Dendrobium Ainsworthii roseum requires treatment similar to that given to D. nobile. We have found it to do well in a compost of peat and sphagnum moss, planted in pans suspended from the roof of the East India house, in a position where it can get plenty of light and air. During the growing season this plant enjoys a liberal supply of water, which after the bulbs have completed their development may be gradually withheld, and the plant cooled down by placing it in the Cattleya-house, where it should remain until the time of flowering, which extends from February to June. Mr. Stevens, of Trentham, grows it very successfully, suspended in a well-appointed plant stove, where it has abundance of light.
We remember seeing a splendid plant of Dendrobium Ainsworthii roseum exhibited by Mr. Mitchell, at the Whitsuntide Manchester Show, in May, 1877, in the form of a well furnished specimen two and a half feet in height and two feet in breadth, the stems being literally smothered with some hundreds of its beautiful crimson-lipped rosy-tinted flowers.
Referring to this same Manchester Show of 1877, Mr. Anderson, of Meadow Bank, a well-known Orchid grower, writes of this plant, as follows (Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S. vii., 750):—“Possibly the gem of the Exhibition was Dendrobium Ainsworthii roseum. This is a most remarkable seedling partaking of the character of both its parents (D. nobile and D. heterocarpum), and in some respects superior to either. In point of floriferousness none of its parents can lay claim to such a quantity of nodes on the deciduous stems, each bearing, or rather emitting, its quota of flowers. I counted on one stem sixteen short racemes, each two and three-flowered. The flower itself has the sepals and petals of moniliforme rather than of nobile, white shaded with an almost imperceptible tint of rose, and tipped distinctly with that soft pleasing colour. The labellum is flat, like an expanded heterocarpum, reflexing a little towards the centre, with a blotch covering three-quarters of its surface with deep veined purplish or rather mulberry-crimson, edged very distinctly with white, and the extremity slightly tipped with crimson. This I look upon as one of the greatest gains in hybridization, whether we regard the colour of the flower, or the general floriferousness of the plant, or its free although not awkward habit of growth. As an Orchid enthusiast of the last five and twenty years, I would pronounce it one of the greatest gains that may be counted up in the whole known Orchid family.”
Altogether this is a most desirable plant, and being easy of cultivation, and of remarkably free-flowering habit, it should find a place in every collection.
PL. 21. AERIDES LOBBII.
Epiphytal. Stems erect, densely foliose, producing the stout aërial roots from between the leaf bases. Leaves evergreen, close set, distichous, leathery in texture, loriform, channelled, obliquely bilobed at the apex, of a deep green colour, obsoletely spotted with purple, paler on the under surface. Racemes axillary, many-flowered, long, branched, cylindrical, pendulous. Flowers very numerous, medium-sized, fragrant, the sepals and petals white, flushed with rosy purple and spotted with deeper rose-purple, the broader lip with a bar of rosy purple, darkest in the centre, from base to apex, and bordered with white; sepals and petals elliptic-oblong, nearly equal, incurved; lip much larger, clawed, the claw hollowed out and coadunate with the base of the column, the limb ovate or somewhat lozenge-shaped, wavy at the margin; spur arcuate, somewhat compressed laterally. Column short, in form resembling the neck and beak of a bird, with the front edge produced and folded over the stigmatic cavity.
Aërides Lobbii, Hort. Veitch; Lemaire, Illustration Horticole, xv., t. 559; Williams, Orchid Growers’ Manual, ed. 5, 67; Rand, Orchids, 149; Britten & Gower, Orchids for Amateurs, 177.
This very beautiful brightly-coloured plant was discovered in Moulmein by Mr. Thomas Lobb, who sent it to the Messrs. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, about the year 1856. It is of remarkably free-flowering and decorative character, and is no doubt one of the most beautiful species of this fine genus of Orchids, being valuable alike on account of its compact-growing habit, and the strikingly ornamental nature of its inflorescence. There appear to be several varieties of this plant distributed through our Orchid collections, all of them handsome and deserving of cultivation, but that which we now illustrate, from a finely grown, elegantly branching spike, kindly sent to us by C. J. Hill, Esq., of Nottingham, and referred to in the note published under Plate 15, is the finest form, and the most freely bloomed specimen we have met with. We were, in truth, charmed with the size and colour of the flowers of this plant, when recently inspecting Mr. Hill’s collection, the long spikes of blossom which were produced by so small a plant being quite extraordinary.
