446 ORCHIDS 



Rodriguezia. 



It is a native of Brazil, where it grows on the highest branches 

 of the Cedrela-trees, and fills the forest with its fragrance. Intro- 

 duced in 1S50. 'a^n.. Burliiii^toiiia fi-agrans. 



R. venusta {Rchh. /.). — This forms a compact mass of stems 

 and dark green foliage ; the flowers are white, lightly tinted with 

 pink, the lip being stained with yellow ; they are produced in 

 heavy, pendulous clusters. It blossoms at various periods of the 

 year, and is a native of Brazil. (L. S. O., t. 12, as Burliiig- 

 toiiia venusta.') 



SACCOLABIUM. 



Amongst the smaller-flowered Orchids of tropical regions 

 cultivated in this country, the genus Saccolabiuvt (Bluiiic) 

 assuredly occupies the first place. It belongs to tlie tribe 

 Vandae. In the majority of the species the flowers arc 

 individually small — rarely, indeed, more than lin. in 

 diameter — but any deficiency in size is amply compensated 

 for by the profusion in \\'hich they are produced : whilst 

 for delicacy of colour, fragrance, and display they are 

 unsurpassed. At the present time the species known 

 number between thirty and forty. Almost every one is 

 attractive enough to be worth cultivating, whilst many 

 are of exquisite beauty. They are dwarf, evergreen plants, 

 with fleshy, channelled (rarely teretej leaxes, arranged 

 in two opposite rows on the upright stem. In the 

 majority the flowers are numerously and closely set on 

 upright or pendulous racemes that spring from the 

 axils of the leaves. In some species, as in 6". bcllinitiii, 

 the flowers are few, but comparatively large, and are 

 arranged in a corymb, or head. The spreading sepals and 

 petals are mostly alike in size and colour, the salient 

 feature of the flower being the lip, which is attached to 

 the base of the column, and is prolonged downwards, 

 forming a spur or a pouch, a character on \\'hich the 

 generic name is founded — from saccus, a bag, and labium, 

 a lip. The species are scattered over tropical India, 

 Burma, and the Islands of the Malayan Archipelago. 



Ciiltitrc. — In their natural state Saccolabiums grow on 

 the upper branches of trees in some of the hottest and most 

 humid regions in the world ; under cultivation they there- 

 fore require stove treatment. During the growing season. 



