It was here that Wallis attended school and, in the surrounding mountains and forests, developed the love of nature and botany which later gave him the desire to travel abroad and visit the tropics.

[2] As a youth, Wallis had great energy and an indomitable will, and despite his speech impediment he acquired considerable proficiency in foreign languages, an accomplishment which stood him in good stead during the course of his career.

[3] In 1866, Wallis was exploring the low-lying areas where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon, when he came across an unknown Cattleya species growing among the branches of macucus trees.

Although he was able to make sufficient finds to send a shipment back to England, including Paphiopedilum argus,[5] P. haynaldianum,[6] Dendrobium amethystoglossum[7] and Lilium philippinense,[8] the mission proved too expensive to be considered a success and Wallis had to be recalled.

[3] His contract with Veitch was terminated in 1874, but he continued to collect plants in South America at his own expense, commencing his last journey at the end of the summer of 1875, when he left to explore the northern and central regions of the continent.