September, 1915.] 



THI<: ORCHID \\t)Rl.l). 



275 



DENDROBIUM FARMERI. 



THIS attractive species has ciavate stems, 

 4-5 angled, from 10-18 inches in 

 height ; leaves ovate-oblong, usually 

 two or three near the apex of the stems. The 

 pendulous raceme many-flowered, each bloom 

 about 2 inches across, the sepals and petals 

 pale straw-yellow tinted with rose, disc of 

 lip deep ochreous yellow. The flowermg 

 season is May and June, sometimes a little 

 earlier. 



A native of the eastern part of the 

 Himalayan zone and the Khasia Hills, also 

 in the forests of Moulmein in British Burmah, 

 whence it has been frequently imported. It 

 was first introduced in 1847, in which year it 

 was sent by Dr. McClelland from the Calcutta 

 Botanic Garden to Mr. W. G. Farmer, of 

 Nonsuch Park, Surrey, to whom it is 

 dedicated. The variety albiflorum was 

 found in the plains and low hills near 

 Moulmein ; the variety aureo-flavum comes 

 from the Arracan Mountains, and closely 

 resembles D. chrysotoxum, from which 

 it may be distinguished by its quad- 

 rangular stems, looser racemes, and differently 

 shaped lip. 



In Sikkim, where it is found at elevations 

 of from 1,000-3,000 feet, the sepals and petals 

 when they first expand are of a pale mauve, 

 v/hich gradually changes to pure white ; the 

 lip is invariably of a deep rich yellow, with 

 the margin whitish. In the Annals of the 

 Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, Vol. VIII., 

 p. 57, it is stated : " To this change of colour 

 in the same individual flower is no doubt due 

 much of the confusion which has occurred as 

 regards the identity of this plant, individuals 

 in the stage in which the sepals and petals 

 are white having been mistaken for D. 

 thyrsiflorum. D. Farmeri has also been 

 confused with the closely allied D. palpebrae, 

 but the latter is a smaller plant than D. 

 Farmeri, with thinner less ciavate stems. 

 There is, however, a form of D. Farmeri in 

 Burma in which the sepals and petals, as well 

 as the lip, are always yellow, and which was 

 considered on its first discovery to be closely 

 allied to D. chrysotoxum. To this the varietal 



name aureo-flavum has been given. There is 

 also in Burmah a form with smaller flowers 

 than those of typical D. Farmeri, and to 

 this Regel has given the varietal name 

 parviflorum." 



OncicJium excavatum. 



ONCIDIUM EXCAVATUM. 



AN attractive species, first discovered by 

 Matthews, in 1838, at Chachapojas in 

 Northern Peru, and afterwards by 

 Spruce on the Andes of Ecuador, and by 

 Warscewicz near the sources of the Amazon. 

 It flowered in Messrs. Loddiges' nursery at 

 Hackney in 1839, but does not appear to have 

 been cultivated till 1862, when it flowered in 

 the collection of Mr. T. Dawson, at Meadow- 

 bank, near Glasgow, who obtained it at a sale. 

 Gustav Wallis, in 1865, collected plants in 

 -Southern Ecuador and sent them to M. 

 Linden's establishment at Brussels. Since 

 then it has been generally cultivated. The 

 .specific name excavatum was suggested by 

 Dr. Lindley on account of a deep pit 

 excavated on the under side of the labellum 

 near the base, and only to be seen by looking 

 at the back of the flower and putting aside 

 the two lateral sepals. 



The flower spikes, which are produced 

 during the autumn months, are 2-3 feet long, 

 the individual flowers inches in diameter; 

 sepals yellow with 2-3 red-brown bars 

 on the basal half ; petals sometimes wholly 

 )'ellow, at other times with 1-2 red-brown 

 spots near the base ; labellum bright 

 canary-yellow. 



