May 14, 1835. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
397 
Carder & Co., Claphatn, having some pretty varieties of O. Pescatorei, O. 
triumphans, O. Rossi majus, O. hystrix, and 0. Andersonianum, with many 
others distinguished by large well-formed and distinctly marked flowers. 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, had beautiful groups of hybrid Odon- 
toglossums and O. gloriosum, the latter most strangely varied. W. E. 
Brymer, Esq., Ilsington House, Dorchester (gardener, Mr. J. Powell), showed 
some well-grown plants of 0. vexillarium, 0. crispum, O. cirrkosum, and 0. 
prsenitens, the last named being very prettily marked with brown and 
yellow. W. Cookson, Esq., Oakwood, Wylam-on-Tyne, sent a remarkably 
fine hybrid Odontoglossum named Cooksoui, which was certificated. The 
flowers are of good size and shape, pure white, with broad bold rich brown 
blotches; it is one of the most effective varieties in cultivation. E. A. 
Fig. 97.—Odontoglossum maculatum. 
Philbrick, Esq., Q.C., Oldfield, Bickley, exhibited a handsome variety of O. 
Wilckeanum, the flowers yellow, barred with an extremely rich brown 
shade. 
MASDEVALLIAS. 
Very distinct from most other Orchids are the Masdevallias in their floral 
structure, and their three sepals terminating in “tails” frequently several 
inches long being the most prominent portion, the petals small and hidden, 
the lip being similarly diminutive and hinged so that it swings about with 
every motion of the flower. With many variations in size and colour, there 
is yet a strong family likeness existing amongst the Masdevallias, the 
diminutive M. polysticta and similar species being as easily recognised as 
the gigantic M. chimmra. Numbers of the small-flowered forms, however, 
though interesting structurally, are of little use in gardens, and cultivators 
look to M. Lindeni, M. Harryana, M. Veitchiana, M. tovarensis, and M. ignea 
for a supply of flowers that can be utilised in floral decoration. For such 
purposes these plants are valuable, and as the majority thrive under cool 
treatment similar to the Odon'-oglossums, it is not surprising that they have 
attained so high a place in popular esteem. There has always been some 
difficulty in importing plants of these Orchids owing to their possessing no 
pseudo-bulbs as a store of reserve strength during the passage, and the bad 
condition in which they have often arrived was in the early days of their 
culture rendered still worse by giving them too much heat. This has been 
rectified to a great extent now, and many large and healthy collections have 
been formed during the past ten years. Little has been done amongst the 
Masdevallias in the way of hybridising, for only two have been obtained 
up to the present time ; one, M. Chelsoni, the first successful cross, from 
M. Yeitchiana and M. amabilis, and the other from M. Veitchii and M. Davisi, 
both being very interesting, but scarcely superior to their parents. As with 
the Odontoglossums, much yet remains to he done amongst the Masdevallias, 
and they might well receive the attention of hybridists who desire a fresh 
field of labour. 
To the great American Continent w r e owe all the Masdevallias in culti¬ 
vation, Columbia and Peru yielding large numbers of species, the total 
number known exceeding 100. 
Sir Trevor Lawrence contributed the best collection of Masdevallias, 
large vigorous plants, with fifty or sixty flowers each, the Lindeni and 
Harryana varieties having a splendid effect, while M. Yeitchiana was magni¬ 
ficent. Of other species the curious brown and yellow M. Schlimi, the 
interesting hybrid M. Chelsoni, the peculiar hood-like and dull-coloured M. 
trochilus ; and the floriferous purplish M. Shuttleworthi (fig. 98) were 
very good, and a fine variety of M. ignea coccinea was notable for the great 
size of the flowers, Mr. H. Little also sent several Masdevallias, chiefly 
M. Veitchiana, M. Chimsera rubra, and M. Benedicts. 
CYPRIPEDIUMS. 
Though dispersed so widely through the northern hemisphere the species 
of the genus Cypripedium bear a strong likeness to each other in the 
form of their flowers, and there are few Orchids which are so easily 
distinguished by the uninitiated as the members of the Lady Slipper family. 
This is chiefly due to the prominent pouch-like labellum which in most 
Orchids is strangely formed, but in few large genera is the shape so uniform 
as in tha being now considered. Both hardy and pictoral species, European, 
Asiatic, and American, bear this peculiarly modified organ that is so obviously 
of special importance in the attraction of insects to aid in the fertilisation. 
