CHAP. n. THE ANGR^CUM SESQUIPEDALE. 41 



few in number, separate, long, and wiry, frequently running 

 down the outside of the tree on which they grow twelve or 

 eighteen feet or more ; and so tough in themselves, and 

 adhering so tenaciously to the bark of the tree, that a 

 considerable amount of force was required to break or detach 

 them. 



I once found the trunk of a tree lying quite rotten on the 

 ground, and AngrcBcum sesquipedale growing at intervals 

 along its entire length. The roots which had penetrated the 

 decayed vegetable fibre of the tree were comparatively white, 

 short, and fleshy; the leaves larger, of a darker green, and 

 more succulent; but there were no flowers. The flowers 

 last a long time, and are objects of great beauty. The 

 aspect and habits of the plants sent home appear much 

 altered for the better. The plants placed in moss in pots 

 are more compact in habit, the leaves larger and of a better 

 colour, the flowers equal to any I saw in INIadagascar, 

 and, instead of the long wiry roots, short, thick, plump, 

 green roots, as large as those of Aerides crispum. 



This rare and beautiful angrsecum flowered in the early 

 part of the past year ; and the following account of the plant, 

 with a figure and scientific description of the flower, was 

 shortly afterwards published by Doctor Lindley.* 



* " The only original account that we have hitherto had of this extraordinary 

 plant, consists of a figure and a few words of description published, in 1822, by 

 Du Petit Thouars, in his ' History of the Plants found in Madagascar, the Isle 

 of France, and Bourbon.' His statement is, that it grows in Madagascar only, 

 where it flowers in the month of August ; that its stem is eighteen inches high, 

 with close ribbon-shaped two-lobed leaves, a foot long by one and a half inches 

 broad ; and that its flowers are very large and white. To this he adds some 

 technical matter unnecessary to be reprinted. He called it sesquipedalian, 

 because its flowers were a foot and a half long. 



" From the time that the existence of this noble plant was known, it has been 

 the anxious wish of Europeans to procm-e it for cultivation ; and at last, at the 

 end of thirty-five years, the object has been gained. The Rev. Mr. Ellis, in his 

 visit to Madagascar, met with it in the forests of that island, and, having suc- 

 ceeded in sending home three plants in a living state, one of them flowered 



