Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, near London, continue the work begun by their father thirty years ago, hybridizing orchids, and are continually raising new ones quite as distinct and beautiful as original species. Of the one which we now illustrate they send us the following account:

" One of the most striking of the hybrid cypri-pediums raised in our nursery. It was obtained by crossing C. Harrisianum with C. insigne Maulei.

Cypripedium oenanthum superbum

"The plant is of vigorous growth and has foliage like that of C. insigne, but of deeper hue. The flowers are large with a lustrous varnish surface. The color of the dorsal sepal is deep claret-red with broad lines of blackish purple spots that are confluent. It has a very broad, white margin, and where the spots enter it, they are of a beautiful mauve-purple. The lower sepal is greenish, with lines of blackish spots on the basal half. The petals are vinous-red with deeper veins, except at the base and apex, where it shades off into pale green. On the inferior side of the basal half are from 10 to 12 blackish worts. The lip is deep vinous-red, shaded with brown; the staminode buff-yellow tinged with red.

" We know of no cypripedium that presents such a remarkable combination of colors as is seen in the flower of this beautiful hybrid".