BRASSIA

(named after Mr. William Bra , who was sent by Sir Joseph Banks to Cape Coast and the neighbouring districts as a botanical collector, at the end of the last century). O RD. Orchideæ. A genus of tropical American orchids, very nearly allied to Oncidium, with which, indeed, Reichenbach unites it. From this genus, however, Bra ia may be distinguished by its simple inflorescence, elongated tail-like sepals, and short column, which is quite destitute of the side lobes or ears that form a marked feature in the species of Oncidium. There are about seventeen species, of which many are not sufficiently attractive to deserve the cultivator's attention. They will succeed either in pots or in baskets, the drainage of which must be perfect. They require to be potted in good fibrous peat, broken in pieces not le in size than a walnut, placed in the warm end of a Cattleya or Brazilian house, and supplied liberally with water during summer. In winter, they must still be kept in a tolerably warm place, and given sufficient water to keep the pseudo-bulbs from shrivelling. It is usele to dry off until shrivelling takes place, for experience a ures us that when a plant shrivels it is generally safe to a ume that it has been tried beyond its powers of endurance, and that its constitution has given way. Propagated by dividing the plants, when growth has commenced.