THE ORCHID REVIEW. 167 
VANDA PUMILA. 
A PLANT of a rare little Vanda which is seldom seen in cultivation was 
included by Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. in their group at the Temple Show. 
It is nearly allied to V. cristata, and was considered a variety of it by 
Lindley (var. B, Lindl. Fol. Orch., Vanda, p. 10). It differs, however, in 
having a strong conical spur, and in the absence of the characteristic horns 
at the apex of the lip, as well as in the colour of the flower, which is cream- 
white, streaked with purple on the fleshy lip. It is also rather smaller than 
V. cristata and V. alpina, Lindl., which it resembles in general habit, and 
is now known as Vanda pumila (Hook. fe Fl. Brit. Ind. VI, pi §4)s It is a 
native of Bhotan and Sikkim, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet. 
Ru Ac Re 
AN AMATEURS’ NOTES. 
THE other day the question was asked, Which is the best season for 
Orchids? I would reply the month of May, for at the moment of writing 
there is a profusion of bloom which will not be equalled until the season 
comes round again. Among Cattleyas are found the beautiful and variable 
forms of Mossiz, Mendelii, the brilliant Lawrenceana, Skinne i, and 
Warscewiczii, together with such striking species as citrina, Aclandiz, 
Schilleriana, intermedia, and dolosa, which does not exhaust the list. Lelia 
purpurata, with its numerous forms, is a host in itself, and the richly 
coloured tenebrosa is a worthy companion. Odontoglossums furnish 
quite a series of beautiful forms, of which crispum is naturally placed first, 
followed by its various hybrids, and the species luteopurpureum, Hallii, 
cirrhosum, hastilabium, polyxanthum, and others which need not be 
enumerated. Oncidiums concolor, Marshallianum, varicosum, and 
macranthum are at their best, also Vanda teres, the Thunias, Cymbidium 
Lowianum, Miltonia vexillaria, Dendrobiums Bensonz, Dearei and chryso- 
toxum. These, together with a few late representatives of spring-flowering 
things and a few precocious examples of summer-bloomers, are now making 
a really brilliant show. 
I have not mentioned the Cypripediums, but barbatum, Lawrenceanum, 
Stonei, Rothschildianum, and several other species, and the inevitable 
hybrids, are now in great form. Then there are Masdevallias Harryana, 
Veitchiana and some of the Chimera group, the graceful Brassia verrucosa 
Aérides Fieldingii, Epidendrum vitellinum, Cochlioda Neetzliana, and 
numbers of other interesting things, which serve to give variety and tone 
down the brilliancy of the showier forms. At no other period of the year is 
the display quite as rich and varied as at the present. 
AMATEUR. 
