OP ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. J 15 
first introduced, and therefore we shall dcscrihe it first. Botanically considered, what we call the flower is in 
fact a coloured calyx, the real petals being small, and alternating with the lobes of the calyx, in the mouth of 
the spur of which they are fixed. The name, Tropceolum, is derived from a Greek word, signifying a trophy ; 
in allusion to the leaves being like bucklers, and the flowers like helmets. 
1— TROP^OLUM MINUS, Lin. THE LESSER NASTURTIUM, OR SMALL INDIAN CRESS. 
Engravings Bot. Mag. t. 98, and oiir^^. 3, in Plate 21. 
Variety T. m. 2 ft. plena. — {G. Don.) Sec out fig. i, in 
Plate 21. This has double flowers, and is a beautiful plant. 
Specific Character. — Leaves peltate, nerved, orbicular, somewhat 
repand. Nerves mucronate at the apex. Petals each ending in a 
bristle-like point. — (G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — This species, though the first introduced, has now become comparatively rare in our 
gardens ; its modest merits having been eclipsed by its more showy rivals. It has smaller flowers, with much 
less orange and red in them, than the great Nasturtium ; the leaves are smaller, of a paler green, and with the 
nerves ending in small points. The stems also are different, these being much more weak and slender. This plant 
is a native of Peru, from which country it was sent to Spain early in the 16th century ; and Robin, the gardener 
of Henry IV. in Paris, having obtained seeds of it, sent them to his " loving friend " Gerard, who first grew 
the plant in England in his garden, in Ilolborn, before 1596. The plant was described by Dodoneus as 
Nasturtium indicum, from the resemblance of its taste to that of the water-cress, the botanic name of which is 
Nasturtium, and when it was brought to England, it was called Indian-cress ; because in those days the 
Spanish possessions in South America were known by the general name of the Indies. The plant was evidently 
highly valued at its introduction ; for Gerard gives somewhat minute directions for raising it on a hotbed, 
protecting it with a mat at night, transplanting it, &c. It is now found, however, to be perfectly hardy, and to 
BOW itself freely if permitted to ripen its seed. In the time of Parkinson, it appears to have become quite 
common, or, as he styles it, " familiar in most gardens of any curiosity." He gives a very particular description 
of it, and not only praises its beauty, but its smell ! The passage is so curious, that we give it, to show the 
ideas our ancestors had of fragrance. " The whole flower hath a fine small scent, very pleasing, which being 
placed in the middle of some carnations, or gilliflowers (for they are in flower at the same time), make a 
delicate tv^simussie, as they call it, or nosegay, both for sight and scent." — (Paradisus, p. 281.) 
When the plant was first introduced, some botanists thought it might be a Clematis, or a Convolvulus ; 
but, as we have before stated, it was afterwards decided to be a cress, " from its taste and smell." About the 
time of Parkinson it was called 1/ello^c Larkes heelesj and it is curious that in some of the works lately published 
on the language of flowers, those of the Larkspur are said to be yellow, and to signify lightness ; the flower 
meant being evidently not that which we now call the Larkspur, but the Nasturtium. The plant is eatable ; 
the flowers, leaves, and young shoots, being sometimes used in salads ; and the fruit, when pickled, being very 
generally employed as a substitute for capers. The culture is very simple, as the seeds seldom fail to germinate 
if dropped into the ground without the slightest preparation, and the plant looks best when left entirely to itself 
When it is thought desirable to train it, it should be planted close to a wooden paling, or low wall, and the 
shoots suffered to grow, or be thrown, over it. It should never be tied, or nailed ; as, fi-om its succulent 
nature, this could not be done without bruising the shoots, which woijd instantly wither. The seeds may be 
purchased in most seed-shops, and they are much harder and rounder than those of tlie larger kind. 
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