Novy -DEc., 1919. THE ORCHID REVIEW. 177 
A COLONY OF ORCHIDS. || 
‘i page 106, we gave a summary of the Orchids found on a single tree in 
Queensland, these numbering seven out of a total of fifty plants, the 
majority of which were Cryptogams. “ New Zealand could show a very 
good instance of the kind,” remarks ‘“‘ M.F.,” of Manaia, New Zealand 
(Gard. Chron., 191¢, ii. p. 181), “ but lam too far away from the ‘ bush ’ to try 
and make a complete list at present. In the spring of last year, when 
away on a holiday, I came across an old Hinan (Elzocarpus dentatus) 
standing on the edge of a small patch of bush. The tree had been injured 
by fire five years back, and had come to the’stage of only wanting an extra 
heavy gale to bring it down. It was just a mass of Orchids. I had never 
seen such fine specimens of their kind all grouped together. Ona sheltered 
side, the trunk was coated with the tiny Bulbophyllum pygmzum, further 
round, Sarcochilus adversus held its own, and above, from the remnants of 
the branches, hung two species of Earina, E. mucronata and E. suaveolens, 
and last, but not least, an enormous clump of Dendrobium Cunninghamii in 
bloom. The Orchids of New Zealand seem to be very little known in 
England. They are not large or showy, but full of interest from a botanical 
point of view, and some are certainly worthy of notice from a horticultural 
standpoint. Dendrobium Cunninghamii and the two Earinas are extremely 
pretty, and some of the terrestrial ones are not to be despised. Some 
species of Pterostylis, Corysanthes, and Thelymitra, to name a few that are 
fairly abundant, are well worth a place in anyone’s collection. I was sorry 
when at home a short while ago to find that even Kew could not show a 
single representative from New Zealand.” 
Here we find a total of five species growing together, and knowing the 
plants we can realise that it was an interesting sight. We should certainly 
like to see some of them at Kew, though it is by no means certain that they 
would develop there with their native vigour. And glancing through Hooker’s 
Handbook of the New Zealand Flora, where 38 species belonging to 18 genera 
are enumerated, we cannot recall having seen one of them in cultivation. 
The date was 1864, and by the time that Cheeseman’s Manual was published, 
in 1906, the number had grown to 55 species, of 21 genera. Should our 
friend return to England he might attempt to bring a few established plants 
in a Wardian case. Tubers of some of the terrestrial kinds could possibly be: 
sent by post, when at rest. It may be added that two of the species, 
Dendrobium Cunninghamii and Earina mucronata, are figured in colour in 
Mrs. Hetley’s Native Flowers of New Zealand, two Orchids out of a total of 
36 selected plants. : R.A 
