May, 1916.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. —1tg 
c | SOBRALIA CHARLESWORTHII AND S. RUCKERI. | | 
T the Temple Show held in rgto a handsome Sobralia was exhibited 
by Messrs. Charlesworth & Co., Haywards Heath, under the name of 
S. Charlesworthii, to which a First-class Certificate was given. It was 
recorded as a handsome Colombian species, nearly allied to S. Ruckeri, and 
having rich rose-purple flowers, with a broad purple band round the lip, 
and a yellow crest (O.R., xviii. p. 184). A little uncertainty was felt at the 
time as to its distinctness from S. Ruckeri, a species which Lindley 
regarded as identical with S. rosea, Poepp. & Endl., but a re-examination 
of the materials, with the help of a fine, three-flowered inflorescence of S. 
Charlesworthii that was exhibited by Messrs. Charlesworth at the R.H.S. 
meeting held on April 11th, has thrown more light on the matter. 
S. Ruckeri, Linden & Rchb., f., was collected by Schlim in the 
province of Ocana, at 5000-6000 feet elevation, and was described in 1854 
(Bonpl., 1854, p. 278) as an ally of S. rosea, Poepp. and Endl. Lindley’s 
Herbarium, fortunately, contains a specimen collected by Schlim in the 
same province, at gooo feet (n. 32), on the ticket of which Schlim has 
written “ Sobralia Ruckeri,” and although not the original specimen (which 
is cited as n. 1253), its authenticity is not in doubt. There is also an 
unnamed specimen (n. 65), that was collected at 8500 feet in the province 
of Pamplona. Lindley named both these S. rosea, Pcepp. and Endl., and so 
cited them, with S. Ruckeri as a synonym (Fol. Orch., Sobral. p. 3); but this 
does not stand the test of comparison, even in a dried state, for the shape 
of both the bracts and flowers are quite distinct, in shape, a fact that was 
recognised by Reichenbach when figuring S. Ruckeri (Xen. Orch.,, i. p. 168, 
t. 42). There are two other figures of S. Ruckeri: Warn. Sel. Orch., iii. t. 
Ig, and Gard. Chron., 1901, ii. pp. 66, 67, fig. 23, the latter prepared from a 
plant for which Sir Trevor Lawrence received an Award of Merit from the 
R.H.S. in July, 1901, flowers of which are preserved at Kew, and which 
are identical with those collected by Schlim. The original S. rosea, Poepp. 
and Endl., isa Peruvian plant, which, so far as we can ascertain, has not yet 
appeared in cultivation. 
S. CHARLEsworTH has the general character of S. Ruckeri, but has 
much larger flowers; after being dried (so as to be in the same condition) 
they excel those of S. Ruckeri in diameter by 1} inches. Ina fresh state 
they measure 3} inches long, the sepals being an inch broad and the petals 
1} inches, and of a bright rose purple, while the broad, entire concave lip 
is intense purple round the margin, and has a broad, fleshy yellow band 
down the centre. In colour the two are very similar, and the question 
