April  6,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
269 
Odontoglossum  cetspum  Duke  op  York. 
On  page  232,  of  our  issue  for  March  23rd,  we  gave  an  illustration 
of  0.  c.  Sultan,  as  being  ona  of  the  finest  sliown  at  the  Drill  Hall  on 
March  14th,  and  we  now  present  (fig.  65)  to  our  readers  0.  c.  Duke 
of  York,  which,  though  entirely  different  in  character  from  Sultan,  is 
nevertheless  superb.  As  the  woodcut  clearly  conveys  to  the  observer, 
the  flowers  are  of  good  shape  and  considerable  substance.  The  very 
broad  petals,  with  their  slightly  wavy  margins,  are  white,  delicately 
flushed,  and  with  bright  red  spots  of  varying  sizes  distributed  over 
the  whole  surface.  The  narrower  sepals  are  very  similar  in  colour. 
The  splendid  lip  has  a  large  patch  of  red  within  the  white  fimbriated 
margin.  The  exhibitor  was  Mr.  W.  Stevens,  gardener  to  W.  Thomp¬ 
son,  Esq.,  Walton  Grange,  Stone,  Staffs,  and  a  first-class  certificate 
was  recommended  by  the  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society. 
Calanthe  Williamsi. 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  we  need  the  deciduous  Calanthes  ns 
late  in  the  season  as  March,  when  many  fine  Orchids  are  to  be  had  in 
plenty.  The  fine  group  recently  arranged  at  the  Drill  Hall,  howevt-r, 
showed  their  charm,  and  the  species  named  above  is  equally  beautiful. 
It  has  nearly  pure  white  sepals  and  petals,  wiih  a  crimson  lip,  and  in 
strict  botanical  parlance  is  a  variety  of  C.  Rcgnieri,  from  which  it 
differs  only  in  colour.  The  plant  is  very  useful  if  a  late  display  is 
needed,  and  it  may  be  grown  under  the  same  conditions  as  C.  vestita. 
Odontoglossum  nebulosum. 
This  species  has  been  unusually  fine  I  think  during  the  present 
season,  and  I  have  noted  freer-flowered  plants  and  better  form  than 
I  remember  seeing  before.  It  is  a  plant  that  does  not  get  the 
attention  its  merits  entitle  it  to,  for  it  has  a  very  distinct  appearance, 
and  is  easily  grown.  In  the  type,  which  is  far  prettier  than  any  of 
the  varieties,  the  flowers  are  pure  white  on  the  sepals  and  petals, 
except  at  their  base,  where  they  are  spotted  with  brown.  Being  a 
native  of  Mexico,  and  found  at  considerable  altitude,  the  shady  cool 
house,  such  as  most  Odontoglots  like,  is  hardly  to  its  taste.  It  can 
hardly  be  kept  too  cool,  but  it  likes  in  addition  ample  light . 
Cypripedium  Sallieri  IIyeanum. 
I  recently  noted  a  fine  form  cf  this  variety  flowering  from  an 
importation  of  C.  insigne  in  one  of  our  largest  London  nurseries.  1 
was  rather  glad  to  have  further  proof  that  this  is  a  natural  hybrid,  for 
possibly  some  of  our  readers  may  remember  the  very  oracular 
criticism  in  the  “Orchid  Review  of  my  notes  on  the  subject  in  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture  some  two  years  ago.  Possibly  the  criticism 
was  “a  feeler,”  for  most  of  the  ])eople  who  hold  such  strong  and 
certain  views  on  these  botanical  questions  are  not  above  getting  a 
hint  from  practical  growers,  who  usually  find  out  the  truth  of  what 
they  are  writing  before  committing  themselves. 
But  be  this  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  doubt— indeed,  there  was 
none  before — that  this  Cypripedium  occurs  in  a  wild  state.  It  is 
rather  quaint  to  read  that  because  C.  insigne  and  C.  villosum  grow 
and  are  collected  many  miles  apart,  that  therefore  the  possibility  of  a 
hybrid  between  them  occurring  is  remote.  Who  that  has  handled  a 
number  of  C.  insigne  has  not  noticed  m  many  cases  the  villosum  petals, 
with  their  lines  of  deeper  colour  on  one  side  ?  I  may  say  that  in 
quite  a  number  of  cases  it  would  be  difficult  indeed  to  say  what  the 
flower  was,  provided  the  upper  sepal  was  taken  off  and  only  the  lip 
and  petals  lelt.  Thgy  are  certainly  more  like  villosum  than  insigne. 
This  question  is  something  on  a  par  with  that  as  to  whether  or  not 
Orchids  change  from  year  to  year.  Despite  continued  and  well- 
authenticated  evidence  that  they  do,  some  authorities  still  hold  that 
they  do  not,  so  presumably  it  is  useless  to  try  and  persuade  or  convince 
them  of  the  truth  of  what  is  so  frequently  noticed  in  our  large 
nurseries.  Personally,  I  had  a  very  convincing  experience  many 
years  ago,  when  I  purchased  at  a  rather  high  price  a  fine  variety  of 
C.  villosum  aureum,  propagated  it,  and  found  the  next  time  it  bloomed 
that  it  had  degenerated  so  much  that  I  could  not  sell  it  as  that 
variety. 
