136 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [May, 1909. 
be very interesting if Mr. Thwaites would try to self-fertilise one of the 
seedlings and let us know the result. There is nothing like following up the 
case if we are to find a clear path through what at present seems like a 
forest of contradictions. Ri A. R. 
VANDA CCERULEA., 
Tuts lovely Vanda is seldom seen at its best condition when under cultiva- 
tion. It is found on the dry, grassy slopes of the Khasia Mountains in 
Eastern India, in the neighbourhood of the Brahmapootra, at an elevation 
of 4,000 feet above sea level. The plants are found in great numbers on oak 
trees, which are small, gnarled, and sparingly leafy, so that the Vandas are 
fully exposed to the sun, air and wind. The atmosphere is humid, especially 
during the rainy season, but at no time is it fully saturated with moisture. 
The plants cling, by their roots, tenaciously to the rough, dry bark, and 
often completely cover the boughs. In the flowering season the tempera- 
ture averages 70°, and the atmosphere during the day-time is dry, but in 
July and August, when rains are frequent, the temperature is a little higher, 
whilst in winter it falls much lower. Under these conditions of summer 
heat, autumn drought, and dry, cool air of winter, the most beautiful of. 
Indian Orchids flourish, such as Dendrobium Devonianum, D. Dalhousi- . 
anum, D. Farmeri, also species of Coelogyne, Bulbophyllum, Cymbidium, 
and a few species of Cypripedium.—F. NEwman, in Gard. Chron., 1909, 1. 
p. 194. 
[We believe that most of the importations of recent years have come 
from the Shan States of Upper Burma. Of course the climatic conditions 
are similar, and should be taken into consideration by cultivators.—ED.] 
SOBRALIA RUCKERI. 
SoME time ago a handsome Sobralia was exhibited by Messrs. Duchesne 
Lanthoine & Co., Watermael, Brussels, under the name of S. Lanthoinei 
(Trib. Hort., 1908, p. 608). It is said to have been introduced from 
Columbia, in 1903. A specimen was sent and proves to belong to S. 
Ruckeri, Lindl., a very handsome species whose history has already been 
given (O.R., xii., p. 184). It received a First-class Certificate from the 
R.H.S. in May, 1904. It grows in the Ocana district, at 5,000-6,000 feet 
elevation. The species is allied to the Peruvian S. rosea, and belongs to a 
group that is very seldom seen in cultivation, in which the inflorescence is 
somewhat elongated and flexuose, and the flowers are borne in the axils 
of spreading bracts. The flowers of S. Ruckeri are large and handsome, | 
the colour bright rose-purple, with a darker lip, and some yellow and 
white in the throat. R. A.B: 
