w 



Pi-ati: XLIX- 



D1SA GRANDIFLORA 



Disa grandiflora. Linn. SuppL 406. Swark, Act. Hotnu 1800, />. 210. Thunberg, 

 FL Cap. etl Schtt/tes, p. 7. Kcr in Brands Journal, vol 4. p. 205. /. 5, /. 1, 

 Botanical Register, t. 926. TJmll Gen* $ S/>. Orr*, p. 347. 



Satyrium grandiflorum. Think, protlr. ft. captns. p. 4. 



Dim uiiiilora. Bcrgii PianUe Capcnscs, jk 348. /. 4. /</. 7. 



Orchis africana florc singular! hcrbacco- 2taii Jlisforia Ptantamm, tot. 3. />. 58(1. 



I trust I may be excused for closing llii* work with the noble plant now represented, even 

 although il is not figured for the first lime ; for nil (lie previous delineations fail entirely in doing 

 it justice* 



It i» the fmc»t Orchidaceous plant fouud at the Capo of Good Hope, and we mav almost add in 

 the world ; whether we regard the large six* of its regal flowers, cir the brilliant colours bv which 

 they are accompanied. The magnificent specimens from which the accompanying drawing has been 

 maile were «?nt in a dried slate from the Cape by Mr* Harvey, who remarks that the specimen is 

 lliO largest he ever saw. the stem being two feet and a half high, and the flower* five inches and a 

 half from tip to lip of the expanded sepal*. 



It occurs in various parts of the Colony* but principally on Table Mountain, where it is so 

 common, according to Mr. Harvey, that even* stream is literally bordered with it in March. Sir 

 John llersehel tells us. that the temperature of the situations where il is found h occasiontrtty a> 

 low* as 31*1*. and also occasionally as high as 1HJJ*. It* habitat is on the margin of pools of standing 

 water, the drainage of the bogffy slopes of the Mountain, wherein its roots are immersed. These 

 are dry or nearly so in summer. In such localities it is of course fmpietilly involved in the dense 

 mist of the clouds, which, even in the hottest months, often cover its habitation for a week or a 

 fortnight uninterruptedly. 



Alas! that I must add that it has hitherto proved uncultivable. It occasionally indeed is 

 imported, and in the year 1825 it even flowered al South Lambeth near London, in the garden of 

 Mr. William Griflin, a zealous and well-known collector of bulbous and other plant*. But it .soon 

 disappeared, and no other English specimen seems to have been put on record- 

 In the absence of all certainly as to the mode of cultivating this plant, some speculation may 

 be indulged in. We would then advise those who arc in communication with the Cnpc, to proceed 



as follows. 



We should procure the root* immediately after the leave* are withered ; wc should pack them 



in moist moss, and so transport them to Europe. On their arrival here, we should preserve them in 

 the same state in a cool greenhouse till the month of February, at which time we should plant them 

 in sandy well-drained peat and transfer them to the store As soon as the roou* begin to grow we 

 should water them, gently, for the first lime, and we should then force them in the manner usual 

 with Orchidaceous plants, keeping iliem in a hoi damp atmosphere. There, and under such circum- 

 stances, it is to be presumed they would flower. Daring the whole of the growing season we should 

 keep the plants in the same house, until the leaven were fully formed and the flower* expanded : 





