[email protected] Tel: (868) 667-4655 May 2018 Our National Flower: The Double Chaconia By Professor Julian Duncan & Cheesman, 1928) With regard to the last for propagation. Initially he was named, recorded legend has it that the unsuccessful in getting them rooted; In 1844, Jozef Warszewicz – a Polish red transformed sepals reminded the early a measure of success came with botanist – was sent to Guatemala to French settlers of the chaconne, a peasant assistance from Mr. Roy Nichols join a Belgian company. He became dance popular in 18th century France and of the Imperial College of Tropical an independent collector and supplier Spain in which the dancer decorated their Agriculature (ICTA) and two plants of plants to orists and gardens in shirts with swatches of red ribbon (Adams were sent to Kew in Britain where Europe. He travelled extensively in 1976). they were recognised as a mutant Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica form of W. coccinea. The plant was where he discovered a wealth of It was chosen as the National ower when assigned the name W.coccinea cv new plant species. Among these was the country became an independent nation ‘David Auyong’ (Nichols, 1963). The Warszewiczia coccinea (Vahl.) Klotzsch. from Britain in 1962. Considering the local name – Pride of Trinidad – a better choice principal di erence between the wild could not have been made. type and the mutant is that in the latter, every ower in a cyme has all The plant produces a compound its sepals transformed to a greater or in orescence, consisting of an axis along lesser extent; this masks the presence which are paired stalked cymes, each of of the petals and accounts for the which contains 15-20 owers.