146 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[April, 1915. 



generation would not only prove albinos but 

 show an increased tendency to vary m the 

 above described manner, and a further success 

 could be recorded. 



^ ^ 41 



Stray Seedlings. — In all places where 

 seed raising is carried on there are bound to 

 be numerous cases of " stray seedlings," their 

 origin being oftentimes difficult to determine. 

 In some instances the plants on flowering for 

 the first time show considerable diversity 

 from the main batch, so much so that the 

 recorded parentage cannot be accepted, while 

 others flower in pots from which the 

 distinguishing label has been either lost or 

 perhaps never used in the first pricking out 

 from the seed-pan. However careful the 

 cultivator may be he invariably gets a few of 

 these strays, yet he can never quite discover 

 the cause. A suggestion has been made 

 recently that ants are responsible in many 

 cases, for when collecting their food they 

 carry away some of the seeds, and m doing so 

 drop a few on adjoining pans which contain 

 seed of different parentage. Hence the 

 seedlings are grown on under the distin- 

 guishing label of the latter batch, their 

 identity remaining undiscovered until the 

 flowering stage. 



1^ ^ ||E 



Cypripediu.aI MAUDI.E.'-The rapidity at 

 which this hybrid can be increased by division 

 IS truly astonishing, and the following facts 

 cannot fail to be of interest: — just 8-h years 

 ago Mr. G. F. Moore, of Chardwar, Bourton- 

 on-the- Water, received through the kindness 

 of an Orchid friend a plant of C. Maudis, 

 which has since been divided whenever 

 opportunity presented itself, until, at the 

 present time, no less than 434 plants exist. 

 This figure would have been still higher had 

 not several plants been presented on various 

 occasions to friends. The stock will soon be 

 once again repotted, when, if desired, it can 

 easily be increased to 1,000 healthy pieces. 

 Only a few months ago over 300 flowers were 



open at the same time, while 100 are now 

 open, and many more will be produced 

 throughout the coming summer. This state 

 of almost perpetual flowering makes C. 

 Maudiae one of the most beautiful and useful 

 plants for decorative purposes, and it should 

 prove a very profitable subject for those 

 engaged m the cut-flower trade. Although 

 this hybrid grows like a weed, Mr. G. F. 

 Moore finds its two parents, callosum Sanders 

 and Lawrenceanum Hyeanum, very difficult 

 to cultivate successfully, which is somewhat 

 remarkable. In the Chardwar collection the 

 same back growths of C. Maudias have 

 yielded young plants on three and four 

 successive occasions, and even when a piece 

 of the old plant carried but one leaf, and that 

 111 a yellow condition, healthy little plants 

 have been produced. If there is a secret 

 attached to the method of cultivation adopted 

 at Chardwar it is to be found m the fact that 

 C. Maudias dislikes too great a mass of 

 compost. An examination of the plants will 

 show that the roots are maml)' surface ones, 

 preferrmg to grow round the top of the pot, 

 and rarely deeper than ih inches. It is thus 

 clear that any unneeded depth of compost is 

 almost sure to become sour, with consequent 

 damage to the health and vigour of the plant. 

 There is apparently no reason why any 

 amateur should not achieve equal success in 

 the cultivation of this attractive Cypripedium, 

 the principal points being the careful selection 

 of a suitable pot and the correct amount of 

 compost. 



# 1^ 



Phal.enopsis sumatrana alba. — Mr. L. 

 Schmid, of Sourabaya, Java, kindly sends two 

 photographs of this interesting rarity which 

 has flowered in his collection, the first time in 

 November, 191 3, and again in October, 19 14. 

 In an accompanying letter ]\Ir. Schmid 

 remarks : — " As you will readily see from the 

 photographs the blossoms are pure white, 

 with the exception that on both sides of the 

 lip there are three delicate wine-red stripes, 

 whilst the side lobes present a light yellow 

 appearance. Contrasting these with my other 



