Zuzu, you must be right about T. lepidum. I checked my reference book for northern Chile Flora, and T. lepidum is not listed. I also learned from this search that T. azureum DOES grow in northern Chile - I thought it only grew in central Chile
Many, many years ago (before I had a digital camera), I was given 'T. lepidum' seeds by a friend/geologist who brought them from northern Chile. Unfortunately, the tubers did not live long enough for the move to my new place (5 1/2 years ago), so I don't think I have pictures of this specific T. If my memory does not fail, the flowers had a smilar shape to T. tricolor, but the flower was lavender (beautiful!). By no means they resembled the shape of T. azureum, which seems to be dominant on hybrids, at least for the ones I have now.
Experience? The last experience I acquired is that hungry rodents do eat our Trops when hungrey (we have a 7 years in the row draught) and even dig for the tubers
, especially if planted in pots.
I love Tropaeolums!
