lOO 
THE ORCHID WORLD. 
[February, 1913. 
LISSOCH ILUS HORSFALLI 1. 
THIS terrestrial Orchid of Uganda is 
known to Orchid fanciers in England 
by an occasional specimen exhibited. 
Out here it is found naturally in swamps, but 
the photographs shown 
are of a specimen grown 
m the soil of an earth 
verandah ; in conditions 
absolutely opposite to 
those the plant enjoys in 
its natural surroundings. 
The tuber was obtained 
in a dormant state from 
a swamp, and laid on 
the verandah to dry. 
It inadvertently slipped 
out of sight, and, to my 
surprise, a very fine 
growth soon made its 
appearance. The plant 
received no care, and, 
although growing in 
such a dry place, was 
never watered. In due 
time two fine trusses of 
flowers were produced. 
The plant produced a 
tuft of plicate leaves 
3 feet long and 4 inches 
wide. As soon as the 
leaves were full-grown 
the flower spikes ap- 
peared. These were 
two in number, each 
8 feet long, and bore 
48 and 47 flowers. 
The first flowers opened on August lOth 
and the last on October 30th, a range of ten 
weeks, during which time the plant was a 
glorious object. The flowers are 2 inches in 
diameter. Petals a pale rose colour, lip free, 
with large lobes, green, streaked «vith purplish- 
crimson. 
The photograph shows two seed pods on 
one spike. These were obtained by artificial 
fertilisation, for I found that although flowers 
in a swamp 200 yards away were freely 
fertilised, evidently a swamp insect was the 
agent, and this insect did not frequent the 
hill-top where my house is situiited. This 
leads one to believe that this Orchid is 
not really a swamp-loving plant, but only 
Lissochilus Horsfallii. 
succeeds in living and multiplying there 
because of the presence of its fertilising agent. 
The great superiority of my plant, in luxuri- 
ance and floriferousness, lends weight to this 
opinion. 
It would be interesting to learn how English 
growers treat their plants, and to hear the 
result of trying more ordinary cultivation, if 
swamp conditions are copied by them at 
present. 
E. Brown, F.L.S., 
Kivuvu, Uganda. 
