290 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [OcTOBER, 1922 
year. The plants should not be exposed to direct sunlight during the 
summer months; it isnot unusual to place them in a shady position in the 
East India house during active growth, or even in an ordinary stove.— 
Veitch’s Manual of Orchidaceous Plants. : 
ARACHNANTHE LOWII. 
HE principal attraction at the Royal Horticultural Society’s meeting, 
held on September 5th, was a remarkable specimen of Arachnanthe 
Lowii, exhibited by Sir Jeremiah Colman, Bart. It consisted of three 
strong stems, well provided with large leaves, and carried eight long spikes 
with a total of 160 flowers. A Silver Gilt Lindley Medal was awarded to 
Mr. Collier for his skill in cultivating this rarely seen plant. It had been 
grown in a house along with Dendrobiums of the North Australian section, 
the temperatnre during winter rarely going below 60 degrees, and in 
summer rising to 95 degrees, but always protected by heavy shading. 
This Bornean Orchid was originally discovered by Sir Hugh Low about 
the year 1845, when he sent it to his father at the Clapton Nursery with 
the request that it might be called Vanda Lindleyana, in compliment to the 
most distinguished orchidologist of that time. Dr. Lindley, however, 
declined the honour, and adopted the name of the discoverer, ‘‘ who certainly 
ought, before all others, to be associated with one of the finest which he 
has discovered in Borneo.” In 1881 it was transferred by Bentham to 
Arachnanthe, although Messrs. Veitch subsequently remarked, “ it 
possesses characters so distinct from every known Orchid that it may well. 
be doubted whether its relegation to Arachnanthe by Bentham is destined 
to be final.” In rg11 this species became Vandopsis Lowii, Schlechter, 
and in 1919 its name was once again changed, on this occasion to 
Dimorphorcis Lowii, “ which expresses its remarkable habit of producing 
flowers of two separate kinds, as shown in the annexed photograph.” 
(Orch. Review xxvit., p. 149). 
Another illustration of the two kinds of flowers appears on page 171 of 
the current volume. It should be mentioned that the long spikes are 
pendulous, so that the upper flower figured represents one of those, usually 
about three in number, that are formed at the base of the spike; they are 
tawny yellow with a few small brown dots. The remaining flowers, often 
twenty or more in number, have a narrower, undulate shape, and are 
blotched with chocolate-brown on alight yellow ground. — This remarkable 
difference is usually strongly defined, but in the specimen recently exhibited 
by Sir Jeremiah Colman there were several flowers showing intermediate 
characters, the individual segments being composed of both kinds of 
flowers. The cause of these dimorphic flowers remains still unsolved. 
