LAELIA PURPURATA 109 



monstrous digression. Does it not seem to follow that man 

 should rise to his highest level there? The aborigines are 

 savages mostly and ever have been ; no people of whom we 

 have record has become civilised unless by an impulse from 

 without, and none could reach the bulk of these. But India 

 shows that the brain, as the form, of man may develop to 

 perfection under the hottest sky. Therefore, to end this 

 brief excursus, I conclude that as the tropical weed Laelia 

 purpurata is more majestic and more beautiful than our 

 weeds, so will tropic man some day rise to a height of 

 majesty unattainable in our zone. 



But the reader has had enough of it — and so have I ; for 

 to crowd a volume of facts and arguments into a paragraph 

 is irritating labour. Let us get back to business. Here are 

 some of our finest varieties of L. purpurata. 



Marginata. — White of sepal and petal. It takes its 

 name from the white margin surrounding the crimson purple 

 lip. Very striking also is a large white triangle upon the 

 disc, charmingly netted over with crimson. 



Archduchess is faintly rosy. The lobes, closely folded, 

 are deepest purple -crimson, over an orange throat. On 

 either side the dark central line of the labellum is a pale 

 blur. 



Af<2^/^rZ3?/^/.— Sepals and petals very narrow, of a clear 

 rose tint, with darker lines. A patch almost white in the 

 front of the dark crimson lip. 



howiana. — Petals rose, sepals paler. The tube is not 

 large, but it, and also the labellum, could not be darker 

 if still to be classed as crimson. Even the yellow of the 

 throat is obscured, but there is a lighter blotch at the tip. 



Tenebrosa. — The name is due apparently to branching 

 lines of deep maroon which intersect the crimson lip. 

 Petals and sepals are white, and there is a white patch on 

 the labellum. 



