Notes 0)1 Jungle and Other Wild Life. 255 



Notes on Jungle and other Wild Life. 



By Dr. Casey A. Wood, M.B.O.U. 

 (C'ontinued from ["ogc 218). 



It is, of course, a yreat temptation to talk about the 

 wonderful orehids of the Guiatws, but who am I to discuss, even 

 • n the haphazard fashion of this informal letter a subject that 

 has been treated many times by a dozen competent botanists ? 

 For example. Rodway {Timchr'u Xo\. VIII., 1894, p. 1-270) 

 nearly thirty years ag"o described in his interesting fashion 

 about 300 varieties. 



Since that date possibly a hundred new species have been 

 identified and described. ( )f these 400 species I have seen in the 

 jungle, botanic t^ardens and elsewhere, about 50 varieties in 

 bloom and 100 more flowerless; and have owned and become 

 somewhat familiar with about thirty species. So you perceive 

 how experienced an orchidist I am! However, I happen to 

 know that few South American orchids are easily collected, and 

 how many of them love to blush and bloom near the top of a 

 g'iant fig or a tall Eta palm, practically inaccessible to the 

 ordinary climber, even if he survives the onset of regiments of 

 ferocious ants lying in wait to " eat 'em alive " who venture 

 aloft. Moreover, the rootlets of these aerial plants, often inter- 

 twined with " bush ropes " or lianas, frequently harbour 

 scorpions, tarantulas and centipedes that do not respect the feel- 

 ings of an intruder. Tlie rarest and most interesting are not, as a 

 rule, found on the banks of accessible rivers and creeks, but are 

 to be sought in the depths of the forest, in distant swamps and 

 :n the far interior, where the white man is seldom or never seen. 

 It is, accordingly, to the Indian, the bush negro, and the bovi- 

 ander that one looks for the usual supply of these curious plants. 



They are brought to Georgetown and generally find a 

 ready purchaser. 



I started an orchid garden at the Zoological Station last 

 year, but soon exhausted the local supply, so far as species 

 was concerned. I also found that the natives brought in of 

 other varieties plants that were fated to bloom " next month." 

 The majority of these grew and flourished as plants, but forgot 

 ro burst into flower at the appointed date. However, I took 



