CHAPTER» XXX: 
DISA. 
OvER a hundred distinct species of Disa have been 
described, all of them natives of Africa, mostly in the 
south temperate region. Of this number scarcely half-a- 
dozen are in cultivation in gardens here, and only two 
of these can be considered really good garden Orchids. 
There is no doubt about the beauty of many of the species 
which are unknown in English horticulture, but as yet 
all efforts to establish them in gardens have invariably 
resulted in failure. This is due to the difficulty— 
impossibility, one might say—of reproducing artificially 
anything approximating to the conditions under which 
these plants grow naturally. The same may be said of 
most of the terrestrial Orchids of Africa, many of which 
are of exceptional beauty, but they do not thrive in 
European gardens. The three species here described are, 
however, exceptions to this general rule as regards 
African Orchids. They are quite distinct in floral 
character from all other garden Orchids, and when well 
managed they make a rich display whilst in blossom. 
They have tuberous rootstocks, and leafy annual stems, 
from which runners are sent out freely every year. 
They make their growth in our winter and spring, and 
blossom in early summer, remaining in bloom for six 
