THE GARDENING WORLD 
April 6, 1901. 
510 
variety had flowers of a lovely shade of shell pink, 
and would, no doubt, be darker if flowered in the 
open air. The broad, round and oval petals were 
emarginate at the apex, and toothed all round the 
edges, or even sharply serrated in the case of the 
shell-pink variety. All the varieties were perfectly 
smooth, the leaves, flower stalks, and calyxes, being 
perfectly glabrous, that is without hairs. In these 
respects they differ from the description given under 
Cerasus Pseudo-cerasus, in which the branches and 
peduncles are said to be pubescent; otherwise the 
plants agree with the descriptions given under the 
names Cerasus Pseudo-cerasus, C. serrulata, and 
Prunus paniculata. Ed.] 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned awards were made by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 26th ult.:— 
Orchid Committee. 
Odontoglossum crispum pdrpurascens. — It is 
marvellous to note how Nature, in this particular 
Species of Odontoglossum, by a little shifting of the 
kaleidoscope can produce such a variety of colours 
or more strictly so many different arrangements of 
the same thing. The variety exhibited under the 
above name by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, (grower, 
Mr. W. H. White), Burford, Dorking, had pre¬ 
viously received an Award of Merit, but the fine 
spike shown on this occasion was deemed worthy of 
a First-class Certificate. Over the white ground is 
a lilac-purple shading, on which is arranged many 
reddish purple blotches more or less run together in 
masses. The lip had a large blotch in front of the 
yellow disc and crest. 
Laelia jongheana Kromeri. —The flowers of 
this variety are moderate or average as to size, but 
they are beautifully formed, of excellent substance 
and the darkest in colour that has yet appeared 
amongst recent importations. The sepals and petals 
are deep rosy purple, and the lip also richly 
coloured. (Award of Merit.) Mr. Ed. Kromer, 
Roraima Nursery, Bandon Hill, Croydon. 
Odontoglossum crispum Sunshine. —There are 
some who doubt the possibility of a yellow form 
being a true O. crispum; but the variety under 
notice has little to show beyond colour of any other 
parentage. The flowers are large with more or less 
deeply cut segments, somewhat tinted with purple 
on the back. The lip has a large brownish-purple 
blotch in front of the crest. (Award of Merit.) 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Floral Committee. 
Pr;mula megaseaefolia. — This is a beautiful 
Primula of dwarf habit with a truss of large flowers 
of that shade of rose-purple seen in P. Poissoni, but 
not in whorls as in that species. The leaves are 
roundly cordate, of a dull metallic green and about 
in. in diameter. It is a native of Asia Minor, and 
in all probability will require to be grown in frames 
at least in winter. (Award of Merit.) Miss Willmott, 
Warley Lodge, Brentwood. 
Haemanthus mirabilis. —The ovate, stalked, 
nearly upright leaves of this species, from the 
Belgian Congo, are produced contemporaneously 
with the flowers to the great advantage of the latter. 
The segments of the flowers are elliptic-lanceolate, 
and of a rich orange scarlet. (Award of Merit.) 
M. Linden, Parc Leopold, Brussels. 
Haemanthus fascinator. —This form produces a 
massive head of salmon-red flowers, the long, narrow 
or linear segments and the tube being of the same 
colour. The pedicels are red. The leaves are in all 
respects similar to those of H. mirabilis. (First- 
class Certificate.) M. LindeD, Brussels. 
Haemanthus Queen Alexandra.— The flowers 
of this form, which we should regard as a colour 
variety, have rather narrower segments than those of 
H. mirabilis, of a soft salmon-pink, and therefore 
strikingly distinct by comparison with either of the 
above. (Award of Merit.) M. Linden, Brussels. 
Lachenalia Phylis Paul.— The hybridist has 
evidently been at work crossing in order to procure 
new forms. The flowers of this form are the largest 
we have seen in the genus, L. pendula not excepted. 
The flowers are golden-yellow with a narrow red 
edge to the long inner segments. The leaves are 
spotted with purple. (Award of Merit.) F. W. 
Moore, Esq. Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 
Lachenalia Kathleen Paul.— Here again the 
flowers are of the largest size and very handsome, 
especially the half developed flowers which are of a 
bright red, later on changing to yellow with a broad 
purple margin to the inner segments. The leaves 
are spotted with purple. (Award of Merit.) F. W. 
Moore, Esq. 
Rhododendron grande.— This may be described 
as one of the most handsome of the Himalayan 
Rhododendrons, producing immense terminal trusses 
of large, bell-shaped white flowers, having purple 
blotches internally. The large oblong leaves are 
silvery beneath, hence the species is sometimes 
named R argenteum. (First-class Certificate.) 
F. D. Godman, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Mcody), South 
Lodge, Horsham. 
Hippeastrum Clovelly. —The flowers in this 
instance are of fairly average size, but of handsome, 
well expanded form, and white with red lines on 
three of the upper segments. (Award of Merit.) 
Captain Holford (gardener, Mr. A. Chapman), 
Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucester. 
