MANUAL OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, 



referred, there is also an exhaustive general index, in which indi- 

 cation is given of the illustrations. ^ j^^ -^ 



A Manual of Orchidaceons Plants. Chelsea : James Veitch & Sons. 

 1887 to 1894. Two Vols, (in ten parts). 



Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, the well-know^n nurserymen of 

 Chelsea, are to be congratulated on having presented to the public, 

 after seven or eight years of diligent labour and research, a work 

 which will occupy a very prominent place among the vast amount 

 of literature which has been devoted to the study of the great orchid 

 family. The Mcmual of Orchidaceous Plants has been issued in parts 

 at intervals since 1887, some of which have been noticed in these 

 pages, and has been compiled to supply amateurs and cultivators of 

 exotic orchids with a fuller account of the principal genera, species, 

 and varieties cultivated under glass than is contained in the 

 manuals hitherto in use. The actual author of the work is, we 

 believe, Mr. Adolphus Kent, who has so far succeeded in his task 

 that nearly a hundred genera with their more noteworthy species 

 have been fully and accurately described. Having checked a large 

 number of the specific descriptions from living specimeus, it is a 

 pleasure to be able to say that they are thoroughly trustworthy. 



The orchids which are more generally grown, not only m this 

 country, but on the Continent and in America, have naturally 

 received greater attention than those which are comparatively little 

 known. Thus considerable space is devoted to the Odontoglossums, 

 Cattleyas and Ltelias, Cypripediums, Dendrobiums, Oncidiums, 

 Masdevallias, Epideudrums, Coelogynes, Lycastes, brides, and the 

 like, the species under each genus beiug described in alphabetical 

 order to facilitate reference. We must confess, however, to a 

 feeling of surprise not unmingled with regret at the absence of any 

 references to such well-known genera as Ancectochilus, Catasetum, 

 Disa, Habenaria, Sobralia, and a few others which have for years 

 been represented in cultivation. The gorgeous tints and veinings 

 of the foliage of the species of Anicctochilns have delighted hundreds 

 of people, but as these gems are notoriously difiicult to grow, 

 their omission from a popular treatise may be justified. The same 

 cannot, however, be said with regard to the large ivory-flowered 

 Catasetum Ihinr/eruthi (which, by the way, Reichenbach insisted was 

 identical with his C.pileatum), 0. Jimbriata, &c., Sobralia macrantha, 

 8. leiicoxantha, and S. xantholeuca. Tliese are all found in every 

 orchid collection of any pretensions, and it is to be regretted that 

 they do not find a place in this valuable work, even at the risk of 

 crushing out such genera as Cochlioda, Cycnoches, Compardtia, 

 Polystachyu, and Kriopsis. 



The last part of the Manual is an extremely interesting one, 

 and gives a general review of the orchid family. It contains a 

 special chapter on the morphology of orchid flowers ; the teratology 

 has been treated by Dr. Masters, who has made a special study of 

 what may be termed the inherent tendency of orchids to become 

 monstrous under cultivation. The minute structure, as well as 



