STORY OF BULBOPHYLLUM BARBIGERUM 



This species is so rare in Europe that I must give a word 

 of description. The genus contains the largest and perhaps 

 the smallest of orchids — B. Beccarii, whose stem is six inches 

 in diameter, carrying leaves two feet long, and B. pygmaeum 

 of New Zealand. They are all fly-catchers, I think, equipped 

 with apparatus to trap their prey, as droll commonly in the 

 working as ingenious in the design. Barbigerum has pseudo- 

 bulbs less than an inch high, and its flowers are proportionate. 

 But charm and size are no way akin. Fascination dwells 

 in the lip, which, hanging upon the slenderest possible con- 

 nection, lengthens out to the semblance of a brush. Thus 

 exquisitely poised it rocks without ceasing, and its long, 

 silky, purple -brown hairs wave softly but steadily all day 

 long, as if on the back of a moving insect. Pretty though 

 it be, all declare it uncanny. 



The species was introduced from Sierra Leone by 

 Messrs. Loddiges, so long ago as 1835. ^ have not come 

 upon any reference to a public sensation. Assuredly, how- 

 ever, the orchidists of the day were struck, and it is probable 

 that Messrs. Loddiges sold the wonder at a high price if in 

 bloom. Some people in Sierra Leone forwarded consign- 

 ments. But an orchid so small and delicate needs careful 

 handhng. None of them reached Europe alive, I dare say. 



It appears, however, that Bulbophyllum barbigerum is 

 common throughout those regions. The example at Kew, 



