16 
Howell Mundell); D. Ursula X E>. phalaenopsis (D. Ellen Harris); 1059: 
Arachnis Maggie Oei X V. tricolor v. sauvis (Aranda Bertha Braga). Of the 
foregoing the following are worthy of special mention: 984, a good shaped 
flower borne on sprays of li —2 ft. long. Up to 10 flowers are out together, 
each flower being yellow with dark brown or brown-red transverse bars, but 
it is not free flowering in Singapore; 1093 Aranthera Dainty, 10—15 flowers 
are borne on inflorescences H—2 ft. long. The flower colour is delicate pink- 
red with spots and bars of a darker hue. Seedlings flower when only 10 inches 
high; 1472, as in all Vanda spathulata progeny this closely follows the female 
parent. The most noteworthy point of this hybrid is that it is an Aranda cross 
which at the best of times is unusual. The flowers are small round and flat 
with leaves almost copper coloured; 1840 Vandanthe Howell Mundell, raised 
from seed obtained from Mr. H. S. Tan, very similar to V. Tan Chay Yan 
but not quite as good a shape. 
74. In the laboratory, experiments in the use of coconut milk in orchid 
media, initiated late in 1956 continued during the year. The agar was impreg¬ 
nated with 13 different treatments:— 
(1) Vacin’s culture prescription and 100 per cent young coconut milk. 
(2) Vacin’s culture prescription and 100 per cent mature coconut milk. 
(3) Vacin’s culture prescription and 50 per cent young coconut milk. 
(4) Vacin’s culture prescription and 50 per cent mature coconut milk. 
(5) Vacin’s culture prescription and 25 per cent young coconut milk. 
(6) Vacin’s culture prescription and 25 per cent mature coconut milk. 
(7) Vacin’s culture prescription and 100 per cent young coconut milk and fish 
emulsion. 
(8) Vacin’s culture prescription and 100 per cent mature coconut milk and fish 
emulsion. 
(9) Agar-Agar and 100 per cent young coconut milk. 
(10) Agar-Agar and 100 per cent mature coconut milk. 
(11) Vacin’s culture prescription and fish emulsion. 
(12) Agar-Agar and fish emulsion. 
(13) Vacin’s culture prescription (control). 
Treatments are not replicated for statistical interpretation but from observa¬ 
tion treatment 5 gives promising results with the largest and healthiest seed¬ 
lings. Treatment 13 appears next. Treatments 7, 8, 9 and 10 had bad results. 
75. For many years it has been noticed that some flasks sown and 
treated in the usual way produced spherical deformed plants of a morbid 
appearance. Under microscopical examination the tissue was seen to be a 
proliferating mass of undifferentiated cells suggestive of a carcinoma. One 
flask, containing such seedlings was sent to a cancer research hospital in New 
York, but the flask failed to stand the journey. Professor Gilliland of the 
University of Malaya has examined them and confirms our own opinion that 
the plants affected can grow out of this condition. It is possible that sowing 
too thickly may be a cause but it is curious that when it occurs it will be 
found in all the flasks containing seed of the same cross and. sowing. 
XXV. SUCCULENTS 
76. Little addition was made to the range of the succulent collection. 
The most interesting one was Epiphyllum ackersmannii, a close relative of the 
well-known “Kheng-fa”, E. hookeri, Haw. It has a deep red flower which 
opens during the day instead of at night as does Kheng-fa. 
