26 THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



Sanderae. — Some may well think this the loveliest of 

 all its lovely kin. Probably it is a foreign strain, though 

 remote, which gives such supreme softness to the magenta of 

 the lip. On that ground the golden ' eyes ' shine forth with 

 an abruptness positively startling. The broad sepals and 

 petals are sweetest rosy -mauve. Even the tube is deep 

 crimson. 



Here also is Cattleya bicolor Measuresiana, an exquisite 

 example of a species always charming to my taste. In this 

 instance the sepals and petals are purest and smoothest olive 

 green ; the very long shovel- shaped labellum magenta- 

 crimson, outlined and tipped with white. 



Of Cattleya aurea again the varieties are many. It was 

 brought from Antioquia, New Granada, by Wallis, in 1868. 

 If crimson and yellow, tastefully disposed, make the most 

 gorgeous combination possible, as all human beings agree, 

 this and its sister Dowiana are the most gorgeous of flowers. 

 The ordinary form of Cattleya aurea is nankin yellow, but 

 in the variety R. H. Measures, sepal and petal are gamboge. 

 The glorious lip, opening wide from the very base, has long 

 brownish blurs descending from the throat, on a golden 

 ground which fades to yellow towards the edge. There are 

 two clear crimson patches in the front, and the margin is 

 clear crimson, whilst the whole expanse is covered with fine 

 stripes of crimson and gold alternately. 



We come to the hybrids of these two which, dwelling 

 side by side, have been intermarrying for ages ; and their 

 offspring again have intermarried, forming endless combina- 

 tions. Cattleya Sanderiana was first discovered under 

 circumstances rather odd. One of Messrs. Sander's col- 

 lectors, Mr. Mau, was hunting for Odontoglossum crispum 

 by Bogota. He came upon a number of Cattleyas — none of 

 them in bloom — and gathered any that came in his way, 

 taking no trouble, nor even mentioning the incident in his 



