CCELOGYNE. 53 



species are abundant in their respective habitats growing on moss- 

 covered rocks and banks^ and covering the lower part of the trunks 

 of lofty trees^ sometimes in partial shade^ sometimes fully exposed. 

 As horticultural plants they are highly valued on account of the 

 brilliant effect produced by masses of their delicately-coloured flowers 

 in the autumn and winter months ; the flowers are^ however, of 

 comparatively short duration. Besides the species described in the 

 sequel, two others are still imperfectly known to science, Gcelogyne 

 {Pleione) diphylla, and C. (Pleione) javanica, the first gathered by 

 Griffith on the Khasia Hills, and the second by Zollinger near 

 Tijkoya, in Java. The Pleiones are familiarly known as " Indian 

 Crocuses." 



The following characters are common to all the cultivated 

 species : — 



The pseudo-bulbs are clustered, of small size, often of peculiar form 

 and sometimes mottled with black ; they are of annual duration only. 

 The leaves are solitary and deciduous in most of the species,* falHng 

 off before the flowers are developed. 



The pedu7ieles, one or two from the base of each pseudo-bulb, are 



enclosed in imbricating bracts of which the upper one is the longest, 



and which soon shrivels, leaving the peduncle naked ; they are one 



sometimes tAvo flowered ; the flowers, especially the labellum, are of 



brighter and more delicate tints that are seen in the true Coelogynes. 



The sepals and petals are narrow and spreading ; the lip nearly oblong 



when spread out, more or less rolled over the column at the base and 



traversed longitudinally by 5 — 7 fringed keels. 



The structure of the flower of Pleione is, however, essentially that 



of Gcelogyne, and presents no character whatever by which the two 



may be generically separated. 



Cultural Note. — The Pleiones in their native habitats live under 

 climatic and other conditions! which, with the exception of temperature, 



* In Ccelogyne Hookcriana the leaves persist till after the fading of the flowers. 



t In whatever locality the Pleiones are found wild, the temperature of that locality has 

 what in gardening phraseology is called an intermediate range, and which varies according 

 to the altitude of the locality. Thus the temperature of the Himalayan zone at the lower 

 limits of the Pleiones ranges from 18"— 27° C. (65°— 80° F.), while at the higher limits in 

 the Pleione humilis and P. Hookcriana localities the range is 5° — 8° C. (10°- 15° F. ) less, 

 which is very nearly the summer temperature on the summits of the Khasia Hills, the 

 winter temperature being somewhat lower. On the Arracan Mountains, at the altitude at 

 which P. ReichenbachiaTuc grows. Colonel Benson estimated the average temperature at 

 18°— 21° C. (65°- 70° F.)— (Card. Chron. 1870, p. 796). The hygrometric condition of all 

 these localities is excessive compared with the climate of England. In Sikkim the atmosphere 

 is at or near the saturation point during six months of the year, the other six months are nearly 

 rainless ; on the Khasia Hills the rainfall is one of the heaviest known, and on the mountains 

 of Arracan and Moulmein it ranges from 200 to 250 inches annually ; the dry season 

 lasts about three months (December — February) ; vegetation is then dormant. 



