April 21, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
581 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
Awards according to merit were granted to the 
undermentioned Orchids at a meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the loth inst. 
Dendrobium Mc\p'pe , Nov. hyb. 
The seed parent of this beautiful hybrid was D. litui- 
florum and the pollen parent D. Wardianum,the result 
being a compromise between the two. The sepals 
are violet purple, darkest at the tip and fading 
almost white towards the base. The petals are of 
the same rich colour, but it is continued to the base 
which is paler purple but shows no white. The lip 
has a bilobed, deep purple blotch at the base, 
surrounded by a narrow yellow zone, then a broad 
white one. and the apex is purple. The blotch 
shows evidence of D. Wardianum, but the other 
colours are those of D. lituiflorum. Award of 
Merit. Exhibited by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea. 
Lycaste cruenta gigantea, Nov. var. 
The flowers of this variety are larger than those of 
the type. The broad, ovate sepals are greenish 
yellow and the petals orange. The lip is also of that 
colour, except at the base, inside which is crimson, 
and pubescent as is the face of the column. Award 
of Merit. Exhibited by A. H. Smee, Esq. (gardener, 
Mr. G. W. Cummins), The Grange, Carshalton. 
Dendrobium crepidatum, Tring Park Var., 
Nov. var. 
The flowers of this magnificent new variety are so 
much larger than those of the type that one has a 
difficulty in recognising the real affinity of the plant 
at first sight. They are of a shining lustre and 
waxy in consistency. The sepals are pale purple 
externally and shaded with purple internally, while 
the petals are pale purple in the upper half and the 
rest white. The lip is orange surrounded by a 
narrow white zone, with a broad purple margin. 
The flowers of the type are smaller, and white with 
an orange blotch on the lip. First-class Certificate. 
The exhibitor was the Rt. Hon, Lord Rothschild 
(gardener, Mr. Hill), Tring Park, Tring. 
Cypripedium Winnifred Hollington, Nov. hyb. 
The seed parent of this noble hybrid was C. 
ciliolare crossed with C, niveum. The leaves are 
broadly oblong, marbled with gray, and 3in. to 5in. 
long. The upper sepal is ovate, white, longitudinally 
veined, and heavily suffused with rose. The petals 
are broadly oblong, blunt, and rose coloured, tinted 
with purple. The lip is large, inflated, pubescent, 
and purple with darker veins. The whole appear- 
ence of the flower is bold and telling. First-class 
Certificate. Exhibitor, A. J. Hollington, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. Ed. Ayling), Forty Hill, Enfield. 
Dendrobium Falconer! giganteum. 
The flowers of this handsome variety are coloured 
similarly to the type, but they are larger and more 
freely produced. The stems or pseudo-bulbs are 
even more remarkable for their strength as com¬ 
pared with those of the type. The bilobed maroon 
blotch on an orange ground at the base of the lip 
contrasts admirably with the white and purple 
tipped sepals and petals. First-class Certificate. 
Exhibited by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, 
Mr. W. H. White), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Eulophiella Elizabelhae. 
The famous Orchid which caused such a stir some 
time ago has now flowered in England. The piece 
was not a strong one, but it served to show the 
beauty of the flowers, which are white, and more or 
less heavily shaded with purple externally, and this 
gives the inner face a delicate and charming blush 
tint. The upper sepal is slightly concave, and all 
are broadly oblong. The petals are obovate or sub¬ 
rhomboid, with a pale purple spot in the centre. The 
three-lobed lip is white with an orange disc and a 
scarlet blotch at the base, with two, rarely three, 
ridges towards the base. The scape ard pedicels 
are deep red, contrasting finely with the flowers. 
The leaves are narrowly lanceolate, plicate, and 2 ft. 
to 3 ft. long. First-class Certificate. Exhibited by 
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Laelia lobata. 
This is also known as L. Boothiana. The sepals are 
pale purple, and the broader petals several shades 
darker. The lip is prominently three-lobed, much 
undulated and crisped, but we fail to see the lobing 
of the petals and lip often mentioned. The lamina 
and side lobes are deep purple with a paler apex, 
and the throat is white, finely lined with purple. 
