ORCHIDS. 
89 
This plant, also known under the names of 0. Alexandra: and 0. Bluntii, is one of the gems of 
the cool Orchid house, since by a little management its charming flowers may be had all the year 
round. It is a plant which varies to an almost endless extent, no two of the many thousands imported 
being perhaps exactly alike, and very considerable differences in size, colouring, or crispness in the 
flowers constantly presenting itself. In good typical forms the sepals and petals are white, ovate or 
ovate lanceolate, the petals being much undulated, and often fimbriately toothed. The lip is oblong- 
acuminate, yellow and crested towards the base, beautifully crisped at the margin, and more or less 
spotted towards the front with blotches of reddish brown. 1 1 has been very largely imported from 
Colombia, and in some of its forms is flushed with a lovely tint of rose. 
