LIST OF COOL ORCHIDS. # 99 



suffused with deep lilac, or in some varieties bright purple 

 colour. This is a rare and beautiful species, flowering in 

 August and lasting from five to six weeks. 



*M. spectabilis (Brazil, 1835).— Of all the Miltonias this is by 

 far the best known species ; indeed we often meet with it 

 struggling for existence in all manner of out-of-the-way 

 places in gardens. Pseudo-bulbs smooth, compressed, two- 

 leaved. Flowers solitary, borne on a scaly flower-stem from 

 six to nine inches high ; sepals and petals creamy-white ; lip 

 broad and flat, cuneate or wedge-shaped in outline, white with 

 a large blotch of lilac or purple near its base. This species 

 and its varieties are often grown in large flat pans for exhi- 

 bition purposes. They grow freely in peat, sphagnum, and 

 crocks. Good specimens bear from thu-ty to fifty flowers. 

 Blooms in August, and lasts from three to four weeks. 



*a. M. spedahilis Morelliana. — This is often called M. Morel- 

 liana or M. atro-purpurea, but it is undoubtedly nothing but a 

 highly-coloured form of M. spectabilis. The whole flower is of 

 a deep rich purple colour; it grows quite as freely as its 

 congener, and makes a striking plant for the autumn 

 exhibition. 



*b. M. spedahilis rosea. — This is a garden variety, having 

 a fine deep rosy lip. It is sometimes called M. Warneri. 



*c. M. spedahilis virginalis. — We have here a delicate variety, 

 which differs from the normal type in having its sepals and 

 petals of snowy whiteness, and its lip is pure white, with the 

 exception of a small lilac blotch beneath the column. 



*lf. Warscewiczii (a native of Peru). — Pseudo-bulbs from 

 six to eight inches long, very flat, with sharp edges, two-leaved ; 

 leaves from twelve to eighteen inches long, erect. Flower- 

 spike, or rather panicle, erect or nodding, and bearing from ten 

 to thirty flowers. Flowers one and a half inch across ; 



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