PHAJUS COOKSONTI, 
[PLate 478.] 
Garden Hybrid. 
Terrestrial. Pseudobulbs somewhat small, ovate, bearing numerous large oblong- 
acute leaves, which are from two to three feet in length, and of a rich deep 
gr . 
blackish brown acute bracts, and bearing near the summit from nine to twelve of 
its large and beautifully-coloured flowers, which last a long time in _ perfection. 
Sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, nearly equal, the petals, however, are somewhat 
shorter and slightly narrower than the sepals ; they are all white or light rose, 
with a shade of yellow, the deepest colour being along the centre; lip three-lobed, 
broadly oval, the basal half convolute over the column, where the colour is 
greenish yellow, the middle lobe having a crisped and beautifully undulated edge, 
emarginate in front, the recurved tips of the side-lobes of a deep rosy purple, the 
prolonged apical portion soft rose spotted with dark rosy purple, throat tawny 
yellow, which is prolonged in a central stripe to the apex. 
Puatus Cooxksonm, Rolfe, in Gardeners’ Chronicle, 3rd series, vil., p. 388, fig. 57 
This very beautiful and highly interesting plant is a garden hybrid, raised by 
Mr. Norman Cookson, of Wylam-on-Tyne, and to whom it is dedicated. It is the 
first true hybrid Phajus that has ever been raised, for although several other 
garden hybrids have been called Phajus by Professor Reichenbach, they had all been 
obtained between Phajus and Calanthe, and have now been removed to the genus 
Phaiocalanthe. This plant was obtained by crossing the well-known Phajus Wallichii, 
which is widely spread through the hot moist valleys of Northern India, and 
Phajus tuberculosus, a native of Madagascar, figured in this work on Plate 91. It 
was at that time a somewhat new plant, but since then it has been largely 
imported, and the cultural treatment necessary to its well-being has come to be 
better understood. The plant which we now have under consideration is one of 
exceptional beauty, and one that will always stand high in repute for the 
decoration of our stoves and Orchid houses. It appears to have been thoroughly 
crossed, for its growth and the style of its inflorescence evidently show the 
influence of its first-named parent, and the colour of its flowers partake more of 
the character of the Madagascar plant somewhat modified in shape, forming a chaste 
and charming flower. The specimen from which our present illustration was 
taken is in the collection of M. le A. Comte de Germiny, Chateau de Gouville, 
France. 
Phajus Cooksonii is a bold-growing plant, possessing even when out of flower a 
