stirring they had passed beyond the village confines; but the sun was high
when they reached the hills. These are, in fact, a range of low volcanoes,
all extinct now; the most ancient overgrown with trees and brushwood, the
most recent still bare. Towards this part the Cura led the way. They
passed through blinding gorges where no green thing found sustenance.
Cacti and yuccas and agaves, white with dust, clung to the naked tufa. So
they went on, mounting always, encouraged from time to time by some faint
trace of human passage, which their keen Indian eyes discerned. But from
the crest nothing could be seen save gorges such as they had traversed,
and long slopes of dazzling rock.
The quest began to look hopeless, but they persevered. And presently Pablo
noted something on the ground, at a distance, beside a clump of Opuntia.
It was a bunch of withered flowers. Approaching they saw a cleft in the
ridge of tufa masked by that straggling cactus. They passed through--and
the idols stood before them! The Cura fell on his knees.
It was a small plateau, as white and as naked as the rest. In the midst
stood three cairns, each bearing large stone figures, painted red and blue
and yellow. Before each cairn was an altar, built of unhewn stones topped
by a slab.
The scene was impressive. Pablo recalled his prayers in looking on it. The
white and glittering dust lay even as a floor around those heaps of stone.
All was still, but the painted statues seemed to tremble and flicker in
that awful heat. Tiny whirls of sand arose, and danced, and scattered,
though never a breath of wind moved the burning air. The shadow of a
vulture sailing passed slowly from side to side.
The Cura ended his prayer, leapt up and rushed--his old black gown
streaming like wings. He grasped the foremost idol and pushed and pulled
with all his might--he might as well have tried to overthrow the rock
itself. Another and another he attempted; all in vain. He paused at
length, mopping his drenched face, disheartened but still resolved. Then
he took stones and battered the features.
Pablo was scarcely disappointed. So soon as they entered that barren
tract, he knew that the Flor de San Lorenzo could not live there.
Approaching he scrutinised the altars. Heaps of ashes and charred wood lay
upon them, beneath leaves and fruits and flowers, unburnt but shrivelled
and crackling in the sunshine. Carefully Pablo turned these over. On the
largest slab were found bones and dry pools of blood.
I have not room to follow the story in detail. Next day they started for
Orizaba, the priest carrying a passionate recital of these discoveries to
the Bishop. What came of it I do not know. Pablo returned forthwith, in
pressing haste, accompanied by two soldiers. With these he called on the
Cacique and charged him with human sacrifice. For a while the Indian could
not speak; then he vehemently denied the accusation. The conference was
long; in the end, Pablo admitted his innocence of the graver charge, but
the acts of paganry could not be disputed. He agreed to say no more about
them, however, on condition that the accursed flower should be surrendered
and destroyed in his presence. By evening it was brought. But he changed
his mind about destroying it just then. As has been said, this was the
pride of M. Kienast-Zolly's collection for many years; then it passed, the
half of it, to Baron Schroeder, and a quarter to Mr. Wilson. Shortly
afterwards Mr. Measures secured the latter fragment.
The description of the sacred place certainly does not apply to an Indian
temple. The cairns were graves of ancient heroes doubtless, and the
figures portrait-statues, such as I myself have seen in abundance to the
southward. The Indians made this desert spot a temple perhaps, and treated
the statues as idols, when their places of worship were destroyed.
THE CYPRIPEDIUM HOUSE
Perhaps our collection is most famed for its Cypripeds. During twenty
years and more the owner has been securing remarkable hybrids and
varieties--labouring on his own account also to produce them. But the
pretty house which lodges these accumulated treasures is not more than 48
feet long and 17 wide. No room here for vulgar beauties; only the best and
rarest can find admission. There are, to be precise, 980 plants upon the
stages, 169 hanging from the roof. They are close packed certainly, but a
glance at the vivid foliage satisfies even the uninitiated that they have
space enough. Orchids generally are the most accommodating of plants--the
best tempered and the strongest in constitution; and among orchids none
equal the Cypripeds in both respects. It is pleasant to fancy that they
feel gratitude for our protection. Darwin convinced himself that the whole
family is doomed. In construction and anatomy it preserves 'the record of
a former and more simple state of the great orchidaceous family,' now
outgrown. Such survivals are profoundly interesting to us, but Nature does
not regard them kindly. They betray her secrets. All the surrounding
conditions have changed while the Cypriped clings to its antique model--at
least, it has not changed in proportion. Few insects remain, apparently,
adapted to fertilise it and it cannot fertilise itself. In the struggle
for existence, therefore, it is terribly handicapped. Man comes to the
rescue, and no class of orchid accepts his intervention so readily.
