The Guiana Orchids. 19 



the interest of a colle6lion never ceases, its owner soon 

 begins to look on each individual as a friend and watches 

 for the blooming of a stranger with enthusiasm. As if 

 ordinary variations were not enough the genus Catase- 

 tum has taken upon itself to change the shape and size 

 of its flowers in a way that is most bewildering. Of the 

 fhree forms it seems to have the power of choice, so that 

 it may produce one now, another at its next flowering 

 season, and later again the third. On this account the 

 species are somewhat confused, and there is work for a 

 close observer to examine into the differences, and ob- 

 serve the conditions under which these appear. 



There are peculiarities in the seeds of orchids that 

 make them also well worth studying, but as these papers 

 are not intended to deal with anything beyond the most 

 obvious points, we shall leave these things to the student. 

 Our obje6l is to call attention to the beauty and variety 

 of the orchids found in British Guiana, and to give a list 

 of species so that they can be recognised by others than 

 botanists. As we shall use very few technical terms a 

 glossary will not be needed. Anyone who has seen a 

 few plants will easily recognise the pseudo-bulb ; the 

 labellum or lip can be seen in every flower, and the 

 aerial roots are also distinguishable without difficulty. 

 We shall use the term pseudo-bulb for the swollen stems 

 of Cattleya and Epidendron, although these differ some- 

 what from the storehouses of lateral flowering genera, 

 aud may mention that some botanists call all these aerial 

 tubers. The transition from pseudo-bulbs to fleshy stems 

 is so very gradual that it will be sometimes a little difficult 

 to draw the line, but pra6lically this will cause little 

 trouble. Certain genera contain epiphytal as well as ter- 



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