AXr> THEIR MAXAGEMENT. 465 



Sigmatostalix. 



Flowers mediocre, or rather small, shortly pedicellate, 



scattered, racemose ; claw of the lip long, two-keeled ; 

 peduncles axillary under the one-leaved pseudo-bulbs. 



Natives of tropical America. The species (6". radicans) 



{RcJib. f. ) is rarel\- seen in cultivation outside botanic 

 collections. 



SOBRALIA. 



Owing to the short duration of the individual flowers, 

 which usualh" fade after being open one day, this genus, 

 of the tribe Xeottit\r, has not hitherto been held in much 

 favour. The name gi\'en b\' Ruiz and Fax'on is in honour 

 of Don F. AF Sobral, a Spanish botanist. Of the twenty- 

 fi\'e to thirty species known to botanists, there are but a 

 few that have enjo\'ed extensive cultivation. 



The habit of Sobralias is \-ery characteristic ; they 

 ha\"e no pseudo-bulbs, and the stems are slender and 

 reecl-like, bearing plaited and slightly coriaceous leaves. 

 5. dicliotoiiia — a Peru\-ian species not known in cultiva- 

 tion — is said to have stems 12ft. to 20ft. high, forming 

 dense, impenetrable thickets. \n the sjjecies described 

 the\- rarel\- exceed 6ft. in height. The flowers are 

 produced singly from the top of the stem, which con- 

 tinues during the flo\\-ering season to produce a close 

 succession of blooms, thus making amends for their tran- 

 sient character. Each flower is large and spreading, \-ary- 

 ing in colour from the richest purple to yellow and the 

 purest white ; the sepals and petals are alike in colour, and 

 nearly so in size and sha[je ; the sides of the lip fold o\ er 

 the column, whilst the front portion is spreading, and un- 

 dulated or fringed. All the species are natives of tropical 

 America. 



Culture. — The subjoined species, when in good health, 

 are most successfully grown in the intermediate-house ; 

 but newly-imported plants should be placed in a stove for 

 the first year or so until they have become established. 

 Growing freel)', and being somewhat gross feeders, they 

 should be given pots large enough to allow the roots free 

 pla}'. The compost should consist of fibrous peat, mixed 

 with good fibrous loam, a little leaf-soil, and sufficient 

 rough sand to keep the compost in a porous condition. 



2 M 



