50 CYPRIPEDIUM. 



the following year in the collection of the late Mr. John Day, at 



Tottenham, after whose then gardener, Stone, it is named. 



The variety platytoBnmm was imported along with a lot of Gypri- 

 pedium Stonei, from Sarawak, in 1863, by Messrs. Low and Co. 

 Some of the plants of this importation were acquired by Mr. Day, 

 and amongst them, unknown to himself at the time, this superb variety, 

 which for several years afterwards existed as a single specimen, the 

 only one ever known to have been imported. It flowered for the 

 first time in Mr. Day's collection in 1867, whence subsequently it 

 became very sparingly distributed by division of the original plant. 

 On the dispersion of Mr. Day's plants at Stevens' Rooms in the 

 spring of 1880, the strongest pieces that had been retained by the 

 owner were acquired by Sir Trevor Lawrence and Baron Schroeder; 

 the last-named gentleman has since added others to his collection, so 

 that by far the greater portion of the growths from the original 

 plant of this remarkable orchid now forms part of the magnificent 

 collection at The Dell. 



No known orchid is more highly prized than Cyprvpedium Stonei 

 platytcenium, and no orchid has realised a higher price at a sale. From 

 its first appearance it has been, and will probably long continue to be, 

 the admiration of all orchid amateurs, and the envy of many who have 

 not the satisfaction of seeing it in their own collections. And yet it 

 is but a variation from the type in Avhich the enlarged petals are the 

 most striking characteristic ; that it is no more than this was conclu- 

 clusively proved in the summer of 1887, when one of the petals of a 

 flower produced by one of Baron Schroeder's plants reverted to the 

 normal form.* 

 The flowering season of Gypripedinm Stonei and its variety platy- 

 tcenium is from May to July. 



0. superbiens. 



Leaves elliptic-oblong, 5 — 7 inches long, 1£ — 2 J inches broad, variable 

 in colour, usually pale yellowish green tesselated with dull deep green, but 

 occasionally the tints are bright and showy, as in Cyprijpedium Lawren. 

 ceanum.j Scapes 9 — 12 inches high, one-flowered. Bract short, scarcely 

 one-third of the length of the ovary. Flowers with all the segments 

 ciliolate, 4 inches across vertically ; upper sepal broadly ovate, acute, white, 



* See note in Gardeners' Chronicle, II. s. 3 (1S87), p. 156, by Mr. N. E. Brown. As this is 

 the only instance known of its having partially reverted to the origiual type, its constancy is 

 virtually assured. 



t This variability in the colour of the foliage is unquestionably due to cultural influence. 



