222 ORCHIDS. 
if a large specimen is required: smaller examples may be 
grown in baskets. When growth is complete, remove the 
plant to a cool-house, and give it only just sufficient moisture 
to preserve its pseudo-bulbs from shrivelling. It usually 
blossoms during spring and early summer: if the flowers 
are wanted in winter, it should be placed in the stove 
during the autumn months, and not be allowed to rest. It is 
a native of China and various parts of India; the first 
plant known in cultivation was introduced from Macao by 
Reeves, in 1836. Dr. Lindley considered it the handsomest 
of all Dendrobes. ‘Its very stems are so bright and trans- 
parent that they form a beautiful object, and the effect of 
the bright green veins of the leaf-sheaths seen through the 
semi-transparent skin is very striking. The flowers are 
unrivalled for delicacy of texture and gracefulness of form; 
at first nodding, as if their slender stalks were unable to 
sustain their weight, and then, as they disentangle their 
ample folds, assuming a horizontal position, with the rich, 
trumpet-shaped lip forming an apparently solid centre, 
they seem purposely to raise themselves to the distinct 
view of the beholder” (Lindley). A specimen of this 
Dendrobium bearing over 200 flowers was exhibited in 
1888 at South Kensington. This is one of the Orchids 
which vary in scent at different times of the day. 
M. André says that the blossoms have an odour of grass 
in the morning, of honey at noon, and a faint primrose 
scent in the evening. 
Fig. 58; Botanical Magazine, t. 5003. 
There are numerous beautiful varieties of this species 
in cultivation. The best of them are: 
Var. cerulescens.—Smaller in all its parts, the flowers 
very deeply coloured. 
Var. Cooksontanum.—This has the two petals coloured 
like the lip. It is a remarkably beautiful plant. 
