The Guiana Orchids. 23 



creek. The orchids had apparently retreated, and there 

 on the edge were Stanhopeas, Gongoras and Brassias, 

 all more or less hanging over, their flowers depending so 

 as to be free from .the smothering crowd above. Farther 

 up the same creek, where hardly a ray of dire6l sunlight 

 could penetrate, he was rewarded with the sight of Zygo- 

 petalon rostratum in full bloom, and in a more open 

 place went into ecstacies at seeing Coryanthes macrantha 

 hanging from a tangle of bush ropes. 



Passing up the great rivers, where nothing is visible 

 but sloping walls of foliage, the orchid hunter will never 

 see a single species unless he pushes his bateau behind 

 the veil. Perhaps the dome of a low tree slopes right 

 into the water, and the intricate branches are almost im- 

 penetrable. However, a few slashes of the cutlass makes 

 an opening, through which his craft enters, with a result 

 that amply rewards him for his trouble. Every branch 

 and almost every twig is covered with most delicate and 

 tiny ferns, Peperomias and orchids, some of which are 

 particularly interesting although so inconspicuous. They 

 are mostly species of Pleurothallis and allied genera, 

 plants unknown to the ordinary colle6lor and somewhat 

 difficult to grow. 



Beside the creek where it winds through the swamp, 

 the low gnarled trees and bushes are often loaded with 

 commoner orchids such as Brassavola angustata and 

 Epidendron no6lurnum, many of them exposed to dire6l 

 sunlight, which they are able to endure because there is 

 nearly always a wide stretch of water below. -.Catase- 

 tums are also plentiful in such places, their fat pseudo- 

 bulbs and great capsules showing that the conditions are 

 particularly favourable. In fa6t, many orchids delight in 



