ROUGH NOTES ON SIX COMMON HILL ORCHIDS. 415 



What the amateur in India requires is a simply written, well illustrat- 

 ed book describing the best flowered varieties of orchids and giving 

 instructions how to grow them, water them, and allow them to rest ; the 

 latter being one of the most important points in growing orchids success- 

 fully. 



Many of the finest orchids in existence come from Burma and Assam, 

 whilst India and Ceylon can boast of a great number of beautiful kinds. 

 So if only some one could be found to write a book on the lines above 

 suggested for the orchids of these countries, it would be a great boon to 

 us amateurs. I have seen large quantities of a lovely orchid ruthlessly 

 wasted out of sheer ignorance of the habits and requirements of the plant. 

 In the particular case referred to, these orchids were obtained from a 

 deeply shaded ravine, and, on arrival, they were put on the top of a dry 

 masonry wall in the blazing sun with the idea that they would flourish 

 there. Needless to say, they never flowered, and were soon scorched up 

 to nothing. If these same plants had been wired on to a large shady 

 tree, they would not only have flowered w T ell, but, by now, would have 

 nearly covered the tree, and, for six weeks every year, would have been 

 a sight worth going far to see. 



In the following notes on a few common local orchids it should be 

 noticed that they have special reference to orchids found in the Central 

 Himalayas between Naini Tal on the East and Mussoorie on the West, 

 for it seems quite probable that similar orchids obtained from Darjeeling 

 or Assam might be found at totally different altitudes, whilst their seasons 

 of growth, flowering, and rest would doubtless be much affected by the 

 differing climates of these localities. 



1. Coelogyne cristata. (Plate A.) — A beautiful epiphyte, growing 

 mostly on oak trees or on well shaded rocks from 5,000 to 6,00U feet above 

 sea level. Season of rest, October to February (inclusive). Season of 

 flowering, March and April. Season of growth, immediately after 

 flowering till September. This is a handsome evergreen plant, composed 

 of a strong ground-stem, from below which the wiry roots grow, while 

 from the top at intervals the semi-transparent green pseud obulbs are 

 thrown out, one every year. These pseud obulbs are about two inches 

 long, and in all orchids possessing them they form the natural reservoirs 

 from which the plant keeps up its strength during the season of rest ; at 

 the end of the growing season they have become very fully inflated as it 

 were, whilst by the end of the season of rest they are much shrivelled, 

 3 



