282 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Sept. 14, I J 



magenta colour, bordered with rosy lilac ; beneath is a 

 pale yellow blotch, streaked and veined with rosy purple. 



The genus Laelia, rivalling Cattkya in beauty, can be 

 clearly distinguished from it only by the number of the 

 pollinia, which in Cattleya form a single series of four, 

 but in Laelia they form two series of four, eight in all. 



From the " cool " orchids of the western hemisphere 

 we pass to their kindred and rivals, the " hot " 

 species of the eastern continent, and especially of India, 

 in the widest sense of the term. Among these three 

 genera are prominent, Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, and 

 Cirrhopetalum. 



Of these the Dendrobia form a kind of parallel to the 

 Epidendra of the west. Each genus comprises hundreds 

 of species or varieties — if these two terms have any 

 clearly distinct meaning. Each displays gorgeous 

 colouration, delicacy, and refined beauty. Some 

 have rod-like stems more than ten feet in height 

 covered with hundreds of flowers. Thus in Dendrobium 

 fimlriatum as many as 1,216 flowers have been counted 

 on a single plant. 



The Dendrobia extend over a very large portion of 

 the earth's surface, from the Western Himalaya to 

 Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and even the islands 

 of the Pacific. Their head-quarters, however, seem to 

 be the Eastern Himalaya and the country stretching from 

 the valley of the Brahmaputra along the eastern side of 

 the Bay of Bengal. In the district of Moulmein alone 

 43 species sufficiently showy to come under the notice of 

 collectors and horticulturists are recorded. The 

 Philippine Islands produce several fine species, as also 

 does Java. Borneo and New Guinea, considering their 

 extent and their climate, have not sent us hitherto many 

 Dendrobia, or indeed orchids of any type. It is probable 

 that further observation will tell a different tale. 



The eastern side of Australia, from Cape York south- 

 wards to Cape Howe, yields not a few Dendrobia. As 

 a rule, they require a higher temperature than the South 

 American species. Thus in the lower Himalayan zone 

 the temperature ranges from 80 degs. — go degs. F. in 

 the summer to perhaps as low as 65 degs. F. in December 

 and January. The atmospheric moisture is abundant ; 

 in the Khasia Hills a rainfall of 600 ins. has been 

 registered in one year, and 250 ins. in the month of 

 August alone. It is noticed, however, that in these very 

 moist, hot districts the Dendrobia grow on trees at the 

 height of from 10 to 50 ft., so that they are above the 

 low dense jungle growth, and have the full benefit of the 

 air. A species found in the Andaman Islands flourishes 

 in situations where it is exposed to the spray of the sea. 

 In the hot plains of Moulmein the native Dendrobia are 

 almost baked during the dry season, when they rest, 

 just as the plants of cold climates do in the winter. 



Mr. Veitch, to whose courtesy we are indebted for the 

 illustration which we lay before our readers, points out, in 

 his excellent "Manual of Orchidaceous Plants" (Scientific 

 News, vol. ii., p. 14), that we can supply orchids, or 

 indeed any tropical plant, with the exact temperature and 

 quantity of moisture which it receives in its native 

 country. But we cannot give it the same amount of 

 light, and that light will fall upon the plants at different 

 angles owing to the lower altitude of the sun. It is 

 certainly possible that this difference may account for the 

 difficulty of cultivating some species under glass. Will 

 the electric light ever make up the deficiency? 



Tne botanical characteristics of the genus Dendrobium 

 are -.—sepals nearly of equal lcnj h, the dorsal one free, 



the two lateral attached to the foot of the column and 

 forming with it, in some species, a short gibbous skin, in 

 others a longer or* shorter spur ; petals generally of the 

 same length as the sepals, sometimes longer, often 

 broader, rarely narrower; lip more or less contracted at 

 base into a claw, lying on or attached to the foot of the 

 column ; column produced below point of attachment 

 to the ovary into a kind of foot, the portion above ovary 

 being very short ; pollinia, four in number, of a waxy 

 texture, oval or oblong, compressed and lying parallel 

 within the anther case ; capsule ovoid, or oval oblong, 

 rarely elongate. 



The colouration of the flowers varies greatly : Dendro- 

 bium arachites is of a uniform vermilion-red, the lip 

 veined with purple. D. Bensoniee is milk-white with an 

 orange disc on the lip, at the base of which are two 

 maroon spots. D. Boxalli is white, bordered, and tipped 

 with pale mauve purple ; lip yellow, bordered with 

 white, and with a purple blotch on the anterior margin. 



The genera Bulbophyllum and Cirrhopetalum follow 

 closely upon Dendrobium, which they much resemble. 

 Bulbophyllum, however, has a still wider range than 

 Dendrobium. Its head-quarters are in India and the 

 Malay Islands, but it spreads not merely inio Australia 

 and New Zealand, but into Africa — especially Sierra 

 Leone — and Central and South America. Seven Bra- 

 zilian species are known, a very curious fact. Many of 

 the Bulbophyllums have long, rambling rhizomes, and 

 attain gigantic dimensions. Bulbophyllum Beccari, one of 

 the most curious, a native of Borneo, entwines the trees 

 like a serpent. Its flowers, spotted yellow and red, are 

 very small, but they form remarkably large, dense clus- 

 ters. They emit, however, so abominable a scent that 

 the plant is practically excluded from cultivation. What 

 being is this stench to repe 1 , or to attract ? The func- 

 tions of sweetly-smelling flowers have been studied not 

 unsuccessfully, but those of the " stink-worts," if we may 

 so call them, still remain an unsolved problem. 



Another interesting question here suggests itself: 

 Why is Africa so poor in orchids, and why are both its 

 fauna and its flora comparatively so monotonous ? 



A Swallow's Nest in an Elm. — In a letter to the Times, 

 Mr. J. A. Smith, of Akenham, states that — "A pair of 

 swallows have chosen a novel nesting-nlace in this parish, 

 having attached their nest to a small elm bough over- 

 hanging my fish pond. Yarrell records a similar instance, 

 except that the nest was built upon the forked branch of 

 a sycamore. In the case I now record the nest beauti- 

 fully harmonises in appearance with the bark of the 

 bough, and the mud used in its construction is well mixed 

 with grass so as to withstand the storms of wind and 

 rain. The nest is well lined with feathers, and to-day 

 the young birds are looking around as if anxious to leave 

 the structure which they have outgrown. What should 

 induce the swallows to leave my dining-room chimney 

 for this novel situation ? Possibly they disliked the 

 smoke from a fire rendered necessary this year on a chilly 

 evening in July, or they may have reasoned that the 

 bough was in a convenient situation, the surface of the 

 pond yielding the best supply of insect food in a cold, 

 showery season." 



The Fossil Tortoise of Perpignan. — In a paper read 

 before the Paris Academy of Sciences, M. P. Fischer 

 shows that this tortoise is a gigantic form of an existing 

 African group Testudo pardalis. Its alleged affinities 



