THE ORCHID WORLD. 
27 
PHAL/ENOPSIS AMABLIS. 
THIS very fine species has been more or 
less known for about 160 years. As 
far back as 1750 we can find in 
" Rumphius Herbarium Amboinense " a de- 
scription and large figure of it under the 
name Angraecum album, and in 1752 Osbeck 
sent some flowers to Linnaeus, who described 
it in his " Species Plantarum," first ed., 1753, as 
Epidendrum amabile. These flowers, not- 
withstanding their great age, are still m good 
condition, and are in his original herbarium, 
now kept at the Linnasan Society of London. 
In 1825 Dr. Blume published his " Bij- 
dragen," in which he established a new genus, 
and on account of the resemblance of the 
flowers to some species of moth, called the 
plant Phalaenopsis amablis. It should be 
noted that the only plants, which had so far 
been described came from Java, but subse- 
quently plants were sent to this country from 
the Philippine Islands, and on account of the 
flowers being very much like those previously 
known as P. amablis, they passed under that 
name, having been figured by Dr. Lindley in 
the Botanical Register (July, 1838, t. 34) from 
a plant in flower in the Epiphyte-house of 
Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting", and spoken of as 
" The Indian Butterfly-plant " ; in Paxton's 
Magazine of Botany (1840, p. 49) with the 
remark : " Plants sent from Manilla to Messrs. 
Rollisson, in 1837, by Mr. Hugh Cuming, 
since that time it has been in flower at least 
seven or eight months during each year, as, 
if the flower-stems are carefully severed just 
below where the lowest blossoms were pro- 
duced, they will speedily emit branches, from 
which other flowers are ultimately produced ; " 
and also in the Botanical Magazine (May, 
1847, t. 4297) with the remark: "It has the 
merit of continuing a long time in blossom, 
Method of establishing plants in Java before shipment. 
