BIGNONIA LIXDLEYI. 
433 
BIG X X I A L I X D L E Y I. 
(AlpTionse Be Candolle.) 
DE. LFSTDLEY's TKOIPET-FLOWER. 
This plant is better known in gardens as 
Bignonia picta, under which name it was 
figured in the Botanical Register in 1842 ; 
it is not, however, the plant originally so 
named by Humboldt and Bonpland. In 
describing the species of Bignoniaceas in the 
Prodromus, Alph. De Candoile has given it 
the name which stands at the head of this 
article, and which, according to the laws of 
botanists, it will henceforward bear. 
It is a very elegant plant ; a climber of 
moderate growth, adapted either for a large 
pot specimen, or for training to the front 
trellises and pillars of a greenhouse or cool 
conservatory ; most of the Bignonias are very 
rampant growers, and do not flower well 
without they are allowed tolerably free scope, 
but the more restricted habit of the present 
plant is a very great additional recommenda- 
tion to it. The plant is smooth, the stems 
furnished with opposite leaves, which are 
what is called conjugate, that is, two growing 
together on the same petiole ; in other words, 
the leaves grow in pairs ; thus, at each joint 
will be found two pairs, or four leaves (pro- 
perly leaflets) about three inches long : from 
the apex of each petiole, and between the 
pair of leaflets which it supports, a tendril is 
produced. The flowers grow at the apex of 
the numerous short lateral branches, and are I 
always produced in pairs : the calyx is bell- 
shaped, with five sharp-pointed teeth ; the ; 
corolla has an obconical almost cylindrical ' 
tube, about two inches long, divided at the 
end into five obovate roundish somewhat 
undulated lobes : these flowers are about an 
48. 
inch and a half across, the tube very pale 
coloured, the limb pale violet or lilac, veined 
with deep purplish red, and rather darker at 
the throat. 
The history of the introduction of this plant 
is rather obscure. It appears to have been 
first flowered, in 1842. by Messrs. Bjllisson 
of Tooting ; and is supposed to have been in- 
troduced from Buenos Ayres, or some adja- 
cent part of the South American continent. 
In a cultivated state it blooms throughout a 
considerable part of the mid-summer months. 
Our subject was at first grown in the stove, 
and has been subsequently regarded as a half- 
hardy plant. TTe are not aware to how great 
an extent its hardiness has been tested. In 
the meantime, as a greenhouse conservatory 
climber, there are few plants calculated to 
produce a finer effect on the lower parts of the 
trellises and pillars near the front of the house. 
It should be planted in rich loamy soil some- 
what lightened with peat, and allowed a 
tolerable range for its roots. If potted, a 
similar soil should be used, and a considerable 
share of pot -room must be allowed. TThen 
planted out, of course the branches must be 
fastened to the trellises provided for them, but 
only the principal ones should be so fixed, 
all the smaller lateral branches being allowed 
to hang free, and assume their own natural 
positions. If kept in a pot, there is no better 
plan than that of leading the principal stems 
spirally around a cylinder-shaped or pillar 
trellis. It is not desirable to train climbing 
plants too rigorously ; they like their liberty, 
and thrive better, if to some extent it is 
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