JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
154 
[ February 24, 1881. 
boiling water so cleanse them as to render them fit for use ? The 
subject may be of a little importance to some gardeners, as these 
tubs may often be bought cheaply, and one of them if sawn in 
halves would do for two plants. 
Whilst writing about tubs I may state that spirit tubs, at all 
events those that have contained rum, are very destructive to the 
roots without previous scalding with boiling water. Some twelve 
years ago, when under gardener, I was directed by my employer 
to put a fme young plant of Cyathea princeps into a small tub 
about 2 feet in diameter, and about the same in depth. The tub 
had contained rum, and was not scalded before using it; the conse¬ 
quence was that when the roots reached the sides the young 
pinnules on the fronds drooped and turned brown, the older ones 
soon assumed the same appearance, and the plant appeared to be 
dying. It was placed on the ground, and two men with a four- 
tined steel fork each raised it bodily out, it was then found that 
the extremities of the roots that had reached the sides of the tub 
were all dead. The tub was then well scalded, some of the soil 
was picked away carefully from the ball to enable the plant to be 
returned to its former position and then filled up. It soon re¬ 
covered and never showed the same symptoms as before, but grew 
rapidly in a shaded stove, and made a fine specimen. This Cyathea 
is one of the most handsome Tree Ferns, and is especially suitable 
for a large house. 
I have a large paraffin tub that has been in use four or five 
years. It has had boiling water in it a great many times, and has 
often been used for washing flower pots, but even now after four 
or five years of such use, small quantities of oil may be occasion¬ 
ally seen floating on the water.— A. Harding. 
ANGRiECUMS. 
A wide range of floral variation is one of the striking charac¬ 
teristics of the great Orchid family, and yet many of the genera 
are clearly marked and easily distinguished even by non-botanical 
observers. Some genera, however, contain species differing very 
greatly among themselves in the form and colour of the perianth, 
though in other structural characters they are closely allied. 
Among the first-named the Angrascums may be included, for they 
bear a strong family likeness in general appearance and colour, 
yet with sufficient diversity in the size of the flowers and in the 
form of the inflorescence to render them all more or less attrac¬ 
tive. With the exception of a few species they cannot, however, 
be ranked among the really useful Orchids which everyone may 
grow—not from any great difficulties attending their culture, or 
from deficiency of interest, but because where the object is to 
provide a brilliant display in the Orchid house there are many 
others better suited for the purpose easily procurable, and re¬ 
quiring less heat than the majority of species constituting the 
genus under consideration. A marked uniformity of colour pre¬ 
vails in the Angrsecums; from pure white to creamy yellow is the 
extreme range of tints, and the charming elegance of some species 
with delicate flowers, long slender spurs, and gracefully arching 
racemes, or the stateliness of the strong-growing forms with large 
flowers, can scarcely compensate for what appears to some as a 
defect. Possibly this is the reason we seldom find a good collec¬ 
tion of the species in one garden, though a large number of forms 
are included in the genus, and many have been introduced to 
cultivation. In some of the largest collections there is not a 
dozen species, though the nurserymen of this country offer about 
twenty, and probably nearly thirty are now represented, some 
being extremely rare. It is seldom, however, that a collection of 
Orchids, even of moderate size, is without at least one or two 
representatives of the genus, and many more might be advan¬ 
tageously grown wherever there is sufficient accommodation for 
them. 
The genus Angrtecum was established in 1822 by Aubert du 
Petit Thouars, to include certain species of epiphytal Orchids 
found in East and West Tropical Africa, Madagascar, and the 
adjacent islands, and in a work published by that botanist several 
of the species now in cultivation were described. It was then 
believed that the geographical range of the genus was very 
limited, but species have since been found in Japan and the West 
Indies. Their headquarters are Western Tropical Africa, from 
Sierra Leone to the River Gaboon, the opposite side of the 
great continent about Zanzibar, in Madagascar, the Comoro 
Islands, Bourbon, and Mauritius. They are essentially heat and 
moisture-loving Orchids, and with the exception of the Japanese 
Angrtecum falcatum they need the warmest compartment of the 
structure devoted to such plants. Being epiphytal in habit the 
majority require to be grown in baskets or on blocks of wood ; 
but those of vigorous habit, such as A. eburneum and A. sesqui- 
pedale, are usually grown in pots with abundance of potsherds as 
drainage, [good fibrous peat and sphagnum, or the latter alone, 
that moss [also being employed when the small forms are grown 
in baskets or on blocks. As with all Orchids of similar habit and 
from similar climates, abundance of water is required during 
growth, and a less amount when at rest; in other respects they 
may be treated like most of their allies. A few descriptive notes 
upon the best of the species may be of interest, and will serve to 
indicate the chief characteristics of the genus. 
