60 sARCOf Hii.rs. 



A pretty aud very carious orchid cultivated in the Royal Gardens 

 at Kew. One of its most noticeable peculiarities is the absence of 

 leaves in the ordinary state of the plant (a character it possesses in 

 common with a few other species of Sarcochilus), although a few 

 small leaves occasionally appear under cultivation. It was one of the 

 numerous discoveries of the Rev. C. Parish, near Moulmein, and was 

 introduced to British gardens by Messrs. Low aud Co. in 1868. The 

 specific name refers to the form of the labellum as seen in front. 



S. purpureus. 



iStenis scandent, 2 — 3 feet long, as thick as an ordinary writing 

 j)encil, and from which are })roduced numerous white, cord-like, branching 

 roots. Leaves linear-oblong, 3 — 4 inches long, sessile, biiid at the apex, 

 keeled beneath. Racemes longer than the leaves, many flowered. 

 FloAvers crowded, about an inch in diameter, light rose-purple, the 

 lip a little darker than the other segments ; sepals and petals elliptic- 

 oblong, the lateral sepals adnate to tlie base of the lip ; lip shorter 

 than the other segments, compressed and narrowed at the base, dilated 

 towards the apex into a funnel-like tube with a narrow, oval aperture, 

 below which is a whitish awl-shaped appendage. 



Sarcochilus purpureus, Benth. in Geu. Plant. III. p. 576 (1883). Hook. f. Fl. 

 Brit. Ind. YI. p. 36. Camarotis purpurea, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 219 (1832). 

 Id. Scrt. Orch. t. 19. Id. in Journ. Linn. Soc. III. p. 37. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VII. 

 p. 35. C. rostrata, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 881 (1864). Aerides rostratum, 

 Roxb. Fl. ind. III. p. 474 (1832). 



This pretty orchid first became known to science in the early part 



of the present century through Dr. Carey, who cultivated it in his 



garden at Serampore in Bengal^ whence it was obtained by Dr. 



Wallich for the Calcutta Botanic Garden in 1819, and whose excellent 



drawing by a native artist was reproduced in Dr. Lindley^s Sertmn 



OrcJiidaceiini* It was subsequently found wild in the forests of 



Sylhet and on the Khasia Hills ; and from the last-named locality it 



was introduced to Chatsworth by Gibson in 1837. It flowered for 



the first time in this country in Messrs. Loddiges' nui'sery at 



Hackney in 1839. Although generally cultivated by orchid amateurs 



of the last generation under the name of Camarotis purpurea, it is 



but rai'ely seen in tlio orchid collections of the present time. 



* Still the best coloured plate of tiiis orchid known t" us. 



