April, 1914.] 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



149 



THE ELEPHANT ORCHID. 



BY command of H.R.H. Prince Paribatra 

 of Siam, I am sending some flowers 

 which the Prince thinks might not yet 

 be known in Europe. 



It might already be well known that 

 Saccolabium giganteum is to be found with 

 us in abundance ; it grows like grass without 

 any treatment at all. Among the ordinary 

 kind it is not at all seldom that one finds a 

 pure white variety, which is beyond doubt 

 the albino form of the same plant. Among 

 the people, S. giganteum is known under the 

 name of " The Black Elephant," and the 

 white variety, in analogy thereto, as " The 

 White Elephant." No reason has as yet been 

 found why the plant bears this name. 



Well, some thirty years ago, a general, 

 named Phya Deb Orajun, who died some 

 months ago, was travelling through the 

 forests to the east of Siam, when one of his 

 servants reported to him that he had seen a 

 " Red Elephant," and he, indeed, found this 

 plant in question as a single specimen 

 growing amongst a big group of 

 S. giganteum, profusely in bloom. He then 

 brought this plant home, and it has since been 

 known as " The Red Elephant." No trace of 

 it could be found anywhere else, and until 

 now this specimen is the only known plant in 

 existence. It was presented to His Royal 

 Highness in the course of last year, and is 

 bearing flower at this very moment for the 

 first time at Bang-khun-Prom Palace. 



It IS not difficult to describe the plant. In 

 habit and growth it is just like the 

 S. giganteum, but less robust ; the leaves arc 

 from 6-8J, inches long, and about i i inches 

 broad, and are of a slightly darker green, and 

 show some difference at the tips. The 

 flowers, of which upwards of 1 3 are borne on 

 one raceme, are in shape and size just the 

 same as in .S. giganteum, but the colouring is 

 essentially different. All the sepals and 

 petals are of a vivaceous scarlet-rcd, pure 

 shining white at the bases, column dark 

 scarlet, spur also red. It is, indeed, a very 

 beautiful Orchid, since the red colour is so 

 rarely represented in Orchidaceous plants. 



Vernacular Orchidists believe it to be a 

 natural hybrid, of which S. giganteum is the 

 seed parent. The pollen masses are two in 

 number. — P. V. Si/f, Private Secretary. 



ORCHID CULTURE IN INDIA. 



TilE sale of private collections of 

 Orchids by auction is rather an 

 unusual event in India, as the 

 majority of collectors are rather averse to 

 parting with what has probably taken them 

 years to collect. Moreover, the average 

 collector is, as a general rule, a permanent 

 resident of the country, which alone accounts 

 for the few public sales that take place. It is 

 only on such occasions as these that we can 

 judge the number of people who are really 

 interested in Orchids and make them their 

 only hobby. 



Apart from the dealers, who, I may 

 mention, are, with the exception of Mr. S. P. 

 Chatterjee, very few indeed, the wealthy 

 natives of the city, having their garden 

 houses in the suburbs, may be considered the 

 real collectors, with a few Europeans. 

 Perhaps the fact that the majority of 

 Europeans in this country are out here 

 temporally accounts for them not cultivating 

 Orchids to the same extent as the native 

 gentlemen, who are naturally permanent 

 residents of one locality. It is, moreover, 

 surprising what a great personal interest they 

 give to their collections, leaving very little, if 

 any, care to their malies, or gardeners. It is 

 considered a great favour to be invited to 

 their garden-houses for the week-end, and on 

 such occasions one observes the keenness and 

 pride which they take in their collections. 



As it may interest readers of the ORCHID 

 World, especially dealers, 1 am sending the 

 results of a recent sale of Orchids belonging 

 to Mr. A. R. Lamb, who is undoubtedly one 

 of the best authorities in this country. The 

 prices realised for some of the species 

 compare very favourably with those usually 

 obtained in England, while the purchasers 

 were of the wealthy native gentlemen 

 previously referred to. The collection 



VOL. IV. 



20 



