THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[November, 1915- 



380 flowers! He at once wrote home a 

 glowing account of its beautiful nature, and 

 how on the steep banks of the rivers, at an 

 altitude of 6,000 feet, it grows in perfection. 

 Although in places it was very difficult to 

 collect, some 40 cases were filled and 

 despatched. The following year Messrs. 

 Sander and Sons introduced it as Cattleya 

 Percivaliana, named in honour of Mr. R. P. 

 Percival, an amateur of Birkdale, Southport. 

 The original type of C. Percivaliana produced 

 flowers almost as large as C. labiata, a fact 

 which many older amateurs can call to mind ; 

 the present type comes from a totally different 

 locality and yields small flowers. 



While at Carache Arnold came across an 

 old woman who had possessed for some 12 

 or more years a pure white Cattleya, but 

 which no amount of persuasion could induce 

 her to part with. It had cast a spell of 

 happiness on her life, and how could she be 

 expected to live without it. " Part with that 

 plant," said she. "No, never!". However, 

 Arnold never lost hope, he was a man of 

 perseverance, and made up his mind to 

 succeed. It was not long before he again met 

 that proud old soul, this time with success, 

 for in a few weeks he was able to send home 

 a box labelled one white Cattleya, bought 

 from the above old lady. The plant travelled 

 safely and ultimately proved to be C. 

 Percivaliana alba. It is but rarel)' that an 

 albino variety is discovered so soon after the 

 l)'pical form. 



The comniencciuent of i.S<Si found Arnold 

 m the district of Pamplona, where he 

 discovered a fine species of Masdevallia, not 

 unlike .Schlimii, an Odontoglossum similar to 

 triumphans, and (jthers. The difficulty of 

 sending Orchids from here was great. It is 

 doubtful, he stated, whether they would still 

 l)e alive on reaching the coast, much less on 

 their arrnal in Murope. 



Two months at Bucaramanza made Arnold 

 very unhappy, for he found it impossible to 

 send home anything of value. But one day 

 his spirits revived, for he met a man, Paul 

 Poko by name, who showed him drawings of 

 Odontoglossum blanduni, believed to be 

 growing at Matan/.a, a clay's journey. Arriving 



there he found the information correct, 

 blandum was growing with triumphans, and 

 flowering during July and August. Cattleyas 

 in abundance were also found, but as the 

 previous summer had been hot and dry there 

 were few in flower. From Bucaramanza he 

 packed up 1,100 Odontoglossum triumphans, 

 4,550 Masdevallias, 700 Cattleya Mendelii 

 and 600 Odontoglossums. The hiring of 

 mules for carrying this lot to the coast and 

 other incidental expenses came to over £go. 

 Arnold came back to Europe in charge of 

 this consignment, and thus completed the first 

 of his memorable journeys to S. America. 



Seconi:i Journey. 



Towards the end of June, 1882, Arnold 

 commenced his second journey, again visiting 

 Venezuela, as well as Colombia. His first 

 communication mentions the purchase of two 

 good mules at 180 dollars. On the way from 

 Puerto Nacionale to Ocana he noticed 

 Diacriurn bicornutum, but it was by no meajis 

 so plentifully distributed as Cyrtopodium 

 punctatum. Sobralia virginahs was in flower 

 everywhere, the whitish flowers with then- 

 rose-tinted frilled lip and yellow throat 

 created a beautiful picture. Stanhopea insignis 

 and a Maxillaria like grandiflora were also 

 seen. 



At Matanza the months of July and August 

 are dry. Some Cattleya Mendelii, which on 

 his previous visit appeared much dried up, 

 were now quite plump, although it had not 

 rained for a period of five months. Those 

 plants growing near rivers and other damp 

 places had long thin bulbs, whereas those 

 occupying dry situations always had shorter 

 and stouter bulbs. More than 2,000 fine 

 plants were gathered. The natives talked of 

 a black Cattleya, but Arnold suggests this 

 must be a Sobralia. 



During August a consignment sent to New- 

 York contained 20 fine Epidendrum nemorale, 

 300 Cattleyas, thin bulbed and spring 

 flowering, also 30 Odontoglossum triumphans. 

 Cattleya Mendelii was evidently an ex]3ensive 

 jilant to collect, for Arnold remarked : " I have 

 nlread)- spent £300." The rainy season had 



