136 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[March, 1916. 



MODERN CYPRIPEDIUMS. 

 A DEFENCE. 



AFTER perusing Mr. Alf. J. Piiine's 

 article in the February issue of the 

 * Orchid World, one comes to the 

 conclusion that our worthy friend is a little 

 down on the modern Cypripedium, so let us 

 endeavour to lift him up a bit. 



First of all, we must be careful not to lose 

 sight of the peculiar structure of a Cypri- 

 pedium flower, quite unlike anything else in 

 the natural order Orchidaceae ; therefore, to 

 set up a standard, which, in effect, means that 

 the flower should be of a perfectly symme- 

 trical form, would, to my mind, quite obliterate 

 the natural form and beauty peculiar to this 

 genus. Imagine a Cypripedium with a 

 roundish flower. To reduce the dorsal sepal 

 to the dimensions of the petals would indeed 

 transform the whole character of the flower, 

 certainly not to enhance its beauty and 

 contour. 



Take the species generally (not the hybrids), 

 and I think we find m most instances that the 

 dorsal forms the most conspicuous part of the 

 flower, possesses the most colour, and is, 

 generally speaking, the largest segment, 

 Nature's way, no doubt, to attract the insects 

 necessary to perpetuate the species. 



It is in the natural mind of mankind to 

 desire everything large, sometimes, I admit, 

 to our detriment ; one does not despise large 

 fruits or vegetables, large Chrysanthemums, 

 Roses or whatever the fancy ; why not Cypri- 

 pediums with large dorsals? We get more 

 to look at and admire without any loss of 

 beauty. Is not the large dorsal prevailing due 

 m a measure to excellent cultivation ? Whereas 

 another grower would obtain a flower of much 

 smaller dimensions from plants of the same 

 species. One never hears that a flower from a 

 Cattleya, Laelio-Cattleya, Odontoglossum or 

 Odontioda is too large or oversteps the limit. 



No, Mr. Paine, I must respectfully object 

 that the modern Cypripedium is " positively 

 ugly." Let alone the flower as we see it with 

 the naked eye, take an ordinary reading-glass 

 and examine one of these " ugly " flowers, and 

 I think you will see cause for wonderment 



and that our sense of vision is not equal to 

 take m all that is there. 



Now as to colour. As is well known a great 

 point lacking is brilliancy of coloration, but 

 even on this point we stand far better than 

 we did. No doubt we have some distance to 

 travel yet before attaining the desired end ; 

 notwithstanding lack of colour in the species 

 our h\-bridists ha\ e not done so badly, witness 

 the \aneties our friend has mentioned and 

 which appeal to him. 



You see, to start with, Cypnpecliums were 

 not possessed with the brilliancy of a Cattleya, 

 or of any of its relatives now immerged in the 

 process of hybridisation, and which showed 

 the results in the first generation following. 

 Our hybridists by careful selection, no doubt, 

 succeed m placing more colour m the flowers 

 of C)'pripediums as time goes on. 



Regarding Mr. Paine's remarks about the 

 fiabbiness of a certain variety, Elatior Rex, is 

 it not possible to have this condition through 

 other channels ? One does not doubt in the 

 least Mr. Paine's ability and success as a 

 cultivator of Orchids, as witness his superb 

 results obtained with Oncidium varicosum 

 Rogersii. Probably there may be some slight 

 error in treatment : for instance, excessive or 

 too low a temperature (I have suffered from 

 the latter point), or lack of moisture at the 

 roots ; any of these conditions, I think, are 

 apt to cause the fiabbiness complained of, 

 especially among the " whites " and " yellows." 

 Surely we can overlook any weakness in this 

 direction when viewing the flower as a whole. 

 After all, the lasting qualities of most Cypri- 

 pediums do not to my mind convey anything 

 in the nature of a flabby texture. Perhaps I 

 have said too much already, but I feel I must 

 assist in ha\'ing a pull m dragging the poor 

 Cypripedium out of the " slough of despond " 

 into which it seems to have sunk the last few 

 years. 



I cannot understand why Cypripediums 

 should be under the cloud of being dull and 

 uninteresting, as we hear some say. The very 

 fact of their flowering at a season prover- 

 bially dull should alone secure them a place of 

 full esteem and appreciation. In order to 

 assure myself as to what range of colour 

 exists at this the approaching end of the full 



