JlLY 24, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



355 



and tliese were continually popping up and down in the most 

 remarkable fashion. " The delightful little athlete," the Gar- 

 deners'' Chronicle calls it. 



Being somewhat curious to know the cause of these singu- 

 lar movements, and being fully aware of the delicate hinge by 

 which the lip, in this genus, is attached to the column, I care- 

 fully watchetl it for some seconds, and soon concluded that 

 currents of air were the cause of disturbance ; a conclusion 

 abundantly confirmed by a gentle puff of the breath, which 

 caused an miusual amount of commotion. So the exercise of 

 the little " athlete " is of quite a passive nature, after all. 



It appears to be some curious provision for securing fertil- 

 ization of the flowers, the movements of the laljellum prob- 

 ably serving to attract the attention of curious insects. 



The singular little Masdevallia miiscosa is, perhaps, still more 

 remarkable. It appears from an account which has recently 

 been published, that the lip of this plant is sensitive, and has a 

 movement as definite as that of the remarkable Diomva inus- 

 cipiila, or " Venus' Fly-trap." The habit of the plant is almost 

 tliat of the well-known M. Harryana, but smaller, the flowers 

 standing some six inches high ; light yellow in color, the tube 

 of the sepals short, the lip long and protruding, and much nar- 

 rowed behind. When the flower opens the lip hangs pendu- 

 lous underneath, but when an insect alights on the lip, and 

 touches a small cushion-like disc,' situated some distance from 

 the apex, the lip suddenly shuts up tight against the column, 

 moving through an angle of 80° or 90'- in two seconds. The 

 Masdevallia is not as bloodthii-sty as the Dionoea, for the insect 

 is not tightly boxed in, nor does the plant forthwith proceed to 

 devour and digest its victim. There is a way of escape 

 between the two petals and the face of the column, but the 

 insect can scarcely fail to carry away the pollen- 

 masses in making its exit, and there can be 

 little doubt that on visiting a second flower it 

 comes in contact with the stigma, and thus 

 fertilization is eftected. 



This is not all. The plant regularly goes to 

 sleep at night — that is to say, it closes up tight 

 — but positively refuses to sleep in the daytime; 

 for two hours in a dark cellar are reported to 

 have made no impression on it. The slightest 

 touch with a hair on the sensitive cushion 

 causes the lip to close suddenly, but after a 

 short time it gradually opens again. Another 

 remarkable point about the plant is that the 

 jieduncles are completely covered with green- 

 ish-yellow moss-like bristles, which have been 

 well compared to those of a Moss Rose. There 

 is no climbing up some other way. Ants have 

 been observed to make the attempt, l^ut eventu- 

 ally had to give it up in disgust. It is supposed 

 that this is the particular use of these bristles, 

 fo keep away robber-insects. Those who 

 would pay their respects must come in a legiti- 

 mate way, and alight on the flower itself. Quite 

 a little chapter of romance ; but one would 

 suspect that the insect goes away with rather 

 mixed feelings after its first visit. Calypso. 



London. 



The genus Brassia derives its name from Mr. 

 William Brass, who, towards the end of the 

 eighteenth century, was sent as a botanical 

 collector to Cape Coast and the surrounding- 

 districts by Sir Joseph Banks. There are 

 several species known, but owing to the dingy 

 color of the flowers of most of them, there 

 are only a few which present suflicfent beauty 

 to entitle them to the consideration of the cul- 

 tivator. Both B'. viaciilata and B. verrucosa are 

 now freely flowering here. The former is the 

 oldest representative of the genus, of which 

 it isthe type, having been first made known to 

 cultivation in 1806, when it was discovered in 

 Jamaica. It has dark green, ovoid, compressed 

 pseudo-lndbs, surmounted by a pair of spread- 

 ing strap-shaped leaves. From nine to twelve 

 flowers are borne on erect, arching spikes, 

 about two feet long, which spring from the 

 base of the pseudo-bulbs. The yellowish- 

 green sepals are linear-lanceolate acute, antl 

 channelled on the front surface, the lower por- 

 tion of which has several dark, dull purple 

 l)lotches; the incurved petals are similar in 

 shape and color to the sepals, but are only 

 about half as long, and the dull purple blotches 



are not so dense, having the ground color showing through in 

 minute spots. The cordate acute lip is large and conspicuous; 

 it is recurved at the apex, and tiie creamy-yellow siu'face is 

 sprinkled over with purple-brown spots, while at the base 

 there are two short orange-yellow ridges or crests. The 

 specific name of Alaculata was suggested to R. Brown, who 

 first described this plant in "Hortus Kewensis,"by the spots or 

 blotches on the flowers, but it might be here mentioned that 

 the flowers of all the species are more or less spotted in a 

 similar .manner. 



B. verrucosa resembles the preceding species in habit, but 

 has thicker pseudo-bulbs, somewhat furrowed and ridged, and 

 narrower leaves. The sepals are about five inches long, pale 

 yellowish-green, with a few dark reddish-brown spots at the 

 base; the petals are only about two inches in length, of the 

 same color, but more thickly covered with spots. The ante- 

 rior half of the pandurate-cuspidate lip is pui-e white, abruptly 

 changing to greenish-yellow on the lower half, which is 

 studded with conspicuous green warts — a characteiMstic from 

 which the plant received the specific name given by Dr. 

 Lindley. This species flowered for the first time in England 

 in April, 1840, in the nurseries of Messrs. RoUison, at Tooting, 

 who had received f)lants of it from Mexico, Since that time, 

 however, it has also been collected in Guatemala. 



I might mention here that a few weeks ago at a London sale 

 I noticed a fine specimen of this species which bore seven 

 erect, arching splices about two and a half feet long, each hav- 

 ing from fourteen to eighteen Mowers, which collectively pre- 

 sented a most striking appearance. 



The culture of Brassias presents no particular difficulty. 

 They will succeed either in well-drained pots or baskets. 



Platanus occitleiitalis. — .-V Cliaractt'visiic Western Scone. — See pap;o 352. 



