The first orchids I acquired years ago were plants indigenous to North Burma, so when the opportunity to take a Fulbright Fellowship in Burma came up, I eagerly accepted. At Last I would be able to see the country where my first plants originated; perhaps I would even be able to collect some fine new species! So I "farmed out" my collection, distributing the plants among several of my good natured orchid growing friends and enplaned for the land of the Dendrobe and Vanda.
My first six months in Burma were rather frustrating orchidwise for I was confined to the Rangoon area. This city of nearly a million population (still swollen by 200,000 war refugees) is the capital of the chief port of Burma, but living here does not give one a very representative idea of the country. And being situated in the delta region, it is not a good place to find many orchids. Then too, my time of arrival (September) was not the season for blooms on such plants as I did see, for I found plenty of plants; in fact, one tree along the main road within 50 yards of my house had several hundred orchid plants growing high on the trunk and main branches. And when my new Burmese friends learned of my hobby, they pressed specimens upon me. But what were they? "Oh, just orchids." Their descriptions of the blooms indicated the plants were probably D.formosum, D. fimbriatum and D.chrysanthum, but not wanting to load up with plants of unknown quality, in most cases I held off. But I continued to inquire concerning orchids and orchid collectors. Results negative. Not that people did not keep orchid plants, for many persons kept two or three or a dozen orchids on the trees in their compounds; but the orchid was just another garden flower to them. All they knew was the vernacular name. Real, dyed-in-the-wool orchid fans seemed to be absent.
One reason of course, the war. Burma was terribly ravaged during the almost four years of conflict. The Japanese advance and Allied withdrawal, the long years of Japanese occupation under almost constant Allied air bombardment, and the final Japanese retreat and the triumphant Allied advance all inflicted heavy damage on the country. In the years since, most people have been occupied with repairing war damage and with the elemental business of making a living to spend any time on the frills of the life such as the intensive cultivation of the flower hobby. Foreigners, in pre-war days the entrepreneurs who collected and exported orchid plants, in most cases failed to return to Burma when the victorious Allis regained possession. Or if they did return, often the burgeoning seeds of nationalism which culminated in the independence of the Union of Burma in 1948, either directly or indirectly squeezed them out.
But still I kept asking. After many methods my inquiries finally began to bear fruit. I met an American missionary who has lived here 20 years (except the occupation period) and who could name most of the common Denrobes of the region. He has put me on the trail of the (reputed) bright red Denrobe. Later on, at a party, a chance acquaintance pricked up his ears at the mention of my hobby. "Oh, you must meet the Princess Ma Lat. She is a cousin of the late King Thibaw-is Mrs. Bellamy now-lives in Maymyo- orchids are her hobby and she has a splendid collection." Well! This was most fortuitous for that very week I was scheduled to leave for a week trip in North Burma and Maymyo was the first stop on my list.
Up to this time I had not left Rangoon because foreigners cannot move about freely in Burma today. This is mainly due to the possible danger from dacoits and insurgents. The latter have made travel between most cities in Burma possible only by air. Rail and highway traffic is sporadic and fraught with hazard because the bridges are often blown up or the roads are mined. Over 500 bridges were destroyed last year, according to the official government figures. The War Department protects non-Burmans by allowing them to travel only to certain approved areas and only by air. My business was to visit schools and promote science so I obtained the required permit.
Maymyo is 2 1/2 air miles north of Rangoon and located on a plateau of 3,400 feet elevation. After the hot weather of the delta country, the cool air of Maymyo was most delightful. At midday in the direct sun, it really gets hot here too, but one can be very comfortable by stepping into shade. My business over, I hunted up the Bellamy home and introduced myself. Not the princess, although a most charming lady, was not the orchidophile; it was her husband. Mr. Bellamy is a genial Australian who has lived in Burma nearly twenty-five years. He lost his entire orchid collection during the war but has built up his fine group of plants since. All plants are growing out-of-doors, of course, some in baskets, some on slab rafts and some in trees. It was off-season for most blooms, though I did see a fine specimen of a Saccolabium bearing a cluster of about forty flowers, but it was a pleasure to look at the vigorous plants with their rampant growth. Such root systems! Vanda coerulea is Mr. Bellamy's favorite and he snorted at the suggestion that it was a shy and tricky bloomer. He pointed at one of his V. coerulea plants that showed the remains of four bloom spikes from last year. "Over two hundred flowers on that plant last year and about the same with these others. And every year. The secret is a good long rest period with really cold nights. Here at Maymyo during the winter season the temperature will go from 95º at midday to 35 º or less at night." The color variations of Vanda coerulea in Mr. Bellamy's collection range from deep blue thru light blue and lilac to pink.
Another orchid acquaintance gained in Maymyo was Mr. E. H. Dickman, Superintendent of the Government Botanical Garden there. (He had just recently been released by Supreme Court order from two years' imprisonment, having been arrested on an unjust accusation of collaboration with insurgents.) Mr. Dickman was very enthusiastic about building up the orchid collection of the Botanical Garden. "However, I don't know very much about orchids," he said. "Bellmay is the one person in Burma today who really does know them."
From Maymyo I moved on to Mandalay. Here is much of historic interest but little in the orchid line. Then on the north to Bhamo where Mr. Bellamy had advised me to look for a German collector named David Kohn. Yes, Kohn was well known to Bhamo but he did not return after the war. (Note: The extent of the war devastation can be understood from the fact that in this city of 8,000 population there was only one building that escaped either total destruction or severe damage.) My disappointment at missing Kohn was soon wiped out when I met the chief of one of the nearby Kachin hill tribes, the Duwa Zau La. In prewar days Duwa had collected for himself. When I visited his home I found many hundreds of plants in the process of being boxed up for shipment. Only a few were in flower and from these I got a fine D. wardianum, a showy D. primulinum and an unknown Coelogyne. I also took several other non-blooming plants which the Duwa assured me were fine varieties.
Next I moved further north to Mitkyina, famed in War II history. Here the Ledo (or Stillwell) Road starts for India and we drove 40 miles along this famous highway to the age-old jade works at Mogaung. By now we were too far north to worry about insurgents; however, on one of our trips we were warned by the government not to linger; we were within 6 miles of Red China and the authorities feared Chinese bandits. As we journeyed thru the jungle on our various trips, I saw literally hundreds of thousands of orchid plants but I stopped to collect only a very few when it seemed as though they might be different from the ones I already had. Unfortunately, I am not one of those talented individuals who from a distance of 200 feet can spot: "Oh, a fine specimen of 'Bulbopetallum proliferoflorum grandis' on that branch up there!" So I collected only enough plants to put men ten pounds over my baggage allowance when I flew back to Rangoon.
At "home" once more, I found an important letter awaiting me. Another of my questing leads was bearing fruit. I has previously been told of a man "named Alysworth or something like that" who lived near Taung-gyi and made a business of exporting orchids. My exploratory letter, even though incorrectly addressed, reached him (that was a minor miracle, itself, in present-day Burma) and he answered promptly. I found him to be a gentleman named R. W. Aldworth who has now forsaken the orchid exporting business for the development of a zinc mine (discovered while looking for orchids). However, no true orchid lover ever loses interest in the flower, so Mr. Aldworth promised to call on me the next time he was in Rangoon on business. That time eventuated within a week and I had the pleasure of a fine visit with an expert who probably has an even wider knowledge of the orchids of Burma than does Mr. Bellany. The majority of my plants were identified for me, some of them being advised for discards.
At last I felt satisfied. I had seen orchids in their native jungle habitat, had collected a few plants, and most important had finally made contact with (probably) the only people in Burma who really know the native orchids. ---College of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington