OKCHIDS. 



303 



lobed, greeii,with chocolate stripes. Summer months. 

 Java. The correct name is Grammangia HiUtoni. 



C. Zowianum. — A majestic plant, producing long 

 pendent spikes, which hear from twenty to thirty 

 large flowers ; sepals and petals apple-green, streaked 

 with light brown; lip creamy -yellow, lateral lobes 

 yellow, frond lobe blotched and bordered with rich 

 maroon. Spring and early summer. Burmah. 



C. Master sii. — The leaves are longer and broader 

 in this plant than those of C. eburneum, which it 

 much resembles. The flowers are borne on arching 

 racemes, as many as ten to twelve together ; the 

 whole flower is ivory-white saving the lip, where it 

 is stained with pink; the flowers have a delicate 

 almond-like per- 

 fume, and last 

 in full beauty a 

 long time ; they 

 are admirably 

 adapted for de- 

 corating a lady's 

 hair. Winter 

 months. Upper 

 Assam. 



C. pendulum, 

 var. purpureum. 

 — The leaves of 

 this plant are 

 very thick and 

 coriaceous, 

 nerveless, and 

 deep' green ; 

 spike one to 

 three feet long, 

 pendulous, 

 many-flowered ; sepals and petals about equal, 

 yellowish-green on the outside, deep reddish-purple 

 on the inner surface ; lip white, spotted and blotched 

 with crimson ; disc stained with yellow. This is a 

 very superior plant to the type. It blooms in 

 spring and early summer. Northern India. 



C. tigrinum. — A rare and elegant species, which 

 has hitherto been found rather diflScult to manage, 

 we imagine through having been kept too hot, as 

 it inhabits the Tenasserim Mountains, at an eleva- 

 tion of 6,000 feet. The pseudo-bulbs are small and 

 ovate ; leaves about six inches long ; scape erect, 

 bearing several large flowers ; sepals and petals 

 green, dotted with red towards the base ; lip three - 

 lobed, large ; side lobes erect, reddish-purple inter- 

 nally ; middle lobe broad and flat, white, marked 

 with numerous transverse bars of reddish-purple. 

 Summer months. Moulmein. 



Cypripedium. — This genus contains one species 

 indigenous to these islands ; its extreme beauty has. 



however, nearly led to its extinction. Lilce all other 

 native plants, this found its English name amongst 

 the people," and we now apply it to all the beautiful 

 tropical species which have been introduced to culti- 

 vation ; indeed, as Orchidaceous plants become more 

 popular there appears to be an increasing desire to 

 apply English names to them, and their singular 

 flowers have generally suggested a resemblance to 

 some insect or animal : thus we have the Butterfly 

 (Oncidium papilio), the White Moth [Fhalanopsis 

 amabilis), the Dove [Peristeria data), the Cockatoo 

 [Angrcecum Ellisii) ; whilst amongst our native 

 species we are reminded of their peculiar shapes by 

 such names as the Lizard [Orchis hircina), the Bee 



{Ophrys api- 

 f era), the Spider 

 {Ophrys arach- 

 nites), the Man 

 (Aceras anthro- 

 pophora), the 

 Fly {Ophrys 

 muscifera), and 

 the Slipper 

 {Cy2)ri peditim 

 Calceolus) ; the 

 large inflated 

 pouch-like form 

 of the labellum 

 evidently sug- 

 gested the 

 name Calceolus 

 Marianiis, first 

 applied to this 

 plant by the 

 learned, and 

 hence came the popular name Slipper of our Lady, 

 or Lady's Slipper, whilst the generic name comes 

 from Kypris, "Venus," and podion, "a shoe" — the 

 Shoe or Slipper of Venus. 



Cypripediums are very distinct, both in shape and 

 structure, from all Other genera ; and the genus con- 

 tains a great many extremely handsome species and 

 varieties, the numbers of which are continually being 

 increased by fresh importations and the skill of the 

 hybridisers, upwards of three hundred varieties being 

 known as in cultivation. Many of these plants are 

 natives of quite cool places, Siberia and Canada 

 being rich in species ; and one very peculiar form is 

 found in Japan, but by far the greater number are 

 found in India and the Indian Islands, and through- 

 out South America ; the kinds indigenous to the cold 

 regions, however, are all caulescent and deciduous. 

 The species of Cypripediums here enumerated are 

 terrestrial and acaulescent, and are quite destitute of 

 pseudo-bulbs ; their leaves are arranged in a dis- 

 tichous manner, and are mostly thick and leathery in 



Ctmbidium giganteum. 



