AERIDES VIRENS. 
[PLaTE 160. | 
Native of Java and India: Burmah. 
Epiphytal. Stem erect or spreading, stout, clothed with distichous leaves, 
throwing out .stout aérial roots from below, Leaves broadly ligulate, obliquely retuse, 
channelled at the base, leathery, and of a peculiarly bright green. Pedunele axillary, 
bearing a pendulous many-flowered cylindrical raceme. Flowers of the general form 
of those of A. odoratum, and like them deliciously fragrant; sepals oblong obtuse, 
of a bright rose colour, deeper at the tips, and indistinctly striate, the lateral ones 
broader; petals oblong-cuneate, smaller than the sepals, but similarly coloured ; 
lip inflated, and forming a thick acuminate ascending or incurved horn or spur 
n r 
nearly an inch in length, of a rich magenta-rose, especially high-coloured down the 
anterior face, and tipped with green; the lateral lobes denticulate at the upper end, 
the middle lobe lanceolate, channelled in the middle part, and denticulate towards 
the tip. 
Airipes virens, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1848, misc. 48; IJd., 1844, t. 41; 
Id., Pazxton’s Flower Garden, in note under t. 66. 
We have no hesitation in saying that the genus Aérides includes some very 
charming species. In their beautiful foliage and the graceful appearance of their 
inflorescence, the species of Aérides always present features for admiration. They 
have, indeed, every good point that a plant can possess, namely, beautiful foliage, 
graceful habit, fine drooping flower spikes, richly-coloured flowers, fragrance most 
exquisite, freeness in blooming, easy cultivation, and cheapness—what more can be 
desired ? 
In the case of Aérides virens, which we now figure, the size of our plate does 
not permit of doing full justice to the plant, and if we could but have given it 
life size, our representation would have been much more attractive. There are 
several varieties of this species, varying in size. 
Some persons imagine that East Indian Orchids require a great deal of heat, 
which is a mistaken notion, as too high a temperature often causes an entire failure. 
Of course, the day temperature in the East Indies is very intense, but this is when 
the sun is at its full power, and even then the trees shade the plants to a certain 
extent; moreover, they get a free circulation of air all the year round, and the 
nights and early mornings are cool, which we can imitate—at least, to a very great 
extent. Our cultivated plants being confined under glass, of course we cannot 
