Octohrr, H)!^.] 



Till". ORCHII) WORI.I). 



(liTfcrciu-o is (iiily ;ih(iiil l" ( '. '\'\^r •^vc;\\c^\ 

 \\c;\\ (il)scr\('(l 111 IIk' dry season at an allilndc 

 of over ;^,()()() fin-l was ^0° ( '. ((S()" I'".) ni 

 March, iSSi. On llir sl()|)(-s farint^- the 

 Atlantic it rams c\'(^r)' <lav 111 tlu" yc^ar ; on 

 tlic slopes facinj4' the Pacific tluMH^ is a dry 

 and a rain\- season, the rainy season lastiii;^' 

 from !\la\' till November, tlu' remammj^' part 

 of the year hems^' absolutely dry. During- the 

 rail))- season tlu^ atmosphere is saturated with 

 moisture. ;\t other times the north wind 

 dries up everything, but the ni<;iils arc^ 

 ntn c^rtludc^ss very damp ; the dew is excced- 

 nii^l)' liea\\- at all times of the year. 

 Pescatoreas, Holleas and Warscewiczellas 

 grow in the dark shadows of the virgin forest 

 on stones or on stems and lower branches of 

 trees ; these require shade, too much light 

 would kill them." 



ORCHID CULTURE IN 1850. 



HE following interesting notes are 

 extracted from Moore and A)res' 

 Magaziiit' of I>o/aiiy, 185O:- - 



"Most people who take an interest m 

 horticultural affairs ha\e heard of the 

 magnificent specimens of Phala?nopsis 

 amabilis sent from Java by Mr. Fortune 

 to the Horticultural Society's Garden at 

 Chiswick ; also of Mr. Hartweg's splendid 

 mass of La?ha superbiens, which has long 

 decorated the entrance to the curvilinear 

 stove, and of Dendrobium speciosum growing 

 in the old Pine stove. 



" The Phala?nopsis amabilis is growing 

 upon a large block of wood and had nearly 

 fifty of its large waxy pure w hite flr)wers fully 

 developed, with hundreds of buds in various 

 stages of growth. The plant was suspended 

 from a rafter at the cool end of the house, 

 and, as a matter of course, was in superb 

 health. In the same house we also noticed 

 Dendrobium discolor, a not very attractive 

 species from New Holland, and of coarse 



growth; 1 ). rueiillaliiiii, w ith pendent pseiido- 

 l>iili)s and simple i)iit ga\- flowers; and a 

 remarkably fine xariet)- oi Oneidiiiin ('a\cn- 

 dishianum. It has rarel)' been our pleasure 

 to se(~ a eolliM'tion of ()rchi(ls in such splendid 

 condition. Not an iinliealth)- plant is to \^^• 

 seen, and e\'er)' part oi the plants, the stages, 

 |)ots, and liousi' are as clean as the most 

 lastuiious could desire. 



"In the curxihiuNir sto\'e house the 

 monstrous plant o| I .a-lia superbiens ])reseiite(l 

 a most gorgeous a|)pearaiice, ri\('tliiig the 

 attention and ])id(ling the wondering 

 wand(~rer stand. I hose who h.uc ln'cn to the 

 great exhibitions have seen gorgeous sights' 

 in the Orchid tents, but ihey never saw 

 anything so truly and decidedly grand as this 

 novel plant. Suspended upon a huge branch, 

 just at the proper height to bring the flowers 

 upon a level with tlu^ head of the spectator 

 on entering" the house, the flowers were shown 

 to great advantage. The plant, which is of 

 great size, came originally from CiuattMual.i, 

 w'hence it was sent by the Society's collector, 

 Mr. Hartweg ; and there the poor Indians 

 collect the flowers to decorate their cottages. 

 The plant in question is 6 feet in diameter, 

 and the flower stems were 9 feet in height, 

 of which there were nine averaging ten 

 flowers each ; each of the flowers was several 

 inches in diameter, and of a mixture of 

 white, lilac, crimson and orange colours. 



" Passing to the old Pine stove we find the 

 plant of Dendrobium speciosum. This comes 

 from New Holland, and has been grown to 

 its present size m the garden of the Societ\- ; 

 it was growing m a pot, and was f) feet 111 

 diameter; bore 18 noble spikes of flowers, 

 each spike averaging from 70 to 80 flowers. 

 It is true this number is very much less than 

 the number of spikes produced by^ the Rev. 

 Mr. Chawner's plant, but the flowers here 

 were much finer, of better colour, and 

 altogether in more healthy condition. 



" A singular Orchid, Spiranthes cerina, was 

 producing a quantity of dull brown flowers, 

 and its beautiful foliage was just beginning 

 to form. With this we also noticed Lycaste 

 cruenta, and the singular pale green-flowered 

 species L. ciHata." 



VOL. VI. 



2 



