twenty years ago. They require tropical conditions, enjoying 
plenty of moisture at the root, the healthiest plants at Kew 
being those that stand on the tank in which the Victoria 
regia is cultivated, their pots being partly in the water. 
Here they receive full sunshine and as much moisture as 
they would get in a tropical forest. In the palm house the 
conditions are too dry for these plants. It is unfortunate 
that the whole of the upper portion of the plant dies 
immediately after flowering, but suckers are usually 
developed from the base of the stem, and these afford means 
of obtaining fresh stock. Under cultivation it takes these 
big species of Tillandsia about twenty years to reach the 
flowering stage.— W. Watson. | 
Fig. 1, a petal and stamen from the inside; 2, lower part of the same ; 
8 and 4, front and back views of an anther; 5, ovary; 6, top part of style:— 
all enlarged. 
