220 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[July, 191 4. 



but we fear the allusion to the plants being 

 covered with snow is rather fanciful. 



One division of the catalogue is devoted to 

 New, Rare or Choice Orchids, and includes 

 Calanthe Veitchii, 1-3 gns. ; Cymbidium 

 eburneum, i gn. ; several Dendrobiums, at 

 prices ranging from 105. 6d. to 10 gns. ; 

 Masdevallia Davish, 1-3 gns.; M. Harryana, 

 li gns.; M. Lindenii, 5 gns.; M. tovarensis, 

 3-5 gns. ; Odontoglossum Alexandrse 

 (crispum), 1-3 gns.; Miltonia vexillaria, 

 5-10 gns. ; Oncidium Marshallianum, 2-5 gns.; 

 various Phalasnopses, 1-5 gns. ; and Vanda 

 spathulata, described as " a rare and beautiful 

 species from the hills of Peradeneya, where 

 it is found growing in the full sun upon dwarf 

 jungle shrubs, blooming profusely from every 

 growth." This was evidently of considerable 

 value, judging by the remark " Price on 

 application." 



The following 48 pages are taken up with 

 a comprehensive collection of species, as well 

 as a few hybrids. Cattleya Mendelii is 

 described as a variety of C. Trianae, which is 

 in accordance with the belief then held. C. 

 Mossias comprises several varieties, although 

 C. M. Wageneri is priced at 3 to 5 guineas, 

 which in these days would be extremely 

 cheap. Amongst the Odontoglossums there 

 are a few natural hybrids, the parents of 

 O. Coradinei being erroneously given as 

 triumphans and odoratum. The native 

 habitat of Paphinia cristata is given as " near 

 the Mud Lake, Trinidad." 



While alluding to the firm of Rollisson, we 

 may conclude with a historical note as 

 related by Mr. H. James : " The original 

 plant of Dendrobium nobile nobilius was 

 bought at .Stevens' Rooms in 1S76, and was 

 one of aloundle of twelve plants, which cost 

 twelve shillings. It flowered in the imported 

 bulb state early in 1877, and was exhibited at 

 Kensington. It was shortly afterwards sold 

 to Messrs. Rollisson for five guineas, by whom 

 it was exceedingly well grown and flowered 

 freely in 1879, when it was sent to the Ghent 

 Show in extremely cold weather and nearly 

 killed. In the following autumn I bought the 

 apparently dead plant for 75s., and raised six 

 small plants from the tops of the bulbs." 



PLEIONES IN SIKKIM. 



AMONG the Orchids of this part of the 

 Himalaya the Pleiones are special 

 favourites of mine on account of 

 their delicate beauty and the small amount of 

 room they occupy in a cool house. I have 

 now in flower several pans of P. Hookeriana, 

 which I found on the Singalelah range at 

 9-11,000 feet elevation during the first week 

 of April this year. 



This species grows at greater elevation than 

 any other epiphytic Orchid I know of in the 

 Himalaya. The small globular pseudo-bulbs 

 are buried in moss growing on rocks, or on 

 the branches of trees, and are not easy to find 

 when at rest. Though they must often be 

 exposed to 10-15 degrees of frost and covered 

 with snow, which only lies for a few days at 

 intervals between December and March, they 

 require such a damp atmosphere all through 

 the growing season that I ha\'e not tried to 

 grow them out of doors. But in a house 

 suitable for Masdevallias they grow well in 

 pans near the glass. I believe that some 

 of those which I now have are descended 

 from those figured in the Botanical Magazine, 

 t. 6388, which I introduced as long ago as 

 1876. After having read what Sir Joseph 

 Hooker said in his description and what 

 Prof. Reichenbach says of the supposed 

 variety brachyglossa, which he described in 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle, 1887, p. 833, I see 

 no reason to separate the latter. There is a 

 considerable amount of variation in the 

 characters relied on among the plants 1 now 

 Iiave in flower. 



Another even more beautiful Pleione, which 

 I found on the same excursion at a rather 

 lower elevation — 8-10,000 feet — and which 

 the figure in Botanical Magazine, 5,674, 

 hardly does justice to, is P. humilis. It is 

 even more easy to cultivate than Hookeriana, 

 and flowers about two months earlier. 



Another common species in Sikkim which 

 grows most abundantly on the moss covered 

 branches of tall trees in the damp forest 

 at 7-8,000 feet is P. prascox, of which P. 

 Wallichiana is supposed to be a variety. This 

 has a very wide geographical range from 



