128 ABOUT ORCHIDS. 
flower opened. Its form is unique, though some 
other varieties display a long fringe—as that 
extraordinary object, Manodes Meduse, and also 
Brassavola Digbyana, which is exquisitely lovely 
sometimes. In the case of D. brymerianum the 
bright yellow lip is split all round, for two-thirds 
of its expanse, into twisted filaments. We may 
well ask what on earth is Nature’s purpose in this 
eccentricity ; but it is a question that arises every 
hour to the most thoughtless being who grows 
orchids. 
Everybody knows Dendrobium nobile so well 
that it is not to be discussed in prose; something 
might be done in poetry, perhaps, by young gentle- 
men who sing of buttercups and daisies, but the 
rhyme would be difficult. D. obzle nobilius, how- 
ever, is by no means so common—would it were! 
This glorified form turned up among an importa- 
tion made by Messrs. Rollisson. They propagated 
it, and sold four small pieces, which are still in 
cultivation. But the troubles of that renowned 
firm, to which we owe so great a debt, had already 
begun. The mother-plant was neglected. It had 
fallen into such a desperate condition when Messrs. 
Rollisson’s plants were sold, under a decree in 
bankruptcy, that the great dealers refused to bid 
for what should have been a little gold-mine. A 