There is no genus of Orchids that surpasses Aërides in having handsome evergreen foliage, so that, even when not in blossom, they are exceedingly pretty objects; while to this it must be added, that their flower-spikes are beautiful, and their flowers deliciously fragrant; some, of course, are more handsome than others, but all are worth growing: in fact, we have never seen an indifferent Aërides. They have every good quality that a plant of this character can possess, and they are of easy cultivation, so that anyone who has a stove may manage them successfully. They do not require so much heat as some persons imagine; the temperature need not be above 65° in the winter; more is, indeed, required in summer, but even then sun-heat should be fully utilised, and very little fire-heat should be used.
Aërides Lobbii blooms in June and July, and lasts for three or four weeks in beauty. The plant, from which our illustration was taken, was but a foot in height, and the magnificent flowering racemes we saw upon it were fully two feet six inches in length, with two branches each a foot in length. The sepals and petals are white, spotted with bright rose colour; the lip is also of a bright rose colour, slightly veined and margined with white. The flowers are deliciously fragrant.
The plant being very compact in growth, occupies but little space, so that anyone having a small vacant place in the Orchid-house or plant stove, might readily grow it. It will thrive either in a basket suspended from the roof of the house, or in a pot planted in sphagnum moss, with good drainage, and a moderate supply of water during the summer season, while in winter only just sufficient should be given to keep the moss damp. The plants do not, however, like to be dried up, as this often causes them to loose their bottom leaves, which is a great disfigurement. They require plenty of light, but do not like to be exposed to the burning sunshine. Canvas should therefore be used as a shading during all the bright sunny portion of the day, but when the sun has, in some degree, lost its burning heat the blinds may be raised. Never allow water to get into the hearts of the plants in winter. In summer a fine rose should be employed to syringe them, which operation should be done about three o’clock in the afternoon, when the house is closed.
They should be always kept free from insects. Scale, thrips, and many other insects are to be reckoned amongst their enemies, and cockroaches, if allowed to attack them, will often eat away their young roots and flower-spikes.
PL. 22. CYPRIPEDIUM LAWRENCIANUM.
Epiphytal. Stem almost none, the leaves springing from the crown of stout roots. Leaves radical, distichous, coriaceous, broadly oblong, acute, channelled, a foot long, the upper surface marbled with a dark green mosaic pattern on a whitish-green ground colour. Scapes solitary in the leaf-axils, stout, pubescent, with an oblong-ovate acute sheathing bract near the top, from which the flower or flowers emerge. Flowers very large, in the way of those of C. barbatum majus; dorsal sepal sub-rotund or very broadly-ovate, acute, white, with numerous (about thirteen) shining curved purplish veins which run out nearly or quite to the edge, and usually alternate with others which are short and less boldly marked; lateral sepals connate, small, oblong, greenish white, with five dark purplish veins; petals fully half an inch wide, divaricate, linear-oblong ciliate, green in the upper half, with purple margin, stained with dull purple towards the tip, and with several dark fleshy warts along each margin, the lower half flushed with pale wine red; lip very large, pouch-shaped, the lateral horns much developed, purplish brown above, yellowish green below, with numerous warts on the inside. Staminode of a wax-like yellowish white, the posterior exterior border split in the centre, and having five anterior teeth, the middle one much larger than the rest.
Cypripedium Lawrenceanum, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S., x., 748; Veitch and Sons, Catalogue of New Plants, 1879, p. 9, 23, with figure; Florist and Pomologist, 1880, 112, with figure.
The introduction of this splendid species of Lady’s Slipper is one of the results of Mr. F. W. Burbidge’s visit to Borneo, in the service of Messrs. Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea. It is a very robust grower, and flowered for the first time in the autumn of 1878, when it was named by Professor Reichenbach, in the place above quoted, in honour of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., an ardent orchidophilist, and the possessor of a collection of Orchids of unequalled richness and beauty.