Again,  a  fine  variety  of  Odontoglossum  Pescatorei  flowered  with 
me  a  few  years  since.  The  spike  was  cut  and  the  plant  very  careiully 
grown  in  order  to  get  all  the  strength  possible  into  it.  I  got  strength 
and  a  great  branching  spike  with  dozens  of  flowers  upon  it ;  still  a 
good  form,  but  nothing  approaching  to  what  it  was  originally.  These 
are  exceptional  cases,  but  many  instances  of  slighter  alterations  or 
deviations  might  be  given,  such  as  the  habit  of  the  labiata  Cattleyas  to 
throw  highly  coloured  forms  one  year,  and  the  next  to  pale  off 
considerably  though  grown  under  precisely  similar  conditions. — 
H.  R.  R. 
L.t;lio-Cattleya  elegans. 
The  earliest  flowering  plants  of  this  beautiful  family  will  be  fast 
pushing  their  flow’er  spikes,  and  should  a  moderate  (luantity  be  grown, 
they  will  make  a  charming  display.  The  parentage  has  been  settled, 
and  the  plants  that  have  been  raised  in  this  country  prove  that  iMr. 
Rolfe  was  correct  when  he  asserted  that  L.-C.  elegans  Schilleriana  w’as 
the  result  of  a  cross  between  Laelia  purpurataand  Cattlcya  intermedia, 
and  I  think  we  can  take  it  for  granted  that  all  the  white  varieties  are 
the  result  of  this  cross ;  and  the  very  dark  forms  arc  the  result  of 
L.  purpurata  crossed  Cattleya  guttata,  and  its  variety  Leopoldi. 
One  often  finds  plants  rot  growing  satisfactorily,  which  is  frequently 
caused  by  their  having  been  grown  too  cool,  as  I  find  it  progresses 
with  the  same  treatment  as  Cattleya  gigan,  and  if  a  plant  were  late  in 
making  its  growth  I  should  not  hesitate  to  place  it  in  the  hottest 
house,  of  course  removing  it  again  as  soon  as  the  growths  were  corn- 
pletid.  The  plants  delight  in  abundance  of  moisture  both  at  the  root 
Fig.  G5 — Odontoglcssum  crispum  Duke  of  Yottic. 
an!  in  the  atmosphere  while  in  actual  growth,  hut  should  never  bo 
syringed.  Damp  well  between  the  pots  or  pans  in  which  they  are 
growing,  twice  or  thrice  a  day,  according  ti  the  outside  conditions. 
The  compost  must  consist  of  the  best  fibrous  peat,  broken  in  rough 
lumps,  with  all  the  dust  shaken  out,  mi.ved  with  about  a  thiid  of  good 
live  sphagnum  moss,  and  a  few  pieces  of  clean  crocks  to  keep  the 
whole  open.  The  jilants  as  well  as  the  pots  or  pans  in  which  tl.ey  aiu 
growing  must  be  kept  scrupulously  clean,  as  they  are  subject  to  the 
attacks  of  w'hite  scale  and  other  insects,  and  a  dirty  pdant  cannot 
thrive. 
Berhaps  no  plant  shows  much  more  variety  in  colour  than  this. 
From  the  ptearly  white  sepalled  and  petalled  L.-C.  elegans  Stclzneriana, 
to  the  amethyst  purple  L.-C.  e.  Turneri,  there  are  various  iptermeiliafo 
shades,  the  best  of  which  are  paerhnps  alba  and  Schilleriana.  Tins 
riant  was  first  found  by  rrau9ois  Devois  in  1847,  and  flowered  in 
Europe  the  following  year,  in  the  collection  of  ihe  late  M.  Ambrose 
Verschaffelt  of  Ghent;  since  then  small  imjvirtations  have  reached 
this  country  from  time  to  time.— J.  Barker,  Ilessle. 
PiNUS  RIGIDA. — In  regard  to  the  name  of  rlgida,  the  Rigid  Pine, 
given  tf>  this  species,  Mr.  C.  F.  Saunders,  describing  a  visit  in  winter 
to  the  Pine  Barrens  of  New  Jersey,  says  in  ‘-Meehan’s  Monthly” — 
“  In  the  white  light  of  a  January  dawn,  we  sally  forth  down  a  frozen 
road  of  sand  into  the  Pinos.  Covered  with  their  tufted  green  needles,  tho 
trees  stretch  away  on  every  hand  in  long  avenues  of  rcstfulneis,  with 
bushy  seedlings,  like  little  toddling  children,  clinging  about^  their  tcot. 
These  are  principally  Pitch  Pines — Pinus  rigida — literally  the  Rigid  Pine, 
How  well  named  rigid  one  sees  as  ho  notices  their  action  before  a  high 
wind.  Where  the  White  Pines  would  bend  gracefully  a  id  to.ss  their 
f  ranches  with  an  elastic  motion,  these  Rigid  Pinos  doggedly  jerk  back¬ 
ward  and  forward,  their  trunks  stiff  as  ramrods  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
as  graceless,  every  branch  tense  and  unyielding.  The  resi.stless  blast 
forc^es  them  aside  as  it  rushes  along,  but  it  cannot  make  them  bow. 
