February  28,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
169 
Cypripedium  T.  W.  Bond,  Coundon  Court  Variety. 
This  strikingly  handsome  variety  of  Cypripedium  T.  W.  Bond  was 
exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  Feb.  12th  by  Mr.  J.  Collier,  gardener 
to  George  Singer,  Esq.,  Coundon  Court,  Coventry,  when  it  was 
recommended  an  award  of  merit  by  the  Orchid  Committee  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural  Society.  The  flower  is  of  the  noblest  proportions, 
and  was  immensely  admired  by  the  many  specialists  present  on 
the  occasion  indicated.  The  dorsal  sepal  has  a  white  margin,  the 
basal  colour  being  green,  almost  wholly* 
obscured  by  minute  brown-black  spots. 
The  lower  half  of  the  petals  is  greenish 
again  almost  obscured  by  spots;  the 
upper  half  is  rose  with  a  purple  suffusion. 
The  pouch  is  pale  claret.  The  type 
T.  W.  Bond  resulted  from  a  cross 
between  C.  Swanniauum  and  C.  hir- 
sutissimum. 
Seasonable  Notes. 
Those  who  have  no  Orchid  house 
proper,  but  who  grow  a  few  Orchids 
amongst  the  occupants  of  the  stove 
and  other  houses,  should  be  careful  to 
select  those  most  easily  managed  under 
such  conditions.  Dendrob  um  nobile 
and  other 
Dendro- 
b  i  u  m  s  are 
easily  grown 
where  plenty 
of  heat  is 
at  command, 
but  their 
growths 
must  be 
thoroughly 
ripened 
afterward  s, 
or  they  will 
not  long  re¬ 
main  in  good 
health.  As 
the  young 
growth  is 
often  ad¬ 
vanced  at 
the  time  of 
flowering  it 
is  not  wise 
to  subject 
them  to  Cypripedium 
room  treat-  §% 
ment  too 
♦ 
long.  Coelogyne  cristata  adapts  itself  to  the  above  conditions 
remarkably  well.  We  have  plants  that  have  been  in  the  drawing¬ 
room  for  three  weeks,  when  in  flower,  for  the  last  four  years  without 
any  apparent  harm.  During  its  season  of  growth  it  should  have 
frequent  supplies  of  liquid  manure,  and  fine  pseudo-bulbs  will  be  the 
result.  Zygopetalum  Mackayi  does  well  with  a  little  loam  added  to 
the  peat  and  sphagnum.  It  should  have  abundance  of  water  and 
feeding  in  preference  to  too  often  potting.  Cymbidium  Lowianum  is 
an  Orchid  that  everyone  with  a  house  that  can  be  kept  moderately 
warm  should  have.  Good  turfy  yellow  loam,  intermixed  with 
sphagnum  moss  and  a  few  broken  potsherds,  with  a  sprinkling  of 
silver  sand  and  liberal  treatment  in  the  matter  of  watering,  is  what 
this  plant  delights  iD.  Both  the  two  last  do  well  as  room  plants  if 
not  kept  in  them  too  long. — R.  E. 
under  a  new  name  was  apparent.  With  the  resources  that  Mr. 
Rolfe  has  at  his  command  there  is  no  room  for  doubt  that  the  plant 
exhibited  is  the  true  species  named  by  Blume  from  herbarium 
specimens,  and  (presumably)  identical  with  Bletia  tuheiculosa  of 
Sprengel. 
But  would  it  not  be  possible,  supposing  that  the  newcomer  has  the 
priority  in  nomenclature,  to  reduce  the  old  form  to  a  variety  of 
P.  tuberculosus  ?  It  is  different  in  habit,  of  course,  but  then  so  is 
Oncidium  tigrinum  and  0.  tigrinum  splendidum,  and  the  difference 
here  is  very  much  more  marked  than  with  the  Phaius  in  question.  It 
is  in  no  cavilling  spirit  that  I  write  this,  nor  in  any  way  deprecatory 
of  the  excellent  work  of  those  I  am  not  even  qualified  to  judge.  I  am 
writing  simply  as  one  interested  in  Orchids.  And  the  question,  as  I 
look  at  it  is — Is  there  sufficient  distinction  between  the  flowers  to 
warrant  the  renaming  of  the  old  species  as  we  know  it  as  distinct  and 
not  as  a  variety  ? 
