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We can identify the mixed offspring of O. crispum Alexandræ paired with O. gloriosum, with O. luteopurpureum, with O. Lindleyanum; these parents dwell side by side, and they could not fail to mingle.
Timber has no value in those parts as yet, but the day approaches when Government must interfere. The average yield of Odontoglossum crispum per tree is certainly not more than five large and small together. Once upon a time Mr. Kerbach recovered fifty-three at one felling, and the incident has grown into a legend; two or three is the usual number.
Those shelves are crowded with fine plants of the glorious O. crispum, each bearing one or two spikes of flower, which trail down, interlace, arch upward. Not all are in bloom; that amazing sight may be witnessed for a month to come for two months, with such small traces of decay as the casual visitor would not notice.
Before closing, I beg you to let me know the prices of about twenty-five of the best of and prettiest South American orchids, which I want for my own collection, as Catt. Medellii, Catt. Trianæ, Odontoglossum crispum, Miltonia vexillaria, Catt. labiata, &c. I shall await your answer as soon as possible, and send you a list by last mail of what is to be got in this colony.
They all require favoured situations, else the growth is short, and the plants stunted and meagre in appearance. SOLANUM CRISPUM. Potato-tree. A native of Chili, 1824, and not very hardy, except in the coast regions of England and Ireland.
This which we enter is devoted to Odontoglossum crispum, with a few Masdevallias. There were twenty-two thousand pots in it the other day; several thousand have been sold, several thousand have been brought in, and the number at this moment cannot be computed. Our farmer has no time for speculative arithmetic; he deals in produce wholesale.
Our friend has a client who keeps his stock of O. crispum alone at ten thousand; but others, less methodical, may have more. Opposite the door is a high staging, mounted by steps, with a gangway down the middle and shelves descending on either hand.
Thus it happens that the importing business has been given up by one firm after another. Odontoglossums, as I said, belong to America to the mountainous parts of the continent in general. Though it would be wildly rash to pronounce which is the loveliest of orchids, no man with eyes would dispute that O. crispum Alexandræ is the queen of this genus.
Weir and Fortune, I believe, were their earliest employés. Another was Theodor Hartweg, who discovered Odontoglossum crispum Alexandræ in 1842; but he sent home only dried specimens. From these Lindley described and classed the plant, aided by the sketch of a Spanish or Peruvian artist, Tagala. A very curious mistake Lindley fell into on either point.
So pleasant chat goes on, until, at the stroke of half-past twelve, the auctioneer mounts his rostrum. First to come before him are a hundred lots of Odontoglossum crispum Alexandræ, described as of "the very best type, and in splendid condition." For the latter point everyone present is able to judge, and for the former all are willing to accept the statements of vendors.
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