VEGETATION. 87 



several other species have also exceedingly pretty foliage although 

 their flowers are inconspicuous. One lady's-slipper orchid {^Gijpripa- 

 dium ve^mstum) is found from 1,000 up to 4,000 feet, and two others at 

 over 10,000 feet. Nowadays few of the Sikliim orcliids have much 

 commercial value in Europe, as the greater number of the species con- 

 sidered worth growing by orchid fanciers are already common in col- 

 lections, and can be bought from the English nurserymen at a cheap 

 rate. But few of the species can survive the Calcutta climate for more 

 than two or thi-ee years, and still fewer will flower satisfactorily there 

 a second year. There are, however, several sorts that do thrive well 

 in Calcutta, and Phajus Wallichii, the finest of all the Sikhim ground 

 orchids, is one of them. At the Botanical Gardens it has continued 

 to multiply and flower to perfection for many years, and Arundiiia 

 hamhiisccfolia has also flowered there fairly well for several years when 

 treated as a semi-aquatic. Of the epiphytal sorts Vanda teres is most 

 at home at Calcutta, and even there requires full exposure to the suu 

 to flower freely. Dondrobium Pierardii also thrives well, as might be 

 expected from the fact of its being found in parts of the plains of 

 Bengal as well as in Sikhim. Dendrobiuni calceolaria does well too, 

 either as a basket plant or planted in ordinary soil if well drained and 

 raised above the surrounding ground. A few of the other Dendro- 

 bhcms, such as Farmeri, nobile, and fimbriatum, var. oculata, struggle on 

 for several years, but, generally speaking, the Sikhim orchids are dis- 

 appointing in Calcutta unless arrangements are made for their frequent 

 renewal. 



The natural order Seitamineoe is largely represented by both wild 

 and cultivated species. It includes the gingers, turmerics, plantains, 

 cardamoms, Iledychium, Costus, Alpinia, etc. Ginger and turmeric 

 are cultivated for C(msumption in the country but not for export. 

 One cardamom, the Bar a Elainchi (Amomum subulatum), is cultivated 

 extensively under the chequered shade of trees and shrubs, at low 

 elevations, in places capable of being irrigated at the proper seasons. 

 It is a most profitable crop, and there appears to be a market in 

 Bengal for all that can be produced. The seeds of one or two of the 

 wild sorts are also used, but for home consumption only, and they 

 make rather indifferent substitutes for the cultivated one. The fibre 

 of an Alpinia is occasionally used for making floor mats of a dui'able 

 quality, and Phrijnitim leaves form the water-proof layer of the 

 Ghums, or rain mats, so useful as rain protectors in field work and 

 in load carrying. The Ilcdychiums are all showy, and a yellow and a 

 ■white-flowered variety of the species coronarium are almost the only 

 indigenous plants cultivated by the natives for the sake of their sweet- 

 scented flowers. Gardner ianum, which is common between 4,000 and 

 7,000 feet, is the most conspicuous of the genus, having large bold 



