134 oechid-grower's manual, 



good supply of water at the roots. Care is, however, 

 necessary in watering, for the young growths are apt to rot 

 if water lies in the heart. All of them are propagated by 

 dividing their stems after they have finished their growth, 

 or just after they have done blooming. 



A. africana, LindUy. — A free-flowering and noble ever- 

 green Orchid, producing upright stems from three to four feet 

 high, with light gi-een five-ribbed foliage. The flowers are 

 produced in January on drooping branching spikes from the 

 apex of the stems, and have the yellow sepals and petals 

 spotted all over with dark brown ; lip yellow. We have seen 

 upwards of a hundred flowers on one spike, and they keep in 

 beauty for two months. This species was first found in 

 Fernando Po, on the stem of a palm-tree, by the late Mr. John 

 Ansell, to whom the genus is dedicated. — Sierra Leone. 



'ElG.—Bot. Reg., 1846, t. 30 ; Bot. Mag., t. 4965 ; Gartertflora, t. 95 ; Paxton, 

 Mag. Bot., xiii. 241, with tab. 



A. africana gigantea, Rchh. f. — A very fine variety, pro- 

 ducing upright spikes from the top of the bulbs ; it flowers 

 about the same time, and is of the same colour as the type 

 only larger, lasting a long time in perfection ; very rare. — 

 Natal 



A. africana lutea, Hchb. f. — A very distinct variety, re- 

 sembling the others in appearance, but not so strong in 

 growth, and producing clusters of smaller light yellow flowers 

 from the top of the bulbs. — Natal. 



'Fm.—Bot. Mag., t. 4965, fig. 3. 



Stn. — A. natalensis ; A. gigantea (Hooker). 



AeACHNANTHE, Bhme. 

 ( Tribe Vandese, suhtribe Sarcan these.) 



Epiphytal plants, with leafy stems, loose racemes of 

 showy flowers, of which the sepals and petals are spreading, 

 and an articulated lip, bearing a minute conical spur. The 

 few species are found in the Malayan Archipelago. 



Bentham and Hooker include Yanda Cathcartii in this 

 genus. 



