April 1?, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
519 
ORCHID NOTES & GLEANINGS, 
By The Editor. 
Cypripedium rubescens superbum.— Nov. hyb. 
var. —The raisers of hybrid Orchids, but particularly 
of Cypripediums, sometimes give their seedlings a 
very complicated parentage. That is so in the case 
of the plant under notice, and in spite of it the 
flowers are very distinct, and amongst the most 
beautiful of their particular ilk. It was raised by 
Mr. A. Wright, gardener to T. McMeekin, Esq., 
Falkland Park, South Norwood Hill, and is here 
described for the first time. The seed parent was C. 
villosum Boxallii stratum, which was crossed with 
the pollen of C. oenanthum superbum. The former 
may be regarded as a subvariety of C. villosum 
which looms largely in the progeny, being indeed a 
most potent parent in nearly every one of the hybrids 
with which it is connected. C. oenanthum is a 
hybrid between C. harrisianum (itself a hybrid) and 
C. insigne; but C. o. superbum was raised from C. 
harrisianum crossed with C. insigne Maulei. Even 
if the parentage is highly complicated, the name 
given to the plant under notice is relatively simple, 
though this could hardly have been the case if any 
attempt had been made to manufacture a name from 
those of the parents. 
The flower is of large size, good substance, polished 
and glossy as if varnished. The dorsal sepal is 
broadly ovate, rich claret-purple, heavily lined with 
black veins, and of a clearer purple towards the 
margin, which is white and relatively narrow. 
Needless to say, C. oenanthum superbum is evident 
in this, but the black veins give the sepals a much 
darker aspect. The lower sepal is greenish-white, 
with dark green veins. The petals are of a rich 
reddish-brown on the upper longitudinal half, with 
a few brown spots at the edge near the base; the 
dark chestnut-brown midrib is well defined and pio- 
minent from base to apex ; and the lower longitudinal 
half is yellowish, suffused with pale brown. In these 
respects, the potency of C. villosum Boxallii atratum 
is visible. The lip is of a dark purple-brown in front, 
and greenish-yellow with darker veins behind. The 
pale staminode is tinted with flesh and netted with 
green in the centre.—/. Fraser. 
Epidendrum elegantulum.—This name has 
been given to a series of hybrids—we say a series 
because the flowers of the seedlings from the batch 
are very varied in colour—between E. Wallisii and 
E. Endresio-Wallisii, the latter being the pollen 
bearer and itself a hybrid, as the name would indi¬ 
cate. The ground colour of the sepals and petals is 
either creamy, pale yellow, golden yellow, or, in a 
dark variety, orange-brown. This ground, in some 
of its shades of colour, is also ornamented with dark 
eye-like spots in a ring of yellow. The lip is white, 
suffused, and often spotted or mottled with various 
shades of purple or violet. The plants are‘about a 
foot in height, very floriferous and highly orna¬ 
mental. The flowers are moderate in size but very 
numerous, and offer a hint that large plants would 
prove most effective in a collection of Orchids. 
This batch of varieties of E. elegantulum has been 
flowering for weeks past in the Orchid rockery house 
of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Chelsea, who were 
the raisers. 
Miltonia Phalaenopsis.—It is pleasing to note 
that some cultivators still care for and succeed with 
this beautiful Miltonia which some regard as a 
difficult subject to manage. The pseudobulbs are 
much smaller than those of the allied M. Roezlii and 
M. vexillaria ; and the light green leaves are linear- 
lanceolate with a graceful and grassy appearance, 
when the plants are hung up close to the glass in line 
with the eye of the beholder. The flowers are large 
in proportion to the size of the plant, and hold their 
own well with those of their allies. The sepals and 
petals are white, and the lip is beautifully striped 
and blotched with violet-purple. A house with an 
intermediate temperature suits this species admir¬ 
ably, and the plant succeeds best when kept near 
the glass. It should in fact receive plenty of diffused 
light at all times, and not be exposed to hot and direct 
sunshine. If regularly attended to in the matter of 
watering so that the roots do not get deluged at one 
time and dried up at another, the species succeeds as 
well as its allies. We noted a fine plant recently in 
the nurseries of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., 
Chelsea, 
Cypripedium Morganiae burfordiense.— 
This splendid variety of one of the noblest of hybrid 
Cypripediums turned up in the collection of Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart., Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
The flowers are larger than in the original C. 
