Golden Netted-leaved Orchids. 403 



such, legends there ought to be, and the writer of this lives in 

 hope of some day discovering that these plants are as deeply 

 rooted in the fertile soil of Oriental poetry as in the hearts of 

 those amateurs who regard them as the most precious of all 

 their phytological treasures. 



There is a consideration always present to the mind of the 

 present writer, and it is this : that the most wonderful of 

 plants are weeds somewhere. Orchids that sell for fifty or a 

 hundred guineas each in. this country exist somewhere in 

 countless thousands, and grow and bloom with rampant strength 

 amongst the rubbish of tropical swamps and forests, making 

 paradises of colour and fragrance for themselves alone, and for 

 the few wild creatures that keep them company. So with the 

 species of Anasctochilus, which travellers tell us are hedgerow 

 weeds in Ceylon, wildings of the waste in Borneo and Java, 

 rarities of almost priceless value with us, yet scattered as 

 profusely amongst the damp shady woods, and amongst caverns 

 and swamps in the hotter parts of the East as chickweed, and 

 crane's-bills, and primulas are in all the waste places of our own 

 land. A. setaceus is reported to be known as the " king of the 

 woods" by the Cingalese, who of necessity appreciate its 

 beauty, and only value it less than we because it is common of 

 the commonplace, and where it grows they tread on rubies, 

 pearls, topazes, and velvet, and gold and silver lace. 



Cultivators of these plants have a constant source of inte- 

 rest and curiosity in the difficulties that have hitherto attended 

 the keeping and increasing their specimens. The gorgeous 

 colouring of these plants suggests a difficulty in cultivating 

 them, and accordingly many failures have occurred where there 

 has been no lack of enthusiasm or of appreciation of their 

 beauty. It has been the fate of nearly all the species of orchids 

 introduced to this country to be overdone with heat and 

 moisture, and killed with too much care. The Anasctochili 

 have shared in these calamities. They have been stewed, 

 starved, roasted, and stifled, and they have disappeared from 

 the scene they were intended to enliven often enough to justify 

 a few remarks here upon the true principles and routine of 

 cultivation. I have seen a great many good and bad collections, 

 and have noticed the effects of various kinds of treatment, and 

 the result is that I believe very few private growers have as 

 yet become fully aware of the capabilities of the plants for the 

 decoration of orchid houses, or of their marvellous individual 

 beauties. The common failing is too much heat, and too close 

 and steaming an atmosphere, conditions which debilitate the 

 plant, diminish the brilliancy of its colouring, render it tall 

 and. spindling when, it ought to be short and sturdy and 

 robust, and sometimes cause its death at the very mo- 



