» ' '1
The original specimen rciiciiecl Knypcrsley as early as 1S36, but made HO attempt to flower until the
spring of IS'iO, when the spike, after attaining the lengtli of scvenil feet, was unluckily broken oti".
Sir TNOMAS ACI-AND was more fortuniUe, and in tlic ensuing summer luid the satisfaction of flowering
the species in high perfection in his garden at Killerton. The spike then produced was exhibited at a
meeting of the Horticultural Society, from whence it passed into tiie hands of the artist, who has fiii-nished
a most ciiaracteristic representation, The species is Jess bright in its colouring than expected, but no
doubt many varieties exist, and perhaps some of tliese may as far surpass the subject of the plate as others
certainly fall siiort of it ; among the latter may be ranked one that flowered at l^ypersley last year (1S41),
the blossoms of which were much paler, and in all respects inferior to those of tlie figure.
In cultivation this is the most manageable species of the untractable genus to which it belongs. Suspension
on a block of wood, in a hot and damp situation, appears to be tlie condition most congenial to its
gro^\ th, but a sesison of rest is necessary to induce it to flower, Yet even in the collections where it
succeeds the best, it lacks the vigour exhibited in imported specimens.
The ants of Honduras, as it has been already shown, turn to good account the long hollow stems of tliis
singular plant : another pijrpose to which they are applied may be gathered from the Vignette, where an
Indian child is seen sounding with all liis might "an echoing horn," formed by merely cutting olF the
exb'emities. His companions emulate his musical ardour, but in tlieir attempts to possess the matériel
are interrupted by a catastrophe.
In such request are these vegetable Í
yielding them is called " the trumpet-plant,"—a
ts among the wild urchins of Honduras, tliat the phmt
epitliet that has suggested its specific name.