[Illustration: PL. 20. DENDROBIUM AINSWORTHII ROSEUM.[]
DENDROBIUM AINSWORTHII ROSEUM. [Plate 20.] A Garden Hybrid.
Epiphytal. _Stems_ (pseudobulbs) clustered, elongate, spreading, terete, stoutish above, tapering to the base, jointed, the surface furrowed between the joints. _Leaves_ distichous, linear-oblong, acute, three-fourths of an inch broad, sheathing the stems at the base, the sheaths remaining as a membranous investment. _Peduncles_ proceeding from the joints of the stem, slender, two to three-flowered, the pedicels with small ovate bracts at their base. _Flowers_ showy, white, with rich amaranth-crimson blotch, measuring about three inches across; _sepals_ lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, spreading, white, tinged with rose colour, as are the larger and broader oblong-ovate _petals_; _lip_ (labellum) broadly obovate, cucullate, the basal portion rolled in over the column, the anterior portion spread out into a broad concave heart-shaped front lobe, which is undulated at the margin, and nearly covered by a large rich amaranth-crimson blotch, feathered at the edge, and traversed by deeper crimson veins, the extreme margin being paler. _Column_ short, enclosed by the basal portion of the lip.
Dendrobium Ainsworthii, _Moore_ in _Gardeners’ Chronicle_ (1874), N.S. i. 443, figs. 93, 94; _Id._ N.S. viii., 166, figs. 30, 31, 32; _Anderson_ in _Gardeners’ Chronicle_, N.S. vii., 751; _Floral Magazine_, 2 s. t. 196; _Rand’s Orchids_, 242; _Williams’ Orchid Growers’ Manual_, ed. v., 163.
_Var._ ROSEUM; sepals and petals tinted with magenta rose; lip almost wholly covered by the large mulberry-crimson feathered blotch.
Dendrobium Ainsworthii _var._ ROSEUM, _Moore_ in _Gardeners’ Chronicle_ (1877), N.S. vii., 655; _Id._ N.S. viii., 166; _Anderson_ in _Gardeners’ Chronicle_, N.S. vii., 750.
The beautiful _Dendrobium Ainsworthii_ is the result of a cross between _D. nobile_ and _D. heterocarpum_, and was raised by Mr. Mitchell, gardener to R. F. Ainsworth, Esq., M.D., Of Higher Broughton, Manchester, after whom it is named. In habit of growth and in general appearance the plant partakes mostly of the character of _D. nobile_, while the flowers more closely resemble those of _D. heterocarpum_ in form, and have in a slight degree the delicious fragrance of those produced by that species. In _D. Ainsworthii_ the flowers have white sepals and petals, while the lip is marked by a dense blotch of a rich amaranth or mulberry-crimson. In the _D. Ainsworthii roseum_ now figured, the sepals and petals are of a bright rosy-magenta, and the lip is more fully covered with a richer coloured deep crimson blotch. This variety is extremely rare, and forms a charming contrast to the white blossoms of its sister hybrid. The flowers will be found very useful for cutting, as they last for a considerable time in water.