glossy sepia-brown with a marginal band of greyish-green. Flowers purple and 
very small. 
MICROSTYLIS DISCOLOR. Native of Ceylon. 
A lovely species with clustered stems about 2 inches long, which are enclosed in 
the bases of the leaves. Leaves about 4 inches long, ovate, plaited and deep, glossy 
crimson-purple in colour with a wavy pale green margin. The small flowers are 
yellow and shining, and contrast well with the leaf colouring. 
MICROSTYLIS METALLICA. Native of Borneo, 
A beautiful little species with a cylindrical bulb bearing half-a-dozen oblong, 
pointed leaves about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. These are rosy-crimson 
underneath and a metallic blackish-purple above. Flowers small and purple. 
MILTONIA 
A genus of beautiful epiphytical orchids, all the species of which can be num- 
bered amongst the choicest of orchids. In Australia the species are rarely met 
(with one or two exceptions) and the plants most often seen here are the result 
of the hybridists’ work. Even the hybrids present considerable difficulty to growers 
in Queensland, and most of the plants imported from time to time have died. 
However, we occasionally see a plant of M. Bleuana (vexillaria x Roezlii) which 
has survived our Summer, and its beauty inspires a desire to see more of them. 
In the South a few species are seen, particularly in Melbourne and Adelaide. These 
are generally M. vexillaria, M. Clowesii, and occasionally M. Warscewiczii. Pos- 
sibly in the near future we may be able to obtain supplies of the species from 
South America, and so enable us to make further efforts to grow plants of this 
lovely genus. 
Miltonias either grow from stout creeping rhizomes, in which case the pseudobulbs 
grow about an inch apart, or in clusters. Each pseudobulb has from four to eight 
narrow, strap-shaped, keeled leaves, of which two grow from the apex of the 
pseudobulb, while the rest spring from the bottom, their bases sheathing the 
pseudobulb in its early stages. 
The plants grow naturally on the slopes and the high peaks of the Andes in 
Colombia, where they have been found as high up as 16,000 feet above sea level, 
on the mountains of Costa Rica at an elevation of 8,000 feet, and on the higher 
parts of the Organ Mountains, the Sierra de Mar, and the Sierra Tabatinga in 
Brazil, and again on the Andes in Peru. With such variations in the latitude, 
longitude and altitude of their natural haunts, it is obvious that they will need 
somewhat varying conditions under cultural treatment. This will be dealt with 
as each species is referred to later on. 
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