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THE ORClllU WORLD. 



[OclobLT, 1914- 



Cattleya Leopoldii alba. — This well- 

 known species, sometimes spoken of as a 

 variety of C. guttata, yet quite distinct, comes 

 from the province of Santa Cathariiia, in 

 South Brazil, whence it was introduced m 

 1850 by M. Verschaffelt, of Ghent, and 

 dedicated to Leopold I., King of the Belgians. 

 A very distinct variety has recently been 

 exhibited by Messrs. Sander and Sons under 

 the name alba, a term which has been rather 

 too generally aj^plied to all varieties in which 

 the purple pigment is eliminated, yet for want 

 of a better definition it is allowed to remain. 

 This variety has bright yellowish-green sepals 

 and petals, entirely devoid of spotting, while 

 the infolded lateral lobes and the middle lobe 

 of the labellum are pure white. The flower 

 is certainly a true albino of its kind, and a 

 very interesting discovery. 



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L.elio-Cattleya ELEGANS. — For upwards 

 of half a century L.-C. elegans was regarded 

 as a valuable and, one might say, historic 

 plant, and during that period considerable 

 attention was devoted to it. The two parents, 

 L. purpurata and C. Leopoldu, grow naturally 

 in the same locality and have been frequently 

 imported together, consequently it appeared 

 practically certain that L.-C. elegans, display- 

 ing the characteristics of both species, could 

 be nothing else than a hybrid between them. 

 The point was definitely settled m August, 

 igii, when Mr. Eustace F. Clark, of 

 Evershot, Dorset, flowered a hybrid raised by 

 crossing C. Leopoldii with L. purpurata, and 

 which proved identical with L.-C. elegans. A 

 fine variety of L. purpurata was in this case 

 used, hence the result is superior in size and 

 colour to the naturally produced forms, which 

 probably result from the intercrossing of 

 ordinary varieties. The extensive petals are 

 comparatively Inroad and of rich rose-purple, 

 the broad and flat lip being crimson-purple 

 with well-defined veining. The name 

 Chamonix variety has been applied to this 

 particular seedling, which is considerably 

 superior to two wild forms of the same also 

 received from the owner. Mr. Clark suggests 



that " this difference is due to the fact that 

 111 the home-raised plant L. purpurata was 

 the pollen parent. It may have been the 

 reverse m the case of the wild forms, or they 

 were probably seedlings from wild L.-C 

 elegans crossed with similar ones m their own 

 district, and tending to lose the original L. 

 purjDurata influence m successive genera- 

 tions, for it seems to have become practically 

 a species occurring in quantity." 



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Onciuium Ballii. — During the year igo8 

 a pretty Oncidium appeared in the collection 

 of Mr. G. Shorland Ball, who, unfortunately, 

 had no knowledge concerning its origin or 

 how it entered his houses. Part of the plant 

 was 111 1909 presented to the Royal Gardens, 

 Kew, where it flowered in September of the 

 following year, and was described in the Kew 

 Bulletin, 19 10, p. 371, under the name On. 

 Ballii. At the disposal of Mr. Ball's collection 

 the remaining plant, probably the only other 

 one in cultivation, was purchased by Mr. A. 

 Grant, of Rugby House, Cleethorpes. It has 

 since grown well and this autumn has 

 produced four flower-spikes, erect in style, 

 comparatively dwarf, but carrying numerous 

 bright yellow flowers, the sepals and petals 

 marked with a few brownish lines, the lip 

 having one crimson-brown blotch. 



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Salep. — In days long since past the dried 

 tubercles of several species of Orchis, more 

 especially O. mascula, were much used for the 

 preparation of salep, which contains bassorin 

 and a little starch, and possesses similar 

 properties to those of other amylaceous 

 substances. Dr. W. J. Titford, in his 

 " Sketches towards a Hortus Botanicus 

 Americanus, 1812," states that it contains a 

 great quantity of nourishment in a small 

 bulk ; one ounce of this powder and one 

 ounce of portable soup, with two quarts of 

 boiling water, might, in case of necessity, be 

 sufficient nourishment for one man for a day, 

 and should therefore be always carried on 

 shipboard to prevent a famine at sea. 



