Cuar. XVIII.] HABITS OF AIR-PLANTS. 337 
having ten or twelve branching flower-stalks upon 
it, and upwards of a hundred flowers in full bloom. 
‘‘ There,” said they, in triumph, “‘is not that worth 
a dollar?” I acknowledged that they were well 
entitled to the reward, and took immediate pos- 
session of my prize. This plant is now in the gar- 
den of the Horticultural Society of London; and 
although it was a little reduced, in order to get it 
into the plant case at Manila, is still by far the 
largest specimen in Europe. This beautiful species 
may be well called the ‘‘ Queen of Orchids.” 
The air-plants are not found so frequently in the 
dense shaded parts of the forests as in the edges of 
the woods, on trees by the road-sides, and in expo- 
sed situations. I found the genus Aérides very 
often in the most dense parts of the woods, but 
never a single plant of Phalenopsis. The latter 
was commonly found growing on the branches of 
the Mango in the cleared parts of the woods, near 
the cottages of the Indians, and sometimes on the 
very tops of high trees where it was fully exposed 
to the sun.. I confess this fact was quite contrary 
to the opinion I had formed of the habits of these 
plants; for I expected to have found them princi- 
pally in damp shaded forests, where the sun’s rays 
could seldom penetrate ; but such is not the case, 
at least in the Philippine Islands. 
Having ransacked the country around Don Inego’s 
farm, I now set off, accompanied by my servants 
and some other Indians to St. Pablo and Dolo- 
res. Dolores is a small village in a wild part of 
Z 
