354 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
had been pretty generally accepted—in principle at least, if not always in 
practice. 
A purely vernacular system, for example, would give us three separate 
names, for Cypripedium x Leeanum, C. x L. superbum and C. x L. gigan- 
teum, but we fail to see where the improvement comes in. Nothing could 
well be more embarrassing than the diversity of practice which now prevails, 
and the recent development of the use of compound names in gardens is 
probably due to the fact that they give some clue to the origin of a hybrid. 
The Rev. R. Baron, the well-known explorer of Madagascar, has pub- 
lished in the Standard newspaper, and also in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, a 
letter respecting M. Hamelin’s published account of the discovery of 
Eulophiella Elisabethz, and describes “‘most of the statements made” as 
“purely imaginary,” and “ largely or entirely pure romance.” 
Our present number complétes the volume for the year, and contains 
the title-page and index, consequently the matter for the present month is 
somewhat curtailed. We call attention to a notice on the last page with 
regard to our future arrangements, and hope for increased support during 
the coming year. 
LENGTH OF LIFE IN PHALAZNOPSIS. 
A discussion has recently taken place in the Gardeners’ Chronicle 
on the above subject. Speaking of the difficulty of forming large 
vigorous plants here at home, Mr. Sidney Courtauld (p. 458) relates 
how a well-known collector told him that in their native country the 
duration of their life does not exceed a few years. To this Major- 
General E. S. Berkeley replies (p. 532) that he has seen thousands 
of plants in a wild state, and some of extraordinary age and dimensions, 
such as would scarcely be believed by growers at home, and cites his notes 
on Phalznopsis tetraspis in our columns (p. 209) in corroboration. “ I feel 
quite convinced,” he remarks, “that I have seen many plants one hundred 
years old. . . . I have healthy plants now in my Phalznopsis house col- 
lected by me in 1880.” His method of culture is detailed at pp- 299 
and 242 of our columns. Mr. W. Holmes also speaks of plants of P. 
Schilleriana, amabilis, grandiflora, Stuartiana and violacea, that were in the 
Pickering Lodge collection long before he took charge of it twelve years 28° 
and though flowering every year are now larger than ever. We quite agree 
with these writers that Phalznopsis are not at all short-lived plants, and 
under proper treatment may be grown for almost indefinite periods. 
