-which 3 stretch north into Florida, and one into southern United States, 11 per cent, are found only in 

 that region of the West Indies, comprising Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, 4 of which are also found in the Bahamas 

 and 2 in Florida. The two Orchids appear to be endemic, at any rate they are not known from any other 

 locality. One of them Schomburgkia Thomsoniana was described for the first time last year, but its habitat 

 was not known. It is a most beautiful plant in its native woods, the flowering stalk being 3 or 4 feet long, 

 branching, and covered with a great number of gold and purple flowers. The first I found were grow- 

 ino-in asuialhvood on the south coast of Grand Cayman on trees. Some miles further on, I discovered them 

 growing on bushes on the sea shore far from any tree and almost on the ground. This same species was 

 also abundant on Little Cayman and Cayman Brae. The other Orchid appears to have been hitherto 

 quite unknown. It is nearly allied to the Jamaican Dcndrophylax ( Acranthes) funalis ; it resembles it 

 in its white flowers, with long thin shoots, and want of leaves. It is fragrant, much larger than the 

 Jamaica species and has a very long spur. 



The following paragraph appeared, after this Report had been written, in the Gabdeneu's Chronicle, 

 November 10, 1»S3 : — 



Dendrophtjlax Fawcetti -Rolfe. n. sp. — This remarkable and not less beautiful Orchid is now flowering 

 in the Kew collection, and for the first time. Imagine a tuft of roots, long, flexuose cylindrical, and greenish 

 in colour, spreading in all directions from a very short tuft-like caudex, no loaves whatever, flowers 2 inches 

 in diameter, the large bilobed lip pure white, the lanceolate acute segments of a most delicate greenish-white, 

 and a slender pendulous spur 7 inches long, and you have the new plant ; almost a counterpart of D. funalis, 

 Beuth— (the old Angrajcum funale, Lindl., Bot Mag., t 4295), except some slight differences, and the gigan- 

 tic spur, three times as long. It was found by Mr. W. Fawcett. F.L S., Director of the Jamaica Botanic Gar- 

 den, in the Cavman Islands. Both living and dried specimens were transmitted to Kew during the past sum- 

 mer. Notwithstanding its leafless condition — for the green roots do the work of assimilating nutriment— the 

 plant has thoroughly established itself on a block, and young shoots are pushing in all direciions. The peduncle 

 is but 2 inches long on this plant, but on a dried one sent home is at least 23 inches, or over ten times as long. 

 It is hardly necessary to siy that the plaut is dedicated to its discoverer, with the hope that if other such novel- 

 ties should be lingering in the West Indies, he will let us hearof them. Respecting this small genus there are, 

 besides our novelty, D. hymenantha, Rchb. f , the original species, a native of Cuba, with flowers, including 

 the spur, but half an inch long ; D. Lindenii, Benth, with spur nearly as long as in our present species, but 

 remarkably attenuated, acute lobes to the lip, a native of Cuba and Florida, in the latter locality said to grow 

 on the stem of the Royal Palm ; I). Sallei, Benth, a native of San Domingo, and D. funalis, Benth., a native of 

 Jamaica. This latter rejoices in the following aliases — quite sufficient in all conscience — Limodorum fuuale, 

 Sw ; Epidendrum funale, Sw. ; Aeceoclades funalis, Lindl. ; Trichocentrum funale, Lindl. ; and Aeranthus 

 funalis, Rehb. f." 



(Signed) R. A. Rolfe. 



As I saw but a small portion of the Islands, and that chiefly on the sea shore, I feel little doubt 

 that a complete collection of the plants would be of very great interest, and that perhaps other endemic 

 species would be found. 



8. With regard to cultivated plants, it may be gathered from the nature of the soil, and the wild 

 plants that there would be a general resemblance to those of Jamaica. In Grand Cayman mangoes 

 are not so plentifully distributed as here ; they grow into fair-sized trees ; fruit was not ripe, but was 

 said to be inferior to some of the Jamaica mangoes. Oranges, both sweet and bitter, and a few lemons 

 are produced, and great quantities of limes are exported pickled. Yams, cocoes, sweet potatoes, cas- 

 sava, pine apples, melons, sugar-canes, bananas, guinea-grass, all flourish. I took a few good pine- 

 suckers with me and gave them to the Custos for trial. The sugar-cane looked poor but I was told 

 that its indifferent appearance was due to long-continued drought, and that canes grow sometimes from 

 12 to 15 feet in height. There are a great number of papaw trees, some with thick trunk and several 

 branches : the fruit is usually large and fine. There is a good deal of log-wood, fustic, mahogany, and 

 hard-wood timbers. The logwood trees appear to be mostly young, all that was fit to cut having been 

 exported. The mahogany and hardwoods are used in the construction of well built schooners up to 50 

 tons, the softer timbers for planking being imported from the United States. The good timber has 

 been almost all cut down in the woods to the west and south ; but I was told that there are great num- 

 bers growing still on the north side, where also the soil is depeer and richer, and more cultivation carried 

 on than elsewhere. I was sorry not to have been able to go there, but as it was doubtful whether I could 

 go and return in one day, I had to abandon a projected visit. It would be interesting to know what 

 these timber trees are. The guava and the coco- plum grow wild. I saw two Coffee trees growing not 

 far from the sea, and even in May after 6 months' drought, there was a fair quantity of berries on them. 

 This is probably the first attempt to grow Coffee in these Islands, and the result appears to justify 

 planting, where the soil is sufficiently deep. 



9. In Little Cayman there is Mahogany but no Cedar ( Cedrela odorata) ; and in Cayman Brae 

 there is plenty of Cedar, but scarcely any Mahogany. In Little Cayman I was told that there is no 

 logwood nor fustic, and that there was no logwood in Cayman Brae, but in the latter island I found 

 fustic in the woods. 



10. Coco-nut Palms grow on Grand Cayman, and Cayman Brae. Disease has for several years 

 blighted the Palms in Grand Cayman, but no disease has appeared in the other island and I was informed 

 that some 600,000 to 800,000 nuts are annually exported. 



11. No accurate information could be obtained from the people as to the first appearance of the 

 disease, some said it was 15 years ago, others again thought that it might have been 40 years. In a dis- 

 patch from the Marquis of Sligo in 1834, he mentions that all the Coco-nuts of the leeward side had 

 been destroyed, but that the infection had not reached the windward side. It is probable that this was 

 the same deadly disease. I saw a great number of these palms of different ages in various stages of the 



