The flower spike grows from the top of the stem and carries a number of nicely 
sized flowers which in good varieties are very attractive. The greenish-yellow 
sepals and petals are narrow and pointed and somewhat tortile (twisted). The 
lip, which is uppermost, is alleged to resemble the under part of a cockle shell 
(hence the name). It is deep purple outside, the underside being even darker, 
prettily veined with yellowy-green veins. This species, although plentiful in its 
native haunts, is rather hard to obtain, as it does not carry well. Once estab- 
lished, however, it grows vigorously and flowers for the greater part of the year. 
It likes warm, moist conditions. 
EPIDENDRUM COOPERIANUM. Native of Rio De Janiero, Brazil. 
A beautiful and hardy species with stiff, erect and rather stout stems up to 3 feet 
6 inches in height with numerous fleshy, stiff, acutely pointed leaves on the top 
half. It produces several drooping racemes densely covered with stout-textured 
flowers whose sepals and petals range from pale brownish green to an attractive 
golden-brown. The trilobed lip is a brilliant rosy pink, the middle lobe being 
kidney-shaped, notched in front, while the laterals are rounded and large. 
Flowers in Autumn and early Winter, the blooms lasting about 8 weeks. Should 
grow in warm bushhouse in Brisbane and, generally speaking, under similar con- 
ditions to those prescribed for Cattleyas. 
EPIDENDRUM EVECTUM. Native of Colombia. 
One of the parents of the well known hybrid, E. O’Brienianum. Stems tall and 
reedlike up to about 5 feet in height, somewhat swollen at the base and clothed 
almost from the base upwards with leathery, oblong-lanceolate, bright green 
leaves notched at the tip. The flowers appear in globose heads on long racemes 
from the top of the stems. Pedicels are long and pale red, while the sepals and 
petals are deep magenta in colour. The lip is similar in shape to that of 
O’Brienianum, but it is of the same colour as the sepals and petals. Flowers in 
Winter and stays in bloom for a very long period. Will grow under the same 
conditions as E. Boundii and E. O’Brienianum. 
EPIDENDRUM FALCATUM. Native of Guatemala. 
A rare and rather difficult species, which differs from all other species of Epiden- 
drums in having long, creeping and branching stems from which grow widely 
spaced, thick, fleshy, falcate drooping leaves, about a foot in length and tapering 
to a peculiarly twisted point. Flowers are produced in pairs and are 5 or 6 
inches in width. Sepals and petals are narrow, pointed and spreading, and are 
light brownish-green in colour. The lip is dark yellow, the lateral lobes being 
rounded, while the middle lobe is narrow and pointed. Flowers in early Summer, 
the blooms lasting some eight weeks. It should be grown in a basket or on a 
tree fern block. It likes plenty of light, and ordinary bushhouse treatment will 
serve in places where the temperature does not fall below 48 degrees—otherwise 
glasshouse. Ample moisture in the Summer time, but only enough to keep the 
stems unshrivelled during the Winter. 
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