February  16,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
123 
number  of  Orchids,  in  which  OdontoglossumB  and  Cattleyas  were  most 
prominent.  There  were  also  Cymbidium  eburneum  and  Lycaste  Skinneri 
Enchantress.  Small  exhibits  of  Orchids  were  in  abundance,  and 
included  plants  from  Messrs.  H.  J.  Elwes,  G.  Moore,  W.  H.  Youne, 
de  Barri  Crawshay,  Fisher,  Son,  &"Sibray,  r.  Sander  &  Co.,  and  E. 
Ashworth,  with  Sir  W.  J.  Denton  and  others. 
Awards. — Fruit  Committee  :  Gold  medal  to  Messrs.  G.  Bunyard  &  Co., 
and  silver  Knightian  medals  to  Mr.  G.  Wythes  and  to  Messrs.  ,T.  Cheal  and 
Son.  Floral  Committee  :  silver-gilt  Flora  medal  to  Messrs.  W.  Paul  &  Son  : 
silver  Flora  medal  to  Messrs.  H.  Cannell  &  Sons  ;  silver-gilt  Banksian 
medals  to  Messrs.  Hill  &  Son  and  J,  May.  and  silver  Banksian  medals  to 
Messrs.  H.  B.  May,  J.  Veitch  k.  Sons,  Ltd.,  and  Collins  Bros.&  Gabriel. 
Certificates  and  Awards  op  Merit. 
Apple  Sanspareil  (G.  Bunyard  &  Co.). — A  handsome  Apple  rather  over 
medium  size.  It  ig  decidedly  conical,  narrowing  towards  the  apex.  The 
sides  indistinct  angles,  becoming  more  pronounced  at  the  crown.  The 
very  small  eye  is  deeply  set  in  a  narrow  basin.  The  stalk  is  about  half 
an  inch  long,  and  is  set  in  a  funnel-shaped  cavity,  which  is  lined  with  rus¬ 
set.  The  colour  is  a  uniform  clear  yellow,  flushed  and  splashed  with  red 
on  the  side  next  the  sun  (first-class  certificate). 
Cattleya  Triance  Amy  Wigan  (W.  H.  Young). — A  lovely  variety.  The 
sepals  and  petals  are  deep  purple  rose  with  a  flush  of  crimson  on  the 
sepals.  The  fimbriated  lip  is  deep  crimson  with  a  suffusion  of  purple 
(first-class  certificate). 
Cypripedium  Orion  (J.  Veitch  &  Sons). — A  chastely  beautiful  hybrid 
from  C.  coneolor  and  C.  insigne.  The  ground  colour  is  cream  throughout, 
deeper  in  the  dorsal  sepal,  and  flushed  with  rose  in  the  petals.  The  spots 
oyer  all  are  crimson,  but  larger  on  the  dorsal  sepal  and  minute  on  the 
pouch  (award  of  merit). 
Hippeastrum  Sir  William  (Royal  Gardens,  Kew). — A  superb  variety, 
with  large  rich  deep  crimson  flowers  (award  of  merit). 
LcBlio-Cattleya  warnhamensis  Hypatia  (Charlesworth.  &  Co.). — This  is 
very  handsome.  The  rich  orange  of  the  sepals  and  petals,  and  the 
crimson  maroon  of  the  lip  is  most  intense  (award  of  merit). 
Masdevallia  falcata  (W.  H.  White). — A  fairly  well-known  form  with 
orange  coloured  flowers,  darker  towards  the  margins  (award  of  merit). 
Narcissus  Trimon  (Barr  &  Sons). — A  small  flowered  variety  after  the 
style  of  monophyllus.  The  colour  is  pale  cream  (award  of  merit). 
Phaio~Calanih.e  Niohe  (J.  Veitch  &  Sons). — This  bigtneric  hybrid 
results  from  a  cross  between  Phaius  grandifolius  and  Calanthe  gigas,  and 
partakes  of  the  character  of  both,  hut  mainly  perhaps  of  the  former.  The 
sepals  and  petals  are  rose,  as  is  the  outer  portion  of  the  lip  ;  the  throat 
is  primrose  (award  of  merit). 
Fhalcenopsis  Jilrs.  Jas.  H.  Veilcli  (J.  Veitch  &  Sons). — This  hybrid 
resulted  from  a  cross  between  P.  Luddemanniana  and  P.  Sanderiana.  The 
sepals  and  petals  are  yellow  with  a  tinge  of  green  and  numerous  crimson 
brown  spots.  The  lip  is  white  on  the  front  lobe  with  yellow  in  the 
throat,  and  crimson  markings  (award  of  merit). 
Jthuharh  Ihe  Sutton  (M.  Butler). — A  fine  variety  with  long  stems  of 
good  thickness,  and  excellent  colour  (award  of  merit).  % 
STAPELIA  PATULA. 