Morganiae, darker and brighter in colour. The 
petals are also broader, and owing to the size and 
number of blotches with which they are adorned, 
they recall the famous C. Stonei platytaenium, 
which was established as the best Cypripedium 
extant by the plebiscite organised by the Journal des 
Orchidees recently. The long and broad recurved 
petals are blotched with dark crimson-purple, and 
the large lip is of a dark brownish-purple. A full 
page, coloured illustration of it is given in the 
Lindenia PI. 541. 
—.Jo- 
THE PUNT HOUSES. 
Pits and Frames. 
Throughout the spring months more particularly 
this department is very congested, and at the present 
time a great deal of the room is taken up with 
bedding plants of all descriptions. It will be at the 
least another month before much of the space occu¬ 
pied by this kind of material is available for other 
purposes, so in the meantime the utmost will have to 
made of every square foot of room. 
Lachenalias and Freesias which have gone out 
of flower must not be neglected on that account. A 
place should be given them in a pit or frame facing 
north. Here they may be allowed to gradually ripen 
off. Curtail the water supply by degrees, and give 
plenty of air during the daytime. 
Double Primulas. —It is not wise to defer the 
propagation of these until late for, in order to obtain 
good strong plants for flowering next winter a fairly 
long season of growth must be allowed. The method 
of earthing up the plants round the collars is to be 
strongly recommended. The old, lower leaves 
should be removed from the old plants and some 
light soil containing a large proportion of leaf soil 
and sand packed round until the bases of the remain¬ 
ing leaves are reached. Chopped sphagnum and sand 
is also a good medium, and roots are freely formed in 
it. Place the plants in a house having a temperature 
of about 6o°. Here the syringe may be used without 
fear, and under such conditions it is astonishing how 
quickly and strongly the plants grow. All flowers 
should be pinched out as fast as they appear. The 
double white variety is a most continuous bloomer, 
but it must be induced to husband its strength against 
a time when the flowers will be of greater value. 
Specimen Coleuses. —No matter whether large 
or small the Coleus, in its infinite variety of coloured 
and variegated foliage, is in great request for con¬ 
servatory decoration throughout the summer months. 
Well-leaved plants in 48's and 32's come in very use¬ 
fully for filling small vases and ornamental plant 
stands within the mansion. On the other hand 
large specimen plants will come in equally handily 
for making up groups of plants in suitable positions 
in fireplaces and window recesses in dwelling rooms 
as well as for furnishing material for the larger 
houses. Some of the strongest plants now in thirty- 
two pots should be shifted on into an eight or even a 
a ten inch size. Pot firmly, using a compost of two 
parts of good loam, and one part of dried cow manure 
or horse droppings rubbed through a half inch mesh 
sieve. Add plenty of sand to keep the soil thoroughly 
porous. Too much heat can scarcely be given the 
plants, as they really revel in it. Plenty of moisture, 
both in the atmosphere, and at the root, is also 
requisite. Consistent pinching must be given, and 
if this is done there will be little difficulty in obtain¬ 
ing fine plants with leaves right down to the pots. 
The water supply must not be stinted, however, for a 
single act of neglect in this direction will mean the 
loss of a great part of the lower leaves. 
Tuberous Begonias for Baskets. — When 
plants with suitable habit are chosen tuberous 
Begonias will furnish some very showy baskets. It 
is necessary to pick out such plants the year pre¬ 
viously, and mark them. If these selected basket 
plants have been started in pots or boxes with the 
rest, they may be transferred to the baskets without 
delay. Each shoot should be brought gradually 
down to the wires by a light ligature. Too much 
pressure must not be put on at once, of course. All 
that is needed is a slight coercion to be increased by 
degrees. 
Pot plants that are just showing for flower will not 
want support just yet, if they are of good habit 
naturally and have not been forced too hard. Keep 
all carefully shaded from the sun rays, for burning 
of the leaves will now be in order unless care is 
taken to prevent it. 
