14S THE ORCHID WORLD. 



Sarcochilus Filzgeraldi. 



streams, in masses, clinging to the dripping 

 rocks and covering the black basalt with its 

 green roots that stretch for yards over the 

 smooth surface." The flowers are white, 

 densely spotted with rose-purple towards the 

 base. • 



g| U 



Cypripediu.ais. — In a recent issue of 

 Horiuiiltitrc, U.S.A., Mr. M. J. Oope writes : 

 — " For the commercial grower there is in my 

 estimation no better variety than the old and 

 reliable Cypripedium insigne in its various 

 forms. C. villosum and C. Boxalli are other 

 good free-flowering species. I have about 

 two dozen plants of C. insigne which for over 

 ten years have annually produced about 400 

 flowers, this winter over 450 ; one plant alone 

 bore 37 flowers. There are few other 

 Cypripediums that will do that. C. villosum 

 and C. Boxalli are occasionally very free 

 flowering, but I find when a plant of these 

 goes to extremes one season it will not flower 



[April, 191 5. 



nearly so well for several seasons thereafter. 

 Once I had a plant of C. villosum m a 1 2-inch 

 pot that produced 65 flowers, the most I ever 

 had on one plant of any variety. Cypripedium 

 Spicerianum, although good, is too short in 

 the stem, but united with the foregoing 

 species it has given us hybrids of first-class 

 qualit\- m their various combinations. The 

 many forms of C. Leeanum, C. Lathamianum, 

 and C. aureum, etc., are all good in colour 

 and free flowering. This last point is all 

 important to the commercial grower who 

 grows for the wholesale market or his own 

 retail trade. Most of the fancy, choice 

 Cypripediums one finds in private collections 

 are too shy-blooming and slow-growing to be 

 profitable, and, moreover, the difference in 

 price between good free flowering Cypri- 

 pediums and the fancy varieties is very great 

 when one buys plants and very small when 

 one sells the flowers." 



CYPRIPEDIUMS ALCIBIADES 

 AND DESDEMONA. 



.Spicfriantim insigne- Boxalli insigne 



: \ I I' 



1 I 



Leeanum Mons, de Ciirte 



! I 



Alcibiades Mrs. Carj- Batten. 



Desdemona. 



FROM the collection of Mr. Philip Smith, 

 Haddon House, Ashton-on-Mersey, 

 we have rcceixed excellent flowers of 

 Cypripedium Alciijiades var. Illustrious and 

 C. Desdemona Haddon House var. The 

 former is acknowledged to be the finest form 

 of Alcibiades, and from the above plan it can 

 easily be seen how the breadth of the dorsal 

 sepal is mainl\- due to the influence of 

 Spicerianum, for neither insigne nor Boxalli 

 are endowed with much of this esteemed 

 character. The ventral sepal is almost equally 

 developed, a very unusual e\ent, and one. 