The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek  why  the  members  of  this  large  and 
strange  genus  are  so  little  cultivated  by  general  collectors  of  plants. 
Known  for  a  good  reason  as  Carrion  Flowers,  the  characteristic  foetid 
smell  of  the  flowers,  large  and  even  handsome  as  some  of  them  are,  is 
not  agreeable,  to  say  the  least,  to  many  persons.  The  plants  are  inter¬ 
esting  and  remarkable  from  several  points  of  view,  and  deserve  greater 
attention  from  the  hands  of  those  not  too  fastidious  in  scents.  Belonging 
to  a  strange  order  Asclepiadaceae,  which  includes  the  curious  Dischidia 
Rafflesiana,  the  Asclepias,  and  others,  they  are  far  from  the  least  curious 
of  these  anomalous  species. 
There  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  though  the  Stapelias  have  a 
considerable  range  in  South  Africa,  they  are  gradually  dying  out.  The 
natives  eat  them  as  food,  and  the  introduced  ruminants  as  sheep  and 
goats,  which  are  being  bred  in  increased  numbers,  also  feed  off  them. 
These  causes  have  led  to  their  proximate  extermination  near  towns,  and 
as  the  country  becomes  settled  the  same  causes  will  act  more  largely'. 
The  seed  being  set  exclusively  by  the  agency  of  insects,  any  disturbance 
in  the  balance  of  Nature  is  likely  to  affect  them  prejudicially.  But, 
apart  from  such  eventualities,  the  curious  succulent  leafless  stems,  the 
flowers,  with  their  curious  and  diverse  coronal  appendages,  the  hairs 
frequently  found  upon  the  disk  and  margins  of  the  corolla,  the  marblings 
and  generally  lurid  colouring  of  the  same  organ,  separate  them  from  the 
general  run  of  succulent  plants.  There  are  no  diflSculties  in  growing 
them,  either  from  seed  or  cuttings.  A  well-drained  compost  of  sandy 
loam  with  broken- up  brick  rubbish  suit  them.  The  seeds  are  singularly 
retentive  of  life,  and  germinate  in  from  one  to  three  days,  retaining  their 
vitality  (many  of  them)  for  eight  or  ten  years.  If  the  plants  are  kept 
dry  in  the  winter  a  short  snap  of  frost  is  not  harmful,  and  by  placing 
them  near  the  glass  in  the  full  sunshine  they  may  be  grown  without 
artificial  heat. 
About  sixty  species  are  now  included  in  the  genus  of  Stapelia,  though 
Mr.  N.  E.  Brown,  who  has  given  much  attention  to  South  Afrian  plants, 
is  of  opinion  that  these  are,  many  of  them,  only  local  forms  or  strains,  or 
natural  hybrids,  and  possibly  only  of  an  evanescent  nature.  Many  of  the 
so-called  species  are  so  connected  by  intermediate  forms,  blendings,  and 
interminglings  of  characters,  that  the  classification  is  attended  with 
unusual  diflficulties,  and  this  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  the  few  botanists 
who  have  given  attention  to  the  genus  vary  so  much  in  the  species 
included.  Only  five  were  known  to  Linnasus,  who  gave  the  generic  namo 
after  an  Amsterdam  physician.  Masson,  who  was  a  collector  for  the  then 
royal  collection  at  Kew,  published  in  1796  drawings  of  forty-one  species. 
Fig.  25. — Stapelia  patula. 
Jacquin  in  1806,  and  Haworth  in  1812,  added  more  new  species.  About 
the  same  time  the  botanist  Robert  Brown  broke  up  the  genus  into  four, 
but  later  botanists  as  Decaisne,  Bentham,  and  Hooker  have  brought  most 
of  them  back  into  the  genus  Stapelia. 
Stapelia  patula  (fig.  25)  was  named  in  1809  by  Wildenow.  Three 
vicinities  in  South  Africa  within  forty  miles  of  each  other  in  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood  of  Mitchell’s  Pass  are  given  as  its  habitat.  Like  so  many  of 
the  Stapelias  it  is  subject  to  considerable  variations,  and  these  run  into- 
by  close  gradations,  forms  described  under  other  specific  names,  that 
Mr.  Brown  finds  it  impossible  to  give  a  set  of  characters  which  shall 
specifically  separate  them.  S.  comato,  S.  unguipetala,  and  S.  depressa, 
according  to  this  botanist,  are  possibly  only  forms  of  S.  patu!a.  The 
flower  in  the  engraving,  sketched  when  the  divisions  of  the  corolla 
had  become  refiexed,  does  not  give  the  stellate  appearance  characteristic 
of  the  earlier  stage.  The  mass  of  hairs  thrown  off  by  the  margins  ai  d 
reflexed,  are  a  dull  pink  in  colour,  the  surface  of  the  corolla  is  marbb  d 
in  fleshy  purples. 
