18 _THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
ORCHIDS IN SEASON. 
OrcHips which bloom at Christmas and the New Year area very useful 
class, and the number fortunately is increasing, owing to the way the 
species have been crossed together. The hybrid Calanthes now form a 
very brilliant group, and the chief drawback to their extended culture is 
that they are so quickly damaged by fogs, which, in the neighbourhood of 
large manufacturing towns, are too prevalent when these plants are in 
flower or bud. But in country districts they bloom to perfection, and the 
wealth of forms now available was well illustrated by the superb group 
staged by Sir Trevor Lawrence at the Drill Hall, on December 5th last, 
and mentioned in our Report on another page. A succession of flowers 
may be secured extending over a period of several weeks by judicious 
treatment. 
The genus Paphiopedilum furnishes some of the best fog-resisting 
Orchids, and the number of winter-blooming kinds is steadily increasing, 
owing to the way they have been taken in hand by the hybridist. The 
more recent additions are not yet generally known, but some of them show 
a decided improvement on their predecessors. The. chief desideratum in 
this group is increased brilliancy of colouring, and this is only a question of 
time and perseverance. Progress has already been made, and the chief 
thing necessary is to eliminate more of the green colour, which changes the 
purple present into a shade of purple-brown. The varieties of P. X 
Leeanum and P. X nitens are both numerous and beautiful, and other 
combinations of the species, P. insigne, villosum, and Spicerianum with P. 
barbatum and its derivatives are now very effective. P. x cenanthum 
superbum is one of the best of richly-coloured forms, and a fine example 
of it comes from the collection of Reginald Young, Esq., of Sefton Park, 
Liverpool, together with a fine form of P. x Pollettianum, which is equally 
brilliant in colour, but larger, and the dorsal sepal flatter and more erect, 
and the white margin broader. 
Lelia anceps is one of the gems of the present season, and its beautiful 
varieties will continue in bloom for some time to come. A fine flower of L. 
a. Sanderiana is sent from the collection of Reginald Young, Esq. An early 
three-flowered spike of Cattleya Triane is also sent from the same 
collection. The plant bears ten flowers, and last August produced four 
others on imported bulbs. This species will soon unfofd its beauty for the 
present season. Among other species which are very effective just now are 
Zygopetalum intermedium, Angraecum sesquipedale, and the ever welcome 
little Sophronitis grandiflora. 
Several interesting forms of Odontoglossum crispum are sent from the 
collection of T. Baxter, Esq., Morecambe, by Mr. Roberts. O. c. Baxteri, 
