THE LOST ORCHID. 177 
each of them stood firm. There are, of course, 
many Cattleyas recognized as species, but Lind- 
ley’s rule has been maintained. We may return 
to the lost orchid. 
As time went on, and the merits of C /abiata 
vera were understood, the few specimens extant— 
proceeding from Mr. Swainson’s importation — 
fetched larger and larger prices. Those merits, 
indeed, were conspicuous. Besides the season of 
flowering, this proved to be the strongest and 
most easily grown of Cattleyas. Its normal type 
was at least as charming as any, and it showed an 
extraordinary readiness to vary. Few, as has 
been said, were the plants in cultivation, but they 
gave three distinct varieties. Van Houtte shows 
us two in his admirable Pore des Serres; C1. 
candida, from Syon House, pure white excepting 
the ochrous throat—which is invariable—and C. 7. 
picta, deep red, from the collection of J. J. Blandy, 
Esq., Reading. The third was C. 2 Pescatorei, 
white, with a deep red blotch upon the lip, 
formerly owned by Messrs. Rouget-Chauvier, of 
Paris, now by the Duc de Massa. 
Under such circumstances the dealers began to 
stir in earnest. From the first, indeed, the more 
enterprising had made efforts to import a plant 
which, as they supposed, must be a common weed 
N 
