196 ABOUT ORCHIDS. 
Beyond this show-house lie the small structures 
devoted to “hybridization,” but I deal with them in 
another chapter. Here also are the Phalcenopsis, 
the very hot Vandas, Bolleas, Pescatoreas, Anecto- 
chili, and such dainty but capricious beauties. 
We enter the second of the range of greenhouses, 
also devoted to Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, 
and “cool” genera, as crowded as the last ; pass 
down it to the corridor, and return through 
number three, which isoccupied by Cattleyas and 
such. There is a lofty mass of rock in front, with 
a pool below, and a pleasant sound of splashing 
water. Many orchids of the largest size are 
planted out here—Cypripedium, Cattleya, Sobralia, 
Phajus, Leelia, Zygopetalum, and a hundred more, 
“specimens,” as the phrase runs—that is to say, 
they have ten, twenty, fifty, flower spikes. I 
attempt no more descriptions ; to one who knows, 
the plain statement of fact is enough, one who 
does not is unable to conceive that sight by the 
aid of words. Butthe Sobralias demand attention. 
They stand here in clumps two feet thick, bear- 
ing a wilderness of loveliest bloom—like Irises 
magnified and glorified by heavenly enchantment. 
Nature designed a practical joke perhaps when 
she granted these noble flowers but one day’s 
existence each, while dingy Epidendrums last six 
