178 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. VII. 
I found one decayed tree lying on the ground almost over¬ 
grown with grass and ferns, on the rotten trunk of which 
the A. sesquipedale was growing most luxuriantly. The roots 
which had penetrated the soft trunk of this dead tree were 
white and fleshy, while the leaves were longer and compara- 
From a photograph by W. Ellis. 
ANGR^ECUM SESQUIPEDALE AND NATIVE FERNS. 
tively soft and green. There were neither flowers nor 
flower-stalks on any of the plants growing in the rich vege¬ 
table mould furnished by this old dead tree. 
The habits of the superbum were quite different. Of 
these the fleshy roots formed a sort of network at the base 
of the bulb. During the journey I occasionally noticed both 
