June 30, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
691 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
The undermentioned Orchids were certificated at 
the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on 
the i2th inst. 
Bifrenaria tyrianthina. 
The sepals and petals of this moderately dwarf 
growing species are of a dull rosy purple. The lip 
on the contrary is more distinctive and striped with 
deep purple. Award of Merit. Exhibited by 
Messrs. Linden, L’Horticulture Internationale, 
Brussels. 
Odontoglossun sceptrum leopardinum, 
Nov. sub. var. 
The specific name of this is O. luteo-purpureum, of 
which the variety sceptrum has long been known for 
its medium sized round flowers. Of recent years many 
fine varieties have turned up with larger and more 
richly coloured flowers. The sub-variety under 
notice is characterised by its large and richly spotted 
flowers. Award of Merit. Exhibited by W. 
Thompson, Esq. (gardener, Mr. W. Stevens), 
Walton Grange, Stone, ^Staffs. 
Odontoglossum sceptrum aureum, Nov. sub. var. 
The ground colour of this sub-variety of O. luteo- 
purpureum is rich yellow, and all the segments are 
richly spotted with brown. Award of Merit. Ex¬ 
hibited by W. Thompson, Esq. 
Odontoglossum Wiickeanum grandis, Nov. var. 
O. WiLKEANUM is a supposed natural hybrid between 
O. crispum and O. luteo-purpureum, the latter 
showing its influence chiefly in colour. The lanceo¬ 
late sepals and ovate serrate petals are yellow, with 
more numerous rich brown blotches than in the 
type. The lip is shaped like that of O. crispum, and 
has a blotch in front of the crest. Award of Merit. 
Exhibited by W. Thompson, Esq. 
Dendrobium veratrifolium. 
This is a species of the New Guinea type of Den¬ 
drobium, and is supposed to be a new species. The 
stems are tall with broad leaves, and erect racemes 
of bloom are given off towards the top. The flowers 
are of medium size and pretty on account of their 
clear and light colours. The oblong sepals are 
undulated and pure white; and the spathulate 
petals have a half twist in the middle and pale, 
creamy white. The side lobes of the lip are pale, 
dull purple, striated with cream at the base; the 
middle lobe is nearly orbicular, mucronate, wavy 
and rosy mauve; the elevated disc has five, purple- 
edged ridges which are considerably elevated at the 
centre of the middle lobe where they terminate. 
Award of Merit. Exhibited by F. Wigan, Esq. 
(grower, Mr. W. H. Young), Clare Lawn, East 
Sheen. 
Masdevallia calura. 
The flowers of this species are of a blackish choco¬ 
late hue, with a cylindrical and bent tube. The 
free portion of the upper sepal is triangular, with an 
orange-yellow tail ij in. to 2 in. long. The oval- 
oblong, reflexed, lateral sepals have similarly 
coloured tails ; and to this doubtless the specific 
name is due. Botanical Certificate! Exhibited by 
R. I. Measures, Esq. (gardener Mr. H. Chapman), 
Cambridge Lodge, Camber •veil. 
Pleurothallis Loddigesii. 
The slender stems of this species bear twin racemes 
of flowers as a rule at the base of the lanceolate 
leaves. The flowers are small, and very numerous, 
with a pale green tube, and three short, oblong, 
deep brown segments. Botanical Certificate. 
Exhibited by R. I. Measures, Esq. 
Cattleya gigas flowering from the 
rhizomes. 
Mr. W. Challis, 17, Springdale Road, Stoke Newing¬ 
ton, writes ;—"I have under my care a plant of 
Cattleya gigas which started to grow in the usual 
way, but after making about an inch or so of growth 
altered its mind and threw from the point of the new 
growth a flower spike with three flowers, which 
have opened to-day. Is not this rather out of the 
common ? I have never had one do so before.” We 
have heard of C. gigas flowering from the rhizomes 
once before, but did not see the plant. C. Walker- 
iana and its variety nobilior constantly do so. 
Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs, by 
A. D. Webster. A valuable guide to planters of beautiful 
trees and shrubs for the adornment of parks and gardens. 
Price, 3S.; post free, 3s. 3d. Publisher, Gardening World, 
I, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
A Two-lipped Cattleya. 
Recently we received a flower of Cattleya 
Mendelii from Mr. H. Chapman, gardener to R. I. 
