THE ORCHID WORLD. 



SOME JAMAICAN ORCHIDS. 



JAMAICA, the largest of the British 

 West Indian Islands, has contributed 

 many notable species to our Orchid 

 collections, and although these are not equal 

 in elegance to the grand varieties obtained 

 from South America and other countries 

 there are, nevertheless, several of considerable 

 interest and beauty. 



Cypripecliums are entirely absent m 

 Jamaica, and the genus Calanthe, so widely 

 distributed in other tropical countries, is only 

 represented by a single species. Of the many 

 other terrestrial kinds that of Phaius grandi- 

 folius is the only one worth mentioning, but 

 even this is not believed to be indigenous, it 

 has become naturalised by cultivation. 



From the epiphytes, or those which grow 

 on trees and rocks, one has a much larger 

 class to select from. Brassavola nodosa and 

 B. cordata, with their thick and fleshy half 

 cylindrical leaves indicating the exposed and 

 sunny position which they habit, are easily 

 grown, and are somewhat attractive Orchids 

 when suspended in a pan or small basket in 

 the Cattleya house. B. cordata produces 

 more flowers than B. nodosa, but they are not 

 quite so large. 



Zygopetalum flabeljiforme, better known 

 as Z. cochleare, under which name it was 

 figured by Lindley m the Botanical Register, 

 is noted for its very fragrant flowers ; the 

 sepals and petals are greenish-white, and the 

 lip blue with a purple lined crest. 



Oncidium pulchellum, as its name denotes, 

 is a very pretty Oncidium, its graceful 

 branched spike of small white flowers pro- 

 duces a welcome change from the usual 

 yellow colour of the flowers of this genus. It 

 IS entirely without pseudo-bulbs. Oncidium 

 guttatum with its brownish flowers marked 

 with purple, and O. luridum with yellow 

 flowers spotted with cinnamon-brown, are also 

 well worth growing. 



Brassia maculata with its spike of about 12 

 spider like flowers is a showy early summer 

 blooming species ; the sepals and petals are 

 yellowish-green spotted with reddish-brown. 

 Brassia caudata produces flowers with the 



sepals about five inches in length, of a 

 yellowish-green colour, and with a few large 

 purplish-brovvn spots. 



Broughtonia sang-uinea grows on rocks fully 

 exposed to the influence of the sun, and this 

 fact explains why the plant is so often suc- 

 cessfully cultivated when placed on a block 

 of wood, with a little moss, and suspended in 

 a very sunny position of the Cattleya house. 

 Broughtonia domingensis, known also as 

 Ljeliopsis domingensis, is a superior species, 

 the pretty rose-lilac flowers, which last in per- 

 fection about a month, are produced about 

 seven or eight together at the apex of a long 

 slender scape. 



The genus Epidendrum, with its 750 

 species, is well represented in Jamaica, some 

 30 or more of which may be collected in the 

 island. E. fragrans, although not a showy 

 kind, deserves a place on account of the sweet 

 perfume which it yields. E. cochleatum is not 

 only a very flonferous species, but is one of 

 the earliest known Orchids, having flowered 

 at Kew m 1787. E. nocturnum may be dis- 

 tinguished by its long narrow median lobe of 

 the labellum, it is usually discovered on stones 

 and rocky land. E. polybulbon is an inter- 

 esting Orchid not growing more than 3 inches 

 in height ; the small pseudo-bulbs, which are 

 produced on creeping rhizomes, each carry 

 two leaves about i inch in length. E. Ottonis 

 is remarkable for having three anthers, a very 

 rare occurrence. 



Laelia monophylla is the only representa- 

 tive of the genus in Jamaica. It is a dwarf 

 growing species found at an altitude of about 

 4,0(X) ft., and it produces bright orange- 

 scarlet flowers with a purple anther cap. 

 Some difficulty is often experienced in its 

 cultivation. 



Pleurothallis, a large genus of about 600 

 species, is represented by about 30 different 

 kinds, all more or less interesting ; and there 

 are also many other genera of botanical 

 interest. 



Vanilla planifolia, which produces the best 

 vanilla beans of commerce, and three or four 

 other species are frequently met with. 



VOL. II. 



17 



