[4. 



PHAL7ENOPSIS SAN DERI AN A rm. /. 



Radicibus teretibus vel vix applanatis, caule brevi, foliis oblongis obtusissimis ad 10 pollices longis ad 5 pollices latis supra plus minusve griseo- 

 adspersis ; scapo nutantc racemoso (rarius paniculato) plurifloro, bracteis minutissimis. Sepalis oblongis, intermedio obtuso, latcralibus acutatis, pctalis brevi- 

 unguiculatis basi cuneatis subrhombeis obtusis ; labelli lobis lateralibus semiorbicularibus incurvis obtusis, lobo intermedio triangulo hastato antice utrinque in 

 cirrhum filiformem producto, apiculo intcrposito ; callo disci hippocrepico brachio utroque erccto supra bipartito ; gynostemio illis Ph. Aphrodite ct Ph. 

 Schillerianae Rchb. f. omnino aequali. Flores plus minusve intense purpurei 3 pollices diametro, labello aureo-striato, intus et ipso et callo ejus aureo-punctatis. 



Phalangitis Sanderiana, Rchb. f. in Gard. Chron., 1883, I., p. 607 (nomen tantum !) ct p. 656 ; The Garden, XXIV. (1888), pi. 407 ; L'Orchido- 

 phile (1885), p. 18 ; Williams' Orchid Album, Tom. V., pi. 209 ; Vcitch, Manual, Phalaenopsis, p. 34 ; Williams' Orchid Grower's Manual (6th edition), p. 535. 



PHALiENOrsis Sandkriaxa var. MARMORATA, Rchb. f., Gard. Chron., 1883, II., p. 812. 



PHAL/iiNOi'sis Sandkriana var. punctata, J. O'Brien, Gard. Chron., 1890, I., p. 78. 



Like the allied species Ph, Sanderiana is a dwarf, nearly stemless plant, with some very fleshy, cylindrical, or very seldom flattened roots. The leaves 

 are oblong acute, at the top dark green, with a silvery hue on the upper surface, but never marmorated with silvery stripes. The flower stalk is simple, or in 

 very strong specimens sometimes the lower flowers are remplaced by short, few-flowered branchlets. The flowers resemble those of Ph. Aphrodite, Rchb. f., 

 in general appearance, but they differ by their smaller size, the colour and the peculiarities of the callus of the lip, which is not quite identical with this organ 

 of Ph. Aphrodite. As the colour of the surface of the leaves, the colour of the flower, their somewhat reduced size allude to the characters of Ph. Schillcriana, 

 some botanists incline to the opinion to regard it as a natural hybrid between Ph. Aphrodite, Rchb. f., as supposed seed plant, and Ph. Schillcriana, Rchb. f., 

 as pollen parent. We must admit that all the botanical characters support this opinion, but, alas, the home of our plant was till to-day never the same as the 

 habitat of the supposed parents, and all the specimens in Europe were collected in another district of the Philippine-Archipelago than Ph. Aphrodite and Ph. 

 Schilleriana. As in all the other cases, only the cross-fertilisation made in our stove houses will give evidence, and it is to be hoped that experiments will 

 prove the supposition. 



Phalaenopsis Sanderiana is a native of the Philippine Islands, where it was found by the Sandcrian collector, Mr. Roebelin, and sent to St. Albans in 

 1882. It flowered for the first time in the spring of 1883 in several collections in England, and was described by Prof. Reichenbach after splendid materials 

 sent to him by Lord Rothschild. As shown by the short spike of our plate, which besides does not render justice to the loveliness of the living plant, striking 

 affinities are observed with the two well-known species Ph. Aphrodite and Ph. Schilleriana. F. Kransliu. 



Icones analy 



Among Phalaenopsis this will always take rank as one of the most beautiful — and we look upon it as being one of the 

 finest of our Eastern introductions. It was discovered in 1882 by our collector, Mr. Roebelin, while collecting in Philip- 

 pine group in the island of Mindanao. 



Travellers' tales have come to be regarded with but little credence, and of all travellers' "yarns" the exist- 

 ence of orchids in colours forming a violent contrast to those already known, is one of most frequent recurrence. 

 Blue Cattleyas and blue Cypripediums, crimson Cymbidiums and scarlet Phalaenopsis, are among the ignis fatuus 

 which are constantly dangled before the eyes of the orchid collector ; and many a weary search and much good gold has 

 been thrown away in futile attempts to discover these marvels of the forest and jungle, mountain and stream. Many 

 years ago tales had reached us of a scarlet Phalaenopsis which had been seen in the Philippines. This story came to us 

 from different sources, and our collectors repeated the cry which was from time to time heard in Manilla. We hazarded 

 the adventure, the result being the discovery of P. Sanderiana. Whether this be the identical scarlet Phalaenopsis of 

 native rumour we must leave to conjecture ; but it is certain that some varieties do possess an intenseness of colour that 

 might, by no wide stretch of the imagination, become scarlet to the uneducated eye. 



The merit of first flowering it in this country belongs to Mr. F. Hill, gardener to Lord Rothschild, Tring Park, 

 who exhibited a plant before the Royal Horticultural Society, March 13, 1883. Later on, May 8, 1883, two examples 

 were exhibited — one from Sir Trevor Lawrence, and the other from William Lee, Esq., and a first-class certificate was 

 unanimously awarded to each. 



Prof. Reichenbach, in his original notes which appeared in the Gardeners Chronicle of May 26, 1883, says, " it is 

 impossible to see the flower without thinking of P. amabilis and P. Schilleriana," and came to the conclusion that it must 

 be a natural hybrid between these two — an opinion that was shared by Mr. F. W. Burbidge (Garden, Sept. 29, 1883.) 



This magnificent ornament of this deservedly popular genus is free-growing and profuse-flowering, lasting in 

 bloom several weeks, and maintaining its brilliancy to the last. 



Our plate was taken from a plant in the collection of Lord Rothschild, Tring Park, Tring. 



