285 
oblongis obtusis, labello > gbovate-pblengo obtuso GRANEN iare 
oblongo, columna. brevi 
Has.—Hainan, De d. C. Henry: 
wor f ped. alti v. ultra. Mb ue poll. pec rina lin. ty 
Sca -6 poll. longi. Bractee 2 e Pedicelli 1-1 
longi. "Sepdta 1 lin. Tonga. pud * lin. foi. Tabillum 1 i 
longum ; calear vix 1 lin. longum. 
Allied to the Himalayan Saccolabium gemmatum, Lindl., but the 
leaves are nearly flat, not subterete, and more than twice as broad. 
Flowers white, with the exception of the petals and dorsal sepal, which 
are lilac-pu rple. The plant was sent by Mr, Ford from ^ Hongkong 
Botanie Garden to Kew, where it flowered in March las 
COCCLXXXV.—BEGONIA DISEASE. 
Cultivators of tropical herbaceous plants, such as Glox 
ci 
recently become familiar with a “ disease ” which attacks these plants, 
sometimes crippling and practically destroying whole collections in a few 
weeks, It attacks chiefly the young leaves and flower-buds, causing the 
latter to wither and fall off, and the leaves to curl and become aborted. 
When the disease is bad, the youngest leaves are arrested in growth 
when very small and the whole plant soon presents a hopelessly 
crippled appearance. The mature leaves are discoloured with patches 
ofa black or pedem colour, as if suffering from a rust-fungas of some 
d. 
kin 2: 
^ The general impression with regard to tothe méuseród this: disease was. 
that it is fungoid. - Pales rd tallest it recently in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle for September a paper on *'Tuberous Begonias,” 
by Mr. W. W. Sheath T 307, 268), who stated. that * Pot-plants (of 
Begcnias) are sometimes infested with a kind of rust on the stems and 
leaves, which some growers say is a fungus, ws I have aoe aes it: pid 
prevalent when in too much heat in spring ; by 
temperature or draughts; by imperfect imum in fact, by onan 
that would cause a check in the Pd p. 305 there 
signed * W. K.,” wherein this disease is attributed to * large are a Y 
white insects, barely -— to the naked eye.” Another ee 
however, “ H. W. C.," who says (p. 337) that he is an extensi er 
of Begonias, does not diee that the small white inseets are pa bias 
of this rust-like disease, but inclines to believe that it is caused bya 
ee 
A sim ar discussion has: been going on concurrently i in the pages of 
the Garden. The Assistant Curator of the Royal Gardens has been 
to 
a very small insect or mite, so small as to radi invisible to the dakad< eye. 
It runs very quickly, and therefore often soon leaves a leaf or shoot if 
disturbed. «This no doubt accounts for xr reus of experts to find 
— insect when specimens of the disease have been submitted to 
By lightly fumigating once a week with tobaeco the plants subject to 
the attacks of this pest, we have now no difficulty in keeping our 
Begonias’ ec 
preventive, and almost a certain cure, if the plants have not been 