Measures, Esq., Cambridge Lodge, Camberwell, 
It had behaved in a very curious manner. Practi¬ 
cally it consisted of four segments only, and whether 
the missing ones were amalgamated with those that 
remained it would be difficult to prove. The 
posterior sepal was larger than the anterior one, a 
fact that offered no evidence as to whether the latter 
consisted of what should have been two lateral sepals 
under ordinary circumstances. The most remark¬ 
able segments, however, were two large organs in 
the position of petals, that is, right and left of the 
axis of the flower. The upper edge of each of these 
segments resembled petals in form and colour, but 
the contiguous halves of the same, both in form and 
colour, represented two half lips. They could not 
have consisted of one lip divided down the middle, 
because the two edges were turned towards instead 
of away from one another, and the position of their 
bases was distinctly lateral. The inference is that 
the whole flower was imperfect in its early stages 
for one reason or another, that four instead of six 
segments were produced, one sepal and lip being 
missing, and that the petals both attempted to make 
up for the absence of the lip. In short it was a 
case of reduction of parts and of peloria. 
Cattleya Mossiae Wageneri. 
This beautiful Cattleya always maintains its reputa¬ 
tion, and is likely to do for many years to come. 
A flower of it was sent the other day from Mr. R. 
Hinde, gardener to M. Wells, Esq., Brooklands, 
Sale. The whole bloom is pure white with excep¬ 
tion of a bifid yellow blotch in the throat, and 
which forms a band extending to the base of the 
tube. The petals are slightly crisped and finely 
toothed, but the deeply bifid lip is undulated, 
crisped, and also dentate at the edges. The variety 
was originally introduced from Caraccas in 1851, 
and is by no means very common yet, so that it 
may be considered rather scarce, choice, and valu¬ 
able. The plant from which the flower was cut 
was bought at Pickering Lodge, and is the same 
specimen that the late Mr. Hardy bought at Mr. 
Wrigley’s sale at Preston. Thus it already has a 
history, and has been under the care of several 
cultivators. 
A Wonderful Specimen Orchid. 
” What ! ” said an Orchid grower to me, yesterday, 
” a Nanodes Medusae 2 ft. across ! It seems almost 
incredible,” And yet the statement is under the 
truth, for the basket is 2 ft. across and the plant 
laps over, so is actually above the measurement 
given. I h.we known the plant for years, and 
watched its progress with wonder and delight. It is 
in the collection of J. Buchanan, Esq., Oswald 
House, Morningside, Edinburgh, and I am sure he 
would be pleased to show it to any enthusiastic 
grower. I saw it the other day and counted the 
flowers and growths. There were upwards of forty 
blooms showing, and those open were very large, 
and there are upwards of one hundred growths, 
much stouter and stronger than one generally sees. 
This unique specimen is growing in a cool house, 
and has been in the same place for years.— Alfred, 
Outram F.R.H.S. 
A floriferous Odontoglossum crispum. 
A remarkable instance of the great perfection to 
which Odontoglossum crispum can be grown from 
imported bulbs came under my notice the other day 
in the collection of J. Campbell, Esq., Main Street, 
Newmilns, N.B. Five years ago, Mr. Campbell 
purchased an imported piece of O. crispum for the 
small sum of 5s., and each consecutive year since it 
has made a great improvement on the previous 
growths, until the home-grown bulbs have attained 
to nearly double the size of the original imported 
ones; and the plant now carries no less than nine 
spikes, with a grand total of one hundred and six 
large and well formed flowers. The specimen must 
be seen to get any real idea of its beauty, but I 
thought its existence worth recording. This is also 
not the only remarkable example of this enthusiastic 
amateur’s skill to be seen in his collection.— 
r.jic_ 
The Amateur Orchid Grower’s Guide Book. By H. A. 
Burberry (Orchid Grower to the Rt. Hon. J. Chamberlain, 
M.P.). Containing sound, practical information and advice 
for Amateurs, giving a List with Cultural Descriptions of 
those most suitable for Cool-house, Intermediate-house, and 
Warm-house Culture,.together with a Calendar of Operations 
and Treatment for each Month of the Year. In Cloth (Crown 
Svo. 5 by7j),price2s. 6d.; post free, 2S. gd. Publisher, Garden¬ 
ing World, i, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
®l^amnR0 fcom 
of Stienm,. 
Ca.pital Letters for Specific Names. — In 
writing the names of plants nothing gives more 
trouble, perhaps, if one wishes to write correctly, 
than to know when to use a capital letter for the 
specific name. Some use a capital letter in every 
case, both for the generic and specific names, while 
others use a small letter to commence the word in 
both cases. Between these extremes we find all 
sorts of method or lack of method adopted. To be 
correct in every case implies that the writer must 
possess a fairly exhaustive knowledge of botany. 
