June 19, 1886. 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
661 
perennials, bulbous and other plants,especially those use¬ 
ful for cut-flowers. Here the collection of Gladioli are 
coming on vigorously ; the bed of the new hardy white 
Crinum Powelli, which was so handsome last year, bids 
fair to be equally good at the end of the summer ; and 
the Roses, Iris, and other showy and favourite flowers 
give abundance of beauty at the present time. 
The Orchid Houses. 
These contain a wealth of beauty,, and a host of the 
most wonderful examples of nature’s arrangements for 
the reproduction of these plants which are in a wild 
state dependent on insect aid for fertilisation. The 
great charm of the Orchids is that the love of them is 
not an acquired taste, it does not require an expert to 
appreciate the loveliness of the showy ones, or the 
curious structure of the smaller kinds with insect-like 
flowers. Large or small, if a fair specimen of any 
Orchid be placed among a group of other plants staged 
in a public exhibition, it will be sure to attract a larger 
amount of attention than any of the other things. Of 
the rare things of extraordinary structure and colouring 
now in flower at Burford Lodge, which no one could 
pass without careful examination, we cannot help 
particularising the fine plant of the priceless Cypri- 
pedium Stonei platytsenium with its two spikes of six 
fine flowers, with pointed shoe-like 
pouches, showy oval white and 
chocolate dorsal sepal, and broad 
spreading white wings with crimson 
spots ; whether as a showy beauty 
or a curiosity it is unique. Sarco- 
podiuni Dearei, too, with its half-a- 
dozen large yellow flowers, stained 
and lined with crimson, is curious 
beyond conception in its structure, 
its labellum being hinged so that 
when the insect alighting on it in 
search of nectar passes over a certain 
point it tilts over bringing the 
invader in contact with the pollinia, 
which adheres to its back, and is 
thus transported to the next flower 
to fertilise it. 
Another of the sights peculiar to 
Burford, is the very fine collection 
of Chimteroid Masdevallias, some of 
them with hundreds of leaves and 
scores of flowers ; they are grown 
in boats or baskets and suspended 
overhead, and with their large 
flowers hanging over they present 
a very pretty sight. hi. chimcera 
Roezlii now bears many of its 
nearly black flowers, which look 
like bats on the wing. The other 
section of the Masdevallias to which 
M. Harryana, M. Veitchi, and hi. 
ignea belong are equally well grown, 
and give a great display of purple, 
mauve, scarlet and orange flowers. 
Rare Orchids in Flower. 
Among the very rare things now in bloom with Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, are three plants of the handsome 
■Skides Schroderi ; the only flowering plant in the 
country of the handsome Pliajus Humblotii, discovered 
in Madagascar by H. Humblot, not long before he 
died ; Sphathoglottis Augustorum, a pretty terrestrial 
Orchid ; Anguloa Ruckerii sanguinea, with six of its 
large wax-like aromatic flowers, in shape like old- 
fashioned helmets, but beautifully tinted blood-red 
inside and yellow out; two distinct varieties of Anguloa 
uniflora ; Cattleya Mossise Reineckiana, a fine variety 
with pure white flowers marked with purple on the lip; 
Odontoglossum coronarium miniatum, a very handsome 
crimson and yellow form ; Trichoglottis fasciata, a 
curious plant, like a fleshy Vanda Cathcartii, with 
white and brown spidery-looking flowers ; iErides 
Larpentie, a large mass with many spikes of white and 
rose flowers; many Vanda teres; Angraecum Scottianum 
with ivory-like flowers, with long caudal appendages ; 
Bifrenaria inodora xanthina, a handsome Orchid which 
opens with greenish flowers, changing to bright yellow; 
and Ionopsis paniculata superba, a lovely gem of a 
plant with neat branched spikes of clear-white and 
rose flowers, very pleasing to look upon. 
The Cattleyas and L.elias. 
Of these some very showy things are in flower, it need 
hardly be said of the best varieties, for none other are 
admitted. Some of the Cattleya Mendelii are very fine, 
one with about twenty five clear white flowers, with 
violet-crimson lips, being superb ; the many showy 
plants of C. Mossise, C. gigas, C. Warneri, and Lielia 
purpurata, whose flowers are so handsome on the plants, 
and handsome and useful for the town house when 
cut, are also in good form. 
The Odontoglossum houses known to contain many 
unique specimens, have in them in bloom a fine batch 
of the orange-scarlet Epidendrum vitellinum majus ; 
some bright and pretty Masdevallias, the large golden 
yellow Oncidium macranthum, several of the rare and 
pretty O. bifolium, Restrepia atennifera major, the 
curious Pleurothallis ornata, with black flowers fringed 
with white; Odontoglossum vexillarium, 0. Reichen- 
heimii, 0. hastilabium, 0. cordatum, as well as the 
usual show of 0. Alexandra:, in fine pure white as 
well as heavily spotted forms. 
In the numerous other houses, either in bloom or bud 
are zErides Lawrencse, the regal zErides named in honour 
of Lady Lawrence, who is a great admirer of Orchids ; 
it seems unlikely that this grand plant will ever be 
beaten in its class, its flowers are so noble in their pro¬ 
portion, and clear in their white and crimson colouring. 
Dendrobium Jamesianum, with snow-white and orange 
flowers, which lasts a month or six weeks when cut ; 
The Late J. C. Severs. 
