136 



THE ORCHID 



WORLD. 



I Mai ch, 1914. 



Saccolabium giganieum, flowering in the establishment of Messrs. CharlesWorth & Co. 



SACCOLABIUM GIGANTEUM. 



THIS species is not so well known nor is 

 it grown as plentifully as it was in the 

 days of our forefathers. The Botanical 

 Magazine of April, 1867, contains a figure of 

 it with the following note : — " The honour of 

 introducing this beautiful plant, as well as 

 having" been the first to flower it, belongs to 

 the Bishop of Winchester, in whose collection 

 at Farnham Castle it made its appearance 

 several years ago. Unfortunately, the 

 Bishop's plants were small, and the spikes 

 produced, though sufficient to enable Dr. 

 Lindley to recognise the species, gave but an 

 imperfect idea of the noble asjject that it 

 would eventually assume. The plant, more- 

 over, is so exceedingly slow in its movements 

 that notwithstanding the g^enerous anxiet\- of 



the Bishop to distribute it, a century might 

 have elapsed before all the Orchidians 

 amongst her Majesty's subjects could have 

 been supplied, had no further addition been 

 made to the number of imported specimens. 

 Happily, however, about a year ago a fresh 

 supply of fine plants were received by Messrs. 

 \^eitch from Rangoon, having been sent to 

 them by Col. Benson." 



In the year 1883 the following account was 

 ]:)ublished in the Orchid Album: — " Sacco- 

 labiums used to be exhibited in splendid style 

 some quarter of a century ago by the late S. 

 Rucker, Mrs. Lawrence and Dr. Butler, and 

 also from other fine collections then in 

 existence, at which time there was seldom an 

 exhibition group staged without a fine 

 specimen of S. guttatum or some other equall)- 

 fine species. Now, howexer, we rarely see 



