112 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 

 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 



No. I.— NOTE ON ANGRAOUM SESQUIPEDALE. 



yRead hefore the Bombay Natural History Society, on 26 January, 1892.) 



The orcHd whicli I exhibit to-night is an Angracum, a native of Madagascar ; 

 it has been in my possession about four years, and has flowered regularly every 

 season. 



The Angracum belongs to the tribe Vandece, and in some degree resembles 

 Aeridet, having, like them, the stems clothed with ever-green leathery distichous 

 foliage, which in some kinds is cui'ved and gracefiil, while the flowers are pro- 

 duced in long racemes from the leaf axUs. The flowers are characterised by 

 the spreading sepals and petals, and by the long slender spur to the lip. which 

 has a spreading entire or 3-lobed limb. 



This particular species '■^Angracum sesquipedale " is described by Williams 

 in his " Manual on Orchids " in the following terms : — 



' ' A wonderful and noble plant of great beauty. It was brought to England 

 " by the late Rev. W. Ellis of Heddeslow from Madagascar, where he found it 

 " growing on trees. The stem is simple and rooting; the leaves close-set, dis- 

 ' ' tichous, leathery, oblong, blunt and bilobed at the apex, keeled, and of a dark 

 '' green colour. The flowers are of a clear ivory white and very large, a foot 

 " across, with a greenish tail or spur from 12 to 18 inches in length hanging 

 " from the flower. The peduncles are axillary, and bear from one to four of these 

 * * fragrant flowers, which are produced in November, December and January 

 ' ' and last about 3 weeks in beauty. There are two varieties, one having larger 

 '* flowers than the other." 



It is the smaller plant that I have shown this evening. 



As regards the treatment of orchids generally, my experience is that in 

 Bombay they have to be protected from the sea-breeze and red dust. Du-t, of 

 course, to any orchid, is poison, and it is one of the trials of my life to see the 

 chota main brushing the pathways next the orchid-house, raising a noble cloud 

 of dust, which settles lovingly and lastingly on the foliage of the orchids. A 

 prolonged course of this dusting is quite sufiicient to kill any orchid. Clean- 

 liness in orchids is so much insisted on that in most manuals you will find 

 advice to readers to wash the foliage with sponge and soap. 



Orchids require a fair amount of sun ; the ordinary Bombay fernery netting 

 seems to admit the right amount. Creepers grovsdng over orchid-houses are, I 

 find, a mistake. Recently my orchids in one house were looking dull and 

 depressed and anything but healthy. The feUow-plant to the one exhibited 

 dropped its flowering stem, and I discovered that the creepers had grown so 

 thickly over the roof of the house as to obscure the sun's rays. I at once had 

 the creepers cleared away and the plants have recovered. 



