384 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



able grower, Mr. White, on their success in flowering it." It may briefly 

 be stated that the flowers, with the exception of the lip, are bright shining 

 purple, the lip being white. Curiously, I attribute any success I may 

 have had in cultivating it to want of space. The stem is thick and 

 creeping, and there is from eighteen inches to twenty-four inches between 

 the pseudo-bulbs. In the only available house there was no room for 

 such a giant to spread, so I kept the young growths tied in, gradually 

 tightening the tie until I made them coil right round like a snake, and all 

 the young roots were forced to enter the material in the basket ; hence 

 they remained fresh and sound, and did not die away for two or three, 

 years. On three occasions this plant made two flowering shoots from one 

 pseudo-bulb, but only one was allowed to develop. It is very difficult to 

 increase, and there is but the original plant at Glasnevin. 



Another large orchid is Cyrtopodium Andersonii, from the West 

 Indies. All the members of this genus are large, and I merely select 

 this species because I am able to illustrate it by a slide. From pot to top 

 of flowers was 4 feet 9 inches. As the pseudo-bulbs are large and solid 

 they require more substantial diet than that usually accorded to orchids, 

 and loam and dried cow manure, finely broken up, seem to meet the 

 requirements. 



The last orchid amongst the giants to which I will allude is 

 Cypripedium Lindleyanum. Compared to some it is small, but amongst 

 Cypripediums it is a giant, and I cannot admit that it deserves its 

 reputation of being a bad doer. The Glasnevin plant has been in the 

 collection since 1885, and it is healthy and vigorous. Writing about it 

 in February 1891, Mr. O'Brien said, " I like Cypripedium Lindleyanum 

 much, but never saw it of such stature as yours." It comes from 

 British Guiana, and is, I think, sometimes cultivated in too warm a 

 temperature. The plant represented had leaves 2 feet 3 inches long, 

 3 \ inches broad, and the inflorescence was 4 feet 9 inches high. I should 

 have spoken, and written, of this as Phragmopedilum, but the name 

 sounds strange and unfamiliar. 



From giants to pigmies is the next step, and amongst orchids these 

 are abundant. They are generally neglected, or rather were, as there is 

 a growing taste for them, and collectors are disappointed because there 

 are not long lists of them in nursery catalogues and because they are 

 not cheap. How could it be otherwise? For years regulated to the 

 limbo of what was contemptuously called " botanical stuff," they were 

 unheeded and unasked for, and to this fact many owe their presence in 

 the Glasnevin collection. I have often been allowed to pick over new 

 importations of orchids for such plants in Messrs. Low's, Sander's, and 

 Veitch's, and fared well. Mr. O'Brien has all along championed their 

 cause. I have had valuable assistance from him, and feel grateful to 

 him and to the various nurserymen. 



A typical plant in this class is Pleurothallis asterophora. I consider 

 this to be one of the most beautiful of all minute orchids. I got it in 

 1891, but not for nothing. When I look at this pigmy I have always 

 felt ashamed of the price I paid for it, but I have never regretted it; it 

 has given so much pleasure to visitors. The plant when in flower is not 

 more than 3 inches high, leaves about '\ inch by ] inch. It is very 



