208 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
O. ramosissimum was very interesting and some good forms of O. X 
Andersonianum, including the var. Ruckerianum were noted, also O. 
crispum with large plump bulbs and strong dark-green foliage. Some good 
Oncidium sarcodes and Cattleya Schroedere also attracted our attention. 
It was interesting to note that various botanical Orchids were represented as 
well as the commoner showy species. A batch of imported Dendrobiums 
was noticed, suspended the right way up, and an enquiry elicited the fact 
that M. de Smet does not believe in suspending them upside down, which 
can do no good in any case, and, owing to the different structure of the 
under surface of the leaves may be productive of injury. 
Time did not permit us to visit more of the Ghent establishments, in 
which we found many features of interest. 
(To be continued.) 
DENDROBIUM NOBILE VARIEGATED. 
Referring to the paragraph on page 178 of your last issue, it may interest 
some of your readers to learn that I, too, purchased from Messrs. Cowan & 
Co. (the ‘* Liverpool Horticultural Co.”) in May, 1896, a plant of Dendro- 
bium nobile, which attracted me by the variegation of its foliage. It 
flowered in March, 1897, and again in April last, and my notes record ‘‘a 
pretty light variety with round lips.’” The plant is now a respectable sized 
one, with two leads (one of these a back growth) and the leaves of both 
possess the Draczna-like striping mentioned, but these markings are 
always lost during the “resting period,” when the leaves become a uniform 
dark green colour. 
My plant is evidently a seedling, and not a mere piece of those you have 
referred to, for the back bulbs diminish in size down to an inch or so in 
length, which points to the conclusion that several plants existed in this 
importation, and probably came from one seed pod. 
It is curious to speculate what was the parentage which induced this 
oddity. Or are the markings the result of environment? If so, it Is 
singular that they should persist after this has been changed, and more so 
that the growth induced from the back bulbs of my plant (by nicking the 
rhizome) should have the same peculiarity. 
Liverpool. F. H. Moore. 
(Variegation is due to an etiolated or diseased condition of the 
chlorophyll in the affected part, and, although it is difficult to suggest what 
is the predisposing cause, it is believed to be in some way connected with 
defective nutrition, for while usually permanent under the same conditions 
it has, in some cases, a tendency to disappear when plants are cultivated 
in very rich soils.—ED.] 
