254 



THE ORCHID \\'ORLr). 



[August, igi2. 



EULOPHIELLA HAMELINII, OR PEETERSIANA. 



By Dr. P. FERKO. Milan, Italy. 



EULOPHIELLA HAMELINII was 

 introduced into cultivation during" 

 the years 1892 to i8g6, and flowered 

 for the first time in Europe, at Paris, in 18^9. 

 During- four years I have been greatly inter- 

 ested in the study and importing" of this noble 

 Orchid, but it was only during the last two 

 years that reall\- good plants were despatched 

 to England. I, however, kept one specimen 

 and cultivated it m m}' Orchid house at Milan, 

 where it grew very well, and last year pro- 

 duced two fine flower spikes, one with 20 

 blooms. 



Eulophiella Hamelinii very often produces 

 two spikes simultaneously, each about four 

 feet in length. My plant made a flowering- 

 growth, and produced, some two months later, 

 a spike with 23 flowers. Some three weeks 

 afterwards, when the first flower spike began 

 to fade, a second one with 18 flowers was pro- 

 duced. This plant, very curiously, did not 

 make any leaves or flower spike during the 

 following November ; I certainly thought it 

 would do so during the winter months. I3ut, 

 this spring, a new flower spike was produced 

 m perfect condition, and the plant, as it 

 appears in the illustration, was purchased by 

 Messrs. Charlesworth and Co., and was 

 included in their exhibit at the Royal Inter- 

 national Show at Chelsea. The plant is a 

 very robust grower and is already making a 

 new bulb. L'nder cultivation it has produced 

 in all three flower spikes. It is of interest to 

 note that when the specimen was recently 

 repotted two nice little seedling Eulophiellas 

 were discovered growing on the mass of roots 

 and fibre. 



This species of Eulophiella grows exclu- 

 sively on the crowns of the Pandanus, usually 

 at a height of 20-25 feet from the ground, the 

 long rhizomes of the Orchid clinging to and 

 winding themselves round its stem. Old 

 specimens of the Pandanus, or common screw- 

 pine, frequently have about 20 crowns, and on 

 such specimens as these one can often find 

 two or three plants of E. Hamelinii, each 

 plant consisting of from eight to ten bulbs. 



The distance between the bulbs is from four 

 to eight inches. The upper portion of the 

 bulbs is furnished with ribbed leaves of a 

 leathery texture, about three feet in length, 

 and of a clear green colour. The old bulljs 

 are always entirely without leaves. 



The large leaves of the Eulophiella together 

 with the Pandanus crowns make such a dense 

 l uish that considerable difficulty is experienced 

 m finding the actual Orchid. Generally the 

 plants can only be discovered when in flower, 

 for it is then that the tall flower spike, about 

 three feet in height, shows itself above the 

 tangled mass of foliage. 



On one specimen which I imported last year 

 there were no less than 36 flower buds on a 

 spike, and the plant travelled so well that on 

 arrival in Europe all these buds developed 



into CTOod flowers. 



In Madagascar, its native home, E. Hame- 

 linii terminates its season of growth during 

 June and July, and as soon as the bulb is 

 completed the flower-sjiike commences to 

 grow, this usually measuring about four feet 

 in the month of September. The spike, at 

 first, does not grow very fast, but when it 

 reaches the height of two feet rapid growth 

 takes place and the flowers open during the 

 month of September. This Orchid, in its 

 native habitat, is exposed to the full tropical 

 sun, without any shade whatever. Sometimes 

 it IS found growing near the sea coast, but one 

 usually discovers it growing some three days' 

 journey in the interior, between Tamatave and 

 Vohemar, where there are immense numbers of 

 Pandanus trees growing in the swamps. The 

 atmosphere is very hot and saturated with 

 moisture. At night time much of this 

 atmospheric moisture condenses on the plants 

 in the form of a heavy dew, this being very 

 beneficial to them. The bulbs are seven to 

 eight inches in height and require a large 

 amount of sunshine and nutritive material 

 from which to draw their food supply. 



In Madagascar it rams for nine months out 

 of the twelve, and Eulophiellas, as well as 

 Angritcums, Grammatophyllums, Cymbidiums, 



