But I am digressing.
Epidendrums mostly will bear as much heat as can be given them while
growing; all demand more sunshine than they can get in our climate.
Amateurs do not seem to be so well acquainted with the grand things of
this genus as they should be. They distrust all imported Epidendrums.
Many worthless species, indeed, bear a perplexing resemblance to the
finest; so much so, that the most observant of authorities would not
think of buying at the auction-room unless he had confidence enough in
the seller's honesty to accept his description of a "lot." Gloriously
beautiful, however, are some of those rarely met with; easy to cultivate
also, in a sunny place, and not dear. _Epid. rhizophorum_ has been
lately rechristened _Epid. radicans_--a name which might be confined to
the Mexican variety. For the plant recurs in Brazil, practically the
same, but with a certain difference. The former grows on shrubs, a true
epiphyte; the latter has its bottom roots in the soil, at foot of the
tallest trees, and runs up to the very summit, perhaps a hundred and
fifty feet. The flowers also show a distinction, but in effect they are
brilliant orange-red, the lip yellow, edged with scarlet. Forty or fifty
of them hanging in a cluster from the top of the raceme make a show to
remember. Mr. Watson "saw a plant a few years ago, that bore eighty-six
heads of flowers!" They last for three months.
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