Orchid Prices 



Cypripedium insigne, perhaps the cheapest of all 

 orchids. Many had been sold 'in the rough/ the 

 remainder were potted, and they filled a house of 

 no small size. Most? of them were showing flower 

 at the time of my visit, but none had opened, and 

 I strolled along with scarcely a glance at such 

 familiar objects. But that is not the frame of 

 mind befitting an orchidologist I was younger 

 then. Mr. F. Sander, who accompanied me, 

 scrutinized every plant, and on a sudden, without 

 pausing in his talk, he picked one up, surveyed it 

 with interest, and laid it aside. I asked an 

 explanation. ' Why, look,' said Mr. Sander, ' the 

 natural colour of the flower-stem is brown, isn't 

 it ? ' there were some hundreds in sight, brown 

 every one 'but this is pale green. There is 

 some significance in that. I have seen very many 

 thousands of Gyp. insigne, but I never saw a green 

 flower-stem before.' So the curiosity was treasured 

 and tended, and in due time it showed a golden 

 bloom instead of the normal green. This was Gyp. 

 ins. Sanderce unique. Others resembling it have 

 turned up since, for collectors are instructed to 

 seek green flower-stems ; but none that approach 

 the original. 



"The sensation was prodigious. Messrs. Sander 

 cut the plant in two, and, to avoid jealousy among 



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