TROPiEOLUM MORITZIANUM.— MORITZ’S INDIAN-CRESS. 
Class VIII. OCTANDRIA.— Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, TROP^OLACE^. THE NASTURTIUM TRIBE. 
Character of the Genus Trop^eolum. Calyx five-partite, the upper lobe spurred. Petals five, 
unequal, the three lower smaller or undeveloped. Stamens eight, entirely free. Carpella three, corky, kidney- 
shaped, indehiscent, or furrowed and rounded. Seeds large, exalbuminous, each completely filling the 
loculament in which it is placed. Embryo large, with two straight thick cotyledons, at first free, afterwards 
firmly agglutinated to each other, and to the testa, sub-distinct at the base, the radical lying between the 
processes of the cotyledons, bearing four tubercles, from which rootlets presently arise. 
Description of the Species, Tropaeolum Moritzianum. Plant every where glabrous. Root tuberous, 
Stem long, slender, much branched. Leaves ( 2-2 \ inches across) petiolate, alternate, reniform-suborbi- 
culate, bright green above, glaucous below, nerves radiated, reticulated, conspicuous, seven-nine lobed, trun- 
cated at the base, with shallow rounded sinuosities between the lobes ; lobes rounded, emarginate, having 
in the centre a little yellow callous tooth at the extremity of the nerve ; petioles (2-2 f inches long) acting 
as cirrhi to support the plant. Peduncles (three inches long) solitary, single-flowered, longer than the 
petioles. Flowers funnel-shaped. Calyx reddish on the outside, yellow and streaked with red within ; 
segments ovate-lanceolate, callous at the apex, the upper the shortest and narrowest, the two lower the 
longest, the intermediate ones the broadest ; spur straight, tapered, twice as long as the limb, more fleshy 
in the upper half than towards its apex, nectariferous. Corolla little longer than the calyx, red on the out- 
side, orange- coloured within ; petals unequal, the two upper subsessile, multifid at the apex, entire and 
wedge-shaped at the base, four-nerved, the three lower with long claws, subrotund, palmate, segments acu- 
minate, the lowest the narrowest, and passing into long ciliae upon the upper claws. Stamens rather distant, 
and nearly straight, rather shorter than the calyx ; anthers round, dark, pollen green, granules small, 
spherical. Pistil nearly as long as the filaments ; germen green, glabrous, three-lobed, the lobes keeled ; 
style straight, stout ; stigma of three acute segments, the upper being rather longer than the others. 
Popular and Geographical Notice. — The right of the Tropseolaceee to rank as a distinct order, has been 
doubted. It contains only three ascertained genera, and only an inconsiderable number of species, yet it 
does seem to me that we cannot unite these with any of the orders to which they have been thought to be 
most nearly related. The whole order belongs to Mexico, or South America, and the different species of 
the genus Tropaeolum are scattered from the Northern limit of the order, as far to the Southward as Buenos 
Ayres. They are used as stimulating salads, and the tuberous roots of our species, when cooked, are used 
extensively as an article of food. As ornaments in the flower border they have long been deservedlv 
favourites, and the present species will be considered by florists a very acceptable addition. If the tuber 
be protected in the winter, there seems little reason to doubt that it will, during summer, thrive well in the 
open air. 
Introduction ; Where grown; Cidture. This species was introduced from Cumana, into the Botanic 
Garden, Glasgow, and the specimen here figured, received from that establishment, flowered in 
the stove of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in September and October, potted in ordinary garden 
mould. — Grah. 
“June,” according to Dr. Aikin, “is really, in this climate, what the poets represent May to be — the 
most lovely month of the year. Summer is commenced, and warm weather thoroughly established ; yet 
the heats rarely arise to excess, or interrupt the enjoyment of those pleasures, which the scenes of nature 
now afford. The trees are in the fullest dress; and a profusion of the gayest flowers is everywhere scattered 
around, which put on all their beauty just before they are cut down by the scythe, or withered by the heat. 
One of the earliest rural employments of this month, is the shearing of sheep ; a business of much im- 
portance in various parts of the kingdom, where wool is one of the most valuable products. England has 
for many ages been famous for its breeds of sheep, which yield wool of various qualities, suited to different 
branches of the woollen manufactory. The downs of Dorsetshire, and other southern and western counties, 
feed sheep whose fine short fleeces are employed in making the best broad cloths. The coarser wool of 
1 For the foregoing description vve are indebted to Mr. Maund’s charming work “ The Botanist,” from which we have likewise 
copied the figure. 
