CHAPTER TER 
PLEIONE. 
ALTHOUGH included by modern botanists in the genus 
Ccelogyne, the several species to which the name of Pleione 
is still popularly applied are sufficiently well marked to 
justify the retention of the name for use in gardens. 
Pleiones are distinguished by their fleshy pseudo-bulbs, 
which are only of annual duration, shrivelling as the new 
ones develop, as in some Calanthes; by their deciduous 
leaves; by their scaly buds; by their usually one-flowered 
scapes subtended by a large, loose, sheath-like bract, and 
which precede the new growth; and by their flowers fading 
before the leaf is developed. Structurally the flowers are 
similar to those of Ccelogyne. 
All the Pleiones are natives of the mountains of India, 
and may be termed distinctly alpine. Two of them grow 
wild in regions where snow and frost sometimes occur. 
They are found, often in great abundance, clothing the 
trunks of trees and clinging to moist rocks in positions 
exposed to full sunlight. 
Culture.—Pleiones are so easy to grow and flower that 
room should be found for a few pans of them in even 
the smallest collections. Many growers fail with them 
through giving them tropical treatment and excessive 
coddling. As a matter of fact, they are all cool-house 
