334 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
Aigburth, near Liverpool. Their connection with Rio de Janeiro, and the cir- 
cumstance of their having a relative resident there, who loses no opportunity 
of collecting the vegetable treasures of that country for them, have been the 
means of their introducing to Britain some of the choicest productions now 
existing in their stoves. Some are already recorded in the pages of this and 
other botanical works, especially individuals of the family of the parasitic 
Orchidez ; and amongst the most curious of that very singular tribe will, 
undoubtedly, rank the subject of our present plate. It grows on trees in 
large patches, on Victoria Hill, above Bahia, in Brazil, and was sent by 
Henry Harrison, Esq., of Rio, to Richard Harrison, Esq., about twelve 
months ago. It produced its large and fragrant blossoms in the month of 
May, 1827. The cup at the base of the labellum of the present plant Mr. 
Harrison’s gardener observed to be rapidly filled with the honey ; and Mr. 
Shepherd informs me that some cups that were emptied in the morning 
were, when he saw the plant on the same day again, half filled with the 
nectariferous juice.” The “ nectariferous juice” was apparently not tasted, 
for it is now known not to be “honey,” and to have a very different usé. 
The volume of the Botanical Register for 1828 opened with a plate of 
Renanthera coccinea (t. 1131), which had flowered in the collection of 
FR. He Prinee Leopold, at Claremont, in October, 1827. Lindley 
wrote :—‘‘ The work of the missionary Loureiro, published in 1790, a 
drawing in the possession of the Horticultural Society of London, and the 
reports of some travellers who have visited China, have been, up to the 
present time, the only evidence to Europeans: of the existence of this 
truly magnificent plant, the beauty of whose blossoms surpasses everything 
known in the vegetable world. That the Chinese suspend in baskets 
from the ceilings of their rooms several of the tribe of plants to which this 
belongs, some for the sake of their flowers, and some on account of their 
delightful fragrance, is familiar to everyone. Many, if not all, of this 
description, have been introduced from time to time; and a few have 
flowered with us. Among those which bid defiance to the skill of the 
cultivator has long been recognized a species, introduced some time previous 
to 1817, with long, leafy stems sometimes attaining the height of eight or 
ten feet, and fleshy, veinless leaves. It is frequently imported from China, 
and is now to be found in almost every collection of which parasitical 
Orchidez form a part, attaching itself by means of its long tortuous roots 
to a damp wall, columns, or other bodies placed as its support. This is 
Renanthera coccinea.” The method of treatment followed was explained 
by the gardener, Mr. Thomas Fairburn, in a. paper entitled, ‘On the 
cultivation of Air Plants in Stoves,” which was sent to the Horticultural 
Society and published in their Transactions (vol. vii., p. 499.) :—‘‘ First, 
some old rotten roots of fern and moss were collected and put into the 
