bemuhi 



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Platk XXIV. 



CYIMUPEDIUM VENUSTUM SPECTABILE. 



A very niporioi variety of the Handsome Lady's Slippor. The leaves arc beautifully tessellated with different shades 

 of preeii- The flowers are of medium rite, and very handsome : Hie dorsal sepal U ovale, acuminate, elegantly 

 Mripcd with aieen on :> pale ground ; the lateral sepals are narrower and paler ; the petals lire oblong, spathu- 

 late. somewhat wavy, while lined with greon, and having the apex of a bright rosy red. while alone th- mainl- 

 and the median line are scattered towards (he base a few large, unequal, dark purple spots; the lip hn* a Muni 

 pouch or sac. with an open month, yellowish green, veined with darker greet), nnd slightly suffused with rose. 

 OvrtUPBDIOJi vi:m>tt>! sfixraiiiLE, Ihrt. WiUlmm. 



This genus, which derives its name from Cypru, one of the names of Venus, and podhn, a slipper, on 

 account of lite labclluui more or less resembling a Blipper, and which has led to their being familiarly known its 

 lily's Slippers, contains many interesting species of an extremely ornamental character. The type of the 

 present plant is a very old inhabitant of our hothouses, having been introduced from Nepal in the year 

 1S1G, and whs indeed the first of the Indian species brought to Europe. For many years this plant remained 

 D -.'teat favourile with Orchid growers, but eventually lost its popularity, owing to the discovery and introduc- 

 tion of the many larger-flowered and more showy species from the Indian Archipelago and Sooth America 

 which now adorn our plant stoves. Nevertheless, although not amongst the most attractive kinds, it h still 

 very handsome, and when a variety like the subject of our illustration is obtained, and which flowered in our 

 own collection during the past winter, il lacks but little of the beauty displayed by many of the rarer kinds. 



t'ypripcdium venuitum spcetabih; like the original type of the species, is a native of Northern India, 

 and during the flowering season will stand unharmed in an ordinary warm conservatory, or as on ornament to 

 the drawing-room, in which it will produce a charming effect, with its curious marbled leaves and pouched or 

 slip]KT-likc labcllnm. When, moreover, it h remembered that its jwriod of flowering is mid-winter, a season 

 when flowers of almost any kind arc heartily welcome, it will be evident that such very attractive and lasting 

 ones as these must lie specially valuable. 



It is a plant of a dwarf, compact habit of growth, and. like the rest of the genus, is destitute of pseudo- 

 bulbs. The leaves are arranged in a distichous manner, and arc of an oblong form, bluntbh, about si.\ 

 inch.* in length and two in breadth, the upper side being of a light and lively green colour, mottled with 

 blotches of darker olive-green, and the under side light green, prettily marbled with dull purple. From the 

 centre of these leaves is produced a scape bearing a single flower, in which the dorsal sepal, which i- largest, 

 is ovatO, acuminate in sliape, and white, marked all over with broad parallel streaks of green, extending from 

 the base to the apex. The petals are greenish-white, streaked with deeper green and tipped with rosy red, and 

 these are also more or less blotched with blackish-purple. The lip is calceiform, or poached ; its ground colour 

 is yellowish-green, prettily veined with darker green, and suffused with rose. These flowers retain their full 

 beauty for many weeks, which is an additional recommendation of them to all plant-lovers. 



The plant now under consideration succeeds best under pot-culture. The material best adapted for 

 putting is a compost of good fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum moss, to which a little clean leaf-mould ami 



SECOND SERIES. 