It is a pretty house, as I have said. Experienced gardeners have a deep
distrust of pretty houses. Picturesque effect and good culture can seldom
be reconciled; the conditions needed for the one are generally fatal to
the other. But here we have a pleasing exception. All is green and
fresh--no brickwork, nor shelves, nor pipes, nor 'tombstone' labels
obtrude upon the view. The back wall is draped with ferns and creepers,
orchids peeping through here and there. A broad stand down the middle,
accommodating five rows of Cypripediums on either side, has all its
substructures masked with tufa, which bears a mantle of green. The side
stands, each accommodating seven rows of pots, are equally clothed in
verdure, moss and fern. At the end, through a glass partition open in the
centre, is a fountain, with similar stands all round it. And--an essential
point, whereby we understand the glorious health of all these
plants--there is not one which the gardener cannot see perfectly as he
goes by, and reach without an effort, saving those overhead in the middle.
No chance of thrips flourishing unsuspected in this house, nor of slugs
following their horrid appetite from pot to pot unnoticed.
Since it is especially the number of rare 'garden mules' which have won us
renown, I ought perhaps to say a word in passing upon the matter of
hybridisation. But what can be said in a few lines? It is a theme for
articles and books, even in the hands of a smattering amateur like myself.
The public has no suspicion how far this novel manufacture has been
carried already. There is a hint in the tiny volume compiled by Mr. R. H.
Measures 'for private circulation,' showing the number of hybrids in the
genus Cypripedium of which he could hear. It contains more than eleven
hundred items. Of these we have upwards of eight hundred in our
collection. But it must be remembered, in the first place, that there is
no authoritative list as yet; each inquirer must get information as he
can. In the second place, that the number increases daily. Such a list
could be framed only by an international committee of botanists, for in
France and Belgium orchid-growers are as enthusiastic as our own; whilst
in Germany, Italy, Austria and the United States, if the workers be
comparatively few they are very busy.
It has often been suggested that an Orchid Farm would pay handsomely, if
established in some well-chosen district of the Tropics and intelligently
conducted. A gentleman resident in Oviedo, Florida, Mr. Theodore S. Mead,
has carried the notion into practice on a small scale with startling
results. I quote from the _Orchid Review_, June 1896:--
'I have built a small platform in the top of a live oak, about 45 feet
from the ground ... where I propose to try seeds of some thirty or forty
different orchid crosses, including pods from Vanda coerulea and Cattleya
citrina, which are thought difficult to manage under glass...'
In September 1897 we hear further:--
'The season has been a very trying one, and though my orchid-eyrie in the
live oak-top promised great success in June, it was very difficult to keep
the compost in good condition during the hot, muggy days of July. Still,
out of thirty-two crosses planted on a space of peat, 16 inches long by 12
broad, I obtained plants having first leaf of twenty-two of them--mostly
Cattleyas and Laelias;--though a good many died when it was necessary to
transplant them, on account of mould and algae threatening to swamp the
tiny plants. A single plant of Vanda coerulea x V. Amesiana appeared, and
is now showing its third leaf. This year I have repeated the cross Bletia
verecunda x Schomburgkia tibicinis and have several plants in their first
leaf; and also one of Bletia verecunda crossed with our native Calopogon
pulchellus...'
In March 1899:--'... My seed-planting was very successful after June in
polypodium fibre (fresh fern mats) in my tree-top eyrie, and from July
till October I averaged 500 little hybrids transplanted to pots every
month; about one-fourth still survive.... I had an ancient moss-grown
magnolia chopped down and cut into slabs, some thirty of which I planted
with orchid-seed and kept sprayed. The slabs coming from near the ground
scarcely germinated a seed, but those from 20 to 30 feet up yielded from 2
to 3 up to about 150. I also tried oak bark, but while the seeds started
promptly they were more subject to disease;... when transplanted to pots
nearly all died.
'_Note._--These magnolia slabs were placed in a green-house, not in the
"eyrie."'
It is hardly worth while to quote the list of seedlings obtained by Mr.
