$s 
316 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [OcToBER, 1915. 
| 7 DENDROBIUM HOOKERIANUM. | v | 
PLANT of the handsome Dendrobium Hookerianum was exhibited at 
; the R.H.S. meeting held on September 14th from the collection of 
J. Gurney Fowler, Esq., Brackenhurst, Pembury (gr. Mr. Davis), together 
with a remarkable variety having deeply fringed petals. The species is 
probably the handsomest of the yellow-flowered species, but has long been 
known as difficult to cultivate. It was originally described by Lindley, in 
1859 (Journ. Linn. Soc., iii. p. 8), from materials collected in Sikkim by Sir 
J. D. Hooker, and it is also a native of Assam and the Khasia Hills, where 
it occurs at altitudes of 3000 to 6000 feet. 
It appeared in cultivation some years later, and was described by 
Reichenbach under the name of D. chrysotis (Gard. Chron., 1870, p. 1311), 
from a plant which flowered with Messrs. James Brooks & Son, Fairfield 
Nurseries, Manchester. It also received a First-class Certificate from the 
R.H.S. in September, 1870. Its history was given when, in September, 
1873, a flower that had been received from the collection of Mr. Warner, 
was painted by Mr. John Day (Orch. Draw., xvi. t. 25). Mr. Day then 
remarked: ‘‘ This splendid species was first introduced into this country 
by me, through the exertions of my nephew, Captain W. J. Williamson, of 
Assam. It was found in the Bhootan Hills. I first received it in the 
spring of 1868, but did not know what it was. I have received considerable 
numbers of it every season since, and it appears to be common enough 
where it grows. I have never succeeded in blooming it, nor even in 
growing it, although I have tried it in every house I have, in pots and 
blocks and baskets, in heat and cold.” He then went on to speak of the 
success with which it was grown by Mr. Warner, which may,be seen in a 
figure afterwards published (Warn. Sel. Orch., iii. t. 6). 
The two were connected when, in January, 1873, D. Hookerianum was 
figured in the Botanical Magazine (t. 6013), with D. chrysotis as a synonym. 
The identity was not admitted by Reichenbach, who as late as 1887 (Gard. 
Chron., 1887, ii. p. 636), claimed Bot. Mag., t. 6013 as D. chrysotis, which 
he regarded as a more slender plant than D. Hookerianum, of which 
latter he had just received “ excellent materials from Mr. W. Bull.” What 
these were we cannot Say, but.an examination of the original specimens 
leaves no doubt that D. chrysotis, Rchb. f., is only a synonym of D. 
Mookerianum, Lindl. The species is well marked by the golden yellow 
flowers, born in long racemes, and the two dark blotches on the disc of the 
deeply-fringed lip. Messrs. King & Pantling, however, remark that im 
Sikkim a variety without blotches on the lip is not uncommon. 
