April i, 1899,] 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST, 
G81 
The next order— " Oeratopliyllacea? "—is cli«- 
posed of in a page, and we read : — 
All Order of doubtful affinity ; peculiar in 
Natal, with the many-leaved plumule of i\^t7!'.H!,- 
bium. The numerous described species may 
prove to Ije all forms of one or two widely 
distril)uted wiiter-i)lants. 
While under the only genus and species 
" C'eratophylhim verticillatmn " we read : — 
Submerj^ed in water in tanks, lakes, and ponds 
in the low country ; common, especially in the 
dry region. Tlirougliout the Eastern Tropica. 
' Sir J Hooker is probably correct in referring 
this to the cosmopolitan species C. f?f»i''>'.s';»i, L. 
Our Ceylon form is that ligured iji Wight, Ic. 
1948, f. a, as r. fi'herciihifinn, Chum —Tri men. 
We have no species of Gnefaceu nor any Cotii- 
ferdt in Ceylon. Of the latter Order a single 
species, Podocarpus Infifolia, Wall., occurs in 
the hills of S. India, but the Peninsula is other- 
wise devoid of Conifers. 
We next have "Cycadese" with only two 
species, and of one "C.Ruinphii" we are told :— 
Moist region below 1,000 ft. ; very rare and 
doubtfully native. Near Galle, 18.53 (Ferguson) ; 
near Hewesse, Pasdum Korale (Thwaites). Fl. (?). 
Burma, Andaman and Nicob.ir Is., Malaya, New 
Guinea, X. Australia. 
This is probably not indigenous ; it is much 
grown in Colombo gardens, but I have never 
seen a male plant there," nor have I been able 
to obtain one from Peradeniya, Avhere there are 
many female plants. 
Next coine " Hydrocharideae — fresh or salt- 
water herhs with undivided, submerged or 
floating leaves, — occupying seven pages, and 
to one species "Halophila ovata" we hav'e 
the foUowingHnteresting note :— 
Shallow sea water on the coast in the dry 
region ; rather common. Negombo ; Chilaw ; 
Kalpitiya ; .TatTaa : Aripo : Trincomalie : Batti- 
caloa ; Mannar. Fl. July-September. 
Shores of Red Sea, Indian Ocean, China, Malay 
Is., Pacific Is., Australia. 
The leaves of this pretty little marine plant 
vary in form and greatly in size ; in the type 
the blade is oval-oblong, about 1^ inch long, but 
it is as often almost rotund, or sometimes iinear- 
straji-shaped, and then not moi'e than inch 
long. This last very small form, from .Jaft'na and 
Trincomalie, may' be called var. minor (= Zcwi- 
nopNiA ))ii)toi; Zoll.), but there are intermediates. 
Tlie brackish-water form is thought by Nevill 
to have narrower leaves than the ordinary marine 
one (see Taprobauian, ii. 67). — Trimcn. 
H. sfijmidcea, Aschers., is marked by Ascher- 
8011 on his map in Peterm. Geog. Mitth. 1871, 
t. i:i, as if in Ceylon. I have seen no speci- 
mens. — Trunen. 
Amongst the specimens marked H. ovafa in 
Herl). Peraden. there are some collected by H. 
Nevill, in six-fiithoni water off Chilaw, April 
1881, of what appeal s to rae to be a vciy ditTerent 
species, with very pale green, oblong, petioled 
leaves, covered on both surfaces with a fine pube- 
scence, and with ciiiolate m irgins. Tiie pt-tiolcs 
have 110 dilatation of the base. The fr. enclosed in 
itsspatliesisscssik', about i in. long, and resembles 
that of //. iirnta.- -].'D. ii. 
'• Buriu uiniiice.c "aradispo.sedof inthi*eepa.'i;es. 
lii'iiig ■ annual, erect, s.ipropiiytic liPi'hs." 
CiOYLON OIU^HiD.S. 
