Tritonia species large orange

Horticultural & Botanical History

No data.

History at Camden Park

First recorded in an Addendum to the 1843 catalogue and in all subsequent editions [B.436/1843].  Bulbs were sent to William Macleay in October of that year.  [MP A2948-3].

Notes

Tritonia aurea Pappe is figured in the Ornamental Flower Garden: ‘A very handsome perennial, having bulbous-tubers, rhizomes or corms and producing stems a couple of feet high, [with] two-ranked narrow, striated leaves, and terminating above in a large panicle of showy apricot-coloured ixia-like blossoms. The flowers are rich orange-red, with a narrow curved tube, nearly an inch long, and a very much spread limb, almost as long as the tube.’  [OFG f.38/1854].  BR f.61/1847.  BM t.4335/1847.  MB p.3/1848.  FS f.702/1851.  In the latter it is figured as Crocosmia aurea Planch., the name under which it is generally known today.  It was introduced from Caffraria by James Backhouse of York in 1846.  He was a friend and correspondent of William Macarthur and although the date of introduction is late it is possible that it was given to Macarthur at an earlier date.