THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[October, 1915. 



over low trees in an island near Singapore, 

 and emitting so many of its long roots that 

 they formed a curtain that had to be cut 

 through before one could get through the 

 bushes. It is rather shorter in the stem than 

 the preceding species, and somewhat brittle. 

 The leaves are more fleshy and rigid, and 

 often minutely toothed at the base, especially 

 in plants grown in full sun. The flowers are 

 smaller than those of R. Maingayi, in a loose 

 panicle, or a spike in small plants. They are 

 white. 



R. matutina is a plant of much lower habit, 

 I or 2 feet high with speckled stems and 

 narrow ligulate leaves, rather stiff. The 

 sprays about 8 or g inches long, the flowers 

 about 20, scattered, rather narrow, red or 

 orange, spotted with darker colour, the lip 

 white with a central red spot. It grows 

 usually on rocks, and does not seem to be a 

 very easy plant to cultivate. It appears to be 

 rare in the Peninsula, but has been found by 

 Wray in Perak, and by myself also on rocks 

 in forest on Bujong Malacca. It seems to be 

 commoner in Borneo. 



R. micrantha is often to be found on rocks 

 overhanging the sea, all over the Peninsula. 

 The stems are tolerably stout, about 10 or 

 12 feet long, the leaves short and broad, 

 usually blotched with red ; the flower-sprays 

 are about a foot or more long, with horizontal 

 branches densely covered with very small 

 deep red flowers all arranged on one side. 

 Though the flowers are the smallest of 

 any in the genus, only j inch long, their 

 abundance makes this a very charming plant. 

 It is easily grown and flowers often. The 

 plant itself, however, appears to be 

 comparatively short-lived. 



R. coccinea is a stout plant, but appears 

 here at least to be a much shorter and 

 more compact plant than R. moschifera or 

 Maingayi, however it runs to 1 2 feet or even 

 more in length. It is one of the most 

 beautiful in the genus. The panicles are 

 large and much branched, and bear 

 innumerable deep scarlet flowers mottled 

 with darker colour ; they are about 2 inches 

 across, with the lower sepals broader, oblong, 

 spatulate. It does well in the Straits, and 



Renanthera coccinea. 



very fine sprays may be often seen at our 

 flower shows. 



R. Storiei is the finest species in the genus. 

 It has much the habit of R. coccinea, a stout 

 plant with rather broad, dark green leaves. 

 The panicle is often very large, one plant 

 about 6 feet tall had an inflorescence of 700 

 flowers. It was flowered by Mr. St. V. B. 

 Down, in Singapore, in June, 1903, and was 

 certainly a magnificent sight. A plant in the 

 Botanic Gardens, though only about 4 feet 

 high, flowered at every one of the upper 

 joints. But I have seen plants grow for a 

 long time before they showed any signs of 

 flowering, although grown in full sun. It is 

 better certainly that the plant should not be 

 allowed to flower till it is robust, as the 

 flower-sprays are usually small, and it is a 

 considerable strain on the plant. It is a native 

 of the Philippines, and is said to be abundant 

 there. 



R. Imschootiana is a short plant with the 

 habit rather of a Vanda, and flowers like 

 those of Storiei, but smaller and fewer. It is 

 rather too small to grow on posts like the 

 other species, and pot culture seems to suit it 

 best. Imported plants were flowered in the 