'i'licn follows the interesting and iiiipin'taiit 
(u dcr i)i the Orchids, " Orcliidea'." wliich 
i e.|uire some KKi pages, ftu" of it we arc told : - 
Tlie third largest Order of llnverliig plants In 
iinmber of species in Ceylon, ranking between 
« Forgiisou sent male fl. to Thwaites in ]«iv). 
Grcimincie and Cypcraccoi and the third largest 
also in number of genera. In percentage of en- 
demic species it is the fifth of all the larger 
Orders, nearly half the species being endemic. 
On the other hand, it is remarkable for the 
paucity of endemic genera, of which there are 
only three out of the whole number (01). In 
the ai-rangement of the genera, I have adhered 
as closely as I could to the ' Genera Plautarnm ' 
and ' Fl. Brit. Ind." The principal deviation 
from these works is the placing of Phrcaiiu in 
Vandeo', in which I am supported by Dr. King. 
I have also restored two imperfectly known 
genera of Thwaites, Octarrhoict and' Alvisia. 
By far the greater number of species of Orchids 
hax e l>een . described for this ^vork from Her- 
barium specimens solely, oi', if aided by pub- 
lished or unpublished figures, these eiir too 
often unaccompanied by good analyses. Conse- 
quently, not a few of those descriptions will re- 
quire rectification or amplification from living 
specimens. An illustrated work on the Orchids 
of Ceylon, with careful analyses, like Sir G King's 
Orchids of the ^ikkim Himalaya, would be a 
great boon to botanists and amateurs. Of the 
160 species described in this work, only 97 have 
been figured, few of tliem from Ceylon specimens, 
most in inaccessible works, and not a few very 
imperfectly. 
We mucli fear tliat it would be difficult now 
to find all of the 160 Ceylon species in 
their native habitat. The law recently 
passed, prohibiting indiscriminate collecting 
and exports, was not a day too soon. W« 
have heard of Oiie export-collector \\'\\o left 
few or no orchids of any value in his favcn'ite 
collecting gi'ound. It is difficult to avoid quot- 
ing too many references to the many attrac- 
tive orchids. One of the most delightful, and 
which has been in full flower in gardens in 
Nuwara Eliya (on Naseby particularly) 
this year, is " Deiidrobium aureum or 
' heterocarpum " — the -primrose orchid' of 
which we are told : — 
Upper montane zone above 0,000 ft. ; common, 
Fl. .Ian. -April ; pale or dull primi-ose yellow, tha 
liji \\ ith two orange-purple l>lotches oii t lie disk ; 
or all orange-coloured ljut the apex ; or (in var. 
pallidiuii) nearly white, with the blotches pale 
orange. 
Himalaya, Kliasia, and Nilgiri Mts., Burma, 
.Java, Philippine Is. 
The so-called ' Primnjse Orchid " of Nuwara 
Eliya, from the sweet faint scent and colour of 
the flowers. The name, heterocarpum, seems to 
have no application to this species, but has two 
j'ears" priority over aureum,. 
But the noblest of Ceylon orchids is that 
discovered by Dr. Thwaites and called after 
Lady MacCarthy, "Dendrobiuin Macartlxije" 
— " Wesak-mal "" (May-flower) of the Sinhalesi* 
and of which a number of specimens used 
to grow on trees in Mr. Pate's garden. Flower 
Rfiad, no doidit brought down by coach from 
Ratnapnra. The description runs : — 
I'-orests in the moist region below 2,000 ft. : rare. 
Amb'ig.imuwa ; ,Sab iragamnwa Prow in many 
places : Hewussc. Fl. iiay -Iuly. during the heavy 
south-wi^^Bt I'aiiis ; clear violet -pink, the lip paler 
but veined and bordercil with deep jiink and with 
a large purple blotch on the disk : raivly all 
white, with a faint purple siain on li)i. 
Kiidemic. 
CL'rtainly th;' handsoniL'st of C.wlun Oivliids, 
and of lata yearo so much collected for exjiort 
IS to have become very scarce in places which 
formerly produced abundance. Tlie Sinhalese 
na;ir.» means ' M ly llowor," fi-oru lis time at 
III) wering. 