For garden purposes it may be urged that it is a 
matter of no importance whether a capital or a 
small letter is employed in any case. Tha't view is, 
however, erroneous, as every word that requires a 
capital letter has a significance of its own, and con¬ 
veys to the intelligent student what a small one 
could not. Another fact is that correctly-written 
garden labels furnish object lessons to all young be¬ 
ginners eager to acquire a good knowledge of their 
profession. All that may be considered as belonging 
to the domain of botany ; but that science is in¬ 
tended to simplify and elucidate the history and 
science of plant life in general, so that all should 
learn, with a view to lift the status of horticulture 
and horticulturists. Plant culture is becoming more 
and more popular, and if it were possible to educate 
the mass, at least all who write or publish plant names, 
or give names to new ones, the glaring mistakes we 
frequently witness would be reduced to a minimum, 
while all would understand each other better, and 
make fewer errors in the transmission of the plants 
asked for. At least we hope that the education at 
the command of all who care to take advantage of 
it will tend to increase the knowledge of plant life 
and to better the profession generally. 
Rules for the use of Capital Letters.—The 
rules are pretty numerous ; we could wish they were 
fewer. The application of the rules is a more difficult 
matter, but not insurmountable. Commemorative 
names should begin with a capital letter when the 
genitive case of the latinised name is employed, 
thus :—Rhododendron Thomson!, R. Shepberdii, R. 
Wightii, &c. This translated into English means 
Thomson’s, Shepherd’s, and Wight’s Rhododendron. 
Supposing in latinising those names we change 
them into adjectives, then we should write R. 
thomsonianum, R. shepherdianum, and R. 
wightianum, meaning the Thomsonian, the 
Shepherdian and the Wightian Rhododendrons. 
In this case a capital letter should not be used in 
Latin. It is exceedingly difficult to induce writers 
of any class to adopt this correction ; but it will be 
an error in orthography until the method is adopted. 
A similar case occurs where the name of a place is 
latinised, such as Primula sinensis, P. sikkimensis, 
and Wistaria sinensis, meaning the Chinese and ths 
Sikkim Primula, and the Chinese Wistaria. No 
capital letters should be used in these cases, although 
many writers persist in employing them, especially 
when giving names to new Orchids. Yet the same 
writers would make no objection to the use of small 
letters in the case of Geranium pyrenaicum. 
Primula japonica, P. altaica, P. davurica, P. denti- 
culata cashmiriana, P. viscosa pedemontana, &c., 
although those plants are all named from the places 
whence they come. The rule is that when the word 
employed as a specific name is an adjective, it 
should commence with a small letter. Thus we use 
a noun in the case of Primula Allioni, meaning 
Allioni’s Primula ; but an adjective in P. clusiana, 
meaning the Clusian Primula. Akin to this is the 
case of plants named after a lady. Thus we say 
Cypripedium Hookerae, or Lady Hooker’s Cypripe- 
dium ; Rosa Banksiae, or Lady Bank’s Rose ; and 
Cypripedium insigne Sanderae, or Mrs. Sander’s 
Cypripedium. The rule for the capital letter 
applies here as in the former case. 
The above rules can be understood and applied 
by any intelligent gardener who has but the slightest 
acquaintance with Latin ; but there are others which 
require a wider knowledge of the subject, for to be 
able to apply them properly implies a previous 
knowledge of their history, or a recognition of the 
fact that they have had a history. As the science of 
botany progressed, it was discovered that many 
plants receiving separate names were not generically 
distinct from allied ones, so that they are now classed 
under the proper genus retaining the old generic 
name as the specific one, using a capital lettir to 
indicate the same. Thus, Betonica officinalis is now 
Stachys Betonica; Specularia speculum is Cam¬ 
panula Specularia; Clinopodium vulgare is Cala- 
mintha Clinopodium ; Conyza squarrosa is Inula 
Conyza ; and instances might be multiplied. Names 
used by the old herbalists have been adopted to indi¬ 
cate a species. Thus, Virga aurea, the Golden Rod, 
has become Solidago Virgaurea ; Wild Chamomile is 
Matricaria Chamomilla; the Milfoil is Achillea 
Millefolium, &c. Native names are often adopted to 
indicate a species, or variety, commencing it with a 
capital letter, thus Pyrus spectabilis Ksido, P. 
Toringo, P. Toringo Ringo, and so on. The field of 
plant names is full of similar instances to the above. 
