THE ORCHID REVIEIt. 34i 
GONGORAS IN TRINIDAD. 
“ GRISEBACH’S Flora of the British West Indies records Gongora atropurpurea, 
Hook., as indigenous to Trinidad. Hooker's Exotic Flora relates that a 
plant was sent in 1825 to the Liverpool Botanic Garden from Trinidad by 
Baron de Schach. The Kew List (1895) gives it as a native of British 
Guiana. Dr. H. H. Rusby’s late expedition to the delta of the Orinoco 
found it fairly plentiful there, so that it will probably be found in the 
greater part of the tropical regions of South America on the Atlantic slope. 
It is a plant that flowers freely every year at the Gardens, growing upon 
blocks of wood or bark without covering of any kind at the root. Gongoras, 
like several other Orchids, have, when in good health, two classes of roots. 
First, the main, or clinging roots; and, secondly, the upright or vertical. 
These upright or vertical roots are found in Gongora, Coryanthes, 
Catasetum, and Epidendrum, and always commence growth during the 
moist season, having the green and growing point exactly vertical. On this 
point is to be seen in damp weather radiant globules of moisture. In dry 
weather the green and growing point entirely disappears, by gradually 
tapering away into a needle-shaped point, when it becomes covered with 
the white covering common to the clinging roots, and becomes practically 
non-absorbent. 
“‘ These roots are similar to those exhibited by mangrove and other swamp 
plants. If the surroundings to lagoon plants are examined closely it will be 
found that, proceeding from the roots which are below the surface of the mud, 
there are countless thousands of tips that are exactly perpendicular. That 
these roots perform some function, important both to Orchids and to 
mangroves, &c., is clearly apparent, as where they are most abundant the 
plant and the tree is most vigorous and in the most robust health. But 
what that function is exactly is not yet clear to us, but the feature is such a 
notable one that it is deserving of further close inquiry. 
“Beside Gongora atropurpurea we have Gongora maculata, Lindley, 
which is given by some as a synonym of Gongora quinquenervis, Ruiz and 
Pavon. This is a much prettier Orchid from a florist’s point of view than 
the first mentioned, and flowers more freely. 
“ Besides these, we have another Gongora, which gives a straw-white 
flower and is distinguished by lighter-coloured pseudobulbs, but for the 
present we place this with the last-named as a variety. Whether the two 
latter are deserving of specific distinction is a matter for specialists to 
settle, but the variation shown in the form of bulbs and the colour of the 
flower leads to the belief that the three are merely forms of the one species 
indicated by the flower being almost identical in form, no matter what 
colour is assumed or what shape is put on by the pseudobulb. 
