LAELIA JONGHEANA 251 



, but it certainly was not in Costa Rica ; yet he 



found it at last. In this present case, however, the discovery 

 is due to pure luck ; but one may say that a slice of luck 

 also was well deserved after those laborious triumphs. One 

 of the St. Albans collectors, M. Forget, was roaming about 

 Brazil lately. The Government invited him to join a scien- 

 tific mission setting out to study the products and resources 

 of Minas Gaeras. It is comparatively little known. M. 

 Forget was unable to accept the invitation, but he heard 

 enough about this secluded province to rouse his interest, 

 especially when the savants reported that no collector had 

 been there. Accordingly, he made an expedition as soon as 

 possible, and at the very outset discovered an orchid — not in 

 flower — resembling Laelia pumila in every detail but size. 

 It was at least twice as big as that small, familiar species, but 

 the points of similarity were so striking that M. Forget 

 pronounced it a grand local form of L. pumila. And when 

 the consignment reached St. Albans, even the wary and 

 thoughtful authorities there endorsed his view ! Not with- 

 out hesitation. I believe that the name of L. Jongheana 

 was whispered. But despair had grown to the pitch that no 

 one ventured to speak out. Yet by drawings and descrip- 

 tions, anxiously studied for years, all knew perfectly well 

 that in growth the lost species must be like L. pumila, 

 enlarged. It is, indeed, strong evidence of the absorbing 

 interest of the search that when at length it ended, neither 

 M. Forget nor his employers dared to believe their own eyes. 

 ' So in November last year some hundreds or thousands 

 of a remarkable orchid were ofi^ered at Protheroe's under the 

 title " L. pumila (.'')." Nearly all the leading amateurs and 

 growers bought, I think, but at a very cheap rate. Half a 

 crown apiece would be a liberal average for plants over 

 which millionaires would have battled had they known. 

 But, after all, the luck of the purchasers was not unqualified. 



