i 4 o THE ORCHID REi VIEW. 



many parts of the tropics, although the rainfall is heavy, there is generally 

 an intermission of several weeks, and it is obvious that the epiphytes would 

 wither and die if some provision were not made against such a Contingency. 

 The Bromeliads have reduced the evaporation from their leaves to a 

 minimum, and made them hard and tough. Epiphytal ferns store up 

 moisture in thick, leathery, and scaly rhizomes. And among Orchids we 

 find the modified stem known as the pseudobulb, a unique contrivance for 

 retaining leaves through the longest drought. In some cases when the 

 leaves are thin, they fall away altogether, and the plant is reduced to a 

 bundle of green pseudobulbs, attached to its support by a few almost dry 

 aerial roots, and thus it remains dormant until the return of the rainy 

 season. The deciduous Dendrobiums form very good examples of this 

 type. Sometimes the pseudobulbs are large and very fleshy, and the leaves 

 are not deciduous, as in the case of Oncidiums, Odontoglossums, &c, while 

 some seem to rely almost entirely upon their thick leathery leaves as a means 

 of storage, as in the case of Oncidiums of the Lanceanum and 

 Jonesianum groups. Some there are which have both thickened pseudo- 

 bulbs and thick leathery leaves, as certain Cattleyas, &c. Conversely we 

 find others which have no pseudobulbs, though the leaves are more or less 

 fleshy, as in Masdevallia, and others in which both features are practically 

 absent, as in the Pescatoreas, Bolleas, and Warscewiczellas, a pretty sure 

 indication that these plants have no long periods of drought to provide 

 against. In short, they remain active almost throughout the year, and 

 should be treated accordingly. 



We cannot go into details of all the peculiar modifications of structure 

 and habit found among epiphytes, but it may be interesting to glance for a 

 moment at some particular example, and we may select the genus 

 Coryanthes. There are several species, and they are for the most part 

 found attached to bush-ropes, as the stems of woody climbers are often 

 called. We may imagine that a seed lodges in a chink of the bark, and 

 there germinates, producing an oval mass of fibrous roots, in which a 

 colony of ants establish themselves, and in return for free lodgings they 

 serve as a bodyguard to protect the plant from the attacks of cockroaches 

 and other pests. Sometimes this mass of Orchid roots is occupied by a host 

 of rivals, and Mr. Rodway figures one example containing two distinct 

 species of Coryanthes, a Bromeliad, several Anthuriums, and a young shrub, 

 all of which are growing on a ball hardly a foot in diameter. And it may 

 be mentioned that in the Nepenthes house at Kew a clump of Coryanthes 

 contains an example of the Cactaceous genus Rhipsalis, which was imported 

 with it. These plants grow together in perfect harmony, though apart from 

 such evidence it is doubtful whether anyone would think of growing them 

 under identical conditions. Some other Orchids have this peculiarity of 



