376 



— the last with a wavy outline; a fourth with 

 crimpled leaves (crispa) ; a low-growin g smooth- 

 leaved variety (integrifolia) ; and a kind with 

 very large glossy leaves {photiniafolia). The 

 finest, however, is that known as Croomii (syn. 

 rubra) with leaves finer than its parent, bearing 

 larger honey-scented flowers prettily shaded 

 with crimson, followed by deeply-coloured 

 fruit. The shade of the flowers varies from 

 salmon-pink to deep red in the form coccinea, 

 and with its handsome foliage and rich red 

 bark it is one of the finest of hardy shrubs. 

 There is also a double-flowered form, but as it 

 sets no fruit it is of little value for gardens. 



The Mexican Strawberry Tree (A. 

 xalapensis). — A tender species from Mexico 

 and New Grenada, of no great interest for 

 English gardens. B. 



LiELIO-CATTLEYA REX * 



The crossing of Laelias and Cattleyas has 

 yielded many handsome forms of what 

 are termed Lcelio-cattleyas, and among 

 these seedlings the crossingof theforms 

 of Lcelio purpurata with the many va- 

 rieties of Cattleya Mossice has given a 

 series of fine hybrid Orchids. It was 

 during 1885 that the first of these hy- 

 brids flowered, though at the time its 

 origin was unknown and the plant de- 

 scribed in Veitch's "Manual of Orchi- 

 daceous Plants" as an " enfant trouve." 

 It was named Ltelio C anh am iana , in 

 honour of Charles Canham, then Orchid 

 foreman at Messrs. Veitch's nursery, 

 where the plant was raised. This first 

 plant of the series produced flowers so 

 different from those so finely shown in 

 the plate, that were it not for the many 

 intermediate forms that have appeared 

 since 1 8 8 5 , it would be hard to imagine 

 that there was any connection between 

 them. In JLcelio Ca7iha?niana the sepals 

 and petals are light rose, the lip dark 



velvet-purple in its outer waved portion, 

 margined narrowly with white in its 

 upper part, and veined in the throat with 

 brown stripes on an orange ground. 

 Many fine varieties of this plant have 

 since been raised, some with white seg- 

 ments as in L.-cs. Canhamiana albida, 

 and "Marguerite" ; some with very dark 

 flowers, as in L.-cs. C. superba, and 

 "jfoyce Wigan and the beautiful and 

 distinct form named in compliment to 

 Lady Wigan . But amongst them all, few 

 approach this new plant in the purity, 

 size, and substance of its flowers, and 

 the rich colour of the lip. Its full name 

 is Lcelio-cattleya Canhamiana var. Rex, 

 for though not derived from the original 

 forms, its parents are two distinct va- 

 rieties of those forms, and by common 

 consent in such cases all allied offspring 

 are classed together. 



The parents of this fine plant are 

 given as Lcelio purpurata var. alba, 

 crossed with Cattleya Mossice var. Rei- 

 neckiana. The ivory whiteness of its 

 sepals and petals comes from the white 

 outer segments present in both parents, 

 whilst the fine magenta-purple colour 

 so predominant in their lip-petals is seen 

 in yet more marked degree in the lip 

 of the hybrid. To Messrs. Sander of 

 St. Albans is due the honour of having 

 raised this grand Orchid, of which I well 

 remember seeing the first flower when 

 visiting the nursery in May 1902. Since 

 then plants have come under my care in 

 the " Clare Lawn " collection, and I have 

 had full opportunity of proving its merit. 

 Like many other home-raised Orchids 

 it is far less difficult to grow than im- 



With coloured plate from a drawing by H. G. Moon at Messrs. Sander's nursery, St. Albans. 



