180 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [JuLy-Aucust, 1918, 
seeds of Costa Rican and Columbian Orchids have during the centuries 
been blown into Panama, and have grown and increased, producing many 
new varieties. Since I wrote you in April, a friend of mine made a trip 
to Chiriqui Province (which, by the way, is in Panama, as is the Chiriqui 
Volcano—rising to 13,000 feet—not in Costa Rica, as the Orchid books 
have it), and he sent me a box from there, in which I found twenty varieties 
that I did not have before, so that I now have 175 distinct varieties.” 
An account of the collection appeared in the Panama Star & Herald 
last February. It was written by a Captain of the United States Army 
who visited it, and a few extracts will give an idea of the character of the 
collection :— 
“At his home Mr. C. W. Powell, of the Balboa Dispensary, has one 
of the wonder sights of the Isthmus. Here is a patch of rocky hillside 
transformed into a wonderful tropical garden, the equal of which it is hard 
to find. With infinite pains and loving attention, Mr. Powell, during the 
past two years, has accumulated a most complete collection of the Orchids 
of Central America. They have been collected during two vacation 
periods, and at other times, when Mr. Powell has searched the jungle for 
rare species, and the plants, after suitable treatment, are transferred to the 
Orchid garden. In the arrangement of his collection, Mr. Powell has 
shown the hands of a master artist. The whole garden is surrounded by 
a beautiful vine-covered fence. The central pavilion is covered with 
canvas. A rustic gate gives entrance to this miniature paradise. The 
gate posts are formed of dead jungle trees covered with Orchids. The 
walks, bordered with beautiful ferns and lilies, lead between Orchid-covered 
dead trees that are a riot of colour. ” 
Mr. Powell sends photographs of a Sobralia, and of a Warscewiczella 
which may be W. Wendlandii, but the corresponding dried specimens are 
not yet to hand. _ He also sends dried flowers of the Oncidium that was 
lost in the post (see page 103), and this proves to be O. carthaginensé, 
Swartz, so that we now have evidence that both O. luridum and 0. 
carthaginense occur in Panama. They are very similar in habit, but the 
latter has smaller, very undulate segments, copiously dotted with rose oP | 
a light ground. Mr. Powell remarks: “I now have an old plant in bloom, : 
with about 200 flowers, a most beautiful sight. They like hot, damp, semr 
shady localities to grow in. The fleshy leaves measure from 16 to 278 
inches long, and grow erect at first, but as they mature they curve 
from their weight, until they rest on the basket or tree limb. The plants 
were found by me along the seashore, in damp, shady places, low down 
the sides of trees, where the reflection of the sun on the water could just 
light up the surroundings through the bushes. From the denseness of the a 
jungle it was impossible for any direct ray of sun to reach them.” 
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