Nov.-DEc., 1917-] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 255 
a 
discoverer of this beautiful species, and must protest against its bearing any 
other name than that given to it by Mr. Bateman.—JoHN WEIR. 
The controversy continued for some time, and Reichenbach remarked 
(Gard. Chron., 1866, p. 8): ‘‘ For my part I believe there are two species, 
and mules, too, between them. . . . Mr. Weir seems not to have 
thought of hybrids.” Finally, in 1873, we find a painting by Mr. Day 
(Orch. Draw., xvii. t. 32), with the remark: “A suburb variety of this 
variable but always lovely species, which is now acknowledged by botanists 
to be old O. crispum, thus extinguishing the rival claimis to be called 
Bluntii or Alexandre.’ It would thus appear that even so desirable an 
acquisition as O. crispum was not recognised when it first appeared in 
cultivation. 
VANILLA IMPERIALS, Krinzl.—A fine species of Vanilla from Uganda 
has been known for some time from dried specimens, and about a year ago 
a living piece was sent to Kew by the Uganda Department of Agriculture, 
It has now flowered, and proves indistinguishable from V. imperialis, 
Kranzl., a species described in 1876 from the Cameroons (Notizbl. K. Gart. 
Berl., i. p. 155, t. 1). The flowers were compared with those of Cattleya 
Dowiana, and were described as golden yellow, with dark purple veining on 
the front of the lip. It was said to be near the West African V. grandi- 
folia, Lindl., a species still imperfectly known, but which is readily 
distinguished from V. imperialis by its much smaller bracts. The dried 
specimens above mentioned are, a fine fruiting piece from the Mabiri 
forest, collected by C. B. Ussher in 1908 ; ‘nflorescences and flowers from 
the Umyoro district, by M. T. Dawe in 1910, and a fine specimen from Fort 
Bayo, at 4000 feet elevation, by R. Diimmer. A comparison of the series 
leaves no doubt of their identity, and it is interesting to find another 
western species extending across as far as Uganda, for the fine Angraecum 
infundibulare, Lindl., has a similar distribution. Vanilla imperialis 1s a 
striking plant, with stout scandent stems, elliptical-orbicular, sessile, very 
fleshy leaves, six to nine inches long by four to five broad, axillary spikes 
with closely imbricating bracts, about an inch long, and large fleshy flowers, 
with yellow sepals and petals, over two inches long, and a dark purple lip 
With some light yellow veining, somewhat resembling Cattleya Dowiana in 
colour, with the typical Vanilla structure. They remain open for about 
five days. Itisa very striking species.—R.A.R. 
AN ABNORMAL CaTTLEYA is sent from the collection of R. W. Rickards, 
Esq., Usk Priory, Monmouthshire. The petals are exceptionally broad, 
and one of them is completely confluent with the lip, which thus occupies 
a lateral position. It is probably a mere accidental occurrence. 
