June, 1908.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 165 
There were also various Cattleyas and Cypripediums, a number being 
in bloom, with some good Phalenopsis amabilis Rimestadiana, Leelio- 
cattleya Schilleriana, Maxillaria Sanderiana, and many other interesting 
things which we passed through very hurriedly. 
In some way we missed the Odontiodas, which we hoped to have seen, 
but there was not time for everything, and an opportunity for this may 
present itself on some future occasion. Such a brilliant series of Odonto- 
glossums we have never seen, and M. Vuylsteke must be congratulated on 
his success in a group which for so long seemed to defy the efforts of the 
hybridist. It helps one to realise to some extent why hybrid Odonto- 
glossums are common in nature, where the species grow intermixed, and 
it may yet help us to clearer views of their origin. 
DISA LONGICORNU. 
THis rare and beautiful lilac-blue Disa has just flowered at the Royal 
Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, and has been sent to Kew for determination. 
Mr. F. W. Moore remarks that it was purchased of Messrs. Protheroe and 
Morris, in March, 1906, under the name of Disa rosea, but proves very 
different on flowering. Both the species occur on Table Mountain, and as 
D. longicornu has never been recorded from elsewhere we may assume that 
the present plant came from that locality. The species was discovered 
here, by Thunberg, as long ago as January, 1773. ‘‘ Having got to the 
top,” he remarks, ‘‘ we were recompensed for our trouble by a great number 
of rare plants, especially of the Orchidez, as they are called, which I never 
afterwards could meet with either here at other seasons, or indeed at all 
on any other mountain.’””’ Among them were the brilliant scarlet Disa 
grandiflora, and the black and white D. melaleuca. And he adds, “ with 
great difficulty, and at the hazard of my life, I got for the first and last time 
the blue Disa longicornis, which is as beautiful as it is singular in form. 
This last plant grew in one spot only, on a steep rock, and so high up that 
in order to come at it, after we had clambered up the sides of the rock as 
high as we could, I was obliged to get upon the shoulders of M. Sonnerat, 
when, with a long stick, I beat down five of these plants, the only 
specimens then in bloom.” Mr. Bolus suggests that the locality may have 
been the precipice sometimes called the ‘‘ Tremble Krantz,’’ where he has 
found it growing in profusion in some seasons. He gives the habitat as 
among moss or grass in clefts of steep rocks, on the sides turned from the 
sun, where the water drips in early summer, and the altitude as 2,100 to 
3,000 feet. The plant grows from half to nearly a foot high, and bears a 
single flower two inches or more long, and comparable with some light-blue 
Delphinium. The leteral sepals and lip are lilac-blue, and the hood- 
Shaped dorsal sepal rather paler, and very prettily lined inside with bright 
