THE ORCHID REVIEW. 169 
ORCHIDS OF THE SHAN STATES. : 
By R. Moore, E. A. Commr., Burma, late Officiating Asst. Supt., S. Shan States. 
THE Shan States lie to the east of Upper Burma proper, between Burma 
on the west, and Siam and China to the north and north-east. A glance 
at the latest map of India will show a very large tract of country marked 
as very mountainous, and it is here that the petty Shan chiefs still rule, 
under the guidance of the Superintendents of the Northern and Southern 
Shan States and their assistants, as representing the Local Government 
of Burma. 
The Southern Shan States can be approached from the province of 
Tenasserim, through the Moulmein and Taungi districts, both for many 
years the hunting grounds of Orchid collectors ; but this approach is a very 
difficult one, over steep mountain passes, and not even yet quite safe for 
Europeans travelling without armed escorts. The best way to get to Fort 
Stedman or to Taunggyi is to travel by train from Rangoon, through 
Taungi, to the Meiktila Road Station, well on the way to Mandalay, from 
whence there is a good bullock-cart road right through, a distance of about 
t10 miles, though much less as the crow flies. In December and January 
the journey is a pleasant one, and some really magnificent mountain scenery 
is met with after the terai or low malarious belt is passed. Many interesting 
details of the journey could be given did space permit; suffice it to say 
that after some stiff climbing one reaches a delightfully cool climate, the 
air blowing over the open downs, and, in the early morning, almost as 
bracing as that of a Yorkshire moor. 
There are Orchids of sorts to be met with all the way up to py ort Sted- 
man, the smaller species of Bulbophyllum and Cirrhopetalum creeping along 
the trunks and branches of trees, and on the rocks along the road. Every 
now and again, high up the trees, out of reach from the road, a plant of 
Vanda ccerulea and many of the commoner Dendrobiums will be seen; but 
it is not along the road that a collection can be made. 
Fort Stedman is built on the eastern shore of Lake Inle (pronounced 
In-lay), and it is within thirty to fifty miles of this lake, north and south, 
east and west, where most of the Orchids mentioned below are to be found 
in plenty, and where all but two or three are found. 
The climate is temperate, the height above sea-level from 4,000 to 5,000 
feet, and the thermometer ranges from 80° F ahr. in the summer months to 
a few degrees below freezing-point in the winter. The annual rain-fall is 
from 40 to 60 inches, distributed principally in the months from ae, e 
November, but showers may also be expected from January to April. . 
frosts do not penetrate below the surface, and are frequent sien ne 
middle of December and beginning of March. There are heavy dews in 
the winter months, December especially. 
