86 
widow of the late H. J. Ross, Esq., Poggio Gherardo, Florence, 
Italy, formerly of Castagnolo, between Pisa and Florence. Mr. 
Ross, who was an ardent a of Orchids, was for many 
ears a correspondent of Prof. H. G. Reichenbach, of Ham- 
burg, and as many of the drawings were made by Mrs. Ross from 
materials authenticated by the latter, they ponees a historical 
value in addition to their artistic merit. also correspond 
in a good many cases with materials wee at Kew, for after 
Reichenbach’s geist in 1889, Mr. Ross sent niioh, valuable 
material to Kew e dra syatige are about 750 in -Lpemaca and 
lection. Others were subsequently added, until the collection 
ecame one of the finest in Italy, numbering nearly one thousand 
species. Florence is too hot in summer for the cooler-growing 
species of the American Cordilleras, though some of them are 
represented in the Sgeecton, drawn, from plants introduced by 
r. Ross, which generally flowered once and then rapidly 
deteriorated and died. 
mong drawings of ihe original type-specimens in the col- 
lection may be mentioned Coelogyne Lossiana, Reichb. f., a 
urmese species that flowered i = .% pores in 1884; Paphinia 
cristata var. Modighant, Reichb cet , t. 117), an albino 
much smaller and very different klse above. The actual speci- 
men was sent to Kew by Mr. Ross and 1 is preserved in the Her- 
barium. Its history is given in the ‘‘ Orchid Review,’’ vol iil. 
p- 263. There are also paintings of four very diverse forms of 
Lycaste Janetae, a hybrid between the orange-yellow L. Kos- 
siana and the ~ihe-beleta: L. Skinneri, Lindl., showing an 
amount of segregation of character that is very rarely seen among 
aes hybrids. Another series shows a remarkable case of 
ybrid sporting in the dark purple-brown Cypripedium Dauthiert, 
a hybrid between C. barbatum and C, villosum. This first pro- 
aa a 2a sates ateiped and banded with purple-brown 
green, h Reichenbach called var. Rossianum, and 
siiotliet harlegninstolrubed sport, half greenish-yellow and half 
chestnut that was called var. ‘Janet Ross’, while still later a 
greenish-yellow form co which was called var. 
i 
