August, 1912.] THE ORCHID WORLD. 257 



home. They were afterwards placed in large 

 baskets with a compost of sphagnum, poly- 

 podmm and leaves, the whole being kept 

 constantly damp. When the new growths pro- 

 duced fresh roots from their under-side some 

 fresh sphagnum moss was placed over them, 

 and this was kept damp by frequent appli- 

 cations of warm rain-water. 



The normal temperature in Madagascar is 

 75-85 degrees F., never less. In my house 

 the plants have always had this temperature, 

 with the exception of a few cold days in 

 winter, when the thermometer went down to 

 60 degrees F. 



The flower buds are at first green, then 

 yellowish, afterwards assuming a rose colour, 

 which becomes darker when the plant receives 

 extra sunlight. At mid-day the flowers have 



SOME NOTES ON 



COMPARATIVELY little is known of 

 the Orchids from the vast interior 

 of Madagascar. Mr. Baker, in a 

 paper which he read at the meeting of 

 the British Association at York, in 1881, 

 showed that there is a close affinity between 

 the flora of Madagascar and that of Tropical 

 Africa, on the one hand, and the flora of 

 the central elevated parts of the island with 

 those of the Cape and the mountains of 

 Central Africa, on the other. The Rev. 

 Richard Baron, in a paper read before the 

 Linnean Society, November, 1888, stated that 

 there is probably a closer alliance between the 

 flora of Tropical Africa and that of the 

 Western region of Madagascar than with the 

 floras of the central and eastern regions. Mr. 

 Baron, in considering the flora of Madagascar 

 as a whole, was struck by the immense 

 antiquity of the island. About three-fourths 

 of the species and a sixth of its genera of 

 plants are endemic. This, he remarks, is as 

 it should be ; the genera have for the most 

 part survived the untold ages that have 

 elapsed since their first appearance, while the 

 species have been subjected to enormous 

 modifications. Such a very large amount of 



a slight perfume resembling that of the 

 flowers of the field. 



Eulophiella Hamelinii is very difficult to 

 import. The only possible way of obtaining 

 success is to bring the plants home while still 

 attached to the Pandanus ; failure has always 

 occurred when importers have omitted this 

 precaution. Considerable danger is attached 

 to gathering the plants for numerous scorpions 

 hide themselves amongst the Pandanus leaves. 



The plants must also travel as quickly as 

 possible, a proceeding by no means easy 

 through such an uncultivated country, and 

 owing to the very bad ground and the 

 dangerous swamps progress is extremely slow. 

 Very large packing cases are required for the 

 plants, the total weight often being over three 

 hundred pounds. 



MADAGASCAR. 



specific differentiation seems to point in the 

 clearest manner to long isolation. 



It has been roughly estimated that Mada- 

 gascar contains an area of 30,000 square miles 

 of forest-covered country. From this forest 

 large pieces of Pandanus, the common screw- 

 pine, with strong plants of Eulophiella species 

 firmly attached have recently been imported. 

 There is also a species of Pandanus having 

 leaves about four feet in length and eight 

 inches in width, and these, on account of their 

 rain protecting qualities, are frequently used 

 for covering the packages of goods that are 

 carried to and from the interior of the island. 



Of all the forms of vegetable life in Mada- 

 gascar none is more remarkable than the 

 " traveller's tree," Ravenala madagascariensis, 

 The 25 to 30 large leaves are arranged on the 

 top of the stem in the form of a gigantic fan. 

 The water in the large cup-like sheaths of the 

 leaf stalks is eagerly sought for by travellers 

 to allay their thirst. The blade of the leaf in 

 its young state is used as a substitute for 

 spoons and plates, and when matured it is 

 largely used by the natives in building their 

 slender huts. An essential oil is also formed 

 from the edible seeds. 



