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This species flowered at Kew so early as 1824, but the plant died. Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney, re-introduced it thirty years later. D. Johannis, from Queensland, brown and yellow, streaked with orange, the flowers curiously twisted. D. superbiens, from Torres Straits, rosy purple, edged with white, lip crimson. Handsomest of all by far is D. phaloenopsis.
Of D. phaloenopsis Schroederi I have spoken elsewhere. There is D. Goldiei; a variety of D. superbiens but much larger. There is D. Albertesii, snow-white; D. Broomfieldianum, curiously like Loelia anceps alba in its flower which is to say that it must be the loveliest of all Dendrobes. But this species has a further charm, almost incredible.
The fourth of these fine species, Onc. superbiens, ranks among the grandest of flowers knowing its own value, it rarely consents to "oblige;" the dusky green sepals are margined with yellow, petals white, clouded with pale purple, lip very small, of course, purple, surmounted by a great golden crest. Most strange and curious is Onc. fuscatum, of which the shape defies description.
Thus, and not otherwise, would the thoughtful of them arrange a "harmony" in gold and bronze; but Nature, with characteristic indifference to the fancies of mankind, hid her chef-d'oeuvre in the wilds of Ecuador. Hardly less striking, however, though perhaps less beautiful, are its sisters of the "small-lipped" species Onc. serratum, O. superbiens, and O. sculptum. This last is rarely seen.
Two bits of Cyp. superbiens turned up among a consignment of Cyp. barbatum; none have been found since, and it is doubtful whether the species survives in its native home. Only three plants of Cyp. Marstersianium have been discovered. They reached Mr.
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