Dees eecer a 
DECEMBER, 1923-] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 355 
DENDROBIUM LEEANUM. 
N the year 1891, Dendrobium Leeanum was described by Mr. Jas. 
O’Brien as a handsome new species imported with D. Phalzenopsis var. 
Schrcederianum by Messrs. Sander (Gard. Chron. 1891, ll. p. 640, fig. 88). 
It was stated to have pseudo-bulbs about three feet high, and with sprays of 
flowers arranged after the manner of D. superbiens, but differing in all 
points, more especially in the open form of the lip. It was named in 
honour of Mr. W. R. Lee and received a. First-class Certificate when 
exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society, November roth, 1891. A 
darker variety, distinguished as Leeanum atropurpureum, was given an 
Award of Merit, October 23rd, 1900, when exhibited by Sir Fred. Wigan. 
The late Mr. Rolfe suggested that D. Leeanum might be a natural 
hybrid between D. Phalznopsis and D. superbiens (Orchid Review iii. p. 
334), as it combines the characters of both. He also pointed out that in 
superbiens, the crest consists of three serrulate erect keels at the base of 
the front lobe, but in Phalznopsis the disc is simply puberulous without 
any crest ; D. Leeanum has a crest as in the former, but reduced to about 
On the first page of the present volume, a note occurs respecting D. 
Phalznopsis, and concludes with the remark that it would be interesting to 
learn if any of our readers have been successful in obtaining ripe seed, for 
apart from D. Leeanum, the natural hybrid between Phalenopsis and | 
superbiens, no other hybrid of Phalznopsis has been recorded. 
Further evidence of considerable value in the elucidation of the 
Leeanum problem has just been brought to England by Viscount Sohma. 
It takes the form of an extensive series of water-colour drawings showing 
no less than forty-one flowers of seedlings that have been raised between 
D. Phalzenopsis and superbiens in the Imperial Botanic Gardens at Shinjik, 
Tokyo. These plants commenced to flower when six years old. The first 
drawing is dated November 22nd, 1920, and the last, May 6th, Ig2t. 
Coloured drawings of both the parents show that these two plants are those 
generally accepted as superbiens and typical Phalznopsis. The forty-one 
seedlings vary in colour from light rose-pink to dark-crimson, in fact, to a 
deeper colour than that possessed by either parent. In seventeen of the 
flowers depicted, the sepals are margined with a whitish area that is 
characteristic of superbiens. In whatever degree of colour that exists in 
the respective flowers, there is generally a venation of darker or more 
intense pigment. 
Looking at this collection of forty-one flowers of Leeanum, one is 
astonished at seeing such a wide variation in their form and colour. They 
present a variation greater than is generally produced by the crossing of 
