January, 1908.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 29 
flower within a reasonable period their growth should be assisted as much 
as possible. Seeds of epiphytic Orchids that have been kept in bags 
through the winter had better be kept a little longer, so that they may have 
more genial weather when they begin to germinate. Cypripedes seem 
more impatient of control, and may be sown on the pots of the parent 
species as they ripen. Their germination seems erratic, but as soon as the 
young seedlings are large enough they may be pricked off and treated. with 
the rest. It is a very interesting branch of Orchid culture. 
PAPHIOPEDILUM x FRANKEANUM. 
HERE is another surprise. A leaf and flower of a Paphiopedilum have 
been submitted to Kew for determination by M. Theodore Franke, Gross- 
Ottersleben, near Magdeburg, Germany, with the remark that the plant 
was found in an importation of P. Curtisii, and is believed to be a natural 
hybrid. The resemblance to P. Curtisii is obvious, but the petals are 
broader, and bear a number of good-sized round spots, in which respect, 
andin some others, it recalis P. tonsum. The fact affords a clue to its 
origin. P. tonsum itself came unexpectedly. When Mr. Curtis was in 
Sumatra, collecting for Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, he discovered and 
sent home a new Cypripedium, which, on its flowering, was described by 
Reichenbach under the name of C. Curtisii, but shortly afterwards the same 
importation yielded a second species, which Reichenbach described 
as C. tonsum. The two grow intermixed, and the leaves are so 
much alike in colour and markings, that Curtis took them for one. Both 
are flowering at Kew at the present time, and a comparison of the materials 
sent by M. Franke leaves no doubt of its being a natural hybrid between 
them. It is surprising that it has not been recorded before, and we do not 
find that the cross has been made in gardens, though we hope it will 
now be attempted. The hairs of the petals are rather longer than in P, 
Curtisii, which is curious, seeing that P. tonsum is devoid of ‘hairs. The 
fact suggests an ancestral stimulus, for P. tonsum is probably descended 
from a hairy ancestor. It is a very interesting discovery. R 
LAZELIO-CATTLEYA ISAACSII. 
AN interesting Orchid has just flowered in the collection of Max Isaacs, Esq., 
Wildecroft, Blundellsands, near Liverpool. His gardener, Mr. Driver, 
writes : ‘‘ We have flowered the enclosed, and should be glad to know if it. 
isa freak of Cattleya Harrisoniana or a hybrid. It was imported about two 
years ago, and is flowering from a rather weak bulb.” He further remarks 
that it has single leaves on all its bulbs, which have more of the shape of 
Cattleya. Mendelii, the longest measuring nine inches, though there is a 
resemblance to C. Harrisoniana in the shape and texture of the leaves. 
