December 9, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
229 
ORCHIDS AT CLARE 
LAWN. 
From autumn onwards till well into summer there is 
always a display of something in the Orchid houses 
of F. Wigan, Esq., Clare Lawn, East Sheen. The 
Phalaenopsis house is always interesting, and when 
the large collection of Cypripediums is taken into 
account it will be understood that a display is kept 
up by them all the year round. At present the 
varieties of C. insigne are very conspicuous in the 
rock house. Besides the type, C. i. Maulei, C. i. 
sylhetense, C. i. punctatum violaceum, and C. i. 
albo-marginatum, are also flowering freely. The 
latter is characterised by the white portion of the 
upper sepal extending round the margin of the same, 
and in being devoid of the purple spotting usually 
present on the white part of other varieties. 
The plant of P. speciosa Imperatrix bears two flower 
scapes, and has nine leaves, shining as if they were 
polished, and measuring lo in. to 12 in. in length by 
4 in. in width. We noted a very fine variety of 
Cypripedium Haynaldianum in this house; the 
upper sepal was highly coloured, and the blotches 
on the sepals of a rich shining brown and well 
defined. C. Niobe flowering along side of it is very 
much esteemed for its dwarf habit and attractive 
colours. 
The Odontoglossums in the cool house, including 
O. crispum and O. nebulosum, are throwing up their 
flower spikes.. In the Cattleya house the lover of 
that class of plants would be delighted to see C. 
Trianae alba already in bloom. It is wholly pure 
white with exception of a pale yellow blotch in the 
tube. The typical form cannot be expected to 
bloom for some time yet unless unduly hastened. 
Dendrobium Phalaenopsis Schroderianum, Cypri¬ 
pedium Leeanum burfordiense, and C. Spicerianum. 
Dendrobium Leeanum atropurpureum is developing 
its flower stems, and is the darkest form of this new 
species we have seen. The flower stems of Phaius 
grandifolius are both numerous and show great 
vigour. Two large plants of Coelogyne pandurata 
on rafts have made splendid growths, and will be 
conspicuous objects when they come into bloom. 
The intermediate house is in several divisions, and 
affords accommodation to a great variety of Orchids 
that thrive best in an intermediate temperature. 
Amongst the flowering specimens of Lycaste are L. 
Skinneri, L. S. Alba and L. plana. The species of 
Masdevallia are very numerous, and several of them 
are flowering at the present time, including a fiori- 
ferous batch of the useful and ornamental M. 
tovarensis whose white flowers can be appreciated 
The New Show House in the Abbey Park, Leicester, 
Cymbidium Lowianum has been in this house for 
the last two years and is both thriving and showing 
its flower spikes, notwithstanding the fact that the 
temperature of the house is often as low as 38° to 
40° in the morning. Close by it C. giganteum has 
been in full bloom for some time. Barkeria 
Lindleyana, to which we referred last week, 
occupies a narrow passage or division between the 
rock and Phalaenopsis houses. 
Several of the Phalaenopsis are in bloom and 
others are approaching that condition. P. leucorhoda 
casta has a panicle bearing twenty-four buds, and 
will be fine presently. This is the third panicle it 
has produced within the last two years. P. inter¬ 
media hears fifteen flowers that are nearly white 
with exception of the rosy-purple lip. P. Schilleri- 
ana, P. Stuartiana, P. amabilis, P. leucorhoda, and 
P. speciosa Imperatrix are all in a more or less 
advanced condition towards flowering. The young 
plants being developed on the roots of P. Stuartiana 
are interesting, as showing a biological peculiarity 
that is not at all common in the Orchid family. 
Laeiia anceps is grown in great quantity and variety, 
including some plants of a white variety bearing 
eight or nine spikes, as well as L. a. Sanderiana. A 
large piece of L. anceps itself on a portion of the 
trunk of a tree bears nine spikes, some of which are 
about a yard long. L. a. P'oerstermani comes near 
to L. a. alba, and has a scape 2J ft. long. Very 
highly coloured is L. autumnalis atrorubens, and 
the white variety L. a. alba bears seven flowers on 
two spikes. L. Gouldiana is making for bloom. 
The autumn-flowering Cattleya labiata still holds out 
with its rosy-lilac sepals and petals and darker lip. 
Another form still retained under the name of C. 
Warocqueana has blush-white sepals and petals, 
and a bluish-purple lamina to the lip with white 
edges and side lobes. It is certainly very handsome, 
pale as it is. In the same house is a flowering piece 
of the useful Oncidium excavatum aurosum with 
brownish-purple bars on the sepals and petals, and 
a yellow lip marked with brown on the disc. 
The stove contains a good many Orchids, amongst 
which we noted flowering pieces of Vanda caerulea, 
by those even who are not specialists. M. maculata 
can hardly be viewed in the same light, and yet it 
is interesting. A curious and ornamental species is 
Coelogyne barbata, whose brown, beaded lip con¬ 
trasts markedly with the white sepals and petals. 
Closely allied to the Cymbidiums is Cyperorchis 
elegans, which bears a large, drooping thyrse of 
straw-coloured flowers. The leaves are very similar 
to those of C. Mastersii, best known under the name 
of Cymbidium Mastersii, but the inflorescence is 
different. The elegant and interesting Restrepia 
antennifera is allied to the Masdevallias and is 
always valued in a collection. 
Oncidium tigrinum unguiculatum is generally 
considered inferior to the type on account of its 
smaller and less highly-coloured flowers, as well as 
being devoid of fragrance. It is a more stately 
plant, however, and lasts longer in bloom. A plant 
here bears three panicles 4ft. to 5ft. in length. A 
rare plant is Trichopilia sanguineolenta, better 
known, perhaps, as Helcia sanguineolenta, a name 
given it by Lindley. It is now pushing up its flower 