The Cypripediums now form a large family group, and rank amongst the most useful of Orchids that can be cultivated, since the lasting quality of their flowers, especially for exhibition and decorative purposes, is something extraordinary. Many of them in addition possess beautifully variegated foliage, as in the species we now figure, which has the leaves most distinctly marked with light and dark green. Our drawing was taken from a very fine plant in the select collection of H. M. Pollett, Esq., Fernside, Bickley, a gentleman who is a great lover of Orchids, and who has the wisdom to secure healthy young plants at the outset, in order that he may see them grow on into good specimens, such as the one now before us has done. It gives one great pleasure to see plants so well cultivated.
Cypripedium Lawrenceanum has, as we have already said, beautifully marked foliage, so that even when not in blossom, it is found to be an object of attraction. The upper or dorsal sepals of the flowers were in this case three inches across, white, striped with plum-purple, which runs in curved lines from the base nearly to the margin. The petals are green along the upper edge, suffused with purple towards the end, and having black wart-like spots, and a fringe of purple hairs along the margin. The pouch or lip is large, of a reddish brown colour in front, the under and hinder part yellowish green.
These plants are best grown in pots with peat, and a little charcoal, or sometimes a little good fibrous loam mixed with the peat. It is a free-rooting species, and likes to be well elevated above the pot rim, so that its roots can penetrate readily and work freely in the rough material. The pot should be half filled with drainage, so that a good supply of moisture may be given to the roots during the growing season. The Cattleya or the East India-house seems to suit the plants well, as in these structures they grow and flower freely.
The flowers are very useful for cutting, as they will keep a long time in vases if the water is kept sweet and pure.
Baron Schröder’s Orchids.—On the occasion of a recent visit to The Dell, Staines, the seat of Baron Schröder, we had the good fortune to inspect the fine collection of Orchids which has been got together. The houses are well built, after the plans of Mr. Ballantyne, the gardener, and are placed in good positions; not only have the ventilation and heating power been well considered, but cleanliness also; indeed the arrangement of the houses leaves nothing to be desired. The Orchids were, at the time, looking remarkably well. Entering the Phalænopsis house we noticed a fine plant in flower of the rare and beautiful Phalænopsis intermedia Portei, a treat which seldom falls to one’s lot, for it is a matter of regret that this splendid Phalænopsis is so rare in collections: it must be very scarce in its native habitat or collectors would surely find it oftener. Cypripedium Spicerianum was also flowering here. Several different species of Nepenthes were in fine character, growing above a tank, with their pitchers gracefully drooping over the water, in which position they seemed to be quite at home. In this house were also some grand plants of different species of Saccolabium, Cypripedium, &c., all doing well. Leaving the Phalænopsis house the Cattleya house, which runs at right angles to it, is next entered. Here we noticed a gigantic specimen of Cattleya exoniensis, carrying several spikes of flower; Lælia autumnalis atrorubens, with grand spikes, and flowers of unusual size and fine colour; and Dendrobium Wardianum in full beauty, suspended from the roof. The Cattleyas, &c., in this house were in grand condition, and bid fair to produce some fine spikes next season. In the Odontoglossum house Zygopetalum Gautieri was flowering well, also Miltonia candida and Sophronitis grandiflora. The East Indian Orchids were in an especially healthy condition, the collection containing some grand specimens of Vanda, Aërides, and Saccolabium.
This collection, which has been lately formed, bids fair to become one of the finest in the country, Baron Schröder being an enthusiastic lover of this handsome class of plants, and being also careful to obtain only the best varieties.—H. W.
PL. 23. LÆLIA XANTHINA.
