1880. ] 
AMARYLLIS (HIPPEASTRUM) MRS. BAKER.—LES ORCHIDEES. 
33 
AMARYLLIS (HIPPEASTRUM) MRS. BAKER. 
[Plate 509.] 
S REFERENCE to tlie accompanying 
figure, in wliicli Mr. Fitcli lias by 
no means c over-painted tlie lily,’ will 
show that in awarding this splendid new 
variety of Amaryllis or Hippeastrum a First- 
class Certificate in March last, the Floral Com¬ 
mittee had a very easy task before them—its 
merits being sufficiently obvious at the first 
glance, and needing no close scrutiny for their 
discovery. We believe it would be no exces¬ 
sive encomium to say of this novelty, that it 
is the finest variety of the Hippeastrum section 
ever raised, whether the very large size or the 
brilliant colour of its flowers be taken into 
consideration. The fortunate raiser was Mr. 
G. Baker, gardener to E. C. Baring, Esq., at 
Coombe Bank, Surrey. The plant was shown 
at South Kensington, on the occasion alluded 
to above, by the Messrs. Veitch and Sons, of 
Chelsea, by whom, we believe, it has been 
acquired, and to whom we are indebted for the 
opportunity of figuring it. 
When we state that the flowers are as much 
as seven inches across, and of a bright blood- 
crimson, and that the perianth is well expanded, 
with the segments proportionately broad, and 
when we add to these high qualities the 
additional merits that the substance of the 
flower is stout, and the colour is dense and 
glowing, it will be evident that in the variety 
we now illustrate a very high degree of perfec¬ 
tion has been reached, and on the production 
of which Mr. Baker may certainly be warmly 
congratulated.—T, Moore. 
LES OROITIDEES.* 
new work on Tropical Orchids, 
ch is dedicated, by permission, to 
Majesty the Queen of the Belgians, 
forms a fitting companion to the elegant 
volume on Palms, by M. Oswald de Kerchove 
de Denterghem, which was issued by M. 
Rothschild in 1878, and was appropriately 
dedicated to his Majesty Leopold II. The 
two books may be regarded as companion 
works, the one illustrating the power and 
majesty and the other the grace and elegance 
of the tropical forests. Both volumes are beau¬ 
tifully printed, and profusely illustrated • with 
woodcuts and coloured plates; and though 
doubtless less perfect in their contents than 
would be expected in a monograph of these par¬ 
ticular subjects, they nevertheless afford a very 
pleasant and entertaining general view of the 
Orchids and Palms respectively, and thus meet 
the wants of that large class of amateur cultiva¬ 
tors who desire to know something of the 
peculiarity of these favourite plants—the aristo¬ 
cracy of the vegetable world. In order to 
show the plan on which the book is designed, 
we must glance through its well-filled pages, 
* Les Orchidees ; Histone Iconographique, Organographie, 
Classification, Giographie, Collections, Commerce, Emploi, Cul¬ 
ture, avec une Revue Descriptive des Especes Cultivies en Europe. 
Ouvrage orn<5 de 244 Vignettes, et de 50 Chromolitliograpliies, 
dessinees d’apres Nature, sous la direction de M. Leroy, dans 
les Sevres do M, Guibert. By E. de Pdtdt, President. de la 
Societc des Sciences, des Arts, et des Lettres du Hainaut, 
Secretaire de la Societe Royale d’Horticulture de Mons, Sx. 
Paris : J. Rotliseliild, 13 Rue des Saints-Peres. 
No. 27. IMPERIAL SERIES. 
and note the leading subjects to which the 
author has turned his attention :— 
The text of Les Orchiddes is divided into three 
parts, the first of which is devoted to the matters 
included under the headings of history, botany, and 
cultivation. Chapter 1 notes the ancient history of 
the family, and the singular properties ascribed to 
the plants, in the course of which the collection and 
preparation of Salep and the cultivation of Vanilla 
come in for a share of attention. The modern his¬ 
tory of the family is then traced, commencing with 
Linnaeus and Jussieu, to whom very few exotic 
species were known; and passing on to the early 
part of the present century, when peace being esta¬ 
blished in Europe, and the various countries of the 
world rendered accessible to travellers, a rapid aug¬ 
mentation of the number of known species soon 
became apparent, thanks to the efforts of various 
travellers, including Humboldt and Bonpland,Wallieh, 
Forbes, Blume, Galeotti, VanHoutte, Linden, Funck, 
Ghiesbreght, Libon, Schlim, Warscewicz, Gibson, 
Skinner, Lobb, Low, Porte, Ellis, and others, who have 
more or less contributed to our knowledge of the 
family, and latterly especially to the augmentation 
of our cultivated collections, until the indigence of 
our forefathers has become changed into a veritable 
opulence. Towards the middle of the present cen¬ 
tury, the number of known species was estimated 
at 3,000, a large per-centage of which had been 
critically examined and classified or originally char¬ 
acterised by our own great orchidologist, Lindley. 
Since then, the introduction of new species has 
gone on still more vigorously, and the mantle of 
chief orchidologist has fallen on the shoulders of 
Professor Reichenbach. The author of Les Orchiddes 
estimates the number of tropical species now culti¬ 
vated in European gardens at from 1,200 to 1,500, 
out of the 4,000 already characterised by botanists, 
and of the 6,000 which he sets down as the probable 
muster-roll of the entire family. 
Chapter 2 is devoted to a description of the organs 
of orchids, which present certain peculiarities, a 
knowledge of which is indispensable to the acqnisi- 
D 
