136 ORCHIDS FOR EVERYONE 



times the flowers are more or less tinted or shaded with rose, while 

 in other cases the white ground colour is almost obliterated by 

 large blotches of purple or deep red. Varieties of the purest and 

 unspotted white, if of fine rounded form, are rare, beautiful, and 

 expensive ; but far more valuable are the heavily blotched and 

 deeply coloured varieties, and for extraordinarily fine varieties of 

 this kind, sums ranging from £,2^0 to _;^iooo have been paid. 

 In a batch of thousands of imported plants scarcely will any two 

 be quite alike, so variable is this wonderful Orchid. Some will 

 have thin, spidery flowers, and be hardly worth growing, but plenty 

 will be of good useful size, substance, and character, and a few, 

 maybe, will be well above the average. A beginner may start 

 with plants ranging in price from;^5 to £^2^ per hundred. These, 

 whether established or imported plants, will provide plenty of 

 mild excitement, and reward his skill with charming flowers. The 

 " weedy " varieties will be turned out in due course to make way 

 for the finer ones. O. c. Leonard Perfect, O. c. Franz Mase- 



REEL, O. C. COOKSONII, O. C. SoLUM, O. C. DuKE OF YoRK, O. C. 



aureum Rosefieldiense, and O. c. Pittianum are a few of the 

 gems. 



O. Edwardii is a most distinct Odontoglossum, and though 

 its flowers are only an inch across, they are produced in considerable 

 numbers on the long, branching spikes. The colour, deep purple- 

 mauve, with yellow teeth or crest, is very eff'ective, and the species 

 is always a favourite. 



O. GRANDE is rightly named, for it is a grand Orchid when 

 at its best, but it needs rather difl^erent treatment to that accorded 

 the 0. crispinn group. The large flowers are often six inches 

 broad, and the spikes, which are only a little longer than the stiff 

 leaves, carry from three to seven of these splendid blooms. The 

 ground colour is bright yellow, the basal half of each petal is 



