fleshy 'in texture^ and deep green in colour on both surfaces. The spike is erect, 

 bearing numerous delicately coloured and very fragrant flowers. Sepals and petals 

 about the same size, flat and spreading, white, suffused with a delicate blush ; 

 lip deep rose, margined with pale rose. It produces its flowers during the months 

 of May and June, and, like those of most other Vandas, they continue in full 

 beauty for several weeks. This elegant new species is named in honour of The 

 Honourable F. L. Ames, North Easton, Mass., U.S.A., who is a zealous cultivator, 



and possesses one of tlie finest collections of orchidaceous plants in the United 



States. This plant will thrive in a pot or basket, but we find baskets preferable 

 for the dwarf-growing kinds of Yandas ; in these they can be conveniently suspended 

 near the glass, thus giving them the full benefit of the light, but shading from 

 the sun will be necessary in summer during the hottest part of the day. In 

 autumn and w^inter the warmth of the sun will be beneficial, and shading 

 unneccssaiy. This course of treatment induces vigorous and robust growth and 

 tends to produce a greater quantity of spikes, whilst the flowers will be richer in 

 colour, and the foliage firm and healthy. Vandas frequently suffer from being too 

 heavily shaded during the summer months ; to avoid this the shading material 

 used should be thin in texture, and the blinds should not be allowed dow^n in 

 cloudy weather. The summers in this country are short, and our light dim, in 

 comparison to that of the native home of the Vandas, therefore, under cultivation 

 these plants require all the • light we can possibly give them. In potting or 



basketing the small growing Vandas a very small quantity of sphagnum moss will 



suffice; but good drainage is indispensable in order that not a vestige of anything 

 stagnant remains about them. In summer the moss should be kept fairly moist, 

 but in winter very little water wiU be necessary ; nevertheless, even at this season, 

 the moss should never become dry, for although the dormant time or restin 

 season is the winter, they are apt to lose their bottom leaves if subjected to 

 severe drought. The East India house ' is the most suitable place in which to 

 grow this and other dw\arf species, but the temperature should not be excessive at 

 any time. 



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