Proceedings of the London Horticultural Society. 555 



new, and the other very rare, in this country, excited great attention, in con- 

 sequence of the well known difficulty of cultivating the beautiful terrestrial 

 Orchidaceae of their part of the world. An enquiry was, therefore, subse- 

 quently addressed to Sir John Herschel, as to the circumstances under which 

 such plants are naturally found, and the method pursued by him in their cul- 

 tivation ; to which the following reply was obligingly given. 



" As regards their native habits, and the culture I should consider most in 

 accordance therewith, and, therefore, more likely (d priori) to succeed in this 

 country, the following is about the amount of my knowledge : — 



" 1. Satyrium cdrneum (the large-flowered pale pink species,, with a close 

 spike on a tall stem). The finest specimens grow in deep pure sand, but always 

 among low shrubby vegetation, which affords a certain degree of shelter to 

 them before the flower-stalk rises, and whose roots and their rejectamenta, no 

 doubt, supply nourishment. However, I have grown them well in somewhat 

 richer but still very sandy soil, and quite without shelter, and the largest spike 

 I ever saw was the result. The essential condition seems to be very effectual 

 drainage, as much water as the soil will retain while they are leafing, with a 

 temperature not less than 50°, and increasing as the flower-stalk rises, while, 

 at the same time, the supply of water must be cut off" entirely, as they are es- 

 pecially apt to rot, if any wet gets into the inner folds of the leaves. In fact, 

 from the moment the first sign of the flower-stalk appears, they cannot be kept 

 too dry ; and, while flowering, heat and sunshine in abundance are required ; 

 or the flower is pallid. When the flower is thoroughly withered, and the stalk 

 dried, the heat and dryness must be still continued to ripen the tubers. I 

 have had the soil, in which the tubers remained, heated by the sun at the sur- 

 face to 140° and upwards, and as dry as mere dust ; and this state of things 

 lasts a month at least after the flowering. 



" 2. Satyrium pajnllosum (pink flowers, in the natural climate rich crimson). 

 I have never found this in the sandy flats about the Cape. My roots were all 

 taken from clay, baked by the sun nearly to the consistence of a brick, at De 

 Koch's, a place about forty miles east of Cape Town, in the district of Hot- 

 tentot's Holland. They were then in flower, rather past their maximum. 

 Nevertheless, they grew well enough in the peaty sand of which my garden 

 consisted ; and to admiration in a fine black sand, enriched with vegetable mat- 

 ter, from the shrubby hills in the neighbourhood. Plenty of water, and mo- 

 derate temperature while leafing, diminished supply of wet and increased heat 

 as the flower rises, and total dryness with heat, when all is withered, seem to 

 be the conditions. 



" 3. Satyrium candidum (white flower, with very long spurs, and rich 

 orgeat-like odour. This delicious plant, when dried, leaves, stalk, and all, 

 preserves, apparently ad infinitum, a rich and powerful flavour of the Tonquin 

 bean, or sweet woodroffe, a flavour common to many flowers and dried plants ; 

 and depending, I have little doubt, on some peculiar vegetable principle, not 

 in the nature of an essential oil, but less volatile. Its habitat at the Cape is 

 in deep sand, in flat exposures, but so drained as never to be decidedly inun- 

 dated in the wettest season, and perfectly dry in the hot months. It does not 

 seem in this country to require much heat. It has flowered freely in boxes 

 and pots of bog earth, exposed while leafing (only matted in very cold clear 

 nights), and taken in doors when the flowers began to appear, and kept very 

 dry. But I have now several flowering in the open air, under a south wall, 

 in a rich garden mould. Like all the Cape plants, however, I presume that not 

 only perfect dryness, but (at least for a time, at the commencement of the dor- 

 mant state) increased heat, will be needed to ripen the tubers. The scent is 

 finer here than at the Cape. Specimens of the (Satyrium candidum are now 

 in full flower in the open air, in spite of the bad weather and very sharp frosty 

 nights we have had this month : a light mat, at night, has been their only 

 defence. 



" Satyrium cucidldtum (green flower, with an intense odour of pepper ; the 

 scent here is also stronger, I think, than in the native climate). Its habitat is 

 nearly the same as that of the S. candidum ; and they are sometimes (not 



