34 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
Lycaste Skinneri is a most effective winter-flowering Orchid when well 
grown. A fine and well-developed flower is sent by Mr. T. Archer, 
gardener to R. le Doux, Esq., Marlfield, West Derby, Liverpool. The 
plant has one leading bulb with ten flowers. It is an excellent example of 
good culture. 
Vanilla cultivation in Mauritius, which has hitherto been one of the 
staple products of the island, is, according to the Chemist and Druggist, 
rapidly diminishing, and will soon be a thing of the past. The cause has 
been put down to the continued robbery of the Vanilla estates by the 
Indian immigrants, but the real reason is the increasing competition of the 
Vanilla grown in Bourbon, which, owing to the soil being more suited to 
its cultivation, can be produced there at a cheaper rate. The planters 
also complain that the fluctuations in prices per kilo render the article 
a very speculative one. 
Odontoglossum crispum, Hunter’s variety (Kranzlin in Gard. Chron., 
1893, i. p. 194), of which we have received photographs and living flowers 
from H. J. Hunter, Esq., of Edinburgh, is a very charming form, the sepals 
and petals being much spotted with cinnamon-brown, as in O. x Hors- 
manii. It has much improved. 
Lelia anceps, Rosefield variety, according to a flower received from De 
Barri Crawshay, Esq., of Sevenoaks, is a handsome rose-coloured form, in 
which the veinings in the throat are very broad and dark, giving it a very 
striking appearance. L. a. Crawshayana is a giant form with unusually 
broad petals and brilliant colours, which secured a First-class Certificate at 
the Drill Hall on January 15th last. 
Vanilla tolypephora, named in allusion to the ball of wool on the lip, 
is a Malayan species recently described by Mr. Ridley (Trans. Linn. Soc., 
ser. 2, lili. p. 376), which had previously been confused with V. albida. 
The flowers are said to be as beautiful as any in the genus, and the fruits, 
like small bananas, are sweet and eatable. 
Fogs in the early part of January did some damage to Orchid flowers in 
the London district, and we have received flowers and buds of Sie mia 
both from Camberwell and Streatham, showing its disastrous effects. 
Several species of Ophrys are now flowering s the collection of H. J. 
Elwes, Esq., Andoversford, Gloucestershire, and we have received flowers 
of O. aranifera, O. Speculum and O. lutea. The lip of the first is re- 
markably like a spider, and the second has a smooth shining centre, well 
compared to a looking-glass. All three, in fact, are very happily named. 
