326 . PRE ORCHID -REVIEW. [NovEMBER, 1914. 
during the rains, the traveller will meet the Burmese, bamboo on shoulder, 
bearing two baskets full of the flowers of this favourite Orchid to the 
Moulmein market, always coming from the directicn of Amherst, which is 
the richest locality for this plant. The flowers are cut off and brought in 
with a portion of the stem, and so rapid is the growth during the rains that 
from the base of the cut stem two new shoots will arise which will produce 
flowers some months later during the same year. 
“Dendrobiums of the Nigro-hirsute group, called by the botanists 
section Formose, are not always a success in England, which is not to be 
wondered at, as most of the varieties grow under very varying conditions. 
By giving the character of the districts in which the several forms grow, 
and the special conditions of temperature and rainfall, it is possible that 
some useful hints may be gathered, and may help growers to make the 
cultural conditions of the various forms of this section in this country agree 
more nearly with those of the various localities in which they grow. 
‘To begin with this Moulmein form of D. formosum, the commonest of 
all the forms imported. I have frequently gone out onan elephant to the 
low-lying hills on the Amherst Road, and gathered the plants that were 
within reach with very little trouble. These plants I invariably found 
growing under the same conditions, generally on the branches of the trees 
where they got abundance of light, heat, and moisture, frequently on the 
extreme tops of the trees, in full flower and fully exposed to the sun. 
It’s rays had apparently no burning effect on them during the rains, and 
the flowers were as delicate and as firm as if no heavy rain had had a chance 
of dashing them to pieces. This firmness of the foliage and flowers I 
attribute to the very airy position in which they grow, so that the great 
moisture caused by the heavy rain dries up quickly. 
*‘ It is true that during the dry months, January, February, and March, 
the plants get much dried by exposure to the hot sun, and often lose their 
leaves, ‘especially on the old stems, but the new growths continue to 
develop, nourished by the night dews, which in the neighbourhood of the 
sea are very heavy. 
“The season of rest this Orchid enjoys is very short, at most two 
months, January and February, and hence the difficulty we find in dealing 
with it in our glass houses in England. It must also be remembered that 
this plant grows throughout the year, not only in a very hot atmosphere, 
but in a bright clear air, invariably charged with moisture. 
“Dendrobium formosum is widely distributed from the Khasia H . 
down to Tavoy, but it is principally at Amherst, and along the coast 
between that place and Tavoy, that the variety giganteum is found. 
‘Although the flowers of the Moulmein variety, the one that now 
invariably comes home, are larger than those of any other variety; they 
