aNd ence, Ae ee Ne ae ori eS SS 
LE NS fT eo aie ot oll 
Se SS late oe ee ee eae = Se TE me 
" ig : 
‘* 
LISSOCHILUS GIGANTEUS. 
[PLate 457.] 
Native of the Congo, South-West A frica. 
Terrestrial.  Pseudobulb or tuber hidden below the surface of the soil, bearing 
oblong-acuminate, plicate leaves some three or more feet long, and_ rich green. 
Peduncle in its wild state said to attain a height of sixteen feet, but under culti- 
vation it has not reached to more than half that altitude, bearing a raceme of 
some twenty to forty flowers, each of which are three to four inches across. 
Lissocnitus cieantrus, Welwitsch, ea Reichenbach fl in Flora, xlviii. (1865), 
p- 187. Gardeners’ Chronicle, 3rd series, 1888, iii., p. 616, with fig. 
The plant we here figure was first found by Dr. Welwitsch, the celebrated 
African explorer, in 1862-1863, but no living plants were received from its dis. 
coverer. It was again found by M. Monteiro, but we do not think any addition 
was made to our collections from this find; we are indebted to the efforts of 
M. Linden, of Brussels, for the first living plants that were introduced to Europe. 
The plant was first flowered in Europe by the President of the Royal Horti- 
cultural Society, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., in his celebrated collection at Burford 
Lodge, Dorking, and it was exhibited to the public at the Society’s exhibition, held 
in the Temple Gardens in 1888. The second time of its flowering, a little later in 
the same season, was by D. Tod, Esq., of Glasgow, and _ this plant graced the 
exhibition held in that city. It had a spike seven and a half feet high, and bore 
a raceme of twenty-six flowers. The third time of flowering this plant—from which 
our plate was taken—was in January of the present year (1892), in the garden of 
M. le Duc de Massa, ‘Chateau de F ranconville, par Luzarches, France, who, with 
his usual kindness, sent it to us to figure, 
The following account of this plant is from Mr. Johnston’s book on the 
Congo. He says, “In the marshy spots down by the river shore are masses of 
that splendid Orchid, Lissochilus giganteus, a terrestrial species that shoots up often 
to the height of sixteen feet from the ground, bearing such a head of red-mauve 
FF 
