The Romance Of a Lost Orchid— By Leonard Barron »* 



THE STORY OF A MUCH-PRIZED LADY'S-SLIPPER, LOST FOR HALF A CENTURY, ALTHOUGH THE 

 PARENT OF MANY CHOICE HYBRIDS NOW IN CULTIVATION— ITS REDISCOVERY ON COLONEL 

 YOUNGHUSBAND'S INVASION OF MYSTERIOUS TIBET— WORTH $500 ONE MONTH, $25 THE NEXT 



NOTHING within recent years has cre- 

 ated so much excitement among plant 

 connoisseurs as the rediscovery in the mount- 

 ains of Tibet of the long-lost lady's-slipper 



Like digging gold! Opening the boxes containing 

 the first two hundred plants of Fairie's cypripedium 



orchid, Fairie's cypriped {Cypripedium Fair- 

 ieanum). 



Orchid lovers have been watching for 

 years for the rediscovery of this plant, the 

 actual source of which was unknown. They 

 wanted it, not merely because it had been 

 utterly lost to cultivation, but because it was 

 the parent of many of the most beautiful 

 hybrids we have. It had remarkable pre- 

 potency, imparting to its descendants its 

 beautiful purple venation. 



Fifty years ago a Wardian case full of 

 orchids was offered for sale in the celebrated 

 Stevens's plant auction rooms in London. 

 They were sold, and not considered of very 

 much account at the time, and pieces of the 

 plants were fairly generally distributed among 

 the orchid collections of the world. This 

 was the original importation of Cypripedium 

 Fairieanum, and from that time to this no 

 other plant has ever been seen. All these 

 original plants died. Undoubtedly, like 

 many others introduced in the early days of 

 orchid cultivation, they were cooked to death. 

 Now we grow orchids cooler. 



A few plants lingered on in collections 

 around New York, and some interesting 

 hybrids have been raised from them, which 

 were all that remained to remind orchid 

 lovers of the existence of this species. 



So great had been the desire to rediscover 

 the plant that one large firm of English 

 orchid dealers had a standing offer of $5,000 



in the Indian papers for a consignment of the 

 plants. There was a belief that this lost 

 plant was native to Assam, but all that was 

 positively known about the source of the 

 original importation of a half century ago 

 was that the case in which they arrived had 

 come from Calcutta. It often happens that 

 the exact source of a new orchid is kept secret 

 (and, indeed, there have been instances of 

 deliberate misrepresentation). This is one 

 of the unfortunate exigencies of trade. The 

 importer wants to make as much money as 

 possible from a new find. 



Among the hybrids of American origin, Cypripedium 

 Edivardt is one of the most remarkable. The down- 

 ward droop of the petals is a characteristic of the 

 Fairieanum hybrid. Color white shaded green, purple 

 veinings 



That Fairie's orchid has eventually been 

 rediscovered and reintroduced is the direct 

 result of the British Government's mission 

 to Tibet. A Government officer engaged on 

 the mission discovered certain plants in the 

 mountains of Tibet, and shipped a few to a 

 friend in Calcutta, under the suspicion that 

 they were something new and valuable. 

 Other plants were sent to Kew, England, and 

 were immediately identified as being the 

 long-lost lady's-slipper. 



Naturally, the news of the rediscovery 

 spread quickly. Here was an opportunity 

 Cable dispatches were hurried off. Collect- 

 62 



ors were sent into the region of the orchid, 

 and within a very short time after the identity 

 of the orchid had been announced, a well- 

 known firm of orchid importers in England 

 had a special consignment on the seas, en 

 route for London. Plants of the original re- 

 discovery were coming along slowly from 

 Calcutta. It was a race, and the second 

 dispatch arrived first! They were rushed to 

 the auction rooms, and so keen was the ex- 

 citement in the orchid world that plants of 

 two or three growths sold at prices ranging 

 from $300 to $500. The secret of another 

 shipment being on the seas had been well 

 kept, but it arrived in due time and to-day 

 the lady's-slipper, lost for half a century, can 

 be purchased in good specimens for $25. Al- 

 ready American collectors are in possession 

 of the rarity, and it has even flowered in the 

 collection of Mr. Brown at St. Louis, Mis- 

 souri. 



Cypripedium Fairieanum transmits its 

 high coloring and its peculiar droop of the 

 petals to all its hybrids. 



The flower of Fairie's orchid, which is 

 borne on a stalk about six inches long, has a 

 remarkably attractive combination of bright 

 colors. The upper standard is white, yellow- 

 ish green at the base and is veined with rich 

 purple. The same colors appear in the 

 petals, and the slipper or pouch is reddish 

 green, veined with purple. 



At first, plants like this sold for $300 and $500 

 each on arrival. Within a month a second arrival 

 reduced the value to $25 