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs clavate fusiform, the narrowed base closely invested by imbricating bracts, monophyllous. Leaves oblong-lorate, bluntish, coriaceous, longer than the pseudobulbs, and with them reaching to about a foot in height. Scape four to six flowered, issuing from a terminal linear-oblong acute compressed bract or spathe, three-fourths of an inch wide and about four inches long, and of a pale green colour. Flowers leathery in texture, three to four inches across, very distinct in aspect; sepals and petals oblong-ligulate obtuse, undulated, the sides rolled back so that they appear convex, the petals most so, both of a deep golden yellow, more or less stained or flushed with olive-green; lip cucullate, subquadrate, obtusely three-lobed at the apex, yolk of egg colour, paler at the edge, the front border white, and marked on the disc by a few crimson-purple veins, which are not raised like crests above the surface, as in the allied L. flava. Column semiterete, clavate, lobulate at the apex, projected forwards, about as long as the entire edges of the lip and convergent therewith.
Lælia xanthina, Lindley, in Botanical Magazine, t. 5144; Bateman, Second Century of Orchidaceous Plants, t. 180; Rand, Orchids, 303.
Bletia xanthina, Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicæ, vi. 425; Id. Xenia Orchidaceæ, ii. 54.
This interesting and distinct-looking Lælia was introduced from Brazil many years ago by Messrs. Backhouse & Son, of York, but from the limited quantity then obtained it has always remained a scarce plant. It appears to have been imported about 1858, as it was figured in 1859 in the Botanical Magazine, as above quoted. It is, indeed, with great pleasure that we are enabled to introduce to our readers a figure of so rare and so distinct a species, for it is seldom seen in collections, having always been a rare plant. The colour of the flowers is of a nankeen-yellow, consequently they strongly contrast with those of the generality of Orchids of this affinity, the usual colours of which are purple, or rose colour in various tints, or white.
Our plate was prepared from a drawing which was made in September last from a plant which flowered in our own collection. It will be seen from the representation, which is a very faithful one, that Lælia xanthina is really a very pretty species, and one that our collectors ought to be looking after, so that Orchid growers may have it supplied to them at a more reasonable price than at present.
The plant grows about a foot in height, and is somewhat like Lælia purpurata in its habit of growth, only it is very much smaller and more compact and free-blooming. The flowers continue about three weeks in perfection. It requires the same kind of treatment as other species of Lælia and Cattleya, and thrives best when cultivated in a pot or basket, with fibrous peat, and good drainage. Like the rest of its class it requires to be kept as fully exposed to the light as possible, in order that the pseudobulbs may be thoroughly ripened; and the growth being thus more completely matured, it will be found to become more vigorous in character, and enabled to throw up its flower-spikes more freely. There is a grand specimen of this species, over two feet in diameter, in the collection of H. Shaw, Esq., Corbar, Buxton.
Lælia autumnalis atrorubens.—It is highly gratifying to find that this splendid variety of Lælia autumnalis, is becoming more plentiful, and that it keeps up its original character. Many growers were of opinion when it was first introduced, that the large size of its flowers and the rich colour of the sepals and petals were due mainly to superior cultivation and a pure atmosphere, but such is not the case. We have flowered some plants of it this season in our own establishment at Holloway, which have been as good, both in regard to the size and colour of the flowers, as those of any of the plants grown in a purer atmosphere, away from the smoke of this great City. We have received from the Right Honorable J. Chamberlain, Esq., M.P., of Birmingham, a splendidly developed spike of a grand form of this beautiful variety, which had been grown under the care of his gardener, Mr. Cooper.—B. S. W.
Odontoglossum vexillarium (Autumn-flowering variety)—A short time back Mr. W. Bull exhibited at South Kensington a recently imported form of Odontoglossum vexillarium, which had all the appearance of being a distinct variety, flowering during the autumn months of the year. It is, however, we think, somewhat premature to regard this autumn-flowering character as thoroughly established, though there is no doubt the variety is a distinct one, and remarkably fine in colour. This being the first time of its flowering, the particular growth shown may have been influenced by the time at which the plants were started. However, in due time, and with good cultivation we shall see whether this peculiarity of flowering towards the end of the year is really a constant character, or whether it may have resulted from the circumstances above referred to.—B. S. W.
PL. 23. MASDEVALLIA HARRYANA CŒRULESCENS.
