SPORTS ORCHIDS THE AMARYLLIS. 55 



Mr. Hovey referred to Azalea Lorely, a white, faintly striped 

 with pink, but upon which a branch came entirely pink. The 

 azaleas have been so fertilized back and forth, that they have 

 become like Abutilon Thompsoni; the blood has finally got so 

 mixed that it is impossible to rely on the character of seedlings. 

 The Coleus Chameleon is apt to revert to the green state, but, by 

 pinching off the top and causing it to break out, the colors may 

 be produced. 



Mr. Rand here exhibited a plant of Vanda, ccendescens, a late 

 discovery, and one of the rarest orchids. Colored drawings had 

 been sent to Europe, but the existence of such a flower was 

 doubted on account of the extraordinary color, which is quite new 

 among orchids, a deep violet lip, with blue petals. It was received 

 by Mr. Rand from Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., in place of V. coerulea, 

 which he had ordered, though V. coendescens was not in their cata- 

 logue. It seems a free bloomer, and will doubtless be valuable. 

 Mr. Rand also showed a flower of V. tricolor, of which he had a 

 plant with thirty-nine expanded flowers. The fragrance is so 

 powerful that a single flower will scent a room. The flower would 

 be just as good a month hence as now. 



Other new plants exhibited by Mr. Rand were Dendrohium 

 Japonicum, one of the hardiest orchids, on a piece of the stem of 

 a tree fern, where it had probably grown from a seed accidentally 

 deposited there ; the flowers are dazzling white, lasting three or 

 four weeks, and are deliciously fragrant in the evening, — Epiden- 

 drum macrochilnm roseum, (atropiirp^ireum) , also very fragrant, 

 and remarkable for its color, most of the Epidendrums being of a 

 dirty white, — and a cut flower of Tacsonia Buchanani, from South 

 America, of a brilliant scarlet, producing a perfectly dazzling 

 eff'ect, and very easily grown, but only lasting a day. 



Mr. Hovey brought up the Amaryllis again, remarking that 

 though a fine bouquet of these and other flowers was exhibited by 

 Mrs. C. S. Wood, and seedlings by Francis Putnam, the growers 

 could hardly, yet, have taken the hint which he gave a few weeks 

 ago. He hoped that they would be tried in the open air, as Mr. 

 Putnam intends to do. 



Mr. Putnam being called on by the President for his method of 

 cultivating the amaryllis, replied that it diflfered from that of other 