The old designation of the British species (C. Calceolus), Calceolus Marianus. 
the general title of Ladies’ Slippers, and the American Mocassin Flowers, 
have all been derived from the form of the lip, and the generic name, literally 
Venus’s Slipper, is also a classical rendering of the same peculiarity. The 
greatest difference is that between the hardy and the tropical species, the 
latter being evergreen, and the former producing larger lighter leaves that 
die each year as winter approaches. 
Structurally there is a great similarity in the flowers, though they are 
widely separated from all other Orchids by several strongly marked 
peculiarities. The most remarkable of these are in the pollinia and column, 
It is well known that the column of Orchid flowers is regarded as the result 
of a combination of the pistil with three stamens, and in the majority of 
species two of these stamens are suppressed, and the anther of one only 
appears as the pollen masses under the cup at the apex of the column, the 
stigma being confined to a cavity lower down on the column. In the Oypn- 
pediums, however, there is a singular divergence from this character : the 
apex of the column, instead of producing the one anther— i.e., the pollinia 
has a large flat angular expansion, (wo anthers being developed one on each 
side of the column below the apical plate. This anyone can reach to seive 
by carefully dissecting a flower, and the method by which cross-fertilisation 
can be effected, if desired, will be at once apparent. So strange a structure 
has reference to cross-fertilisation by insects, which m several species is 
effected in a peculiar and interesting manner. , 
The species are mostly terrestrial in habit, though a few are found occa¬ 
sionally upon trees in their native 
localities, the deciduous section being 
confined to the northern portion of 
the Old and New World, while the 
others are found in the Indian Penin¬ 
sula and Archipelago, the warmer 
regions of North America, and even 
in Peru. Of the tropical Ladies’ Slip¬ 
pers many have beautiful blotched 
or marbled leaves, the variegation 
taking the form of irregular trans¬ 
verse bars, or dark green spots and 
blotches on a lighter ground ; and, 
like some of the Phalsenopsids, the 
plants are handsome at all times of 
the year, whether flowering or not. 
The leaves are produced in a two- 
ranked (distichous) manner—that is, 
they are arranged opposite each other 
after the style of the Vandas and 
similar plants ; they, however, vary 
considerably in length and breadth, 
the plain green forms having the 
most narrow leaves, and usually the 
longest. None of them produces a 
pseudo-bulb, though in the case of 
the hardy species, which lose their 
foliage annually, this is supplied by 
a tuberous rootstock, from which 
the growth is developed each season. 
Popularly these plants may be 
divided into two groups—namely, 
those with marbled leaves and those 
with plain green leaves. In the first- 
named group we have C. barbatum, 
C. concolor, C. Hookerse, C. purpura- 
tum, and that handsome Bornean 
species, C. Lawrenceanum (fig. 102, 
page 399), which Mr. F. W. Burbidge 
introduced for Messrs. Veitch and 
Sons. This is one of the best. The 
flowers are of great size, the dorsal 
sepal being very broad and rounded, 
distinctly veined with dark purple, 
the streaks extending from the base 
to the margin following the contour 
of the sepal. The petals are tinted 
with purple, and have a few dark 
wort-like protuberances near each 
margin, along which there is also a 
row of hairs. The lip is brownish with a purple tinge, and the leaves are 
beautifully marbled with light and dark green. It is exceedingly free, and 
w r as well chosen to commemorate the name of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 
M.P., who is widely famed as one of the chief Orchid lovers of the present 
time, and as President of the Royal Horticultural Society has been one of 
the chief promoters of the Orchid Conference. The green-leaved forms 
comprise the well-known useful C. insigne, C. Spicerianum, C. villosum, 
and C. Lowii, while the Selenipediums, with many of the handsome hybrids 
which have been raised in recent years, are also included in this group. 
In several groups the magnificent C. Lawrencianum, shown in the 
illustration (fig. 102), was grandly represented, and proved that the favour 
this species has obtained with cultivators is well deserved. Its broad 
dorsal sepal and distinct stripes give it a unique appearance. W. E. 
Brymer, Esq., had several profusely flowered specimens of the white 
C. niveum, which had fifty flowers, C. albo-purpureum, and C. Lawrence¬ 
anum. Mr. W. Bull sent a plant of a new species from India, C. Masters- 
ianum, with green dorsal sepals and brown petals and lip. Sir Trevor 
Lawrence exhibited a beautiful collection, in which C. barbatum, C. 
Hookerm, C. Argus, and C. Swanianum, the latter a beautiful form with a 
green striped dorsal sepal and purplish petals and lip. Mr. H. Little sent a 
plant of the yellow C. concolor and a distinct variety of C. caudatum 
named roseum. 
We are enabled by the courtesy of the Editor of the Gardeners' Chronicle 
to give the portrait of Sir Trevor Lawrence this week, and no doubt many 