Epiphytal. Stems slender, tufted. Leaves evergreen, coriaceous, ten to twelve inches long, with a nerveless elongate oblong-spathulate blade, obtuse or somewhat acute at the apex, channelled at the base, keeled behind, of a very dark green colour, narrowed downwards into the stout petiole, which is three to four inches long, deeply grooved in front, and invested at the base by long membranous brownish sheaths. Scape a foot long or more, brown, covered below with three or four bluntish sheaths, the upper of which is distant from the flower and closely appressed. Flowers large, peculiar in form, richly coloured, the colour varying in different forms, typically of a brilliant magenta-crimson; dorsal sepal elongate linear from a triangular base, sub-erect or reflexed; lateral sepals broadly semiovate, apiculate, connate to below the middle, deflexed, the tips approximate, all united below into a decurved tube, which is yellow (in the allied M. Lindeni the tube is white); petals small, hidden within the tube, linear-oblong emarginate, the base auriculate on one side; lip also small, enclosed, clawed, tongue-shaped, cordate at the base. Column rather longer than the lip, entire, not winged.
Masdevallia Harryana, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1871, 1421; Florist & Pomologist, 1873, 169, with coloured figure; Belgique Horticole, 1873, t. 21; Flore des Serres, t. 2250.
Masdevallia Lindeni, Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 5990—fide Reichenbach.
Masdevallia Lindeni, var. Harryana, André, Illustration Horticole, 3 ser., t. 142.
Var. CŒRULESCENS: flowers of a rich magenta-crimson, with a bluish-purple flush or bloom; otherwise as in the type.
Masdevallia Harryana cœrulescens, Hort. plurim.; Bull, Catalogue of New Plants, 1877, p. 83.
We ought to be cordially grateful to our plant collectors for introducing to European gardens so brilliant, varied, and charming a set of epiphytal plants, as the several showy ornamental, and pleasingly grotesque species of the genus Masdevallia. There are indeed but few Orchids that possess such bright colours as are found therein. A few years since we had but two species that were really worth growing, namely, M. coccinea, of an orange-scarlet colour, and M. tovarensis, pure white. Then came M. Lindeni, a charming plant with flowers of a rich magenta-purple colour. M. Veitchiana, of which there are some very fine forms, made a fine contrast with its glowing orange-scarlet and bright yellow, the scarlet flushed with purple. The most beautiful, however, of all the Masdevallias are the varieties of M. Harryana, the colours of which—shades of magenta-crimson—are most intense and brilliant, many of the forms being also distinct in shape.
Masdevallia Harryana cœrulescens, our present subject, was forwarded to us by R. P. Percival, Esq., of Southport, who is forming what will in time doubtless become one of the best collections of these plants in the North of England. Whatever Mr. Percival takes in hand he carries out thoroughly, and this has led him to build separate houses to suit the different classes of Orchids. Now as Masdevallias prefer cool treatment they are best kept in a house by themselves: they require but a small one, as they take up very little room; indeed they will thrive well enough in the Odontoglossum house, for if their few wants are attended to, there are no freer growing plants in cultivation. They increase very fast under good treatment, and soon repay all the care which is bestowed upon them. They last a long time in beauty and make grand exhibition plants, producing also, when in bloom, a charming effect in the houses if intermixed with the various Odontoglots and other cool Orchids. There are so many varieties that some of them will always be in flower, but the best time to see them is from May to July. They are so accommodating to the grower that many wonderful specimens have been produced and exhibited during the last few years. When a plant is found to be too large it may be divided, and the divided portions will go on increasing.
We have found good fibrous peat and sphagnum moss to suit well as material for the potting of these plants. They thrive best in small pots. The roots should not be disturbed too often; when, however, they require fresh material to root in, it must be given them, as they are free rooting plants and prefer to have sweet wholesome soil about them. They must also have good drainage, for they need an abundant supply of water, and by giving them efficient drainage the water passes off quickly without doing any harm, which it would do if allowed to become stagnant about them. The plants should be placed near the light but so as to avoid the sun’s rays. A north house suits them best, as it shields them in summer from the heat of the day, which they do not like, in fact, they should be kept as cool as possible at all times, very little fire-heat being required in winter, and none during the summer. They like fresh air, but in winter cold draughts must be avoided. We find that they will thrive in a heat of from 45° to 50°: even somewhat less would suffice, but the temperature here named is the most suitable. Anyone, therefore, who possesses a small low house could grow them at a trifling expense.
