 
info 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.— H eliophila pinnata. 
Of the numerous species of Heliophila which have been discovered and 
< scribed by various botanists, twenty-four kinds are introduced into this country. 
' Ley are all natives of South Africa, and have been chiefly brought from the neigh- 
urhood of the Cape of Good Hope. A few are greenhouse evergreen shrubs of 
n growth, but the greater part are half-hardy annuals of easy culture ; all very 
j etty, and certainly deserving the whole of the attention they require. 
Our present subject trifida is not the least interesting amongst them ; its beautiful 
*ht-blue flowers are produced in great abundance from midsummer until the 
iddle of September ; and it also forms a very superior plant when grown in a pot 
r the greenhouse, although by this treatment its flowering season is somewhat 
lortened ; 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, 
id well rotted leaf-mould, equal parts. Sow the seeds like other tender annuals 
pout the end of February, and place the pots in a hot-bed or greenhouse. When 
le young plants are large enough to remove, plant them singly into 60-sized pots ; 
ad after the frosts are over in May, transfer them to the beds or borders they are 
) 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 
xtensive sandy tracts near Cape Town. In 1819 it was introduced to Hamburgh, 
nd from thence found its way into this country through the London Horticultural 
