360 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [DECEMBER, 1923. 
ORCHIDS AT DAISY BANK, MANCHESTER. 
URING recent years the Orchid collection of Bertram J. Beckton, Esq., 
Daisy Bank, Irlams-o’Th-Height, Manchester, has been considerably 
enlarged by the acquisition of many interesting plants, most of them rare 
species seldom seen in cultivation. Unlike the collections that are 
principally composed of one class of Orchid, such as Odontoglossums, 
which chiefly flower in the spring time, or of Cypripediums that are at their 
best in the autumn, Mr. Beckton possesses an assemblage of plants that 
represents the Orchid family in as wide a sphere as the conditions of his 
garden permit, consequently, during every week of the year there is an 
almost equal amount of interest to be obtained from his plants. But so far 
as the flowering period is concerned, the aim has always been to acquire 
plants that bloom during the late autumn, winter and early spring months. 
During the winter months a fine display of flower is generally maintained, 
except during the prevalence of a thick fog. Good cultivation is everywhere 
visible and ample proof of the suitable climatic conditions is afforded by the 
rapid manner in which new growths are made by the majority of the plants. 
Calanthes are of great value in maintaining the winter supply of bloom, 
and although during the last few years some good results have been 
obtained from seedlings raised in this collection, Mr. Beckton is far from 
satisfied that all that can be accomplished in this genus has been produced. 
The scandent Epidendrums are great favourites at Daisy Bank on account 
of their long-lasting nature and bright colouring. Among them are the rare 
E. arachnoglossum candidum, and E. kewensis (evectum X xanthinum). A 
plant of considerable interest is Ancistrochilus Rothschildianus, which was 
figured and described as a new species in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, January 
26th, 1907, but it has not yet flowered in this collection. Another species 
of which the flowering is awaited with interest is Nanodes Lankesteri. 
There is here to be seen Batemania Colleyi, a species that has been 
known to botanists for just on ninety years, and whose generic name was 
given to it by Lindley in honour of the celebrated James Bateman, of 
Knypersley Hall, Cheshire, the specific name being in remembrance of 
Colley, who collected plants for Bateman in Demerara. Two comparatively 
new species of Maxillaria exist in M. Fletcheriana, a native of Peru, and 
which first flowered under cultivation in April, 1913, when it received an 
Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society; and in M. elegantula, 
allied to M. grandiflora and imported with M. Sanderiana. 
A healthy plant of the very rare Odontoglossum Londesboroughianum 
receives. special care, for its spikes of golden-yellow flowers will prove of 
great interest whenever they appear; it is many years. since an example has 
been exhibited in bloom. There is also a good plant of Oncidium 
