54 



THli ORCHID WORLD. 



[December, 1913- 



THE TRIALS OF ORCHID 

 COLLECTING. 



TO the Great Falls of Guiana and 

 Beyond is the subject of an article 

 in the November issue of Harper s 

 ]\Iagazinc, by Dr. H. E. Crampton, who had 

 the good fortune to make the journey in the 

 pursuance of scientific investigation under the 

 auspices of the American Museum of Natural 

 History. 



" The dawn following the first night hi the 

 ' bush,' " states the author, " was ushered in 

 by the calling of the howling monkeys. 

 These little animals, about the size of a 

 terrier, possess a throat structure which 

 enables them to emit roars quite as loud as 

 those of lions and jaguars. In the early 

 morning when they come down to the river- 

 bank to drink, a small group of them is 

 equivalent in vocal accomplishment to a 

 menagerie at feeding-time." 



Those amateurs who have long wished 

 for the exciting experience of an Orchid 

 collector's journey may gain some idea of 

 its hardships from the following extract 

 describing the passage through the dense 

 forests covering the terraced mountains that 

 intervene between Chenapown and Brazil : — 

 " Almost incessant rains collected upon the 

 dense canopy of the tree-tops, to pour in 

 rivulets upon the matted roots of the forest 

 floor, which was deceptively covered by a 

 thick carpet of leaves, continually renewed 

 throughout the year. In the half-gloom the 

 traveller stumbles along, up steep and slippery 

 slopes or across the hollow of a stream, until 

 every muscle aches painfully and further 

 progress seems well-nigh impossible. The 

 senses were strained and tense, for every foot 

 of the vague trail must be scrutinised for fear 

 of the snakes which abound in this region. 

 Here lives the little labaria, which, though 

 rarely over two feet in length, is as deadly as 

 the rattlesnake ; here, too, is the far more 

 dreaded bush-master, which often attains a 

 length of seven or more feet, and whose only 

 rival in strength of venom is the cobra of 

 India. This reptile is coloured like the 

 mottled surface of the ground itself, so that 



a traveller's vigilance must never relax for a 

 minute. One learns to rest in a standing 

 posture, for the wayside log or stone may 

 harbour centipedes and scorpions, whose sting 

 may not be directly fatal, though it may so 

 reduce one's resistance as to constitute a real 

 dfaiger. When camp is pitched it must some- 

 times be in a place where the ground is 

 covered with several inches of mud, so that 

 even then comfort is far off and unattainable." 



Such is the experience of one who under- 

 took this troublesome journey through 

 Guiana towards the wonderful mountain 

 called Roraima, at the foot of which and 

 about the surrounding country Cattleya 

 Lawrenceana grows 



ODONTOGLOSSUM PANDORA. 



Hallii crispuin nobile Harryaiium 

 I I 1 I 



I I 

 Hallio-crispum Rolfese 



I I. 



Pan dor . 



This hybrid was raised by Messrs. Arm- 

 strong and Brown, of Sandhurst Park, 

 Tunbridge Wells, and included in their group 

 at the Royal Horticultural Society, November 

 4th, 191 3. It is a very pleasing cross, but to 

 many who go for great value or size it would 

 be " without the pale." 



The ground colour is a bright rich yellow, 

 deepening with age ; the whole flower has 

 this characteristic. The spotting of the sepals 

 is of the usual arrangement of Hallio-crispum, 

 a heavy blotch at the outer whorl and linear 

 marks at the two lower ones. 



The petals have a loose linear arrangement 

 of small spots, the hp, which is broad and 

 oblong, having three or four small irregular 

 central marks. Column head unspotted, but 

 the wings are brown, as also is the crest, but 

 the two central keels are uncoloured. 



Hallio-crispum is very powerful, and up to 

 the present invariably overpowers the other 

 parents by giving its form as a legacy to the 

 result. The point I admire most is the rich 

 yellow, which, I am glad to say, Orchidists 

 are once more finding is a beauty in a flower. 

 dc B. Crawshay, Rosefield, Nov. yth, igij. 