Hippeastrum Lord Boringdon.— The flowers in 
this instance are rather larger than those of the last, 
and of an intense crimson colour, deeping at places 
in the throat to maroon. (Award of Merit). Cap¬ 
tain Holford. 
Tulipa Korolkowi bicolor —Of the smaller 
Tulips we regard this one as a gem of the first water. 
The whole plant is only about 4 in. to 6 in. high, 
bearing a solitary, terminal flower rather wider than 
that of T. Clusii, but shorter in proportion. The 
segments are bright yellow with a large red central 
and basal area, the colour being shown on both sur¬ 
faces, and therefore very showy, whether closed in 
the absence of sunshine or open under it. (Award 
of Merit.) Messrs. R. Wallace & Co., Kilnfield 
Gardens, Colchester. 
0D0NT0GL0SSUMS. 
Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kuntb, gave the name to 
this genus of Orchids. About the beginning of last 
century the first species of Odontoglossum was dis¬ 
covered by an illustrious German geographer or 
explorer, near by Jaen, in Peru. Since that time 
there have been many introductions of new species. 
If we do not know much of the species described by 
Humboldt under the name of Odontoglossum 
epidendroides, we have yet over eighty species and 
many varieties all of greater or less beauty. They 
are all natives of mountain regions, mostly of the 
mountains of tropical America, between the latitudes 
20 0 N. and I5 P S., at various altitudes, but always 
high, and attaining in some parts of Central America 
to 7,000 ft. and 8,000 ft. In the Sierra Madre raDge 
of mountains on the west coast of America between 
the 20th and 24th degree north latitude, and nearby 
the little Mexican town of Colima, we find the 
northern limit of stations at which Odontoglossums 
are found. It was here that B Roezl, in 1872, dis¬ 
covered Odontoglossun madrense, Rchb. (O. 
maxillare, Lindl ). Another Odontoglossum, to wit, 
O. citrosmum, whose aspect differs so much from all 
other species; also grows near by Colima, but at a 
much higher altitude. Like many other Orchids the 
Odontoglossums are dispersed over a limited area. 
Each species adopts a particular site where the con¬ 
ditions are favourable to its existence. Not many 
Odontoglossums are found on the plains; but chiefly 
between the altitudes of 5.000 tt. and 9,000 ft., where 
the air is constantly changing, the latter being a 
necessary factor to their existence. O. densiflorum, 
Lindl. grows at very high altitudes indeed—11,000ft, 
and 12,000 ft. Growing on these high mountains at 
such short distance from the Pacific Ocean and 
the Gulf of Mexico, they are bathed in a humid 
atmosphere maintained thus by the vapours which 
condense on the mountain crests. Like all other 
Orchidces ipidendrt-s, that is to say, those that in their 
natural habitat suspend themselves on the branches 
of trees, Odontoglossums derive a great deal of their 
nourishment from the air, and an abundant and 
constant circulation of air is an essential of their 
existence. The application of this principle by our 
horticulturists, results in their obtaining luxuriant 
and well flowered plants, while the Odontoglossums 
that are grown in a humid, warm, stuffy atmosphere 
rarely flower well. 
In the front rank of Orchids with brilliant flowers 
for a cool greenhouse is O. Rossii, Lindl., discovered 
by Barker in 1841. O. R. majus and O. R.rubescens 
are also fine varieties of this species. O. grande, 
discovered in the ravines of the mountains of Guate¬ 
mala in 1839, is one of the finest even at the present 
day. O. Uro-Skinneri, O. Pescatorei, O. crispum, 
O. c. apiaturo, O. c. fastuosum, and a dozen of other 
varieties of the latter, may be taken as amongst the 
best known, and most worthy to be grown at the 
present time. 
- »■— 1 - 
MYOSOTIS ALPESTRIS VICTORIA. 
Whether for bedding purposes or for planting on 
the rockery, few if any plants are prettier in their 
way than Myosotis alpestris in some of the numer¬ 
ous varieties in which it is now obtainable. That 
named M. a. Victoria is of remarkably dwarf habit 
when grown in an open situation, where it should be, 
to insure a dwarf sturdy habit with relatively large, 
bright azure-blue flowers. Another peculiarity of 
this variety is that it develops a flower in the centre 
of each cluster, having a greater number of segments 
than usual, and appearing at times to consist of two 
flowers grown together, and at other times to be 
double, as shown in the accompanying illustration 
put at our disposal by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Ltd., Chelsea. Tbis shows the habit of the plant 
admirably when seedlings have been planted out 
singly or thinned out so that each stands a few inches 
apart from its neighbour. When plants are desired 
for spring bedding seeds may be sown in lines in the 
reserve garden and planted out in autumn, when the 
beds are put in order for the winter. Crowding 
should not be tolerated, as that destroys the vigour 
of the seedlings and their sturdy, compact habit. The 
seeds should therefore be sown thinly, and the seed¬ 
lings thinned out if necessary after they have made a 
Myosotis alpestris Victoria. 
