oo THE ORCHID REVIEW. [ApRIL, 1923. 
ORCHIDS AND AUTHORS. 
@7*O the Orchidist the treatment accorded these lovely plants by the 
Authors of modern literature is often highly amusing, though there 
are times when such undeserved criticism is given them that one becomes 
annoyed. Such an occasion was that on which I read a story in a current 
magazine entitled ‘‘The Valley of Orchids;”’ in this, not content with 
discovering what he terms ‘‘a very heaven to the true collector,’ wherein 
are growing in one mass Odontoglossums, Cattleyas, Cypripediums and 
Aérides ; he goes on to say ‘‘I believe Orchids are wicked . . . evil, alive. 
Parasites, and parasites are inspired by a degenerate instinct. I believe 
they are a sort of embodiment of evil, a materialisation of all the wicked 
instincts of this wicked forest.” To the grower, even more than to the 
collector, such a valley as the author depicts would indeed be ‘‘a very 
heaven.” How simple an art Orchid culture would become if one could 
merge the numerous sections together regardless of their atmospheric needs. 
I, for one, sincerely wish the writer of this story would let me into the secret 
of this wondrous South American valley, where acclimatisation is such an 
€asy process. 
Another well-known author in one of his works, a novel of the Southern 
Seas, says, “‘ Pale golden and vermilion Orchids flaunted their unhealthy 
blossoms in the golden, dripping sunshine that filtered through the matted 
roof.” And so it goes on, each one apparently taking this quite inoffensive 
flower to be symbolical of all the unknown evil, the veiled mystery of its 
jungle home. 
Seeing these plants in the cleanly surroundings of modern cultivation 
one finds it difficult to find in their gorgeous, stately flowers the least 
suggestion of evil, and even allowing for the rank and sweltering conditions 
of the jungle, were can one find justification for such sweeping statements ? 
One novel I read sometime ago contained what purported to be a list 
of the wonderful plants in the hero’s magnificent collection. To the 
uninitiated it was no doubt very convincing, though in reality, as far as my 
memory serves, those that were correct were in almost every case synonyms 
of species long since transferred to other genera. No doubt the author’s 
information had been derived from some obsolete text book, for he mentioned 
among others on his list such names as Odontoglossum vexillarium. 
In these days of commercial literature one cannot of course expect 
absolute perfection of detail, but of the author who feels these ‘‘ maligned 
flowers” essential to the languorous and exotic scenery of his ‘“ Desert 
Island ” romance, I would beg as a favour that he attend some horticultural 
exhibition and glance at the Orchids displayed there, for then I am sure he 
will feel compelled to explode this hackneyed idea of their unhealthiness, 
