254 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[ Vpril 20, 1912. 



D. nobfle varieties, D. Falconeri, D. aggregatum, 

 D. lateolum, and others are also well flowered. 



In the intermediate house there is a good show 

 of Cattleya Mendelii, C. Mossiae, C. Schroderae, 

 and some good hybrids in bud, Chysis brac- 

 tescens and a fine collection of Miltonia vexillaria, 

 the plants being in perfect health and with many 

 flower-spikes. In the warm house, with a collec- 

 tion of Nepenthes suspended overhead, a batch of 

 Vanda teres planted in boxes and placed close to 

 the glass end of the house are each furnished with 

 two or three spikes on a single stem, and the 

 Angracums, Aerides, and Saccolabiums are also 

 about to flower well. Plants of Odontoglossum 

 crispum, a few O. Hallii, 0. cirrhosum, 0. scep.- 

 trum, 0. Cervantesii, and others, in the cool- 

 house, are well set with flower-spikes. 



Masdevallia macrura, with its Ion?, fleshy, 

 prettily-marked flower, M. Troglodytes, M. 

 radiosa, and other Masdevallias were also doing 

 well. Specimen plants of Bletia Sheperdii (one 

 with a dozen spikes), Sobralia macrantha alba 

 (with many flowers), Cymbidium eburneum, and 

 other old favourites make a beautiful show, whilst 

 the collection of Bulbophyllums, Cirrhopetalums, 

 and insectivorous plants are equally interesting. 

 /. J B. 



CCELOGYNE SPECIOSA ALBA. 



Widely distributed in the Malay Peninsula, 

 Borneo, and Java, this fine species exhibits con- 

 siderable variation ; usually the fringed crests are 

 coloured in some degree, red-brown to nearly 

 black. The variety alba was first shown by 

 Messrs. Sander & Sons at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's meeting on March 28, 1905, when it 

 received an Award of Merit. 



A fine inflorescence of the variety is sent by 

 Mr. C. Wright, gardener to the Hon. Charles 

 Rothschild, Ashton Wold, Oundle. The flower is 

 4 inches across, whitish, tinged with salmon-buff, 

 the colour being darkest on the lip, the rounded, 

 oblong front lobe being pure white. The latter 

 feature and the suppression of the dark colour on 

 the crests gave rise to the varietal name alba ; 

 but the flower is not wholly white. 



DENDROBIUM PRIMULINUM GIGANTEUM. 



The section of which this plant forms the 

 highest development in point of floral beauty 

 begins with D. cretaceum, followed by the slen- 

 der, pendulous D. Pierardii, whilst the dwarfer 

 and less slender D. primulinum, although having 

 the same characteristics, the lilac-tinted sepals 

 and petals, and pale-primrose lip, shows a fur- 

 ther stage in development. The variety gigan- 

 teum, of which flowers are sent by Mr. C. Wright, 

 gardener to the Hon. Charles Rothschild, Ashton 

 Wold, is more than 3 inches across the sepals 

 and petals, which are white, tinged with rosy 

 lilac. The labellum is nearly 2 inches wide, the 

 surface pubescent, and of a pale -primrose tint, 

 and with purple lines at the base. All the 

 species mentioned are natives of Burma, and grow 

 best in baskets suspended, or in hanging Orchid 



The species are deciduous, and require a 



pans. 



dry resting 



pleted. 



J 



lli 



riod after the growths are com- 



CARNATION BARONESS DE BRIENEN. 



The illustrated variety of perpetual-blooming 

 Carnation in fig. 116 was raised by Messrs. 

 Stuart Low & Co., Enfield, and has received 

 the Award of Merit of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society (see Gard. Chron., November 11, 1911, 

 p. 342). The bright, salmon-pink flowers are 

 4 inches in diameter, and are borne on short, 

 etout stems. Messrs. Low inform us that they 

 have exhibited blooms of the variety at all the 

 meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society since 

 last September, and the fact of their being able 

 to do so they attribute to the variety having 

 briated petals, as Carnations of this type open 

 well in dull weather. The stems are not so long 

 in some varieties, but they are stiff and hold 

 the blooms erect. The habit of growth is sturdy 

 and the foliage has a glaucous tint. 



