[Plate 1.] 



THE THICK-LEAVED AIR PLANT. 



(aerides crassifolium.) 

 A Superb Stove Epiphyte, belonging to the order of Orchids : from Birmaii. 



Specific Character. 



AERIDES CRASSIFOLIUM. This differs from A. Falcatum in the spur being bent under an angle. Side lacing of the 

 hp much broader and shorter in this than in the old species. The two keels on the disc of the lip stand close 

 together at the base, then are contiguous and diverge, finally arching on both sides ; quite the contrary in A. 

 Falcatum, where they begin by being distant, and are convergent in the middle of the lip. Colour bright purple. 



Gardener's Chronicle, N.S., Vol. VII., p. 590. 



fjlHIS splendid plant, although introduced to this country some years ago, is still scarce, 

 -L but when better known and more plentiful will no doubt become a general favourite, 

 which it richly deserves to be, as we have no hesitation in placing it at the head of the 

 genus — and this is saying a good deal, considering the many fine species previously known. 

 We believe the first example of this Aerides that flowered in England was in the well grown 

 collection of R. B. Dodgson, Esq., of Blackburn, who has now for several years exhibited 

 one or more specimens at the Blackburn Horticultural Exhibition, where we saw it, and at 

 once realised the fine, very large, distinct character of the individual flowers, unequalled in 

 their colour, and the equally distinct and handsome appearance of the plant. In the summer 

 of 1878 it bloomed with Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, from whose plant our illustration was 

 taken. It is a flower that cannot fail to take the attention of all lovers of these most fascinating 

 plants, the cultivation of which, from their first being sufficiently known, and their management 

 better understood, has rapidly increased, until instead of being, as they once were, confined 

 to some half-dozen collections dispersed over the kingdom, are now to be met with grown 

 more or less extensively by the majority of people who cultivate heat-requiring plants ; and 

 there is every reason to suppose that their cultivation will still further extend, as they possess 

 a charm unequalled in the whole range of flowering plants. The fine, well-known Aerides 

 Larpentai (Syn. Falcatum) probably comes nearest to the present subject, although quite 

 distinct in the external appearance of the flowers. Though, as we have already stated, the 

 cultivation of these plants is better understood than at one time, still a few hints on their 

 management may be acceptable to some. 



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