Award of Merit. Exhibitor, Welbore S. Ellis, Esq. 
(gardener, Mr. Masterton), Hazelbourne, Dorking. 
Epidendrum sp. 
The flowers of an Epidendrum, exhibited by 
Welbore S. Ellis, Esq., were borne in racemes 
similar to those of E. evectum, E. rhizophorum, and 
others of that class. The sepals were oblong, the 
petals lanceolate, and all were of a deep reddish 
purple. The three-lobed lip, on the contrary, was 
of the palest lilac with fringed or irregularly toothed 
lobes. The triangular and toothed disk was 
yellowish, and the column reddish purple. First- 
class Certificate. 
Oncidium Lucasianum. 
The comparatively large flowers of this species are 
of a bright golden yellow with the exception of the 
brown disc or crest. The sepals are oblong and 
clawed, while the petals are similar but twice as 
broad. The lip has a reniform, undulated and very 
large terminal lobe deeply auricled at the base. 
Award of Merit. The exhibitors were C. J. Lucas, 
Esq., Warnham Court, Horsham, and Messrs. F. 
Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Eria floribunda. 
The stems of this species are about a foot high, and 
bear several drooping racemes near the top of small 
white flowers, with a hlack column that shows very 
prominently against the white segments. Botanical 
Certificate. Exhibitor, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
The Orchid Growers’ C lendar. 
East India House. —Since raising the tempera¬ 
ture there is a genera! activity to be noted amongst 
all the occupants of this division. The foliage has 
a freshness about it which shows that they appre¬ 
ciate as much as we do the change in the weather. 
Aerides,. Saccolabiums, Angraecums are all making 
fresh roots and new foliage. It is our practice 
when the plants begin to make fresh roots to afford 
them some new, sweet material where required. 
All the species mentioned do best in live sphagnum 
moss alone, with which may be mixed some coarse 
silver sand, or better still, potsherds broken up fine ; 
this keeps everything sweet and allows the water to 
pass freely and quickly away, which is a decided 
advantage with plants that enjoy, as these do, 
an abundance of moisture at the roots during the 
growing season. For the tall growing kinds we 
prefer pot culture, but the pots should be filled three 
parts full of potsherds, putting the large ones at the 
bottom and finishing off with smaller ones. Over 
this is placed the moss which, when finished, should 
be two or three inches above the rim of the pots and 
so form a mound. For Saccolabiums we favour 
basket culture, as then they can be suspended close to 
the glass. These require more light and air than do 
Aerides, and consequently they are more at home 
in such a position. Plants fresh potted or top- 
dressed must be rather heavily shaded for a week 
or so until they have got hold of the fresh material. 
Water sparingly at first, but, when well established, 
they must be copiously supplied. 
Cattley'a House. —Vanda suavis is just now 
making a good show, to be followed by V. tricolor, 
which will serve to keep this house gay until Cattleya 
Mendelii and Laelia purpurata comes into bloom, 
both of which promise well everywhere this season. 
We grow our Vandas with the Cattleyas, believing 
that they flower more freely and produce flowers 
of greater substance and of better colour than when 
subjected to greater heat. Like Aerides they require 
plenty of moisture at the roots frcm now onwards. 
Growing them in the somewhat dryer atmosphere of 
this division causes them to be attacked by a little 
brown scale, which if not kept under causes the foliage 
to become yellow. They adhere to the foliage so 
tightly that it is no easy matter to dislodge them 
without injury to the leaves. A strong solution of 
soft soap we find the best thing to sponge them 
with. 
Cattleya labiata autumnalis. —Those requir¬ 
ing fresh compost should be seen to without delay. If 
fresh potted or rebasketed last season it will hardly be 
policy to turn them out again this, but remove as 
much as possible of the old material, replacing with 
good rough peat and live sphagnum moss in about 
equal parts ; water sparingly until they have made 
some progress, for like C. gigas, they are liable to 
go off without any warning with the rot. 