D. moschatum, a fine old favourite ; D. Dalhousianum, 
D. elavatum, D. Bensonise, D. chrysantlmm, D. Gold- 
ianum, with fifteen flowers on a spike ; D. suavissimum, 
D. amcenum, D. secundum, Saccolabium curvifolium, 
S. guttatum, S. Blumei, Scuticaria Steelii, many forms 
of Stanliopea, Acineta, and some grandly flowered 
Thunia Bensonise and T. Marsliallise ; zErides Lobbii 
superbum, with spikes of rosy crimson and white flowers 
about 3 ft. in length ; A. suavissimum, A. Lindley- 
anum, A. virens superbum, A. odoratum majus, 
Mormodes luxatum, Maxillaria Turnerii, many good 
Odontoglossum citrosmum, Epidendrum variegatum, 
Vanda cristata, Oncidium Jonesianum, and some hand¬ 
some Sobralia macrantha. 
The Cyripediums are always well represented at 
Burford, some ot the new ones as well as other hybrid 
Orchids having been raised there. Besides the noted 
C. Stonei platytsenum, there are in bloom several C. 
Stonei, C. concolor Regnieri (with three flowers on a 
spike), C. niveum, some large pans of the noble C. 
Lawrenceanum, C. Veitchianum, C. Dayanum, C. 
Swanianum, C. Hookerii, C. barbatum grandiflorum, 
C. superciliare, C. tonsum, C. oenanthum superbum, C. 
Sedeni candidulum, C. grande, C. Curtisii, and many 
others. 
In one of the housesstands an immense plantof Renan- 
thera coccinea, with several branched spikes of its yellow 
and blood-red flowers, like flights of showy butterflies. 
The flowers are very beautiful, and this particular plant is 
interesting on its own account, as its pedigree, proved 
by the old label which was found among the material 
in which it was potted when Sir Trevor bought it 
many years ago, indicates beyond a doubt that the 
specimen has been in cultivation in this country over 
seventy years, a proof that Orchids do not die out if 
they get into good hands, although many of them are 
more susceptible to bad or unskillful treatment, than 
the one in question, no doubt. 
We must not pass from the Burford Lodge Gardens 
without noticing the Ouvirandra fenestralis of Mada¬ 
gascar, a water-plant with curious lattice-work-like 
or skeleton leaves, every vein having the space 
between it and the next open. The plant is very 
difficult to grow, but at Burford it grows well, flowers 
and seeds. The insectivorous plants are, some of them, 
covered with flies of their own catching. The Nepenthes 
Mastersiana has pitchers of the brightest red and of the 
largest size ; and the showy Utricularia Endresii and 
U. montana, well worth their place in those Orchid 
houses which Mr. Bickerstaffe, who is in charge, takes 
such good care of. 
The Late Orchid Grower. 
While on the subject of the Orchids at Burford 
Lodge, a good opportunity offers 
to present to our readers a portrait 
of their former guardian, Mr. Joseph 
Charles Spyers, who wrought so 
earnestly among the plants in his 
charge, and gained the high esteem 
of Sir Trevor and Lady Lawrence as 
well as of all those who had to do 
with him. He was a man of many 
friends and no enemies, and we are 
sure that his portrait will be 
scanned in our columns with kindly 
feelings towards him who it repre¬ 
sents by a large number of Orchid 
growers and plant lovers in various 
quarters of the globe, who either 
knew him personally or through 
Iris contributions to the horticul¬ 
tural press. Joseph Charles Spyers 
was born on the 5th February, 1850, 
and his father unfortunately died 
about that time. When six years 
of age he was sent to the Orphanage 
School at Beckley, near Oxford, and 
remained there until he was 
seventeen. 
It was here that he gained his 
first knowledge of gardening, the 
large grounds attached to the 
school being cropped for market 
purposes. On leaving school he 
went to Mr. Stagall at Weymouth, 
where he remained three years, and 
thence went to Kew Gardens where 
he was employed in the Orchid 
houses about two years. From 
Kew he went to Robert Hanbury, Esq., at Poles, Ware, 
to take charge of the Orchids, remaining there over 
two years, and working hard to increase his knowledge 
of the plants he liked so much. The autumn of 1874 
found him installed as Orchid grower to Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge, who was able to 
aid him by his vast experience. A long and pleasant 
service followed which only terminated by the death 
of Mr. Spyers from Phthisis on the 10th of April, 
1883. 
Very many gold medals and prizes were awarded to 
the Burford Lodge exhibits during Sir. Spyer’s time, 
some of the plants shown being incomparable. He 
was also one of our best contributors to the horticul¬ 
tural press, and always ready to intelligently advise on 
any difficult point of Orchid culture. It must have 
been a comfort to him in his last illness to know that 
in Sir Trevor and Lady Lawrence his wife and young 
family had sure friends ; and it speaks well for the 
whole body of Orchid growers that quickly a fund was 
raised, with Mr. James O’Brien as secretary and Dr. 
Masters as treasurer, sufficient being obtained to pur¬ 
chase the widow a nice new freehold house close to the 
great Orchid establishment of Mr. F. Sander (whose 
great kindness also deserves the highest commendation), 
at St. Albans, and thus the comfort of the family of our 
late respected friend is permanently secured. 
