canary-bird flower

n.
A Peruvian climbing plant (Tropaeolum peregrinum) cultivated for its showy, spurred yellow flowers. Also called canary-bird vine.

Nasturtium family
Tropaeolaceae

Tro-pee'o-lum. Nasturtium . The common garden nasturtiums comprise a genus with about 50 species of annual or perennial soft-stemmed herbs, most of which are climbing, natives of the cooler parts of South America.

Description
Leaves alternate, more or less round, light green, with strongly marked veins radiating from the center from which the stalk arises. Leafstalk fleshy and sensitive, curling round any object with which it comes in contact, enabling the tall kinds to climb as much as 10 ft. (3 m). Flowers are showy and solitary, growing from the axils of the leaves, pale yellow, orange, scarlet, crimson, or dark red. Sepals 5, joined at the base, 3 prolonged into a spur at the back of the flower. Petals usually 5, broad, suddenly narrowing at the base into a kind of stalk where they join the sepals. Stamens 8, curving toward the back of the flower.

How to Grow
Easy to grow from seeds or cuttings. Sow seeds in garden 2 weeks before last frost. Or sow indoors in peat pots early and transplant when danger of frost is past. Soil should not be too rich or plants will produce lots of foliage and few flowers. Cuttings made from young shoots in fall make excellent indoor plants. Susceptible to aphids and mealybugs. Requires relatively cool temperatures; does not do well in the se. U.S. during summer.

Tropaeolum majus
Nasturtium ; Indian Cress . Climbing 8-12 ft. (2.4-3.5 m) high. Flowers 2 in. (6 cm) wide, yellow or orange, sometimes striped and spotted with red, also scarlet or mahogany. South America. Newer, compact varieties hold blossoms well above foliage. Excellent coverings for trellises, posts, and rocks. Tender annual.

Tropaeolum peregrinum
Canary-Bird Flower . Climbing to 8 ft. (2.4 m) high. Flowers pale yellow, 1 in. (2.5 cm) wide. A particularly dainty type used in English cottage gardens. Peru. Tender annual.

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The botanical name for nasturtium.