180 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GARDENING. 



jointed with the column and destitute of a spur; 

 they also resemble somewhat some of the Cymhi- 

 diums in habit, but differ from them in having round 

 and compressed corm-like pseudo-bulbs. 



The majority of the species forming this family 

 are natives of tropical America, where they grow in 

 moist ravines and swampy places, but some few are 

 also found in the Eastern Hemisphere, among which 

 may be noticed B. hyacinthina, from China, and B. 

 hyacinthina albo-striata, from Japan. 



Bletias do not require elevating above the rim of 

 the pot, but should be potted similarly to an ordi- 

 nary stove plant, the pseudo-bulbs being covered 

 with about an inch of mould. The soil best adapted 

 for the growth of these plants is a mixtui-e of leaf- 

 mould, loam, and peat in equal parts, with a little 

 sand added ; drain the pots well, and dui'ing the 

 growing season water abundantly, but when the 

 leaves have fallen withhold the supply entirely, and 

 remove to a cooler temperature than that in which 

 they were grown. Brazilian House. 



B. gracilis. — Leaves oblong - lanceolate, plaited. 

 Scape branched, many-flowered ; sepals and petals 

 reddish-lilac, lip purple. Autumn months. Mexico. 



B. patula. — Leaves lanceolate, plicate, and dark 

 green ; scape many-flowered ; flowers spreading, and 

 of a uniform dark purple. Early spring months. 

 Jamaica. 



B. Shepherdii. — This is by some authors placed as 

 a variety of B. verecunda. It is, however, a dis- 

 tinct and handsome plant. Leaves broadly-lanceo- 

 late, plaited ; scape erect ; sepals and petals rich 

 rosy-purple ; lip same colour, with a streak of yellow 

 down the centre. Winter months. Jamaica. 



B. Sherrattiana. — This is undoubtedly the finest 

 species in cultivation. Leaves lanceolate - acumi- 

 nate, plicate ; scape erect, bearing nine to twelve 

 flowers, which are large and spreading, and of a 

 uniform rich deep rosy-purple, the lip being orna- 

 mented with three parallel golden-yellow lines. 

 Spring months. New Grenada. 



Bolbophyllum. — An extensive genus of epi- 

 phytes, deriving their name from bolbos, "a bulb," 

 and phyllon, " a leaf." They are confined to the 

 tropics of Asia and Africa, and are nearly allied to 

 Dendrobium ; indeed there is little structurally to 

 distinguish them saving the two lateral bristle-like 

 teeth which terminate the column. 



Sarcopodium is a genus containing a few species 

 which are usually referred to Bolbophyllum, and as 

 the differences are so slight we have retained them 

 here. 



Although this genus contains upwards of a hun- 

 dred species, very few are worthy of cultivation for 

 their beauty. There are, however, many that are 



very ciirious in their formation, which will afford 

 deep interest to those who delight in the wonderful 

 as well as the beautiful in natui-e. These plants 

 should be placed upon a block of wood, with a little 

 sphagnum moss round them ; water well during the 

 growing season, but give them a good period of rest. 

 East Indian House. 



B. barbigerwn. — This exceedinglj'- curious plant is 

 dwarf and spreading. The small pseudo-bulbs 

 l^roduce a single thick and leathery oblong leaf. 

 The appearance of the flower cannot be better 

 described than in the words of the late Dr. Lindley 

 himself. He says : " The three sepals are narrow, 

 and taper to a point ; pale green externally, duU 

 chocolate-brown in the inside ; the petals are minute, 

 slender pointed scales, shorter than the column, and 

 not discoverable without distui'bing the sepals. 

 The column is dwarf, and terminated in part by two 

 long curved horns. The anther is a little round lid, 

 beautifully studded with crystalline points. The lip 

 is one of the most extraordinary organs known even 

 among Orchidaceous plants. It is a long, narrow, 

 flexuose, sharp-pointed body, closely covered with a 

 yeUow felt; just within its point there is a deep 

 purple beard of exceedingly fine compact hairs ; on 

 the under side, at a little distance from the point of 

 the lip, is another such beard ; and besides these 

 there is, at the end of the lip, a brush, consisting of 

 very long purple threads so exceedingly dehcate that 

 the slightest distui'bance of the air sets them in 

 motion, when they wave gently to and fro like a 

 tuft of threads cut from a spider's web ; of the last- 

 mentioned hairs, some are of the same thickness 

 throughout, others terminate in an oblong club, so 

 that when the hairs are waving in the air (and Id) 

 not know that they are ever entirely at rest) a part 

 floats along gracefully and slowly, while the others 

 are impelled by the weight of the glandular ex- 

 tremities to a more rapid oscillation. Nor is this 

 all ; the lip itself, with its yellow felt, its two beards, 

 and its long purple brushes, is articulated with the 

 column by such a very slight joint that to breathe 

 upon it is sufficient to produce a rocking movement 

 so conspicuous and protracted, that one is really 

 tempted to believe that there must be something of 

 an animal nature infused into this most unplant- 

 like production." Summer months. Sierra Leone. 



B. Dayanum. — A close-growing plant, producing 

 somewhat globose pseudo-bulbs, which are greenish- 

 piu-ple, and support a single, short, thick coriaceous 

 leaf, which is oblong-obtuse, deep green on the upper 

 side, purplish below ; raceme short, three and four- 

 flowered ; sepals obtusely-ovate, large and spreading, 

 fringed at the edges with long yellow hairs, tawny- 

 yellow, ornamented with numerous rows of reddish- 

 purple spots; petals narrow, linear -oblong, fringed 



