ARACHNANTHE. 1 1 



Among the many fine orchids discovered by Sir Hugh Low in 

 Sarawak, this is unquestionably the most remarkable, for it possesses 

 characters so distinct from every known orchid that it may well be 

 doubted whether its relegation to Arachnanthe by Bentham is destined 

 to be final; for the present it may be best left where the eminent 

 systematist has placed it. In the absence of any published date, 

 it may be assumed that Sir H. Low first detected it in 1845 or 6, 

 about which time he sent it to his father at the Clapton Nursery, 

 with the request that it might be called Vanda Lindlei/ana, in 

 compliment to the most distinguished orchidologist of that time. 

 Dr. Lindley, however, declined the honour, and transferred the name 

 to the discoverer, '' who certainly ought, before all others, to be 

 associated with one of the finest which he has discovered in Borneo.'^* 



The aspect of this orchid in its wild state is most peculiar. As 

 seen by Sir Hugh Low, " the plants were hanging horizontally from 

 the main stem of a large tree, from each of which depended two, 

 three or four chains of fiowers, ten to twelve feet long.'^ t The 

 observations of later collectors all bear testimony to the same 

 remarkable appearance of the plants when in flower, with the addition 

 that from some of the older plants as many as eight or ten long, 

 pendulous racemes have been counted. Arachnanthe Lowii is always 

 found in the neighbourhood of water, generally on the higher 

 branches of the loftiest trees along the river banks, and over- 

 hanging the smaller streams sometimes in company with i/pripedium 

 Loivii. It is abundant in the low, swampy forest near the coast 

 of Sarawak, where it was collected by Curtis, who informed us that 

 in the rainy season many of the trees on which it grows are only 

 accessible by means of a canoe. Since its first discovery A. Lowii 

 has been frequently imported, but owing to the length of time 

 required for transmission, and perhaps the peculiar constitution of 

 the plants themselves, derived from their environment in their native 

 home, not many are preserved alive for a long time after their 

 arrival in Europe ; but when once established they will live and 

 flower for many years under the same cultural treatment as that 

 given to the tall- growing species of Vanda. One of the flrst plants 

 to flower in England was sent home by our collector, Thomas Lobb, 

 which flowered imperfectly at Exeter the second or third year after 

 *Gard. Chron. 1847, p. 239. t Idem. 



