will grow and bloom tlie same year, and produce a superb display. Our illustration 

 was taken from a very fine specimen which bloomed with us during the month 

 of August of the present year in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper 

 Holloway. 



Dendrohium formosum giganteum is a splendid evergreen variety of compact 

 habit, belonging to the Nigro-hirsute section with stout, terete stems, a foot or 

 more in height, clothed with short black hairs, and bearing thick, ovate, obliquely 

 emarginate leaves. The flowers, which proceed from the top of the stem in 

 clusters of four or five, are very fragrant, yielding the perfume of Almonds, 

 the individual blooms measuring from four to five inches across. The sepals and 



A, 



petals are pure white ; lip also white, ornamented on the centre with a broad 

 blotch of rich orange -yellow. The t}^ical D. Jormosum and this variety both bloom 

 during July, August and September, continuing in full beauty for several wrecks. 



We find this plant grows best in the East India house, although w^e have also 

 found it thrive when placed at the warmest end of the Cattleya house. We always 

 suspend it near the glass, so that it can obtain full light and abundance of sun- 

 heat, shnding it only just sufficient to break the direct rays during the hottest 

 part of the day ; if this is not done the foliage is liable to become burnt, a con- 

 dition which greatly disfigures the plant, for the rich green of its leaves contrast 

 admirably with its large white blossoms, and materially contribute to the general 

 efiect. 



We also find this Dendrobe to thrive suspended from the roof of a stove associated 

 with a mixed collection of tropical plants, and it appears to derive much benefit from the 

 moisture which arises from the various plants located below it. We invariably cultivate 

 this plant on blocks of wood, or in baskets ; if grown on a block it requires to be 

 syringed at least once every day in the summer, and sometimes when the weather is 

 very hot and dry, twice a day will not be too much ; on the other hand, if grown 

 in baskets, it will not require such frequent applications of water from the syringe, 

 but the m.aterial in which it is planted must be always kept moist. When the 

 growth is finished and the blooms are past, less water will suffice — ^just sufficient to 

 keep the bulbs and foliage plump will be all that is required, whilst in order to 

 ripen its bulbs and enable it to make stout growths the folloT^^ng season, it must 

 be kept near the glass. As before remarked, this Dendrobium is not, as a rule, 

 a long-lived plant under cultivation, yet we have seen specimens which continued 

 to flourish for several years in succession. 



W^e find rough fibrous peat and living sphagnum moss to be the best materials in 

 which to grow this plant ; it does not require a great quantity of this about its roots, 

 but it must always be maintained in a fresh and sweet condition, whilst the 

 drainage must be ample and in good order. It is best to renew the peat and 

 moss every year, and this operation should be performed just before the plant 

 sends forth its new growth and roots ; should there be any of the old roots in 

 a sound and healthy state, they should be carefully preserved. 



This plant is very subject to the attacks of white scale and thrips, just at its 

 growing time, and these enemies must be kept under ; we find steaming with tobacco 

 juice used in the Thanatophore, an efl'ectual remedy ; this system of battling 

 against insect pests is now largely adopted by Orchid growers at the present time, 

 and with very satisfactory results. 



