382 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



length, three-quarters to one inch in diameter, and quite rough from the 

 scars left by the fallen flowers. 



Some years ago interesting importations of orchids old and new were 

 constantly being put on the market, such as those from Roraima 

 Mountain, New Guinea, Sumatra, Philippines, &c. For many years there 

 has been no such valuable and interesting importation as that made by 

 Messrs. Sander & Sons from Annam, through their collector Micholitz. 

 I went carefully through this importation shortly after its arrival, and 

 purchased a large number of unnamed plants. The reward has been 

 generous. Already five new species have flowered, three of which I have 

 slides of. 



Bulbophyllum dichromum (fig. 54) is one of these. It is a very remark- 

 able plant. The pseudobulbs are far apart on a stout rhizome, and in the 

 Glasnevin plant the inflorescence curiously springs from the base of an 

 old imported and leafless pseudobulb, so that one may reasonably hope 

 for even better results when the new and vigorous growths flower. The 

 inflorescence is very bright and striking. The flowers are crowded near 

 the top, and there is a marked contrast between the colour of the lip and 

 that of the other segments of the perianth, the former being dark purple 

 and the latter light yellow. It flowered at Glasnevin in February last, 

 and was named and described by Mr. Rolfe. It is being figured in the 

 " Botanical Magazine " for the current year. 



Amongst orchids which attain giant size for plants of this family, the 

 members of which are generally of modest dimensions, I have always 

 considered that the two most remarkable I have seen are the huge plant 

 of Grammatophyllum at Kew and the wonderful plant of Arachnanthe 

 Lowii at Messrs. Sander & Sons', St. Albans. Twenty years ago Herr 

 Wendland presented a plant of Arachnanthe Lowii to Glasnevin, and it 

 is still alive and vigorous, though small in comparison with the St. Albans 

 plant. It is one of the most remarkable of all orchids on account of its 

 huge size, the length of its racemes, and the dimorphic flowers. Not 

 only are the flowers different in shape, but they are different in colour, 

 two, three, or four of the lowest flowers on each raceme being different 

 from the others. They seem to be sexually perfect, and a reasonable 

 explanation of this peculiarity has yet to be found. The Glasnevin plant, 

 when photographed, had six inflorescences, each between six and seven feet 

 long. 



Eulophiella Peetcrsiana (fig. 55) may also rank as a giant amongst 

 orchids. Its advent to cultivation created quite a sensation, and before it 

 flowered much incredulity was expressed as to what it really was, and as 

 to whether it really would be worth growing. In the " Orchid Review " 

 for March 1897, notice is given of the sale of a few plants by Messrs. 

 Prothero & Morris, and the collector's description is given, some doubt 

 being expressed as to the identity of the new arrival. But few of these 

 imported plants lived, so that it was distinctly a rare orchid in collections. 

 At the present moment it is still rarer. In the April number for the 

 same year further reference to this plant is made, and extracts from 

 Dr. Kranzlin's description are given. The collector states that the flower 

 stems are a yard high with twenty to twenty-five flowers, 2|j inches 

 across, leaves about two feet long. All these particulars have been 