The  difference  in  habit  may,  of  course,  have  been  brought  about 
by  local  conditions  of  climate  and  other 
surroundings.  A  few  centuries,  more  or  less, 
in  the  dense  forests  of  Madagascar  may  have 
induced  the  rhizome-like  pseudo-bulbs,  or 
evolved  them  from  the  type  plant  as  we  are 
now  to  look  upon  it.  But  all  this  is  mere 
conjecture,  though  it  points  to  the  fact  that 
the  distinction  between  species  and  varieties, 
and  species  and  natural  hybrids,  in  many 
cases  is  very  slight,  and  that  good  reason 
should  be  shown  for  giving  a  new  specific 
name  to  a  plant  as  near  like  P.  tuberculosus 
as  P.  simulans  (Rolfe)  undoubtedly  is. 
It  is  a  pity  that  these  beautiful  Orchids 
are  not  more  amenable  to  culture.  On  more 
than  one  occasion  I  have  seen  plants  that  at 
first  appear 
similar  in  all 
respects,  after 
growing  side 
by  side  for  a 
time  do  quite 
differently. 
One  will 
thrive  while 
its  neighbour 
will  gradu¬ 
ally  waste 
away  ;  yet 
/  they  both  re¬ 
ceive  exactly 
the  same 
treatment. 
The  most 
likely  place 
for  it  is  in  a 
warm  house, 
well  shaded, 
yet  not  far 
from  the 
light.  Some 
of  the  best 
T.  W.  Bond,  Coundon  Court  Variety.  plants  I  have 
seen  were 
grown  with 
Phalasnopsis,  and  allowed  ample  room  at  the  roots.  A  rough  and 
very  open  compost  is  suitable,  and  it  is  imperative  that  the  leaves  are 
kept  free  of  thrips,  its  worst  insect  enemy. 
Odontoglossum  Krameri  album. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  charming  of  small  habited  Odontoglossum3, 
and  fortunately  it  is  much  more  plentiful  now  than  formerly.  It  is  a 
true  albino,  having  lost  the  whole  of  the  purple  tint  as  seen  in  the 
type.  A  spike  with  about  three  flowers  upon  it  makes  a  pretty 
buttonhole.  Under  cultivation  it  will  be  found  to  do  best  in  rather 
small  but  well  drained  pans  with  a  thin  compost  consisting  of  equal 
parts  of  peat  fibre  and  moss.  An  intermediate  house  suits  it  better 
than  the  Odontoglossum  house,  and  it  should  be  suspended  near 
the  glass  and  not  too  heavily  shaded. — H.  R.  R. 
Phaius  tuberculosus. 
The  appearance  of  a  plant  of  what  our  botanists  consider  to  be  the 
true  Phaius  tuberculosus  at  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Royal  Horti¬ 
cultural  Society  was  something  of  a  surprise  to  orchidists  generally, 
and  though  not  doubting  for  a  moment  that  Mr.  Rolfe  before  deciding 
its  position  gave  the  matter  his  consideration  most  fully,  yet  a  feeling 
of  regret  that  we  have  henceforward  to  look  upon  our  old  friend 
Fruit — Preserved  but  Fresb. — A  process  known  as  Lawton's  has 
been  invented  for  the  preservation  of  fruit  in  a  sterilised  atmosphere, 
by  which,  at  or  before  maturity,  it  can  be  stored  without  suffering 
deterioration.  By  means  of  a  fan  air  is  forced  through  a  stove  containing 
red-hot  coke,  whereby  the  oxygen  is  consumed  and  the  germs  or 
animaloulse  are  destroyed.  The  gases  are  then  filtered  and  cooled. 