General Work. —Than the pricking out of seed¬ 
lings there is no more pressing job than this at the 
present time, for every day is of importance if the 
young plants are to be prevented from becoming 
drawn. Celosias and Cockscombs must be potted 
off as soon as they are about an inch and a half in 
height. Thumb pots will be quite large enough. 
Keep a sharp look out for greenfly among herbaceous 
Calceolarias, and show and regal Pelargoniums. A 
light fumigation may be given about every ten days, 
rather as prevention than cure.— A. S. G. 
-- 
©leanings ftnimfl^ Khidt) 
of Science 
Royal Stats Cloaks.—At the meeting of the Lin- 
nean Society of London on April 1st Mr. Miller 
Christy exhibited three royal state cloaks formerly 
worn by the Kings of the Hawaiian Islands, and 
made of the feathers of four species of birds, of which 
the exhibitor gave an account, referring to the 
coloured figures of them given in Mr. Scott Wilson’s 
' Birds of Hawaii,’ namely, Vestiaria coccinea (red) 
Psittacirostra psittacea (green) Acrulocercus nobilis 
and Drepanis pacifica (black and yellow). The last- 
named, of which no specimen is to be found in the 
National Collection, was believed to be now extinct. 
Evolution of Cyclamen latifolium.—At the 
same meeting as the above Mr. W. T. Thiselton- 
Dyer exhibited (i) A series of drawings (on the 
screen) to illustrate the “ Cultural evolution of 
Cyclamen latifolium, Sibth.” The species is a native 
of Greece and the Levant.and is believed to have been 
first introduced into European cultivation in 1731. 
In 1768 Miller described a form modified by cultiva¬ 
tion under the name of Cyclamen persicum. This was 
erroneous, as according to Boissier neither the wild 
nor the garden form occur in Persia. The latter 
persisted in cultivation for about 150 years, and 
about i860 became the starting-point of the modern 
races which were illustrated. Cyclamen latifolium 
has never been hybridised, and it was shown that the 
striking forms now in cultivation were the result of 
the patient accumulation of gradual variations. 
Drawings of the remarkable forms “ Papilio,” 
obtained by de Langhe-Vervaene, and of "The 
Bush-Hill Pioneer,” by Messrs. Hugh Low & Co. 
were shown. It was pointed out that the tendency 
of the species under cultivation was to lose its dis¬ 
tinctive generic characters, and to approximate to a 
more generalised type. The reflexion of the corolla- 
segments was often lost as in Lysimachia, the seg¬ 
ments were sometimes multiplied as in Trientalis, 
and the margins were fringed as in Soldanella and 
cultivated forms of Primula sinensis. “The Bush-Hill 
pioneer” possessed, in the cresting of the petals, a 
remarkable character without parallel in any primu- 
laceous plant occurring in a wild state. 
Garden Cineraria:—(ii) A series of plants was 
exhibited to illustrate the origin of the garden 
“ Cineraria.” It was generally agreed that this had 
sprung from one or more species native of the 
Canaries. An extreme cultivated form was shown 
and compared with Senecio cruentus, which all inter¬ 
nal evidence indicated as the sole original stock. S. 
Herltieri, another reputed parent, was exhibited. 
But it was pointed out that this has a shrubby habit 
and stems markedly zigzag between the internodes, 
while the leaves are clothed beneath with a dense 
white tomentum. These characters it transmits 
more or less to its hybrid offspring. In illustration 
of this point Mr. Poe's hybrid (S. super-Heritieri by 
cruentus) was exhibited (a similar one has occurred 
at Edinburgh) ; also the Cambridge hybrid (S. super- 
cruentus by Heritieri). S. cruentus crosses very 
freely with the garden Cineraria, and as the latter 
never exhibits any trace of the characters of S. 
Heritieri, it was concluded that that species had no 
part in its origin, and that, as in the case of the 
Cyclamen, the striking development of S. cruentus 
in cultivation was due to the continued accumula¬ 
tion of gradual variations. 
