19. TROPiEOL ACE2E . 
101 
scaly turions or tubers produced copiously at its crown. L. re- 
markably flaccid or fast- withering- forming- a thick tuft, lfts. 
bright gr. spotted like Dutch Clover ( Trifolium repens L.) 
somewhat fleshy the 2 lobes very distinct or deeply divided, 
folded together. FI. very numerous in dense umbels large and 
handsome bright sulphur or lemon v., always in Madeira double ; 
pet. especially in the bud bright reddish outside. 
*** Stemless; scapes from the root single-fld. ; lfts. temate. 
ff4. 0. purpurea Jacq. 
Root fibrous tuberiferous ; pi. subpubescent ; 1. in a flat rose- 
like tuft prostrate ; lfts. broad rounded ciliate thickish or fleshy 
and glaucous, the middle one wedgeshaped at the base ; petioles 
short villose ; scapes ascending pubescent rather longer than 
the 1., with a pair of narrow br. below the middle ; sep. acu- 
minate pubescent ; cor. broadly infundibuliform ; pet. broadly 
rounded-obovate imbricated laterally ; styles reaching halfway 
between the longer and shorter stam. and with the fil. of the 
latter glandulose. — Jacq. Oxal. t. 56 (not Linn.) ; Willd. (ex 
DC.) sp. 2. 778 ; DC. i. 699 (var. a) ; Spr. ii. 424. — Herb. per. 
Mad. reg. 1, 2 ; cc. In chestnut woods chiefly from 1000 to 
2000 ft. everywhere most abundant covering the ground and in 
vineyards and gardens a frequent weed ; at the Mount, Allegria, 
Camacha, &c. Dec.-April. — Forming in many places for 2 or 3 
months quite a turf in the chestnut woods. L. close-pressed to 
the ground rather large with very short petioles 1-2 in. long ; 
lfts. large stifflsh of a leaden or dull glaucous dark gr. paler 
beneath, in withering often turning blackish-purple or livid- 
violet at the edges. Scapes 2-3 in. long slender flaccid pale or 
whitish. FL rather large conspicuous deep full rich rose-purple 
or crimson (not pink or rose colour and veined as in O. variabiKs 
BM. 1712) with the throat y. — A very beautiful but often 
troublesome pi. ; never varying at all in Madeira from the above 
characters. This constancy is unfavourable to the views pro- 
pounded in the Bot. Reg. i8. t. 1505, after Sir J. E. Smith, and 
to the fusion of the present pi. along with O. speciosa Jacq. Ox. 
t. 60 (O. purpurea L.) into O. variabilis Jacq. Ox. t. 53 (Bot. 
Reg. t. 1505 ; BM. 1712). 
O. versicolor L. (BM. 155) occurs with 2 or 3 other sp. oc- 
casionally in gardens, which may perhaps in the course of a few 
years become also naturalized. 
Order XIX. TROPiEOLACEiE . 
The Nasturtium or Indian-Crcss Family. 
FI. perfect irregular. Sep. 5 coloured persistent f, spurred, 
slightly imbricate in the bud. Pet. 5 alternate with the sep. 
