CHAPTER LV 
SOBRALIA. 
OWING to the short duration of the individual flowers, 
which usually fade after being open only one day, this genus 
has not hitherto been held in much favour. Of the twenty- 
five to thirty species known to botanists, there is but one 
—S. macrantha—which has enjoyed extensive cultivation. 
The marvellous beauty, however, of two comparatively new 
species—S. leucoxantha and S. xantholeuca—has lately 
brought the genus into greater prominence. 
The habit of Sobralias is very characteristic; they 
have no pseudo-bulbs, and the stems are slender and 
reed-like, bearing plaited and slightly coriaceous leaves. 
S. dichotoma—a Peruvian species not known in cultiva- 
tion—is said to have stems 12ft. to 2oft. high, forming 
dense, impenetrable thickets. In the species described 
they rarely exceed Oft. in height. The flowers are 
produced singly from the top of the stem, which con- 
tinues during the flowering season to produce a close 
succession of blooms, thus making amends for their tran- 
sient character. Each flower is large and spreading, vary- 
ing in colour from the richest purple to yellow and the 
purest white ; the sepals and petals are alike in colour, and 
nearly so in size and shape; the sides of the lip fold over 
