TRICHOCENTRUM. 269 



beautifully pencilled along the centre with purple and lilac. 

 The plant now under consideration should be potted in good 

 fibrous peat and sphagnum, and during the growing season 

 be kept in the East Indian house ; but after the flowers are 

 faded, water must be gi-adually diminished until it is entirely 

 withheld, when the cool-house will suit it best; care must, 

 however, be taken to prevent its shrivelling. It blooms during 

 July and August. Native of Northern India, and also of 

 Burmah. 



T. BensonicB. — A beautiful species of more recent intro- 

 duction than the preceding, which it much resembles in 

 general appearance, but produces much finer and difierent 

 coloured flowers. The stems are erect, round, and from one 

 to two feet in height. The leaves are distichous, from six to 

 ten inches long, green above, but slightly glaucous beneath. 

 The flowers are large, measuring some two or three inches 

 across, and produced from the top of the stem on a short 

 raceme like those of T. alba, just when growth is finished ; 

 sepals and petals about the same size, spreading, open, 

 bright reddish-purple in colour, becoming white towards the 

 base ; lip large, open, rich purple in front, with a white base, 

 the crest being bright yellow. Native of the mountains of 

 Moulmein. 



T. nivalis. — This plant resembles T. alba more than the pre- 

 ceding ; its erect terete stems, which seldom exceed eighteen 

 inches in length, are furnished with glaucous distichous 

 leaves, which are about six inches in length, and fall off 

 during the resting season. The flowers are produced on a 

 short raceme from the apex of the growth, each cluster 

 containing some five or six pure white blooms. Native of 

 Sylhet. 



Trichocentrum. 



This is a small genus of dwarf stemless plants, the flowers 