Mead through crossing plants of the same genus. But here are some
successes which, very few years ago, would have been declared flatly
impossible--as impossible as a fertile union betwixt cat and dog.
Cattleya amethystoglossa x Epidendrum O'Brienianum; a few plants alive.
Cattleya amethystoglossa x Epid. radicans; two plants alive.
Schomburgkia undulata x Epid. radicans; several plants.
Cattleya Bowringiana x Epid. cochleatum; several plants.
Epidendrum nocturnum x Epid. osmanthum and Epid. cucullatum, pollen mixed;
several plants.
Cattleya Bowringiana x Epid. osmanthum (Godseffianum); three plants.
Bletia verecunda x Schomburgkia tibicinis; several plants.
Bletia verecunda x Calopogon pulchellus; one or two plants.
Schomburgkia tibicinis x Laelia purpurata; one plant.
The discovery that fertile unions may be concerted between species, and
even genera, differing in all visible respects, gives profound interest to
the study of hybridisation in the scientific point of view. We have gone
so far already that classifications which appeared to be unquestionable
have been rudely upset. That Laelias and Cattleyas should combine is not
surprising, even though one come from North Mexico and the other from
South Brazil. But what shall we say when Epidendrums combine with
both?--with Sophronitis, Zygopetalum!--nay, with Oncidium!!--with
Dendrobium!!! Sobralia proves fertile with Cattleya; so does Sophronitis.
Spathoglottis has been crossed with Bletia and with Phajus. Zygopetalum
with Colax, with Oncidium, with Epidendrum, with Odontoglossum.
Schomburgkia with Laelia and Bletia. Combinations even more astonishing
are reported, but for those named there is responsible authority.
I cannot go into detail; these remarks are designed only to call attention
to the subject. Not all the bigeneric hybrids mentioned have flowered; and
at the present time we have learned enough to be aware that possibly one
parent will be ignored by the offspring--that a seedling of Epidendrum
crossed with Dendrobium, for example, will bloom a pure Epidendrum or a
pure Dendrobium of the species used; which in itself is sufficiently
strange. But seedlings have actually been produced in every case which I
have named. It is one of the fixed rules in biology that the offspring of
different species must be barren--otherwise the parents are not truly
species--and that different genera will not breed at all. But in most
instances which have been brought to the test as yet, hybrid orchids of
different species prove fertile, and some bigeneric crosses yield a
progeny at least. What follows? Evidently that the genera or the species
are not really distinct--in the cases given. Must we admit, then, that a
Dendrobium of the Himalayas (crystallinum) does not differ generically
from an Epidendrum of Mexico (radicans)?
This is not the place to argue it out; nor, in truth, would there be much
profit in arguing the question while the number of facts to be adduced is
still so small that error is not improbable. I hope I have made it clear
that the hybridisation of orchids is the most fascinating of botanic
studies at this time; which is all I have in view.
But professional 'growers' are not likely to help the cause of science
much--no blame to them either. They cannot afford to make experiments
which demand a great deal of time, and increasing attention, for years,
from the most highly-paid of their staff--too probably remaining a dead
loss after no small portion of a lifetime has been spent in bringing the
produce to flower. A man of business must make such crosses as are most
likely to pay in the shortest time--easy species, big, highly coloured.
Under the best conditions he must wait three to six years, perhaps ten, or
even more. Evidently the most valuable hybridisations in a scientific
point of view would be those least likely to succeed; all would be
doubtful, all would require a long term of years, and most would not
'sell' in the end probably. Such work is for amateurs.
I can mention only a few of the Cypripediums here which seem most notable,
and it will always remain dubious whether I have chosen the best examples.
_Bellatulum eximium._--The dorsal is small, low and spreading, white, with
carmine specks along the edges, large red-chocolate spots inside. Petals
closely depressed, mottled with carmine here and there at the edges, and
spotted like the dorsal. Lip insignificant--white with a few small dots.
_Olivia_ (tonsum x concolor).--Dorsal white above, changing to pink; base
greenish, slenderly feathered with carmine. Petals bowed, flushed with
pink, pink lined, dotted with carmine. Slipper pink, deepening to carmine
along the front, fading at the toe.
_M. Finet_ (callosum superbum x Godefroyae).--White with a faint rosy
blush. At the base of the dorsal is a greenish tinge, which reappears
somewhat stronger on the petals. There are a few specks of crimson on the
latter, and a few crimson markings at the top of the slipper.
