25° 
THE ORCHID WORLD. 
[Aus,''ust, 1913. 
we missed the first stages of the adventitious 
growth which appeared on the pod. 
At the end of perhaps four months we 
noticed one morning, quite by chance, a green 
swelhng appearing about the middle of the 
concave side of the pod, apparently starting 
from one of the vertical sector lines which 
are characteristic of Cypripcdium pods. The 
swelling was rather reminiscent of the bud 
which appears at the node of a Dendrobium 
bulb, whether for flower or growth. This 
swelling slowly developed two tiny leaves. 
Time went on and the pod continued 
ripening in the ordinary manner, and was cut 
off with " the seedling " attached to it in the 
early days of January, 191 3. About six 
weeks before the removal of the pod, the 
adventitious growth on it developed a small 
root at its base ; and when the pod w-as cut 
off this little plant was removed from the dry 
seed capsule and potted up separately as a 
seedling. 
This " seedling " is still alive ; it has lost 
one of its original pair of leaves, and now has 
one old leaf and a pair of new leaves which 
it has made since it was potted off. But the 
plant is evidently in a very weakly state and 
probably has little or no active root Its 
ultimate survival seems to me very doubtful. 
F. Mentcith Ogilvie, The Shrubbery, Oxford. 
L/ELIA GRANDIFLORA. 
HERNANDEZ is said to have mentioned 
this plant in his " Natural History of 
New Spain," published in 161 5. At 
a later period it was known as Bletia grandi- 
flora, which Lindley included in his genus 
Laslia, and on that account the specific name 
grandifiora takes precedence over majalis, a 
name given to the plant by Lindley in 1839, 
who appeared to have forgotten the earlier 
record. 
To many amateurs the name majalis is 
more familiar, and it was under such appella- 
tion that Bateman wrote of the plant in 
his work on the Orchids of Mexico and 
Guatemala, 1837. "This lovely plant," said 
he, " abounds in the most temperate parts of 
Mexico, where its exquisite beauty has 
rendered it a prime favourite with the natives, 
from whom it has received the familiar name 
' Flor de Mayo,' or ' May Flower.' A large 
supply of plants has been collected by Mr. 
Hartweg, m situations so elevated that the 
temperature sometimes falls below the 
freezing point. This habitat, so unusual for 
an Orchidaceous plant, will go far to explain 
the ill success that has hitherto attended its 
cultivation, for while it is easy to imitate the 
close and humid atmosphere in which most of 
the tribe are found, it is infinitely more 
difficult to provide a substitute for the pure 
air and frequent changes of temperature in 
which these mountain epiphytes would seem 
to delight. Indeed, so signal, in the case of 
Laslia majalis, has been failure of even the 
most experienced cultivators, that although 
there was scarce a collection that did not 
contain one or more specimens of the plant, 
still did it obstinately refuse to flower except 
in one solitary instance." 
With the great advance in the method of 
culture which recent years has seen there has 
been a corresponding improvement in the 
flowering of Laslia grandiflora, although 
notwithstanding all our experience we do not 
appear to obtain anything like the amount of 
flower which, judging by the old flower spikes 
on imported plants, may be seen on the plant 
when in its natural home. 
Now and again one hears of success, and 
a very recent instance is that of Mr. L. D. 
Hyland, who has obtained excellent results 
on some plants which he has carefully culti- 
vated in his collection at Woodlands, London 
Road, St. Albans. From a photograph which 
he has had taken of the interior of his green- 
house a good idea of the many large flowers 
borne on stout stalks can be obtained, and 
the remarkable vigour of the plants is sure 
evidence that they have a suitable atmosphere 
in which to grow. The flowers were presented 
to a friend who had recently arrived from 
India, and who was greatly impressed by their 
beauty. No doubt, when the plants bloom 
again next season, Mr. Hyland will have a 
larger number of flowers for his generous 
hand to give away. 
