ORCHIDS. 15 
DENDROBIUM AINSWORTHIL. 
THIS variety—represented in Plate No. II, —is a_ hybrid, 
a cross between D. xobsle and D. heterocarpum, and is considered 
one of the choicest and most desirable of the family. It was 
grown by Mr. Mitchell, gardener for Dr. Ainsworth, of Manchester, 
England, whose name the plant bears. 
Our drawing could present but a small part of the whole 
thrifty growth of this variety, or its multiplied buds and blossoms, 
its stalks being two feet in length. Some of them present a 
metallic appearance also, not easily represented by colors. 
At the Boston Horticultural Fair, in 1883, Mr. Robinson, 
gardener for F. L. Ames, Esq., took the highest prize for the finest 
specimen of this variety of Dendrobe seen or known in this 
country. It was indeed a noble specimen; but one needs to see 
the whole plant to appreciate its real beauty. 
It is not easy to speak truly and fully of this royal plant family 
without appearing to use the language of exaggeration. Baron 
Humboldt, the great naturalist, relates that “such is their number 
and variety in valleys of the Peruvian Andes, that the entire life 
of an artist would be too short to delineate all the magnificent 
forms adorning those deep recesses.” 
Credible travellers in Brazil report that the “monkeys swing, 
leap, climb, and chatter in the tops of trees, surrounded by thou- 
sands of twisting and drooping orchids, breaking out into 
xolden yellows to be dreamed of, into wonderful chocolates and 
the most delicate lilacs.” 
