Almost all of them have overlapping leaves rising like a large rosette from the centre of the griming pot. These make a perfectly watertight urn that must at all times be kept filled with water. With the vast majority the compost in the pot should be kept only just moist, as the root systems are not especially strong and are easily damaged by continual saturation.

Plants can be raised from cuttings; we are usually advised to insert one cutting in a small pot, but better results will be obtained if four or five cuttings are inserted around the edge of the pot. A convenient way of raising them is to fill the pot with J.I.P.2 compost, make holes for the cuttings with a pencil and fill the holes with moist peat. The cuttings are then inserted in the peat in which they will root before finding their way into the compost, where they will grow very much better.

One snag with these plants is that they will very often flower so freely in the early stages that they will almost kill themselves off, as all the energy goes into producing coloured bracts and very little is directed to the production of new leaves. Therefore, it is wise at the beginning to be a bit harsh and remove all the early bracts as they appear, so building up a much more healthy and robust plant. Also, in the early stages it is advisable occasionally to remove the growing tips of new shoots in order to induce a more bushy and compact habit of growth.

Once the plant has begun to grow with reasonable freedom it will be essential to ensure that a regular programme of feeding with a balanced liquid fertiliser is started and maintained until the plant is potted on. This is an operation that should be performed at least once annually.

Plants should be knocked out of their pots and the soil ball should be wrapped in wet sphagnum moss. The plant is then fixed to the tree branch as unobtrusively as possible with plastic-covered wire. Thereafter the moss should he kept permanently moist. It will be found that many of the plants will do very much better and will certainly be much more interesting when treated in this way.

Actually this plant is never at its best until it has been potted into a pot 7 in. or more in size. It can then be a most impressive sight when massed around green-lea N. ed plants such as monsteras. This variety is still very much in short supply, but should you he fortunate enough to obtain one the treatment is much the same as that advised for guildia.