Odontoglossum citrosmu.m. —These are flower¬ 
ing freely; keep a sharp look out for wood lice, or 
they will do much damage by eating off the points 
of the spikes as they emerge from the young growths. 
Potatos we find make the best traps for them, and 
as they look unsightly when left on the plants, we 
■ remove them each morning, replacing them again at 
night. Water these sparingly until the spikes are 
well up, as if kept plump they are shy bloomers. 
Temperatures. —East India House, 65° to 70° at 
night with a rise of 10° by day. Cattleya House, 
60° at night with a rise of 10° by day. Cool House, 
50° at night with a rise of 10° by day,— C. 
- .f. -- 
® leanings ftinm WnilD 
Df Science. 
The Parachu'^e in Nature, —A lecture on this 
subject was given at the Royal Institution on the 
13th ult. by Professor Charles Stewart. He referred 
to the well known feats of Professor Baldwin with 
the parachute, but in doing so he showed that the 
attempts of man in this direction were comparatively 
of recent date, even if we go so far back as to include 
the crude attempts of Daedalus. Most of the 
existing birds and a large proportion of the insects 
can fly, but the parachute was a more primitive 
means of locomotion, as was shown by the mention 
of the flying lizard and various other animals, and 
that the ancestors of existing birds must have passed 
through two stages of this nature before they at¬ 
tained true wings. The parachute, however, is not 
confined to animals for the fruits and seeds of a 
large number of plants possess this means of loco¬ 
motion. It cannot be called flight, but a means for 
suspension and guidance through the air for a longer 
or shorter period before reaching the ground and 
becoming stationary. By this power, and the agency 
of wind, the fruit and seeds of plants are able in 
many cases to make prolonged journeys through the 
air, and thereby extend their geological distribution. 
Trees, shrubs or herbs springing up in fresh localities, 
grow to a fruiting stage, and then continue the same 
process as their parents. 
Examples of Parachutism Amongst Plants. 
—Some of the most familiar examples amongst trees 
are the samarae or winged fruits of the Maples, and 
the species of Ash. The keys of the latter have 
attained considerable size, but instead of being 
heavy they have become so flattened, thin and light 
as to be readily carried for considerable distances 
from the parent tree when they are blown from it by 
a gale of wind. For the same purpose the fruits of 
the Maple have developed thin prolongations, at their 
upper end, popularly known as wings. Different 
members of the same family have adopted strikingly 
different means for ensuring the transportation of 
their fruits, as may be seen by comparing the Ash 
with the Olive or Privet, and the Maples with the 
Horse Chestnuts and Pavias. The Walnut has a 
heavy fruit like the Horse Chestnuts, but Pterocarya, 
belonging to the same family, has comparatively 
small, light and winged fruits. More familiar are 
the fruits of the Thistles, Ragworts and Dandelion, 
which are representatives of thousands of species 
belonging to the extensive composite order. Their 
large numbers and extensive distribution are doubt¬ 
less due to the downy, feathered, and other forms 
of the pappus by which the fruits, popularly but 
erroneously known as seeds, are carried hither 
and thither in the air, both during windy 
and calm times. Similar to the Dandelion 
are the fruits of Cats' Ear, Goat's Beard and other 
allied plants, all of which have a pappus of which 
Baldwin’s parachute might be considered a model. 
When the beaked fruit of the Pelargonium ripens in 
a dry atmosphere, it is seen to possess a parachute, 
the parts of which are neatly rolled up while growing, 
but under the action of the sun or other drying 
agency, they unfold into an object of great beauty 
and symmetry. The seeds of the Herb Willows 
(Epilobium), of the true Willows, Poplars, Cotton, 
Stephanotis, and many other subjects have seeds 
which are furnished with a pencil of silky hairs at 
one or both ends, and which acts like a parachute, 
when the seeds are liberated. The seeds of Bignonia 
and many others belonging to the same family have 
broad thin-winged seeds which answer the same 
purpose. 
