80 ORCHIDS. 



richest olive or almost purple velvet veined in regular 

 or curved lines with a net-work of gold. In other species 

 the leaf is rich green marked with silver tracings. 



The plants require to be grown in silver sand mixed 

 with fine chopped sphagnous moss. The flowers are pro- 

 duced on short, upright spikes, but they are insignificant, 

 and the buds should be nipped off as soon as they ap- 

 pear. 



The plants should be grown in pots in the shadiest 

 part of the East Indian house or stove under bell 

 glasses. Potted in the compost before directed they 

 should have good drainage. 



They should not be planted in a large pot, as they do 

 not produce many roots, but they succeed best in a small 

 pot plunged in a large one so that the bell glass fits the 

 outside pot, which will allow space for the leaves to grow 

 within the glass. They should be repotted once a year, 

 about the first of March. 



The plants should be raised one or two inches above 

 the rim of the pot ; during their season of growth, which 

 is in summer, they require an abundance of water at the 

 roots. In winter they only need enough to keep the soil 

 a little damp ; they require only a short season of rest. 

 The bell glasses must always be kept over them and 

 should always be kept clean or the plants will not thrive. 

 Anactochiluses are propagated by cutting the plants into 

 pieces with a root attached to each piece. When there 

 is only a single stem, the plant should be cut off just be- 

 low the first root and potted ; the old stump will soon 

 throw up a young shoot which must be left till it has 

 formed roots ; then cut it off and pot it, leaving the old 

 stock to throw up another shoot to form another plant. 



