May, 1912.| THE ORCHID REVIEW. 131 
three words as a maximum.” This legalises names consisting of five words, 
for there is always the generic and specific names in addition, but we much 
prefer the old system, which gave us such names as Dendrobium nobile 
virginale and Cypripedium Leeanum giganteum, which are quite long enough 
for ordinary use. It is not necessary to write Dendrobium nobile var. 
virginale, for the varietal name is understood. A system has now grown up 
by which the abbreviation “‘ var.”’ is not only used regularly, but is further 
transferred to the end of the name, as Dendrobium nobile Smith’s var., or 
D. nobile Bleak House var. This sometimes leads to a further innovation, 
which is now bothering a correspondent, namely, the insertion of a comma 
between the specific and varietal names; for example Cattleya Flora, 
Smith’s var. Of course, the meaning is not quite the same without 
the comma, and one can hardly transpose the word var. into its natural 
position. 
We are also asked the meaning of such a phrase as Dendrobium nobile 
virginale Smith’s var. Our correspondent always thought that the word 
virginale indicated the varietal name, but now we appear to have varieties 
of varieties. He also calls attention to a record in our pages that Awards | 
of Merit were given to what we will call ‘‘ Dendrobium nobile Smith’s _ 
var. Olympian and virginale, both from,” &c., and he asks, ‘“‘ Whatever 
does it mean?” Wedonot know. We gave the record as it reached us. 
Our correspondent concludes by asking, Where are we going? Perhaps 
someone will oblige with an answer. 
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INHERITANCE OF ALBINISM IN ORCHIDS. 
THE question of the inheritance of albinism in Orchids has been discussed 
in these pages on several occasions, and now further evidence is to hand. 
Messrs. A. A. Peeters & fils, Laeken-Bruxelles, send a seedling plant, 
derived from Cypripedium Lawrenceanum Hyeanum X niveum, which has 
reverted to typical C. Aphrodite. The dorsal sepal is over two inches 
broad, white, veined and dotted with light red-purple, the veins becoming 
green at the extreme base, while the petals have a slight greenish suffusion, 
and are dotted with red-purple, and the lip and staminode are suffused with 
light purple. The leaves are beautifully marbled, and the scape is covered 
with dark hairs. Although an attractive hybrid, M. Peeters is naturally 
disappointed that it is not an albino. The plant has been presented to the 
Kew Collection. 
The second flower is sent from the collection of F. M. Ogilvie, Esq., 
The Shrubbery, Oxford, by Mr. W. Balmforth, who writes as follows :— 
‘* The cross is C. niveum Ajax X Lawrenceanum Gratrixianum. It has 
interested us because our first attempt at raising a white Antigone through 
