Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/163

 NASTURTIUM NATAL 155 not climb. The unexpanded flower buds, and the young fruit while still tender, are pickled in vinegar ; and the French, who call the plant capucine, use the gay-colored flowers to or- nament salads. The dwarf varieties of this form bushy rounded tufts about a foot high, Dwarf Nasturtium (Tropseolum minus). and are used for bedding ; some of the named varieties have flowers of exceedingly rich col- ors. The smaller nasturtium {T. minus) has smaller flowers, with petals pointed at the tip, and smaller seeds ; but it is so mixed up with the dwarf forms of the preceding that the true species is rarely met with. The canary-bird flower (T. peregrinum) is one of the most in- teresting of garden climbers, and very unlike the others ; it climbs high and spreads rapidly ; its leaves are five- to seven-lobed, and its small flowers have the two upper petals cut-lobed, Canary-Bird Flower (Tropseolum peregrinum). the lower ones fringed, and the spur curiously curved; when partly expanded the flowers may be fancied to resemble a little bird, an appear- ance which is aided by the lively canary-yellow color of the petals. It is an easily cultivated annual, which like the others is more produc- tive of flowers in rather poor than in rich soils. The tuberous nasturtium (T. tulerosum) has red and yellow tubers the size of a small pear, five- lobed leaves, short orange-colored petals, and an orange-red calyx with a heavy spur. This is the ysano of the Peruvians, with whom it is held in high esteem as an article of food ; and it has been introduced into Europe and this country as a garden vegetable, but has met with little favor. In South America the tuber is first boiled and afterward frozen, and is eat- en in the frozen state. The tubers are pre- served and propagated in the same manner as potatoes. Lobb's nasturtium (T. Lolbianum) is a favorite greenhouse climber, but it does not flourish so well in the open air as the com- mon species, which it much resembles ; it has smaller and slightly hairy leaves, and much fringed flowers, which in the many named varieties present a great diversity of color. Among the tuberous-rooted greenhouse spe- cies are T. tricolorum, with scarlet and black flowers ; T. azureum, blue and white ; and T. Jarattii, carmine and yellow. They are sum- mer-flowering, and remarkable for the exceed- ing delicacy of their stems, which near the tuber are scarcely larger than a thread ; they are trained upon low trellises, while T. penta- phyllum, also tuberous, can be trained to pil- lars and rafters. All the tropeeolums are raised from seed, which in some is very slow in ger- minating, and those with fleshy stems grow readily from cuttings. NATAL, a British colony in S. E. Africa, N. E. of Cape Colony, from which it is separated by Caffraria along the coast. It lies between lat. 27 30' and 31 30' S., and Ion. 28 30' and 32 E., and is bounded N. E. by the Buffalo and Great Tugela rivers, beyond which is the Zooloo country, S. E. by the Indian ocean, S. and S. W. by Caffraria, and W. and N. W. by the Drakenberg range, with the Orange River Free State on the opposite slope ; length about 250 m., breadth between the sea and the mountains 150 m. ; coast line 170 m. long; area, accord- ing to the British parliamentary accounts of 1872, 16,145 sq. m. ; pop. 250,352. In 1869 the number of whites was 17,821, and of In- dian coolies introduced as agricultural labor- ers 5,227, but the native Zooloos make up the bulk of the population. Many of the 16 dis- tricts into which the colony is divided have been but partially explored. Pietermaritzburg, the capital, in lat. 29 35' S., Ion. 30 20' E. (pop. in 1869, 6,192), and D'Urban, the colo- nial port, about 50 m. distant (pop. 5,708), are the principal towns; while villages of va- rious sizes are scattered over the colony. I>'Urban is situated upon the coast, on the N. side of Port Natal, a circular basin about 10 m. in circumference, communicating with the sea by a narrow channel. This is the only harbor of any importance, and efforts have re- cently been made to improve it. The coun- try rises from the coast in a series of terraces to an elevation of between 3,000 and 4,000 ft.,