usually grow in the jungles at a comparatively low elevation, attached to the 
trunks of trees. They like a warm, moist atmosphere when growing, but it is an 
advantage to remove them to a cooler and airier place after growth is completed 
and when they are in flower. 
They are best grown in baskets, but will grow in pots or attached to a block of 
wood with a little sphagnum moss or fibre between the plant and the wood. If 
potted, ample and free drainage should be provided, and the addition of a few 
pieces of clean wood-charcoal will assist in preventing sourness of the compost. 
This can be of fibrous peat, or osmunda or polypodium or todea, with a little live 
sphagnum moss mixed in. They appreciate plenty of light and plenty of air. 
CIRRHOPETALUM AMESIANUM. Native of Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo, etc. 
Small, thick pseudobulbs, topped with broad oblong and obtuse leaves prominently 
veined. The flower spikes proceed from the base of the new bulbs after they have 
matured. Flowers are produced in umbels of about 9 flowers (which is characteristic 
of all the genus). Dorsal sepal and petals bright yellow with a reddish brown 
fringe; the lateral sepals are a rosy purple, the base being creamy white and the 
sides sometimes the same colour. These are more or less joined together to a greater 
or lesser degree from the base to the beginning of the terminal tails. The lip is 
a dull reddish brown. This species is found in the jungles of the Moluccas and the 
Malayan Islands. In Sydney it will be necessary to grow it in a warm glasshouse 
as close to the light as possible, but in Brisbane (in the warmer parts) the hottest 
part of the bushhouse will do, and in the North this is all that will be needed. 
Copious water right through the growing period. As soon as growth is completed 
move to a cooler place and reduce the water supply, but do not dry off even in the 
Winter time. Once the plants of this genus commence to wither, there is very 
little hope of restoring them to vigour. 
CIRRHOPETALUM MEDUSAE. A Native of Singapore. (Illustrated. ) 
One of the strangest orchid flowers in an order in which remarkable flowers are the 
rule rather than the exception. Plant dwarf-growing with stout, rather square, 
angular pseudobulbs. Leaves (one on each new growth) are thick and fleshy. The 
flowers are very numerous. Sepals and petals pale yellow with pink or lilac spots, 
and are drawn out into long drooping threads so that the umbel of flowers re- 
sembles a head with the hair hanging down—hence the name. 
The cultural treatment required is the same as that for Cirrhopetalum Amesianum. 
CIRRHOPETALUM ORNATISSIMUM. Native of Sikkim, Nepal, Bhutan, etc. 
A small growing species—pseudobulbs about one inch in height, squarish, crowned 
by a single dark green leaf about 5 inches long and 2 inches wide. Flower spike 
(from about 6 to 9 inches in length) produced from base of bulbs, and carries an 
umbel of four to nine flowers, sepals and petals a pale purplish-brown in colour 
with veinings of bright violet. The tips of the petals have a series of dark brown 
to purple or black hairs, and the dorsal sepal is edged with a similar growth. This 
species, although a native of the cooler regions of Northern India, is found in the 
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