THE ORCHID REVIEW. 269 
flowered with about fifty peduncles of a length of more than two metres, 
and each of them bearing 60, 70 to 100 blossoms. . . . The vigorous 
flowering was not repeated in 1893; nay, this striking phenomenon occurred 
that the evidently exhausted plant had no power to produce a single flower. 
In 1894 again a peduncle appeared, but onlyone. . . . 1895 was avery 
favourable year for the specimen in front of the head-gardener’s house. As 
early as December, 1894, the pseudo-parasite was adorned with numerous 
flowering stalks.” 
The exhaustion caused by the production of such a number of flowers 
may easily be imagined, when it is stated that the inflorescence exhibited 
by Sir Trevor Lawrence, at the Drill Hall, Westminster, on August 24th, 
weigh~d, after it had been cut for more than two days, 1} pounds, and then 
forty out of an aggregate of seventy flowers were in the bud state, those at 
the apex being quite small, and two or three flowers had been removed. 
One flower with its pedicel weighed exactly a quarter of an ounce, so that 
at the very lowest estimate the aggregate weight of the fully developed 
inflorescence would have been over two pounds. We have also evidence 
that in a wild state capsules are, sometimes at least, produced, so that the 
flowering of the Buitenzorg specimen must have entailed a loss to the ~ 
plant of something like a hundred-weight. 
A few more particulars of the Burford inflorescence may be given. It 
measured over 7 feet long, the upper 23 feet, bearing 28 perfect opened 
flowers and 40 buds, the latter occurring in the last 7 inches at the 
apex, from which it will be seen that when cut the spike had not 
reached its maximum length—in fact the smallest buds were not a quarter 
developed, but all were healthy, and would apparently have opened in 
due course. Near the base of the scape were two abnormal flowers, 
shaving only two sepals and two petals, a peculiarity which seems constant, 
and is known to occur in several other species of the genus. In the present 
example there was an interval of 3 feet 2 inches between the last imperfect 
flower and the first perfect one, but one of the three intervening sheaths 
had produced a long axillary filament, representing an abortive flower. 
The two imperfect flowers were 9 inches apart, and measured 5% inches 
across, the largest perfect one reaching 52+ inches. The inflorescence 
developed rapidly, and was observed to elongate as much as 6 inches 
in 24 hours. 
The scapes are developed normally from the base of the pseudobulb, 
and arch over round the plant, but the abnormal inflorescence which 
appeared with Messrs. Loddiges was terminal at the apex of the pseudobulb, 
and only a few inches long. It is represented in the plate with three 
flowers, but the artist took the liberty of making all of them perfect, instead 
of one only as recorded in the text. 
