SEPTEMBER, 1908.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 285; 
coerulea and teres, Phalzenopsis amabilis, Epidendrum cochleatum, Phrag- 
mopedilum > Sedenii candidulum and x _ calurum, Odontoglossum: 
Schlieperianum, O. bictoniense, and the very distinct O. bictoniense album, 
O. CErstedii, and a good O. crispum, Cochlioda vulcanica, Miltonia 
Regnellii, the striking Oncidium dasytyle, O. micropogon, incurvum, 
oblongatum and flexuosum. There are also Masdevallia muscosa, bella, X 
Heathii and X Parlatoreana, Bifrenaria vitellina, Dendrobium mutabile and 
a few other interesting things. 
A later series from the same collection contained the brilliant Disa 
grandiflora, Leelio-cattleya bletchleyensis and elegans, Cattleyas Dowiana 
and Lueddemanniana, Tricopilia coccinea and nobilis, Miltonia spectabilis. 
Moreliana, Oncidium macranthum, Angrecum Scottianum, and Epiden-. 
drum nocturnum. 
A flower of the very richly coloured Sophrocatlelia Medeia vinicolor, to: 
which an Award of Merit was given by the R.H.S. on August 18th, is sent 
from the collection of Lt.-Col. G. L. Holford, Westonbirt, Tetbury, by Mr- 
Alexander. The parents are Cattleya bicolor and Sophrolalia leta 
Orpetiana, whose characters are very well combined in it. The flower is of 
an intense claret-purple, with very small side lobes to the lip, showing the 
influence of the Cattleya parent, but the petals much broader than in that 
species. The column is white. 
ORCHIS MACULATA. 
AN interesting article entitled ‘The life history of a wild Orchid,’ by John 
J. Ward, appears in the August issue of the Stvand Magazine, illustrated by 
seven photographic figures by the author. The subject is the spotted 
Orchis, Orchis maculata, found growing in damp grassy places in a 
Warwickshire country lane. Its habit, the structure of the roots and 
flowers, and the details of fertilisation are given, and the author expresses 
the opinion that the spotting on the leaves is a protective arrangement to 
prevent them from being eaten by grazing animals. ‘‘ Many are the half- 
hours,” he remarks “in which I have puzzled over those leaves. The 
leaves are smooth, glassy, deep olive green, and spotted with stripes and. 
dots of a dark brown pigment; and it is these curious, brown markings 
that make them so mysterious. Their function has always been an 
unsoluble problem. . . . Time after time, when looking on those weird. 
spots and trying to decipher their hidden meaning, it has seemed to me 
that they presented an appearance with which I was familiar, but the 
explanation I was seeking persistently evaded me. To-day I think I have 
caught a glimpse of their true significance. . . . By the side of my 
moist plot where the Orchids grow thickest there lies a wood, and I had. 
just reached the edge of it, in my search for choice specimens of the plant, 
