50 
RENANTHERA COCCINEA. 
Dr. Lindley observes, in the Botanical Register, when speaking- of this plant, that 
" The cause of previous want of success in inducing it to flower, has resided in its 
having been cultivated in too dry an atmosphere. Mr. Fairbairn, gardener to His 
Royal Highness Prince Leopold, at Claremont, impressed with this opinion, tried 
the effect of tying moss around the stems, and keeping it constantly damp, exposed 
as much as possible to the influence of the sun ; with what success his experiment 
has been rewarded, appears from the accompanying representation of a portion of a 
panicle, two and a half feet long, which was finally produced in the. hothouse at 
Claremont, in October, 1827." See Bot. Reg., Vol. 14, t. 1131. Now it appears 
to us, that a mistake has arisen as to the real cause of its flowering. In this we are 
well supported by the fact of the plant having rarely — we might almost say never 
— produced flowers in those collections where great moisture is kept up during the 
whole of the season. At Wentworth, under the superior treatment of Mr. Cooper, 
the species has flowered several successive years ; and it is well known, that that 
intelligent cultivator never washes his plants over head, nor keeps up amongst 
them a heavy moist heat. The plan we adopted with the plant that flowered at 
Chatsworth, and of which our present figure represents a portion, was as follows : — 
About April, 1836, we had a plant put into a small house appropriated to the 
growth of a few stove plants, in which the heat varied from sixty-five to seventy 
degrees ; it was kept free from moisture, except what rose from watering and occa- 
sional syringing. 
Here the whole of the plant was exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and, as 
might be expected, this treatment caused the leaves slightly to shrivel, as well as 
turn a little yellow, but, by occasionally washing them over in the afternoon with 
the syringe, the plant did not suffer much ; after it had been in this exposed 
situation for three months, we had the satisfaction of seeing two fine spikes of 
flowers pushing forth, one of which came to maturity. We have little doubt, if 
proper attention is paid to placing the plant well up to the glass, and without the 
use of shade, that a flower bud will soon make its appearance on a well established 
plant ; it is necessary here to observe, that the plant ought to be six or eight feet 
high before this experiment is attempted. It is .no wonder that the Chinese take 
pride in suspending from the ceiling of their rooms many of this interesting tribe, 
in coarsely wrought wooden baskets, some for the sake of their magnificent 
flowers, and others for their delightful fragrance. The plant at Chatsworth, when 
in flower, was truly splendid, but scarcely fragrant, and being placed in the cool 
end of the Orchidese house it continued beautiful for nearly four months ; and there 
is no reason to doubt, if the plant had been placed in a light situation, in a much 