I'M I 



NURSERY NOTES. 



MESSRS. SANDER & SONS, ST. ALBANS. 



We are indebted to Messrs. Sander & Sons, St. 

 Albans, for the introduction through their col- 

 lectors of many fine species of Orchids to cultiva- 

 tion— Vanda Sanderiana, to mention only one — but 

 tKeir work in hybridising has been no less suc- 

 cessful than the efforts of their collectors. The St. 

 Albans nursery includes a block of houses specially 

 built for the raising of seedlings. It is interest- 

 ing to go first into the seedling house, the centre 

 of which is occupied by seed-raising cases filled 

 with the recently-sown seed-pots, and store pans 

 in which are growing countless numbers of trans- 

 planted seedlings of various sizes. Each seed-pot 

 has a conical tuft of thin gauze-covered moss in 

 the centre, bedded in fine Orchid potting material, 



and, moreover, the fragrance c.f the blooms was 

 delightful, the sweetest, though not the mat 

 beautiful, being B.-C. Pluto. One hous is fill* 

 with crosses between albinos. The Brasso Catt- 

 leyas and some others have given good results 

 but other batches have produced coloured varif 

 ties reverting to the type. 



Another house is filled with albinos of species, 

 including a fine collection of Cattleya Moss ;b 

 Wageneri, various white-petalled forms of 

 labiata, and numerous plants of C. intermedia 

 alba. 



One house is devoted to seedling OdontogL s- 

 sums and Odontiodas, whilst in an adjoining 

 structure are Ir.rger plants of these Orchids, aoma 

 beino; in bloom at the time of my visit, including 

 Odontoglossum Groganiae, dark forms of 0. 

 eximium, 0. percultum, 0. Lambeauianum, 0. 

 mirum, 0. Gladys, and 0. Phoebe, together with 



Fig. ii6. — carnation baroness de brienen : flowers salmon-pink colour 



leaving an inch wide margin of the material 

 around the cone. In some cases the seeds do not 

 germinate on the cone, but come up freely on 

 the surrounding margin ; in other cases the seeds 

 germinate on both surfaces, and in others again 

 on the central cone only, so that it is evident that 

 advantage is gained by giving the choice. Here, 

 in most other hybrid-raisimg establishments, 

 the great end is to secure something new, but the 

 crosses already made by other hybridists with 

 good results are not neglected, finer parents being 

 used. Messrs. Sander have thus succeeded in 

 obtaining batches of extra-fine forms of L«lio- 

 Cattleya Canhamiana, L.-C. callistoglossa, L.-C. 

 Aphrodite, and the like, which, in point of showi- 

 ness, *xcel most of the modern novelties. 



I inspected many houses devoted to hybrid 

 Cattleyas, Laelio-Cattleyas, and Brasso-Cattleyas, 

 especially those occupied by the larger plants, 

 some of which were in flower. The houses con- 

 taining Brasso-Cattleyas made a very fine show, 



some good blotched forms of 0. crispum, Jjj^ 

 are reserved for crossing, and bright scarle 

 tiodas, including several plants of 0. Br * ds " iih 

 and O. keighleyensis, the flowers oi . »» ' 

 although not of the largest size, are of toe w 

 brilliant colour. Several houses contain fl ea v !!^ 

 ling Cypripediums, two with plants of a flo ; 

 size, among those in bloom being the naiw 

 C. Helen II " Holford's variety,' some g 

 forms of C. aureum, the fine C Franconia ( ( 

 broad and distinctly-marked petals), a baw i 

 callosum Sanders, C. Lawrenceanum H"* ^ 

 and the hybrid C. Maudiae, together w w 

 examples of C. Alma Ovaert (I* wre °™ t tf. 

 - am x Maudine), which shows a gw ^ 



Another house contained, on tne 



. -. . r, ._ j onri on tne 



vance 



and on 



form* 



msigne 



\j. msigne nareneiu j_l«j-i •»"" — - r : m eDa 



of C. insigne, C. Druryi, and many spec 

 the pretty white C. niveum in blo ,°®: olay t 

 In the Dendrobium house a good aisp 



