THE ORCHID WORLD. 



DENDROBIUM PIERARDI. 



THIS showy Dendrobium is a native of 

 Sikkim, where it is found in tropical 

 valleys as high as 3,000 feet ; it also 

 grows in Assam, 

 Bengal, and 

 southwards t o 

 Tenasserim a n d 

 the Peninsular of 

 India. Dr. Rox- 

 burgh named it 

 in honour of M. 

 Pierard, who m- 

 troduced it into 

 the Calcutta 

 gardens. In the 

 Botanical Maga- 

 zine of 1825, t. 

 2584, it is de- 

 scribed with the 

 remark " that it 

 is cultivated at 

 Calcutta by tying 

 it on a smooth 

 branch of a tree, 

 water being con- 

 stantly conducted 

 to it by a string 

 through a small 

 aperture in a 

 vessel above ; 

 that, so treated, 

 it hangs down 

 the length of six 

 feet, covered with 

 flowers after the 

 leaves decay, at 

 which time, it is 

 stated by Dr. 

 Carey to be one 

 of the most 

 beautiful objects 

 in the vegetable 

 kingdom." 



The prevailing colour of the flower is a 

 beautiful rose or pale purple, and the texture 

 is translucent, the lip being pale-yellow with 

 radiating lines of purple at the base. 



In its native country the slender, pendulous 



Dendrobium Pierardi 

 Photograph 



stems are two to four feet long, but under 

 cultivation stems considerably longer than 

 these have been produced. The first illus- 

 tration is of a 

 grand specimen 

 flowering in the 

 collection of 

 Frank Lloyd, 

 Esq., C 00m be 

 House, Croydon, 

 where it has been 

 s o successfully 

 grown by Mr. M. 

 E. Mills. In this 

 plant the growths 

 were three t o 

 four feet long, 

 but particularly 

 well covered with 

 flowers, making, 

 probably, one of 

 the finest speci- 

 mens yet seen. 

 At the tips of the 

 drooping bulbs a 

 few buds have 

 produced young 

 plants, which can 

 easily be detected 

 by their long, 

 slender, white 

 roots. 



The second 

 illustration 

 depicts three 

 wonderful plants 

 grown more 

 than twenty 

 years ago by 

 Mr. J. Gregory, 

 at Birdhurst, 

 Croydon. The 

 bulbs varied 

 in length from eight to twelve feet, and 

 although a number of buds dropped off 

 owing to a dense fog, which, however, did not 

 affect the open flowers, the plants presented 

 a most beautiful sight for several weeks. 



, a wonderful specimen, 

 by J. Gregory. 



VOL. n. 



