coloured, with a dark orange-coloured spot at the base.
Stamens 50 to 60 : filaments slender, smooth, bright
yellow: pollen yellow. Germen densely woolly. Style
smooth, curved round at the base, thickening upwards;
Stigma capitate, papillose.
A very fine specimen of this handsome plant was
growing last Summer in the rock-work of the Garden
belonging to the Apothecaries’ Company, at Chelsea,
where our drawing was made; it is readily distinguished
from all others to which it is related, by its
stiff upright growth; a good representation of it is
given in Barrelier s leones, 440; but we cannot find it
noticed by any modern author, nor do we see any reference
to the figure in any work that we have examined
; the flowers in our plant were very variable in
colour, scarcely ever two on the plant were alike, some
being of a bright red, others nearly yellow, some copper
coloured, others with a mixture of all those colours,
and different shades between them, so that the
plant when in flower had a curious variegated appearance.
As the present subject is a native of the South of
Burope, it cannot bear the severity of our sharpest
Winters without protection; if grown in rock-work,
it will require to be covered with mats or dry litter in
severe weather, but in mild weather will be best uncovered
; it may also be grown in pots, where the
plants will bloom well, and can be placed with the
other species in frames or pits in severe frosty weather;
like the rest of the tribe, the present plant will succeed
well in a light sandy soil, or a mixture of turfy loam,
peat, and sand, will suit it very well. Cuttings strike
root freely, if planted under hand-glasses, the latter
end of Summer, or Autumn.