October, 191 5.] 



Till-: ORCHID WORLD. 



ORCHIDS IN NATURE. 



TO those Orchid enthusiasts who still 

 delight in species as apart from 

 hybrids there is always a fascination 

 in knowing something of their habits and 

 habitats. Moreover, as an aid to their culti- 

 vation under artificial conditions a knowledge" 

 of their growth under natural conditions must 

 always be most helpful. .Seeing for oneself 

 the plants growing in their own country is 

 the best of all educators, but this is out of 

 the question for very many, though probably 

 more would avail themselves of the 

 opportunity if they knew it could be 

 accomplished, in some districts, with so 

 little discomfort or " roughing it." 



In .South Brazil many species of Orchids 

 are to be found that even now are still grown 

 for the beaut)- ol their flowers, and it is to 

 this part of the world 1 should recommend 

 a tour for the Orchid enthusiast who wants 

 to see for himself something of Nature's 

 methods. In the neighbourhood of Santos 

 one can still see and collect plenty of 

 Orchids, such as Laelia ]iurpurata, Oncidium 

 sarcodes, Miltonia Regnelli, M. speclabilis, 

 Cattleya f.eo])oldi and C. intermedia. All 

 of these are to be found at a few feet onl)' 

 above the level of the sea, but some, such as 

 the Miltonia species, ascend the Serra up to 

 2,500 feet. I.a»lia purpurata grows in the 

 angle of a tree, where the branches leave 

 the trunk ; it is always at a considerable 

 height above the ground, and the forest 

 where it occurs is dense and humid. I have 

 seen Epidendrum fragrans growing below in 

 quantity on the trunk of the same tree, even 

 within one's own reach. 



Oncidium sarcodes grows on the branches 

 of trees on the side of a hill facing south-east, 

 from 100 up to 500 feet, or possibly even 

 higher, but usually, and in the greatest 

 plenty, about 4 — 500 feet. The forest is not 

 dense, and vastly more air circulates amongst 

 them than with Laslia purpurata in 

 the steamy dense forest below. Miltonia 

 Regnelli and M. spectabilis love the dark 

 forests on the hill sides, dark from the 

 number of forest trees growing close 



together. In such situations there is very 

 little undergrowth, and these Miltonias grow 

 into huge specimens forming a ring right 

 round the tree trunks from 15 -25 feet up. 

 M. Regnelli is much the commoner of the 

 two at lower elevations, M. spectabilis, while 

 occurring low down, appearing to prefer a 

 more elevated situation. 



Cattleya Leopoldii grows on the tallest 

 trees from sea-level up to 7 — 800 feet. It is 

 most plentiful below 500 feet. Like Laelia 

 purpurata, it selects the fork of a tree, but 

 it requires more light. It does not occur in 

 the densest forest, but prefers a hillside 

 where the growth is never so rank as on 

 the level. Cattleya intermedia, for which 

 at the present day few people would even 

 give a thank you, is nevertheless, when well 

 flowered, attractive and beautiful. But how 

 often is it well flowered m captivity ? I have 

 usually seen two or tliree, sometimes four 

 or even five on a s|jike, yet with a knowledge 

 of its natural conditions I get eight and nine 

 flowers on a S])ike. The conditions are 

 these: -It grows on the tops of dwarf 

 stunted trees growing in a swamp close to 

 the sea, where fully exposed to the sun it 

 swelters in a temperature of about 1 40 

 degrees. 1 do not think the white varieties 

 occur m such e.xpdsed places as the coloured 

 ones, but they occur in the same swamps, 

 though I never gathered any ]iiire white 

 varieties myself. 



With all the foregoing species the period 

 of rest is well marked. From May till 

 August (south of the equator) most Orchids 

 are quite quiescent with an average day 

 temperature of 60 — 70 degrees. At the height 

 of the growing season the temperature 

 averages 80 degrees, with a fall of 10 degrees 

 at night. From these essentially tropical 

 conditions one can travel in a south-westerly 

 direction for a distance of some 600 miles 

 to the district of Ponta Grossa, in the State 

 of Parana, and find many Orchids growing 

 under conditions as dissimilar as could be 

 from those at Santos. Here at an elevation 

 of 3,000 feet one is on an extensive base 

 plateau with isolated outcrops of soft 

 sandstone rock, and with only a few 



