1
' i i i i j
III'.
ill ;
i'i '11
ir
quite at lioiue, polled citlicr in peal or sandy loajn, or even suspended in tlie stove -w-illi no oilier aids or
iippliimccs llian whal may be obtained Ihrougli the medium of Qie dense masses of fleshy roots, witii which,
on llieir iniporlation, ihey are often fomid to be well provided.* The specimen from which Oie plate is
laken was hung up in tliis manner for nearly two years, and not a particle of moss, soil, or covering of
any [<ind was pcnnilled to (ouch (he roots tlirougliont the whole oi" the time, and yet there was no lack of
either shools or tlowers. Subsequent experiments, however, go It) prove that although Sobra/uis may be
rejidily cultivated in various waj-s, yet under no circumstance do (hey succeed so perfecdy as when grown
in a house of tnodei-ale temperature, and potted in sandy loam,—conditions »hat might naturally be expected
lo suit a race of plants that are almost confined to the deliles of the Andes and Cordilleras.
<5. (Iccora is a native of Guatemala, from whence it wiis originally sent to Knypersley by MR. SKIKNEU.
It blooms in the autumn for weeks together, tlirowing up a succession of blossoms, each of which lasts only
a single day:—ii peculiaritj' that unfortunately characterizes all the species of die genus. In tJie fomi of
the (lower, »S". decora approaches a Brazilian species (5. sejisilis) that has recently been figured in tlie
" Botiinical Register," but the colours are difterent, as are also the habit suid aspect of the t\vo plants:
S. decora being of slender growth, -with its leaves and stems of a greenish hue and nearly smooth, while
-S. sessUis has a stout and robust character, and is so thickly covered with dark hairs as to have quite a
purplish cast.
The beautiful drawing from wliich the plate is engraved was most kindly made by Miss EDWAUDS,
who has been liigldy successful in her portraiture of the plant.
Tlie ^•ignette represents <1
costumes of that countrj-.
3 of Guatemala attired ? of the most becoming of the many
ili'.itii
I liid nith « lire, thi> («« of .nine
crc full u li>Tel; u U lliii of kcr'i."
" If no plants of Sobralia wi
uUove, or in any oilier iliun ilie (I17 sc
!r picked wiih a vie
wc .hould not ha.e
B pMMge aerosa ilic ira«, except »uch as Iwvc ilie large mnijca of roou dcicribtil
minually to deplore their dcatJi 011 llie voyage.
If
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