Refugium Botanicum. | [April, 1868. 
TAB. 23. 
Natural Order IRIpAcER. 
Tribe GLADIOLE®. 
Genus Guapiouus, Linn. 
G. tristis (Thunb. Fl. Cap. p. 42). Bulbo fibroso, scapo 3—4 foliato, 
foliis inferne longe vaginantibus superne linearibus profunde bisul- 
catis, spathis inseqnalibus, floribus 2—8, corolle segmentis tubo 
subsequalibus ovatis longe caudatis maculis parvis copiosis rufo- 
brunneis, filamentis antheris duplo longioribus, stigmatibus diver- 
gentibus obcordatis, capsula oblonga, seminibus late alatis. — Mlatt, 
Linn. vol. xxxii, p. 715; Bot. Mag. t. 1098. G. elongatus, Ecklon, 
non Thunb. 
A native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Bulb clothed with a dense network of brown fibres. Stem erect, 
terete, simple, naked, with three to four leaves and two to eight 
flowers. Leaves with long cylindrical sheaths below, the free part 
four to six inches long by about two lines broad, almost tetragonous, 
with two deep regular channels on both sides between the raised 
edges and the broad raised midrib. Valves of the spathe unequal, 
the outer one ovate-lanceolate, about equalling the tube of the 
corolla, the inner one smaller. Flowers cernuous, secund or dis- 
tichous, two to three inches deep. Corolla-tube infundibuliform, 
rather shorter than the divisions, which are ovate with remark- 
ably long narrow tail-like points, the groundwork yellow, the 
three upper ones minutely spotted all over both externally and 
internally with small reddish brown dots, the three lower ones 
narrower and spotted only on the outer half, all, especially the 
upper ones, with a darker keel. Jilaments twice as long as the 
yellow anthers. Stigmas obcordate, spreading, papillose. Capsule 
oblong. Seeds broadly winged.—J. G. B. 
Mr. Thos. Cooper sent me bulbs of this plant from Natal. It 
will thrive in a mixture of rich sandy loam and leaf-mould, and 
should be kept in a pit or greenhouse from which the frost is 
excluded.—W. W. S. 
