FLOWER PRICED AT £250.

Taihape Daily Times, 27 August 1919, Page 2

FLOWER PRICED AT £250.

I ORCHID THAT FI’.OL'RISHED I _VVHILE EBIFQIRES FELL. : Perhaps the most. reninrkable exhibit i (states at 'Lon'dOll paper) at the floral ‘ fete of the Royal Horticultural Society War Relief Fund, which opened re. ;cently in the grounds of the Chelsea hospital, was 3 new‘ ol'ellid~~O»dontonia Corolu. It is not specially e.-:tl'aetivc, either in shape or eoloul'. but it is of eionsider-ab'le bolt:nn‘.?<-.:il- interest, and it was eagerly examined by experts. Its history is of interest, too. It 1,,a war flower, hybridised in 1914, and it is now in bloom for the first time. It has cost some hundreds of pounds. to rear, and it is priced at £250. From the early days of -Hl9 way every care has been lavished upon it, ‘.Vllen the first Ypres battle was being fought it Wlls in the tender form of -.1 seed. Skilled men were detailed to ensure that it was kept at an even and warm enough t.enlpel'zlture. No dr:iught- was allowed to threaten its life. -No ordinary unskilled hand was perinitted to attend to its needs. Was it not Odontonia Corolu, the -ofl’spring oftM. Warseewiczil Piet-.1 and O Haryanuni? About the time of the first battle of the Somme some anxiety was felt that the new orchid might become 3 casualty. Its at-tendants noticed signs of ill—he.'.ll«th. But they passed away. Careful treamtment. made of the Odoutonia. Corola a strong li-tile plant——a few green leaves about 2 inches high. In its luxurious glasshouse it grew steadily. It became hardy enough for the tempera;ture to ;’be slightly tre~ duced. All was well with the Odontonia Corole—though elsewhere in less sheltered iituationsp there were those who .fe-med that things were not going well with them. So the new orchid grew. The bad news of last spring was qualified by the tidings that -the Odontonia Corola had developed 3. bud. Then it reached the climax of its career. It was shown in public for the first time, blossoming after nearly five years of care. Among those most interested in the orchid was a wounded soldier.