THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVER. 



JANUARY, 1 8 G G 



GOLDEN NETTED-LEAVED ORCHIDS. 



BY SHIRLEY HIBBERD. 

 ( With a Coloured Plate.) 



In the year 1836 the collection of orcliids at the Koyal 

 Gardens, Kew, was enriched with specimens of a genus which, 

 till then, was practically unknown to cultivators, and the name 

 of which is Ancectochilus setaceus. This plant came from 

 Ceylon, and was regarded by botanists and cultivators as the 

 most remarkable example of natural colouring which, up to 

 that date, had been seen in English gardens. Among collec- 

 tors of rare, curious, and beautiful plants, there soon sprang 

 up a spirited competition for possession of examples of this 

 costly gem. Botanical travellers and the spirited trading- 

 firms by whom the majority of plants collected are sent out, 

 were stimulated to use every exertion likely to tend to the 

 importation of such plants, and the result has been a constant 

 accession to our lists of cultivated plants, of species and 

 varieties of the same genus, so that now a good collection of 

 Ana3ctochili constitutes a most important feature in a plant- 

 stove. The reason of the interest taken in these plants is the 

 beauty of their leaves. They are not uninteresting as flower- 

 ing plants, and were the leaves less attractive than they are, a 

 few would probably be cultivated for the sake of their pretty 

 and comparatively simple flowers. As the case stands, how- 

 ever, very few cultivators care whether they flower or not ; many 

 have never seen them flower; and some forbid them to flower 

 by nipping out the spike as soon as it appears ; and on the 

 other hand, the intense admiration which prevails for their 

 wonderful leaves causes such an activity in propagating the 

 plants that some of the species have scarcely yet had an 

 opportunity for the development of their flowers. If any 

 vol. vni. — NO. VI. D D 