A. sesquipedale .—One of the most remarkable Orchids known, 
and having the largest flowers in the order, it is also unquestion¬ 
ably the most handsome in its genus. Such qualities entitle it 
to some consideration, and several points in its history are also 
invested with peculiar interest. It is, perhaps, the best known of 
the Angrmcums, for it is found in the majority of moderately large 
collections of Orchids ; and very deservedly is it so popular, for 
the vigorous habit of the plant, the dark green distichous leaves, 
and the great ivory white flowers render it worthy the attention 
of all growers. In the ordinary type of the species the flowers 
are about 6 to 8 inches in diameter, the spreading sepals and 
petals imparting a star-like appearance to them, and the spurs 
are from 10 inches to 1 foot in length. Messrs. Veitcli have a 
grand variety, which is, I believe, named superbum. It is greatly 
superior to the ordinary form both in the size of the flowers and 
the purity of the white. In both the flowers are borne on a 
moderately short peduncle, and are arranged in a racemose 
manner but widely spreading. They are produced during the 
winter months, and last in good condition for several weeks, the 
sweet Lily-like fragrance which the blooms possess rendering 
them additionally attractive, and a single specimen upon the 
stages of an Orchid house will fill the whole structure with 
perfume. 
This species was one of those known to Du Petit Thouars in 
1822, but it was about thirty-four years later when living plants 
were first brought to England by the Rev. W. Ellis, win found it 
in 1851 growing on the branches of trees on the margins of forests 
in the low and hot districts of Madagascar. A few years later a 
plant produced flowers at that traveller’s residence, Hoddesden, 
when the plant attracted much attention owing to the peculiarity 
of its structure. Since that time it has been generally distributed ; 
and on December the 10th, 1861, Messrs. Veitch & Sons exhibited 
a specimen at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, when 
a first-class certificate was awarded for it. As regards the struc¬ 
ture of this Orchid the chief peculiarity is the extremely long spur, 
which, though rarely exceeding a foot in length in cultivation, is said 
to attain foot in its native habitats, and from that character 
the specific name is derived. This unusual length is supposed to 
be an adaptation in connection with the fertilisation, and in Mr. 
C. Darwin’s work on Orchids he lucidly described the mode by 
which this can be accomplished. He considered from an elaborate 
examination of the structure that only large insects with probosces 
long enough to reach to the bottom of the spur where the nectar 
is secreted could effect the fertilisation, and he thence concluded 
that some kind of insect, probably moths, existed with probosces 
large enough for the purpose, though at that time one was not 
known to possess the organ of such a size. A species of Sphinx 
has been subsequently found in Brazil with a proboscis nearly a 
foot long, so that the probability of similar species existing in 
Madagascar is increased, but I am not aware that one has yet been 
found there. Mr. Darwin’s observations have thus received a 
partial confirmation, and no doubt will at some time be proved to 
be quite correct. 
A. eburneum. —This is another of the strong-growing species, 
but not so remarkable as the one just described, though from its 
free-flowering habit it is one of useful Angriecums, especially as 
the flowers are produced at a time when the Orchid house is com¬ 
paratively dull—namely, from December to February. Grown in 
pots as already mentioned excellent results are obtained, and 
during the last few months several unusually fine specimens in 
some of the chief London nurseries, Kew, and elsewhere have been 
noted in the Journal. The plant is of robust habit with long 
leaves arranged in a similar manner to those of A. sesquipe dale, 
and it bears numerous erect spikes or racemes of large flowers, of 
which the roundish pure white lip forms the most conspicuous 
portion, the sepals and petals being narrow and of a greenish tint. 
Two varieties are known—one named virens, which has smaller 
and less handsome flowers than the species, but is rather more 
graceful in habit. Another, named superbum, is decidedly superior 
to the type in the size of the flowers, and is said to be one of the 
introductions of the Rev. W. Ellis. Of this variety a remarkably 
handsome specimen was grown a few years ago at Farnham Castle 
by Mr. Lawrence, and I recently noticed a very good example in 
Mr. B. S. Williams’ nursery at Holloway. 
The species is native of Madagascar, where it was found by 
