THE MOST USEFUL ORCHIDS 139 



size, but of a common type, would be worth 5s. The flowers 

 measure from three to four inches across, and the colouring 

 is usually bright yellow and red-brown, the latter predominating 

 in the sepals and the yellow in the petals. The lip may be white 

 or pale yellow, and usually has one or more red spots towards the 

 base. The species is badly named, as the colouring is never yellow 

 and purple, as the title suggests. 



O. NOBiLE is still popularly known as O. Pescatorei^ and was 

 thus named after a wealthy Parisian banker who was a great lover 

 of Orchids, but O. nobile is the correct title. It is a delightful 

 species, and one which a few specialists admire even more than the 

 beautiful O. crispum. Somewhat like the latter, it is, however, 

 even more refined than that popular kind. The ground colour 

 IS white, and on this are markings of bright magenta-purple. 

 Sometimes the purple is only seen as a small mark on the lip, or 

 as a pale shading on the sepals or petals, but in the most highly 

 prized and highly priced varieties it may be in large blotches on 

 the basal half of each segment, as in the case of O. n. Veitchii, 

 in Baron Schroder's collection, and O. n. Charlesworthii. 



O. Kegeljani (or 0. polyxantbum, to give it its more popular 

 but incorrect name), one of the writer's favourites, has showy, 

 bright yellow flowers, heavily marked with light brown on the 

 sepals and lip, and more lightly marked on the base of the petals. 

 Discovered in Ecuador in 1877, it first flowered in this country 

 with Mr Walter Cobb, whose collection was then at Sydenham, 

 in 1880. It has not proved very variable, and probably its general 

 conformity to the type has placed it outside the enthusiasm of those 

 collectors who prize a specimen chiefly because it has an extra spot 

 or a deeper shade of colour than the majority of its kind. 



O. Rossii, a dwarf-growing species, is one that is sure to 

 attract the beginner in Orchid culture, as it has a neat habit and 



