THE ORCHID REVIEW. 39 
CYMBIDIUM NIPPONICUM. 
This is a very interesting leafless Japanese Cymbidium whose idesitity 
has not previously been made out, as it is the Bletia nipponica of Franchet 
and Savatier (Enum. Pl. Fap., ii. p. 511). The inspection of an authentic 
specimen, however, shows it to be a Cymbidium, and an intimate ally of 
the Himalayan C. macrorhizon, Lindl. (Gen. and Sp. Orch. Pl., p. 162), 
which both Mr. C. B. Clarke and Gustav Mann record as being a true 
parasite, though they do not say upon the roots of what particular plant 
it grows. hus it would appear that there i is little chance of seeing either 
of these two species in cultivation. Its authors make no mention of its 
parasitic habits, though they state that it occurs in open mountain woods 
in the island of Nippon, and compare it with the North American Bletia 
aphylla, Nutt., a plant now removed from Bletia, and known as Hexalectris 
aphylla, Raf. They also describe the flowers as yellow. Its Japanese 
name is Mayaran. The branched scaly rhizomes and leafless habit of these 
two species gives them a very different aspect from that of an ordinary 
Cymbidium, yet the flowers have precisely the structure of that genus, and 
thus they constitute a very peculiar little group. 
: R. A. ROLFE. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
| 
In the Guiana Forest: Studies of Nature in relation to the Struggle for Life. 
By James Rodway, F.L.S. 8vo, pp. 242, with 16 illustrations. 
With an Introduction by Grant Allen. London, Ay Fisher Unwin, 
‘Paternoster pqtares, 
oper readers pave already made the ee of Mr. Sede Gidea, 
el interesting account of the fertilisation of Coryanthes was reproduced 
in our last volume, and some of them will probably like to extend the 
acquaintance through the pages of the above-named work. Its title is 
descriptive, and the author has not only the gift of observation, but also a 
picturesqueness of style which, as Mr. Grant Allen observes in his Intro- 
duction, fairly entitle him to be called a Jeffrey of the tropics. The work 
recalls Belt’s Naturalist in Nicaragua in style, but is entirely devoted to the 
for st and its inhabitants, animate and inanimate, with the fierce struggle 
for existence that is continually going on. The sixteen illustrations which 
embellish the work are reproductions from photographs, and convey to the 
reader a graphic idea of some of the more characteristic scenes, | one of 
which by the kindness of the publisher is here reproduced. 
The above will suffice to show the general character of the work, and 
