COOL ORCHIDS. 79 
such a favourite among those who know its merits 
that the species Z. Skinner? is called the “ Drawing- 
Room Flower.” Professor Reichenbach observes 
in his superb volume that many people utterly 
ignorant of orchids grow this plant in their mis- 
cellaneous collection. I speak of it without preju- 
dice, for to my mind the bloom is stiff, heavy, and 
poor in colour. But there are tremendous excep- 
tions. In the first place, Lycaste Skinner? alba, 
the pure white variety, beggars all description. 
Its great flower seems to be sculptured in the 
snowiest of transparent marble. That stolid pre- 
tentious air which offends one—offends me, at least 
—in the coloured examples, becomes virginal 
dignity in this case. Then, of the normal type 
there are more than a hundred variations recog- 
nized, some with lips as deep in tone, and as 
smooth in texture, as velvet, of all shades from 
maroon to brightest crimson. It will be under- 
stood that I allude to the common forms in depre- 
ciating this species. How vast is the difference 
between them, their commercial value shows. 
Plants of the same size and the same species 
range from 3s. 6a. to 35 guineas, or more inde- 
finitely. 
Lycastes are found in the woods, of Guatemala 
especially, and I have heard no such adventures 