_Gertrude Hollington_ (ciliolare x bellatulum).--A flower of remarkable
size. The dorsal is low but exceedingly broad; white, very strongly scored
with crimson. Upon the scores stand spots of maroon, and a crimson splash
follows the midrib. The great broad petals are white of ground, but
obscured at the base by a cloud of crimson-maroon, save the edges. Crimson
lines, carrying spots and specks of maroon, overrun the whole. Slipper
purplish crimson.
_Macropterum_ (Lowii x superbiens).--Dorsal green, darker below. Petals
long, curving downwards, greenish at base, heavily spotted; the ends
clouded with purple. Slipper large, tawny purple.
_Bellatulum album._--The pure white variety of this striking species, so
densely spotted in its normal form. It was discovered by Mr. R. Moore when
Assistant-Commissioner of the Shan States in 1893. The dorsal is very low,
spreading and depressed; the high-shouldered petals clasp the slipper
close all round, in such manner that their ends hang below its tip.
Grandly beautiful.
_Baconis_ (chlorops x Schlimii).--Very small, rosy. Sepals scored with a
brighter hue. They reverse half their length, showing the back of
brilliant rose. Slipper carmine.
_H. Ballantine_ (purpuratum x Fairieanum).--Dorsal rosy white, ribbed with
dark crimson branching lines. Petals greenish, lined, dotted, and edged
with coppery crimson. Slipper purple above, green below, handsomely lined
with crimson.
_Barbato-bellatulum._--Takes after the latter parent in shape, but all
purple; the white-edged dorsal lined and the petals finely spotted with a
darker tint.
_Mrs. E. Cohen_ (callosum x niveum).--All pinkish white, suffused with
crimson, lined with crimson and speckled with purple. Slipper
carmine-purple.
_Cardinale_ (Sedenii x Schlimii-albiflorum).--Takes its name from the
carmine slipper. White in general colour; the petals have a rosy base and
rosy tips.
_Chrysocomes_ (caudatum Warcewiczii x conchiferum).--Dorsal
greenish-yellow, edged with white. Its tip or crest is most extraordinary,
hanging forward like a tongue between high jaws curved and serrated. The
ochreous-greenish petals have an edging of crimson and an outer edging of
white, prettily frilled and gauffered. They twine and twist through a
length of ten or twelve inches, showing the crimson reverse.
_Claudii_ (Spicerianum x vernixium).--The dorsal is white above, with a
strong purple midrib, and a purple flush towards the edge; the base is
olive green. Petals olive green, shaded in a darker hue, and tipped with
purple. The slipper purple above, green below.
_Beeckmanii_ (Boxalli sup. x bellatulum).--The yellow-green dorsal is
broadly margined in its upper part with white, and marked profusely with
large crimson-brown spots. The petals are depressed, spreading like wings,
of madder-purple hue, lined and spotted, the lower margin greenish.
Slipper dark purple, with a greenish toe.
_Bellatulum egregium._--Doubtless a natural hybrid. The depressed dorsal
is pale green, spotted with pink in lines. Petals and slipper white above,
pale greenish below, with large pink spots all over. A most remarkable
variety.
_Brownii_ (leucorrhodum x longifl. magnificum).--The dorsal takes a very
singular form. Narrow and almost rectangular, it is sharply constricted
towards the top, then widens out again like the ace of spades. The colour
is white, touched with green and rose. Petals long, narrow, with an edging
of carmine, and outer edging of white; as they reverse towards the tip the
colour is all rose. Big broad slipper, rosy, prettily spotted with carmine
on the white lining.
_Antigone_ (Lawrenceanum x niveum).--The big dorsal sepal is pink with a
white border. Strong branching ribs of crimson spring from a base of vivid
green and form a network. The drooping petals show a deeper pink, with
similar lines and maroon specks; as does the slipper.
_H. Hannington_ (villosum x fascinator).--The great dorsal bears a purple
mauve cloud within its broad white margin, changing to dusky green at the
base and scored with branching lines of somewhat darker mauve. Petals and
lip greenish ochre, frilled and shining, lined with brown in dots.
_Hector_ (Leeanum var. x Sallierii var.)--Dorsal white with a
greenish-blue centre, traversed by dull brown lines. Petals yellow at the
base, set with a quantity of short, stiff black hairs; changing to
ochreous dun, the upper half bearing a dusky brownish network. Lip of the
same dusky hue.
