170 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
ORCHIDS IN SEASON. 
OwiNG to the long-continued cold winds and rain, together with the 
comparative absence of sunshine, Orchids are exceptionally late this year, 
and, unless a rapid change takes place, the period of maximum brilliancy 
will be deferred until well into June; indeed, we have seen the somewhat 
unusual sight of Odontoglossum crispum being hurried along in heat in 
order to get the flowers open in time for the Temple Show, a practice 
which must inevitably result in a falling-off in quality. Of course, 
spikes which pushed early enough open without such assistance, but 
these are, this season, fewer than usual. Cattleyas and Lelias are also 
correspondingly backward, and some that are open show a deterioration 
in the sepals, owing to the long spell of dull weather and the time they 
have been opening. The same thing is sometimes seen in C. Trianz 
early in the season, and doubtless arises from the exposure of the sepals 
to atmospheric impurities, from which the petals and lip are protected, 
owing to their interior position. A spell of cold, dull weather which 
retards the opening of the buds is likely to cause this defect. 
Lelia purpurata flowers abundantly at this season and is always one of 
the mainstays of the big Shows. A series of flowers from different 
collections shows well the amount of variation usually met with. Eight fine, 
well-grown forms are sent from the collection of H. W. Elliott, Esq., 
Elmfield, Selly Gak, by Mr. Darby. The more typical ones vary from 
white to pale lilac in- the sepals and petals, with lip very rich purple, more 
or less tipped with white in front, and the throat varying from white to 
yellow lined with purple. Another is near var. Russelliana, being suffused 
with lilac-purple round the throat, and the veins rather darker, with 
the sepals and petals white. Eight others come from Mr. C. Young, of 
West Derby, Liverpool, and include a beautiful white form slightly tinged 
and veined with pale lilac round the throat, and thus near the variety 
Schroeder. Two others are very dark, the purple extending back along 
the sides lobes and also nearly obliterating the white in front, and one of 
these has also lilac-rose sepals and petals, approaching var. blenheimensis. 
A fourth, with white sepals and petals and a clear white area at the apex 
of the lip, is almost the old var. pratexta, while a fifth closely approaches 
var. Russelliana, having the lip large, rosy-lilac, darker near the light-yellow 
throat, and the sepals and petals tinged with lilac. The others are more 
typical. A very good form is sent from the collection of D. M. Grimsdale, 
Esq., of Uxbridge, in which the petals are broad and retain their shape 
better than in most others, which appear narrower owing to the way they 
reflex. The sepals and petals are white with the lip rich purple. 
Lelia Boothiana is a rather rare but pretty, purple-flowered species of : 
