THE ORCHID REVIEW. 341 
Spot, which affects plants of this class so often in our hot-houses, is 
entirely absent in the jungle. This is explained by the rapid root action 
during the heavy rains, which enables the plant to absorb the moisture, and 
by the absence of any softness in the leaves during the dry season, when 
the cold at night might affect them. The only moisture the plant receives 
during the dry season is from the night dews. The roots being free and 
unconfined to pots is an advantage, our plants under cultivation frequently 
getting a chill at the roots through the cold damp material surrounding | 
them. These may seem to be small details to record, but to a certain 
extent the conditions under which a plant grows best in its native habitat 
is a help towards its proper management in our houses in England. I 
think this plant would even be more popular than it is if it could always 
be kept in good condition. The thing to look to is the root, as when root 
growth is active no amount of moisture is too great. When the cold 
weather comes root action ceases, it is then necessary to ripen the leaves, 
to get them into that leathery condition which will enable them to resist 
all sudden changes of temperature. 
The variety Blumei is easily distinguished from its allied forms by its 
flowers being spotted more or less with patches of amethyst-purple. It is 
frequently supposed that Blumei is the only variety of Rhynchostylis 
retusa found in Burmah, but this is not the case. If you travel 
across the country about 80 miles from Tounghoo in an_ eastward 
direction to the north bank of the river Irrawaddy you find yourself in a 
district with entirely different surroundings and distinct vegetation. The 
rice fields have disappeared, you travel through a country of undulating 
hills covered with deciduous forest. The undergrowth of these forests 
consists principally of lovely varieties of flowering Hibiscus, which I have 
never come across in any other, part of Burmah. The heat is intense 
during the day, but the nights are very cold, hence, no doubt, the fall of 
the leaves. Here the variety Blumei is replaced by guttata, the Indian 
form, in which the markings on the sepals and petals do not run into 
round spots, but more or less form lines running crossways, with some- 
times some tiny specks of colour at the base. 
The variety Blumei would therefore appear to extend from Java up the 
Peninsula to the Irrawaddy, and cease when you get to the north-east of 
the river about the Thayetungo district. The variety guttata then 
appears to take the place of Blumei from this point to the extreme west 
point of India and Ceylon. 
At the foot of the Materan Hills, near Bombay, I found the short- 
leaved form premorsa growing on the mango trees; a nice thing, but I 
cannot say that there is much difference between the flower of this and that 
of guttata. The difference is in the foliage, which is very short and abrupt. 
The most distinct form that I came across was the variety Berkeleyi, 
