434 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 506. 



hybrid Orchid is now worth more than a new introduction ; 

 in other words, collectors value highly the hybrid of arti- 

 ficial origin, and therefore Orchid breeding has come to be 

 a lucrative business. It has also a scientific interest, if only 

 because it throws light upon the relationship of plants. 

 Mr. Hurst pointed out that it was not unusual for Orchids 

 to produce seed-pods and apparently, also, seeds, but the 

 latter may turn out to be chaff. Monsieur Lemoine, of 

 Nancy, who has bred so many fine garden plants other 

 than Orchids, makes a practice of trying to cross almost 

 every plant that flowers with him, and while these are in 

 most cases 'fools' experiments," in some the result is suc- 

 cessful. Many Orchid growers in England are now making 

 similar experiments, and there is often a keen competition 

 for the possession of a new Orchid or good variety solely 

 for breeding purposes. 



Do Orchids Degenerate? — This question is now under 

 discussion in English gardening papers ; that is, do they 

 decline in health under cultivation ? Every cultivator of 

 experience knows that some do and some do not. There 

 are certain Orchids, I think I may say a large number, 

 which never do become established in our collections. 

 They may last a year or two longer in one garden than in 

 another, but they will not " stay " anywhere. We may now 

 and then discover by accident the secret that leads to suc- 

 cess with one or the other of these refractory ones ; gen- 

 erally, however, we must look to the collector to keep up 

 the supply by sending home more plants if we are not to 

 lose them. Luckily, however, we have on the other hand 

 a considerable number of Orchids, which, with ordinary 

 care, flourish for an indefinite time. It has been suggested 

 that the failures are cases of starvation, and chemical 

 analysis of the plants is said to indicate this. Chemical 

 manures are recommended, but how far they may be used 

 with safety is doubtful. Experienced cultivators declare 

 that manure in any form for Orchids is to be avoided. 



Dendrobium taurinum, var. amboinense. — A plant of this 

 gigantic Dendrobe was shown by Messrs. Veitch & Sons 

 at the last meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society. It 

 had somewhat compressed leafless pseudo-bulbs six feet 

 high, bearing elegant curved racemes a foot long, of flow- 

 ers with yellow sepals, brown-red petals and lips tinged 

 with purple. Each flower is about two inches across, the 

 segments being strap-shaped and more or less spirally 

 twisted, a character which belongs to several other species 

 from the same region. Messrs. Veitchs' plant was brought 

 from Amboyna by Burke, who died recently. The type is 

 a native of the Philippines, where it was found by Cuming ; 

 he sent it to Loddiges, of Hackney, who flowered it fifty 

 years ago. "It is found growing on the Mangrove-trees 

 in the swamps skirting the seashore, where, during severe 

 storms, the plants are sometimes washed by the spray. In 

 such places its pseudo-bulbs often attain a height of ten 

 feet, and produce racemes two feet long " (Veitch). At 

 Chelsea it is grown in a hot, moist stove along with D. 

 Phalaenopsis and other essentially tropical species. I am 

 afraid its size is against its ever becoming popular, even if 

 it could be obtained in quantity, which from all accounts 

 is extremely unlikely. 



Cryptophoranthus Dayanus. — One of the most remarkable 

 of the Orchids belonging to the Masdevallia group is this, 

 the largest-flowered of the genus to which it belongs. A 

 plant of it was shown this week by Sir Trevor Lawrence, 

 bearing about two dozen flowers, which in shape and 

 marking are suggestive of a frog's head. They are odd- 

 looking, even for an Orchid, and the curiously windowed 

 sepals must be puzzling to naturalists who try to explain 

 the peculiar structure of flowers. Writing of another spe- 

 cies, generally known as Masdevallia fenestrata, Darwin, 

 in his Fertilization of Orchids, says these windows are 

 intended to admit insects for the purpose of fertilization. 

 But one wonders why the flowers only partially open for 

 this purpose and do not, as in the case of their allies, throw' 

 their doors (the sepals) wide open. The habit of C. Day- 

 anus is like that of a Restrepia, but the leaves are larger 



and the short-stalked flowers are about an inch long, pale 

 yellow spotted with purple; the color of the inside as seen 

 through the windows is buff-yellow. The plant is a native 

 of Colombia and has been known in gardens twenty-five 

 years. 



