86 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



All the species of the Javanicum race and the hybrids 

 and crosses raised from them, require the conditions of a 

 warm greenhouse. In summer, moisture and shade are of 

 most importance. The minimum temperature for them is 

 about 55 F., and they are happiest when kept under glass 

 all the year round. Most of them are epiphytes where they 

 are wild, growing on the branches and stems of large trees 

 in moist forests on the mountains of Java and Borneo, 

 where the conditions are such as Orchids luxuriate in. 

 In cultivation they are satisfactory only when grown in 

 sandy soil, chiefly peat. 



In the belief that border cultivation would be as suitable 

 for them as it is for other species, a collection was planted 

 out in the Mexican House at Kew. Here they grew ex- 

 ceptionally well, but there was some unascertained con- 

 dition wanting, and after the first year or so they failed to 

 flower. Cultivated in pots, however, they flower freely and 

 continuously, the plants having at the same time shoots in 

 various stages of development as well as flowers, in con- 

 sequence of which they are in flower practically all the 

 year round. To prove this, Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons some 

 years ago exhibited at every fortnightly meeting of the 

 R.H.S. for a whole year, a collection of the flowers which 

 had been produced, not by special treatment, but under 

 quite normal conditions. 



They are propagated by means of half-ripened shoots 

 which readily strike root in a propagating case, and they 

 are amenable to training and pinching, so that they can be 

 kept to convenient size and shape. They do not appear 

 to grow large, the highest being less than 6 feet. They 

 require to be kept moist all the year round, frequent spray- 

 ing overhead being good for them, especially in summer. 