_Myra_ (Chamberlainianum x Haynaldianum).--Tall, graceful in form as in
colouring. The long narrow dorsal is pale green, edged with white. At the
base is a patch of dusky chocolate and spots of the same tone run upward
in lines. The pale-green petals, narrow and rectangular, bear a few large
dun blotches outlined with chocolate; their tips reverse, showing a faint
mauve tint.
_Aphrodite superbum_ (niveum x Lawrenceanum).--The same parentage
reversed; as usual the produce is quite dissimilar. Its colour is white,
purple-tinged except the margin, overlaid with a crimson network of dots.
Another example from the same seed-pod has a palest pink network instead
of crimson, and tiny dots of maroon. It looks like the ghost of its
sister.
_Arnoldiae_ (bellatulum x superciliare).--Whitish, with bold spots of
crimson-brown arranged in lines upon the dorsal. Slipper purple-lake
above, greenish below.
_Arnoldianum_ (superbiens x concolor).--Dusky shining yellow, tinged at
the edges with crimson, spotted and lined with the same. A hybrid
remarkable for its shyness to flower.
_Cyanides_ (Swanianum x bellatulum).--A dusky flower, of green and purple
tones. The greenish dorsal is clouded at base, lined and spotted, with
purple. Petals the same, but the spotting is darker and more distinct.
Slipper clear purple.
_Callosum Sanderae._--A sport or natural hybrid of most singular beauty. I
remember the delighted amazement which possessed me when Mr. Sander
unlocked a door and showed this exquisite flower just opening--a treasure
hidden from all but the trustiest friends until it could be displayed at
the Temple Show in 1894. The great dorsal sepal is white above, tender
green in two shades below, with strong green lines ascending from the
base. The petals, much depressed, are bright green, lined with a darker
hue and tipped with white. The slipper yellowish-green.
It may be mentioned that the owner of this collection declined to accept
1000 guineas for his stock of callosum Sanderae three years after buying
the original plant.
_Aylingii_ (niveum x ciliolare).--Small, white ground. The dorsal and
petals alike are boldly striped with carmine-crimson. Slipper all white.
_Conco-Curtisii._--The triangular dorsal is bright green in the centre,
with a dark crimson cloud at the base and crimson lines. The broad
depressed petals are dark crimson, fading towards the tips, similarly
lined. Slipper green at the toe, crimson above.
_Conco-callosum._--The dorsal, almost a diamond in shape, is crimson, with
darker lines extending from a greenish base; petals greenish, margined,
lined and spotted with crimson. Slipper crimson-purple above, green below.
_Alfred_ (laevigatum x venustum).--Strong ribs of crimson-brown circle up
from a green base over the white dorsal, which is pointed sharply. The
drooping twisted petals are brightest green above, with a white margin,
changing to tawny crimson as they reverse. The whole heavily spotted with
crimson-brown. Slipper green, broadly netted over with a darker tint.
_Calloso-niveum._--Where the parentage is shown in the name it need not be
expressed at full length. A pale flower, dorsal and sepals greenish at
base, faintly tinged and lined with pink, dotted carmine.
_Amphion_ (Harrisianum x Lawrenceanum).--The grand dorsal
sepal--greenish-yellow, dotted and ribbed with coppery brown--has a broad
white margin. Petals narrow and bowed, greenish at base, changing to
copper; a few heavy dots. The slipper coppery.
_Cowleyanum_ (Curtisii x niveum).--Dorsal low and spreading, purplish and
lined with purple; the edges white. Petals purple, very much darker at
base and tips, with a white outline above, and tiny speckles of purple.
Purple slipper.
_Conco-Lawre_ (concolor x Lawrenceanum).--Dorsal large, suffused and lined
with purple, edged white. Petals green at base, margined and lined with
crimson, with a few dots of chocolate. Slipper purplish above, greenish
below.
_Curtisii_ (Woodlands variety) does not depart from the ordinary form in
its scheme of colouring, but all the hues are intensified, and the
enormous slipper, tinged with green at the edge, is deepest
crimson-maroon.
I may interrupt the dry enumeration with a story.
[Illustration: CYPRIPEDIUM. WILLIAM LLOYD.]
STORY OF CYPRIPEDIUM CURTISII