54 THE BOOK OF ORCHIDS 



ClRRHOPETALUM 



Like Bulbophyllum this is a genus of remarkable 

 Eastern Orchids, about which a great deal could 

 be written. No description, however, can give an 

 adequate idea of the wonderful construction of the 

 flowers and the quaint distinctiveness of many of the 

 species. Owing to limited space my remarks must be 

 confined to a few of the most interesting varieties. 

 The genus Cirrhopetalum consists of upwards of fifty 

 known species, of which many are striking and beautiful, 

 and well worth cultivating. The greater part of them 

 are East Indian, growing among the Himalayan and other 

 mountain ranges, and some inhabit the Malay Archi- 

 pelago, the island of Mauritius, and China. From the 

 last-named country comes the curious C. Chinense, which 

 was introduced about the year 1842. The late Dr 

 Lindley appended the following note in his description 

 of this species : — " There is no longer any occasion for 

 speculative minds to occupy themselves with the in- 

 vestigation of the cause that may have led the Chinese 

 to invent strange figures of men and women with their 

 chins perpetually in motion, for here is the explanation 

 of it. We have here a plant from China, one of whose 

 lobes is exactly like a tongue and chin, which are so 

 unstable as to be in a state of continual oscillation. 

 The flowers are arranged in a circle, and all look 

 outwards, so that on whatever side the umbel is 

 regarded it still presents to the eye the same row of 

 grinning faces and wagging chins." Cirrhopetalum 

 Medusa is another curious and interesting species. The 

 scape is erect, and bears upon its apex a large, dense, 

 globose cluster of flowers, which are cream-coloured, 

 freckled with pink, two sepals of each flower being so 

 much lengthened out as to give the spike the appear- 

 ance of a head with very long dishevelled hair, hence 



