OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 127 
a much more vigorous habit of growth. It appears indeed far more hardy than any other species, and grows 
vigorously in the open air. It flowers so freely, that before a newly planted tuber had made a shoot 12 inches 
long, it was covered with flower-buds, which soon opened into flowers. It is a native of Santiago, whence it 
was imported in 1836. It should be treated like T. tricolorum, and "grown in a 16 sized pot in equal parts 
of loam and peat." " It may be propagated by cuttings, planted in sand and placed in heat under a glass." 
Paxt. 
8._TR0P^0LUM EDULE, LincU. THE EATABLE TROP^OLUM. 
ENGRiTiNQ. — Part. Mag. of Bot. vol. ix. p. 128. i or eeven linear-lanceolate Begments. Spur moderately long, not 
Specific Cqaiucter. — Root tuIierouB. Leaves deeply cut into six | clavate, curved. Stamens inclining upwards. 
Description, &c. — The description given by Dr. Lindley in the Botanical Register a year or two ago, of a 
blue Tropffiolum, excited a strong desire ia all collectors of flowers to possess it, and great numbers of tubers 
were imported from South America, in hopes that among them might be the much desired plant. Many of 
these tubers flowered in the spring and summer of 1842, and though Messrs. Veitch and Son, of Exeter, were 
the only persons so fortunate as to obtain the Tropseolum with blue flowers, other valuable species have been 
discovered, one of which has been figured by Paxton, and proves to be T. edule. The flower-buds of this species 
are of a deep rich green, which colour is retained by the segments of the calyx ; the spur of the flower and the 
petals are of a brilliant orange or golden yellow. The leaves are very glaucous, and they are divided into 
long narrow segments. The tubers are large and eatable, and the species would be a valuable one, as the flowers 
are very brilliant, were it not for the great length of the stems, in proportion to the leaves and flowers, which are 
placed widely apart. To prevent the bare appearance of the stems, the plant should be trained over a flat 
trellis, which should be covered as closely as possible. The leaves are apt to turn yellow, and the stems to 
■wither and damp off, if the plant be not regularly watered, or if the tuber be exposed to the light. On this 
account it is desirable to have the tuber covered with moss, as well as to attend carefully to the watering. 
The species is a native of Chili, whence it was introduced in 1841, 
OTHER SPECIES OF TROPSEOLUM. 
Several other species are mentioned in books, but the most interesting appears to be T. polypkyllum, which 
was introduced in 1843, and which has yellow flowers, streaked with red. 
CHAPTER XIV. 
OXALIDEiE. 
the angles. Seeds few, enclosed in a fleshy aril when young but 
bursting from the apex with elasticity when ripe. Albumen carti- 
laginously fleshy. 
Charicter or the Order. — Calyx five-parted, permanent, equal. 
Petals five, equal, unguiculate, spirally twisted in sestivation. Stamens 
ten, filaments awl-shaped, erect, usually monadelphous at the base. 
Ovary free, five angled, five celled. Capsule bursting lengthwise at 
Description, &c. — Tliere are four genera in this order; but they are nearly all stove plants, with the 
exception of those included in the genus Oxalis. 
