September 6, 1388. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
221 
Horticultural Society's meetings and ceitificated by the Floral 
Committee. 
DISA LACERA. 
From Mr. A. H. Smee’s garden at Carslialton a plant of a 
•“blue Disa ” was sent to the R.H.S. meeting on August 28th, 
when a botanic certificate was awarded for it. The flowers are 
small, of a bluish purple hue, and are produced on a slender scape 
without leaves, as shown in our illustration. Alone it is not a very 
conspicuous plant, but associated with others the flowers have a 
good appearance, owing to their distinct colour, though this is by 
no means the brilliant blue some might be led to expect from 
glowing descriptions given in past times of the blue Disas at the 
Cape. It has, no doubt, been carefully determined, but several 
reliable authors mention D. lacera as having white or whitish 
flowers, and it so appears in Thunberg’s “ Flora Capensis.” As 
recently noticed in this Journal, Mr. Smee grows his Disas out of 
doors on a lattice suspended over a stream of water and shaded by 
trees. 
DISA RACEitOSA (D. SECUNDA). 
With regard to D. racemosa, it is somewhat stranse that 
although known to botanists for so many years it should not 
have been introduced to cultivation, or at least flowered, until last 
year. Mr. J. O’Brien of Harrow-on-the-Hill introduced this with 
•several other Cape Disas and rare terrestrial Orchids, and flowers 
were produced for the first time in October and November 1887. 
In May of the present year a strong plant was also flowered in the 
Royal Gardens, Kew, and when exhibited at Westminster on 
May 22nd it attracted much notice from the orchidists and other 
visitors, a well merited certificate being awarded for the plant. 
The flowers are produced in slightly one-sided racemes, to which 
■character the synonym D. secunda is due, and are distinguished by 
their bright rosy crimson colour, a very pleasing tint in contrast 
with white or light-coloured flowers. It is not a difficult plant tp 
grow, but needs a ■watchful guardian, and in an ordinary cool house 
with Disa grandiflora, out of doors in a sheltered position, or in a 
frame, it has been found equally healthy and satisfactory. 
SPATHOGLOTTI3 VIEILLARDI (S. AUGUSTORUM). 
A beautiful Orchid described by Reichenbaoh as S. Augustorum, 
exhibited by Sir Trevor Lawrence at a meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on July 13th, 1886, and certificated by the 
Floral Committee, has been found to be identical with a plant 
previously described by the same author, and Sir Joseph Hooker 
gives the following history of the plant, accompanied by an. excel¬ 
lent coloured plate, in the “ Botanical Magazine ” for the current 
month:— 
“ Spathoglottis Yieillardi vas first made known by Dr. Reichen- 
bach’s description published in the ‘ Linnsea ’ in 1877, taken from 
specimens collected between 1861 and 1867 in New Caledonia by 
the botanist whose services and name it deservedly commemorates. 
It had, however, been previously collected (in 1853) in the Isle of 
Pines (one of the same group) by Mr. MacGillivray, naturalist to 
Captain Denham’s voyage to the Pacific, specimens from which 
source are in the Kew Herbarium. On the Spathoglottis 
Augustorum flowering at Kew Mr. N. E. Brown recognised its 
identity with the previously published S. Yieillardi, and I am 
unable to detect any difference between the two plants. It is to be 
observed, however, that the Straits of Sunda, from whence 
S. Augustorum was sent by the two collectors, Auguste Linden 
and Auguste De Ronne, are very far from the New Caledonia 
Archipelago, and the presence of the same terrestrial Orchid in 
such distant localities was hardly to have been anticipated. 
Apparently the same species has been collected in the Banda 
Islands by Mr. Moseley when on the ‘Challenge’ Expedition in 
1875. Mr. Linden states that the figure in ‘ Lindenia ’ represents 
a very poorly developed state of the plant, but except that the 
leaves are shorter and flowers a third larger it accords in develop¬ 
ment with that here given, and with the Herbarium specimens. In 
both the raceme has only commenced flowering, for as flowering 
advances the raceme lengthens, and the lower part from which the 
flowers have fallen is clothed with the persistent deflexed imbri¬ 
cating bracts. 
“ The specimen here figured was purchased in 1887 in Messrs. 
Protheroe & Morris’ auction room. Mr. Watson informs me that 
it is the strongest and best grower of all the cultivated species of 
Spathoglottis. It flowered in the tropical Orchid house at Kew in 
September of last year. 
“ Description. —Pseudo-bulbs 2 inches long, ovoid, at length 
nearly naked. Leaves 1 to 2 feet long by 2 to 2i broad, sessile, 
spreading and recurved, elongate-lanceolate, gradually acuminate, 
closely cost ite and plicate. Scape from the base of the pseudo¬ 
bulb, 12 to 18 inches high, robust, teiete, with three or four dis¬ 
tant short appressed subacute herbaceous sheaths. Raceme at first 
eorymbiform, lengthening to 6 inches ; bracts 1 inch long, 
herbaceous, broadly ovate, subacute, concave; pedicels and 
ovary half to 11 inch long, puberulous. Perianth 2 inches 
FIG. 25.—disa racemosA 
in diameter. Sepals and petals very pale lilac or nearly white, 
ovate-oblong, subacute. Lip about as long as the sepals ; lateral 
lobes small, erect, and incurved, subtruncate, orange-brown, with 
