262 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



admired and gained a first class certi- 

 ficate from the Horticultural Society 

 of London when shown by Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence on April ioth, 1894. The 

 illustration shows well the form and 

 character of the flowers at about four- 

 fifths of the natural size. The flowers 

 are pure white and wax-like, the backs 

 of the sepals and the flower-stems show- 

 ing a purple tinge. They are good for 

 cutting whether for bouquets or vases. 

 The pseudo-bulbs are borne at inter- 

 vals upon rhizomes, with rather narrow 

 green leaves about 3 feet long, while the 

 flower-spikes, of about 2 feet, spring 

 from the base of the pseudo-bulbs. This 

 Orchid was discovered by M. Hamelin 

 in Madagascar in 1 8 90, and three years 

 later he succeeded in bringing home a 

 good stock of plants, but from ignorance 

 of their right culture many were lost and 

 it was some time before their needs were 

 fully understood. Immediately upon 

 arrival the newly-imported 

 plants should be placed in 

 baskets of Teakwood and fixed firmly 

 with clean crocks, the wholebeing thin- 

 ly surfaced with sphagnum moss; they 

 should then be placed in an intermediate 

 house and kept well watered. Roots 

 soon appear and the moss and crocks 

 should then be removed and the basket 

 filled to nearly half its depth with well- 

 dried fern rhizomes taken from peat; 

 as drainage these are better than the 

 broken crocks. Fill up firmly to the 

 base of the plant with equal parts of 

 fibrous peat and sphagnum moss,adding 

 a little coarse silver sand to the com- 

 postwhile potting. A moist and shaded 

 corner of the hottest house should be 



Culture. 



selected for the plant, where, under the 

 influence of heat and moisture it will 

 grow freely. Throughout the growing 

 season the roots should be freely watered, 

 but while in bloom, and when at rest, 

 less moisture is needed. Itwill beneces- 

 sary to keep a sharp look-out for thrips 

 and other insect pests, for when once 

 established in the centre of the young 

 growths it is very difficult to dislodge 

 them. The most effectual way is to pufl 

 a little tobacco powder into the growths 

 from time to time whether insects are 

 seen or not, and to vaporize the house 

 with the well-known XL compound. 



EulophiellaPeetersiana, the second 

 species, is a very interesting plant. It 

 was discovered in 1896 by M. Mocoris 

 upon the Isle of Nattes at the south of 

 Saint Marie, Madagascar, and was sent 

 by him to M. Peeters of Saint Gilles, 

 near Brussels, in whose honour it has 

 been named. Strange to say, for many 

 years previously plant collectors had 

 visited those regions without noticing 

 what now proves to be a common plant 

 there. It is recorded in The Orchid Re- 

 view, that a gentleman well known in 

 the Orchid world thought of sending a 

 collector to explore the Isle of Nattes, 

 and before finally arranging matters it 

 occurred to him to look through some 

 of the dried specimens at the yardin 

 des P /antes, Paris, where he found a 

 well-preserved Eulophiella Peetersiana 

 which had lain unnoticed in the her- 

 barium for quite fifty years. In Europe 

 the first plant to flower under cultiva- 

 tion was in Sir TrevorLawrence's collec- 

 tion at Burford, Dorking, in 1 8 9 8 . The 

 grand inflorescence was unanimously 



