coccinea_. The books
state correctly that it is a native of Cochin China. Orchids coming from
such a distance must needs be withered on arrival. Accordingly, the most
experienced horticulturist who is not up to a little secret feels
assured that all is well when he beholds at the auction-room or at one
of the small dealer's a plant full of sap, with glossy leaves and
unshrivelled roots. It must have been in cultivation for a year at the
very least, and he buys with confidence. Too often, however, a
disastrous change sets in from the very moment his purchase reaches
home. Instead of growing it falls back and back, until in a very few
weeks it has all the appearance of a newly-imported piece. The
explanation is curious. At some time, not distant, a quantity of _R.
coccinea_ must have found its way to the neighbourhood of Rio. There it
flourishes as a weed, with a vigour quite unparalleled in its native
soil. Unscrupulous persons take advantage of this extraordinary
accident. From a country so near and so readily accessible they can get
plants home, pot them up, and sell them, before the withering process
sets in. May this revelation confound such knavish tricks! The moral is
old--buy your orchids from one of the great dealers, if you do not care
to "establish" them yourself.
_R. coccinea_ is another of the climbing species, and it demands, even
more urgently than _V.
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