2 52 THE WOODLANDS ORCHIDS 



Many who read this will feel a dreary satisfaction in learning 

 that if their plants have perished or dwindled, plenty of 

 others are in like case. Further experience shows that they 

 were gathered at the wrong time ; of course they reached 

 Europe at the wrong time. And nearly every one put them 

 into heat, which was a final error. L. Jongheana is quite a 

 cool species. Through these accumulated misfortunes only 

 two out of the multitude have flowered up to this, so far as 

 I can hear. The dullest of mortals can feel something of 

 the delicious anxiety of those gentlemen who watched the 

 great bloom swelling from day to day when it began to 

 show its tints, and they proved to be quite unlike those of 

 L. pumila. At length it opened, and L. Jongheana was 

 recovered. 



' What sort of a thing is it, after all .? For an unlearned 

 description, I should say that the flowers — two, three, or 

 even five in number — are from four to five inches across — 

 sepals, petals, and curl of lip bright amethyst, yellow throat, 

 white centre ; the crisped and frilled margin all round 

 sufl^used with purple. It was discovered in 1855 by Libon, 

 who died soon after, carrying his secret with him. He was 

 sent out by M. de Jonghe, of Brussels — hence the name.' 



Up to the present time only one of the plants here has 

 flowered — and it opened pure white, saving a yellow stain 

 on the lip. This was not altogether a surprise, for a close 

 examination of the faded blooms convinced M. Forget that 

 some of them must have been white, whatever the species 

 might be. And he marked them accordingly. That a 

 collector of such experience should prove to be right was 

 not astonishing, as I say, but remarkably pleasant. 



At the end of the house is a pretty verdant nook where 

 Cypripedium insigne is planted out upon banks of tufa among 

 Adiantums and overshadowing palms. 



