THE LOST ORCHID. 175 
his Flower Garden that the stock was so greatly 
increased. Those were the coaching days, when 
botanists had not much opportunity for com- 
parison. It is to be observed, also, that Gardner’s 
Cattleya was the nearest relative of Swainson’s ;— 
it is known at present as C. labiata Warnerz. 
The true species, however, has points unmis- 
takable. Some of its kinsfolk show a double 
flower-sheath ;—very, very rarely, under excep- 
tional circumstances. But Cattleya labiata vera 
never fails, and an interesting question it is to 
resolve why this alone should be so carefully 
protected. One may cautiously surmise that its 
habitat is even damper than others’. In the next 
place, some plants have their leaves red under- 
neath, others green, and the flower-sheath always 
corresponds ; this peculiarity is shared by C. 2. 
Warnerz alone. Thirdly—and there is the grand 
distinction, the one which gives such extreme 
value to the species—it flowers in the late autumn, 
and thus fills a gap. Those who possess a plant 
may have Cattleyas in bloom the whole year 
round—and they alone. Accordingly, it makes a 
section by itself in the classification of Rezchen- 
bachia,as the single species that flowers from the 
current year’s growth, after resting. Section II. 
contains the species that flower from the current 