Ljexia putmla. — I noted in my last letter a form of this 

 plant which had received a first-class certificate under the 

 name of Gatton Park variety. A second plant of it has just 

 flowered in the collection of Messrs. Low & Co., which 

 differs only from the first in having the blotch on the front 

 of the labellum of a deeper purple hue. It w r as imported 

 among a large batch of the type. For some unaccountable 

 reason the Orchid committee gave this second plant a 

 second-class certificate and renamed it Low's variety. 



Ccelogyne Veitchii. — A fine example of this plant was 

 shown this week by Messrs. Veitch & Sons ; it bore six 

 pendulous racemes a foot long of numerous white flowers 

 an inch across. The species was first described in 1895 

 by Mr. Rolfe from a plant flowered in the Veitchian nurs- 

 eries, which had been sent from New Guinea by Burke. 

 Dried specimens showed that the racemes are sometimes 

 two feet long. The short column, the absence of markings 

 from the lip and the very short, rather obscure basal keels 

 are quite different from any previously known species. 

 The pseudo-bulbs are fusiform, four inches long and the 

 lanceolate leaves six inches long. 



Vanda ccerulea. — A white-flowered variety of this noble 

 Vanda is not as beautiful as the type, but it possesses the 

 charm of novelty at any rate. Such a plant was shown 

 this week by Mr. J. Rochford. It bore a spike of flowers 

 which in size and form were medium (there is an excep- 

 tional range in these two characters in this Vanda), and 

 although not snow-white the sepals and petals were suffi- 

 ciently colorless to be called white ; the lip was tinged 

 with dull pink. It received a certificate. 



Vanda Moorei. — This is said to be a natural hybrid be- 

 tween Vanda ccerulea and V. Kimballiana. It was shown 

 in flower this week by Mr. W. J. Moore, of Bradford, an 

 importer of Orchids from the Shan States, where V. Kim- 

 balliana is a native. The new plant has broader and more 

 markedly channelled leaves than the last-named species, 

 and the flowers are larger, with broader sepals and petals 

 tinged with lilac, the lip being purple. I do not know if 

 V. ccerulea and V. Kimballiana are found wild together ; if 

 they are, then possibly V. Moorei has originated as sug- 

 gested. Mr. Rolfe thinks there can be little doubt of its 

 hybrid origin so far as can be ascertained from a com- 

 parison between it and its supposed parents. 



London. W. WalSOIl. 



Cultural Department. 



Chrysanthemums. 



TADY FITZWIGRAM, a very early white Chrysanthemum of 

 *-* recent introduction, bids fair to become one of the best 

 sorts for decorative purposes, either grown in small pots or 

 for cut flowers. It is dwarf, and, as generally grown in sprays, 

 is quite effective. It does not, however, compare in size and 

 substance with later varieties. Glory of the Pacific is a superior 

 early pink, also quite dwarf, and an excellent variety for bush 

 specimens. Midge, as its name implies, is also dwarf, and 

 well suited for growing in small pots. The flowers are com- 

 paratively large, and as they mature the florets become charm- 

 ingly irregular in their arrangement. Among early yellow- 

 flowered varieties none are superior to Marion Henderson. 

 The color is the purest yellow, and the flower, while loose, is 

 full ; the florets become twisted as they mature. 



Gradually the season for larger blooms approaches. Among 

 yellow-flowered varieties H. L. Sunderbruck is still without a 

 peer in color and size. Harry Hurrel is also a flower of deep 

 tone and is compactly built. Among white flowers Mrs. H. 

 Robinson is unrivaled in beauty of form and finish. It is 

 compactly incurved, and has been admitted into the select 

 incurved class by the National Chrysanthemum Society of 

 England. The same honor has been given Major Bonnafon, 

 an incurved yellow, but both these varieties, which are of 

 American origin, we know to be of the Japanese type. The 

 yellow sport from Mrs. H. Robinson, named Mrs. O. P. Bas- 



