THE ORCHID WORLD. 
[July, 1913. 
species, and, as is almost always the case, the 
purple pigment entirely spoils the yellow. 
Cattleya aurea at once suggests itself as a 
suitable plant with which to work, but there 
will always remain the difficulty of obtaining 
both plants in flower at the same time, one 
usually blooming in the spring and the other 
in the autumn. B.-C. Mrs. J. Leemann may 
also be recommended, and so may most of 
the hybrids containing C. aurea, L. xanthina, 
and others of the yellow section. 
However successful the seed-raiser may be, 
it is very questionable whether the final 
flowering results will equal our expectations. 
To overcome the strong pendulous nature of 
the flower spike, and also the way in which 
the petals are closed in, instead of opening 
out flat, will require no small amount of 
patience and hard work. 
SOBRALIA MACRANTHA. 
THE genus Sobralia was created in 1793 
by the Spanish botanists Ruiz and 
Pavon, who dedicated it to their 
friend Don Frangois-Martin Sobral. It 
consists of about thirty species, and has for 
its native habitat tropical America, although 
at the high altitude at which the plants are 
found the atmosphere is comparatively cool. 
Somewhat terrestrial in habit, the plants are 
usually found on mossy rocks well exposed to 
the sun. One traveller has seen a large part 
of a mountain side thickly covered with these 
plants, their reed-like stems waving to and 
fro with the breeze. 
The original description of S. macrantha 
appeared in Lindley's Serium Orchidaceum, 
1839, while the same author, in the Botanical 
Register, August, 1842, writes of the species 
as follows: — "A flower of the most delicate 
texture, of the richest crimson, and between 
seven and eight inches in diameter, growing 
on the summit of a reedy stem, will give the 
reader some notion of the magnificence of 
this rare plant, as it is now flowering in the 
garden of the Horticultural Society, from 
specimens sent from Guatemala by Mr. 
Hartweg. Or it may be compared, for the 
flowers, to a huge Cattleya. It is one of the 
terrestrial species, and apparently easy 
enough to cultivate in a cool stove ; but it is 
at present in few collections, no one liking to 
divide the roots until something more shall 
have been heard of its habits. It is stated 
by Mr. Skinner that each flower-head will go 
on blossoming for many weeks successively, 
provided the faded blooms are pulled off 
before they decay. We have nothing like 
this in our garden, yet ; nor is there anything 
finer of the race to be introduced. It is the 
leader of the creme of its order." 
This species is also the subject of an 
interesting note by Darwin in his Fertili- 
sation of Orchids. He wrote: — "Mr. 
Cavendish Browne informs me that he saw a 
large humble-bee enter a flower of Sobralia 
macrantha in his hot house, and when it 
crawled out it had the two large pollen- 
masses firmly fixed to its back, nearer to the 
tail than to the head. The bee then looked 
about, and, seeing no other flower, re-entered 
the same one of the Sobralia, but quickly 
retreated, leaving the pollen-masses on the 
stigma, with the viscid discs alone adhering 
to its back. The nectar of this Guatemala 
Orchid seemed too powerful for our British 
bee, for it stretched out its legs and lay 
for a time as if dead on the labellum, but 
afterwards recovered." 
The subject of our illustration is a noble 
specimen of S. macrantha alba in the collec- 
tion of Mr. J. Gurney Fowler, Glebelands, 
South Woodford. When the plant was 
exhibited at the recent Chelsea Show, and 
received a Cultural Commendation, it carried 
no less than 75 flowers and buds, although 
many others had previously been produced. 
The albino varieties of this species differ 
slightly in the size of the yellow area in the 
throat, so it appears evident that they have 
not all originated from the same stock. The 
earliest albino to be recorded received the 
name of S. macrantha Kienastiana, in honour 
of Herr Kienast Zolly, of Zurich. 
