canaliculatum is plentiful from about Mackay to Cooktown. Known as the 
“onion” orchid, this rather attractive plant grows chiefly upon tea-trees. The 
sweetly scented flowers are white, yellow and dark purplish-brown. Dendrobium 
speciosum grows throughout the coastal scrubs and all the varieties are found. 
D. fusiforme, with its spindle-shaped stems, is also quite common in the rain- 
forest country and, when in bloom, its silvery-white sprays of flowers are a 
handsome sight. D. Smilliae grows plentifully throughout the Far North from 
about Ingham onwards. The plant has stout, furrowed stems up to about 26 
inches high, crowned with half-a-dozen oblong, lanceolate leaves up to 6 inches 
long and about half that in width at the widest part. The racemes spring from 
the upper nodes of the newly matured stem and carry a cluster of numerous small 
flowers varying in colour from pink to crimson tipped with green, and with a 
spur longer than the sepals. A variety D. Smilliae var. ophioglossum has been 
reported from Gordonvale, near Cairns. This plant has yellow flowers. D. Smilliae 
is known as the “‘bottle-brush” orchid from the shape of the flower spikes. 
These are only a few of the Dendrobiums of North Queensland. The plants 
mentioned are the most important of the genus from a horticultural point of 
view, but many of the others are worth while growing, although space does not 
permit of their inclusion in this paper. 
Cymbidiums, though the number of species is not great, grow plentifully through- 
out North Queensland, the species most frequently met with being C. canalicu- 
latum, of which four varieties have been noted, including the attractive variety 
Sparkesii, which is found on the Atherton Tablelands and on the ironbark trees 
of the Ranges. It is a really attractive plant and grows quite well under cultiva- 
tion. C. Hillii and C. iridifolium are plentiful and, although their individual 
blossoms are small, each has its own charm. 
An outstanding orchid is a variety of Phalaenopsis amabilis, recorded as var. 
Rosenstromii. This lovely plant has been reported from Mount Spec, Bambaroo, 
and other places near Ingham, and also from Mt. Bartle Frere and the Mossman 
River further north. The flowers are closely similar to the type species P. amabilis, 
and, in good plants, often approach in size those of var. Rimestadiana. It is 
rather difficult to grow, and has a tendency to die off after two or three years. 
Terrestrial orchids are numerous, but most of them are not considered suitable 
for an orchid collection, and in any case the North Queensland species are much 
the same as those in the Southern latitudes. Calanthe veratrifolia is found in 
many places north in the coastal areas and in the open forest country at the back 
of the Dividing Range. Phaius Tankervilliae and a variety found by Mrs. Ellis 
Rowan, and named “Rowanae’ after its finder (by the late J. F. Bailey) are found 
in swampy ground near the Murray River in the Tully area. The variety Rowanae 
is rather more brilliantly toned than the type. 
Another attractive ground orchid which grows quite well in the herbaceous border 
is Spathoglottis Paulinae, which is found near Cardwell in the Rockingham Bay 
district. Its deep purple flowers, often borne on a long scape, last well, and the 
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