334 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 17, 1889. 
waited he might have found me advocating them in some cases, and I 
fail to see that he has proved anything in opposition to my views on that 
subject.—G. A. Bishop. 
JOTTINGS. 
Tiie Royal Horticultural Society’s Orchid Nomenclature Com¬ 
mittee will shortly meet to discuss an important question—the 
improvement of the present system of naming Orchids ; and it is 
to be hoped in the interests of all concerned that the members will 
give the matter their most careful consideration from every point 
of view before adopting any revolutionary method. It would be 
easy to frame a series of rules for the regulation of nomenclature, 
but it is impossible to enforce these except so far as regards the 
Society’s own meetings, and unless they are drawn upon a very 
at Streatham, and was generally respected. Both were com¬ 
paratively young men in full health. Mr. White has opened the 
fund with a subscription of £50. 
At the Royal Horticultural Society’s recent meeting (October 
8th) several noteworthy Orchids were shown, not the least remark¬ 
able being the handsome raceme of Vanda coerulea from Tring 
Park. Mr. Hill informs me that he believes the cause of the 
exceptionally deep colour distinguishing the specimen was the fact 
it had been somewhat freely exposed to air, as in the Cattleya house 
it was placed immediately under the ventilators. During the 
summer and in fine weather these were fully open, and in conse¬ 
quence the plant had been for a long period in an almost continuous 
current of air. When possessing the deep blue colour of this 
specimen the accuracy of the name can be fully appreciated ; as a 
rule the washy flowers are far from coerulean. 
The variety of Cattleya Hardyana from Mr. E. G-. Wrigley, Ho wick 
House, Preston, awakened some comment, as some slight differences 
were noticeable between that and what is regarded as the true type, 
which originally appeared in Mr. Hardy’s collection at Pickering 
Lodge. C. Hardyana, it may be remembered, is regarded as a natural 
Fig. 40.—LiELIA PR2ESTANS ALBA. 
broad basis and are free from every suspicion of “faddism” they 
are not likely to meet with general acceptance. This would be 
lamentable, as the present confusion is bad enough, but it would 
then be increased tenfold, and further it is quite probable that the 
exhibits placed before the Orchid Committee—already far from as 
numerous as they should be—would soon be decreased if exhibitors 
found the names of their plants altered in a manner they dis¬ 
approved. Every effort should be employed to obtain the 
opinions of orchidists throughout the country, and the Com¬ 
mittee ought to have included at least three times its present 
number of members to secure anything like an adequate represen¬ 
tation of the general views on the subject. 
It is very satisfactory to learn that a fund has been opened on 
behalf of the widows and families of the late Mr. W. Hall of Tulse 
Hill and Mr. R. Fraser of Ardarroch, Mr. Harry J. Veitch being 
Chairman, Mr. Protheroe the Treasurer, and Mr. Fred. Horsman^ 
Colchester, the Secretary. Both the unfortuate men were well and 
widely known in the Orchid world. Mr. Hall was perhaps better 
known in the neighbourhood of London, and won the esteem of all 
who knew him by his straightforward business habits and genial 
manner. As the Secretary of the Brixton Chrysanthemum Society 
he gained the good opinion of all with whom he was associated 
Mr. Fraser was for some time in charge of Mr. Measures’ Orchids 
hybrid between C. Dowiana aurea and C. gigas, wa3 imported with 
the last named, and found its way into several collections, but first 
flowered with Mr. Hardy. From the latter a plant was exhibited 
before the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington on 
August 11th, 1885, when a first-class certificate was awarded for it, 
and it was thus described. “ The flowers are of great breadth, but 
the sepals are not very broad, the colour being a pale purple ; the lip 
is 3 inches broad and 5 inches deep, of an intensely rich crimson 
colour at the top, gold at the side, and beautifully veined with gold 
in the centre and throat.” In the variety shown by Mr. Wrigley 
the sepals and petals are much deeper in colour—a purplish crimson 
hue with lighter veins, the lip deep gold at the base and intense 
magenta at the tip, some of the colouring extending to the base of 
the lip. It was equally beautiful, but some better name might 
have been found than Wrigley’s variety. 
An Orchid that was greatly admired at the meeting named was 
Ladia prmstans alba, L. praestans being now regarded as a variety of 
L. pumila, and L. Dayana is assigned a similar place. The variety 
alba (fig. 40) shown by Mr. W. Bull, is a delicate little gem, and 
one of the most charming of the small flowered dwarf Lselias. 
The sepals and petals are broad, pure white, the base of the lip also 
being white and finely contrasted with the rich crimson upper 
portion of the lip. The type of L. pumila has been found growing 
