January 6, 1912, 



THE Gardeners* magazine. 



THE NEW ORCHIDS OF ign. 



Tliere appears to bo no diminution in 

 tiie output of new orchids, and tlie work of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's Orchid 

 Committee shows no decrease. This body 

 meets at Westminster fortnightly, an:l, 

 taking the year through, it is probable th-it 

 more novelties came before it than before 

 any other of the committees. It becomes 

 increasingly difficult to rightly appraise the 

 merits of varietal differences among orchids 

 owing to the large number of varietal forms 

 found in certain species, and also in some 

 hybrids. It not sehlom happens that a fine 



granted during the previous year. In 

 every case a description has appeared mi 

 these pages, and a quite large niunber of 

 the orc'hids honoured by the societ}^ have 

 been figured ; abridged descriptions and an 

 alphabetical arrangement of these new or- 

 chids appear in The Gardening Year Book 

 for 1912." I think Messrs. Charlesworth 

 R.nd Co., head the list for number of 

 honours as they have obtained nine First 

 Class Certificates and ten Awards of Merit, 

 while Mr. Alexander, orchid grower to 

 Lieut-Colonel Sir G. Holford, Westonbirt, 

 owns to seven First Class Certificates and 

 three Awards of Merit. 



Draco Westonbirt var. and C. Lucifer, from 

 Westonbirt; C\ ChairJes Sladdin and C. 

 Royal Sovereign^ from Messrs. Sander and 

 Sons, St.. Albans, both very distinct and 

 handsome; C. Sybil superba, from Mrs. 

 Norma.n Cookson ; the fine C. Elizabethfe 

 var. Vogelsang, from M. Lambeau ; C. 

 Royal George, a beautiful hybrid, from 

 Messrs. Armstrong and Brown, Tunbridge 

 Wells, and now in the Westfield collection ; 

 and C. aureum Laekenen^e, from Mr. E. 

 V. Low, Havwards Heath. 



Odontiodas have become quit^ plentiful, 

 and hero ^Icssrs. Charlosworth-s O. Eu- 

 terpe, the Westonbiit and the Gatton Park 



Cypripediums arrive in large numbers for varieties of 0, Bradshawise, M. Vuylstekes' 



L^LIO-CATTLEYA PRINCE OF ORANGE 



A beautiful 



winter-flowering 



Lieut. 



Awarded E.CC, R.H.S., November 21, 1911 



hybrid with bright yellow, ruby-lipped flowers. ^ ^ m - 1 



Colonel Sir George Holford (grower, Mr. Alexander), Westonbirt, letbury. 



orchid comes before the committee, but 



fails to secure an award, and the exhibitor 



IS at a loss to know why it failed. The 



rea^son usually is that the large collection of 



orchid paintings is at hand, and tho flower 



on tlie plant exhibited has been compared 



with the paintings of varietal foims of the 



same species or hybrid, and found wanting. 



During 1911 thirty-eight First Class Cer- 

 tificates 



were a wa rded , and fif ty-fi ve 

 Awards of Merit thou!j;Ii these figures mav 

 •^e subject to correction as the award fails 

 ii'tlu^ exhibitor does not afford facilities for 

 :lie i)aintingof the ph-nt's portrait. Curi^ 

 ously enough the certificates and awards 

 are ahnost identical in numbt^r to tho^e 



consideration and in some instances they 

 show that the exhibitor has a very smill 

 knowledge of what constitutes advance or 

 distinction in this genus. A great deal of 

 improrouuMit is being"^ made in C. insigne 

 by tiie u,se of C. i. Harefield Hall and oth-^r 

 very ftue vairieties £|s parents, aiuL ^f 

 course, tliore is of necessity a great |ami^y 

 likeness among the newcomers. Winter- 

 flowering cattleyas and hidio-cattleyas, 

 with odontiodas/and biasso-cattleyas seem 

 to be the most popu'ai* of orchids at pre 

 sent thoniih the finer livbrid o<lontoglo-- 

 sums au^ not fai* behind them. 



Tidxing the cypripediums first, a few of 

 tho^e v]H)winn; nruked distinction were C. 



O. Vuvlestekfc Coronation, and O. V. Lady 

 Colmau, and Mr. 1). Barri Craw>!):iy's 

 large-flowered O. Rosefieldiense Craw^hay- 

 ana are all considerable improvements, 

 either in size, form, or colouring. The 

 range of these showy bigeneric hybrids is 

 steadily increasing as the result of the use 

 of the various species and hybrids of odon- 

 toglossuni r..s one parent, is seen. Onci- 

 dif)da Cybele (C1iark*sworth), combines onci- 

 diuui with cochlioda, and is therefore very 

 interesting. New or rare oncidiums were 

 (). Claesi from Gatton Park, and O. Mulleri 

 from the St. Alban's firm, the latter a 

 very distinct species. 



The only dendrobium to pass muster was 