They are easily propagated by dividing the tufts, leaving about three old stems and a leading growth associated. The best time for the division to be effected is just as they are beginning to grow. They should be placed in small pots until they are established, when they should be removed to larger ones.
Insects should be annihilated as soon as they put in an appearance. The thrips is their greatest pest. Cool Orchids, as a rule, are also subject to the attack of a small kind of snail, that increases very rapidly, if not kept under by constant watching night and morning. A few lettuce leaves placed in different parts of the house, or potatos or turnips cut in half and scooped out in the centre, form good traps for them, and by looking these over frequently many of them may be caught, as also by moving the plants, as they are apt to harbour about the pots.
PL. 25. CYMBIDIUM PARISHII.
Epiphytal. Stems fusiform, three to four inches long, annulately marked with the remains of the leaf-bases. Leaves evergreen, distichous, ligulate-linear, keeled behind, bifid with acute lobes, from one to two feet long, of a rich green colour. Racemes springing from the axils of the outer leaves, three to seven-flowered, the scapes furnished with lanceolate, falcate, acuminate, scariose sheaths. Flowers large, sweet-scented, ivory-white, with an orange disk and crimson-purple spots on the lip; sepals and petals oblong-ligulate, acute, of a creamy white colour, the lateral sepals largest; lip white with an orange coloured central band, flabellately dilated from a narrowed base, three-cleft in front, the side lobes oblong directed forwards, white, with numerous violet-purple spots, the middle or front lobe cuneate-ovate, undulated, with an orange-coloured silky or velvety disk, spotted with purplish crimson; disk having near the base a callus which terminates abruptly in front, and is furnished on the outer side with velvety hairs. Column white behind, yellow at the edges, and in front having brownish purple spots at the base; caudicle provided in front, on both sides, with an awl-shaped extrorse process.
Cymbidium Parishii, Reichenbach fil., MS. Herb. Kew; Id. Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S. I., 338, 566; x., 74; Id. Transactions of the Linnean Society, xxx., 144.
The genus Cymbidium forms a small group of Orchids of which there are but few species worthy of cultivation for ornamental purposes. That which we now figure is one of the best of them, and is a very rare and very beautiful plant, which has but seldom bloomed in this country. In the summer of 1878 Mr. Swan, gardener to W. Leach, Esq., of Oakley Fallowfield, Manchester, flowered it for the first time in Europe, and about the same time another specimen blossomed with John Day, Esq., of Tottenham, which was subsequently purchased by us for 100 guineas. This latter plant has again flowered, and our sketch was taken from it.
Though a near relative of Cymbidium eburneum, this plant is considered by Reichenbach to be a distinct species, the points of difference being—the broader leaves with more prominent nerves on the upper surface; the somewhat smaller flowers with shorter sepals and petals; and the different form of the segments of the lip, together with some peculiarities in its callus and pubescence. It is one of the treasures of India, having been originally discovered so long since as 1859, in Moulmein, by the Rev. C. Parish, who found Dendrobium crassinode at the same time. The plants of both these fine Orchids, then collected, were lost in the Ganges, and the Cymbidium was not seen again for many years. It appears to have been actually introduced shortly prior to 1874, since at that date living plants are recorded as being rarities in the collection of Mr. J. Day, of Tottenham, and Mr. R. Warner, of Broomfield, though it had not then flowered in Europe. It is a most chaste and lovely plant, its graceful green foliage, and creamy white blossoms in which the lip is spotted with crimson, producing a beautiful effect. The flowers have also a pleasant perfume, and last for three or four weeks in perfection. The flowering season is July and August, and several flowers are produced upon a spike, in which respect it has a decided advantage on the score of beauty over C. eburneum, which produces but one flower on a spike. The latter, however, is a charming Orchid for winter and spring flowering, its ivory-white blossoms being then especially acceptable. There is also another fine species, C. Mastersii, which produces its white flowers during the dull months of autumn, when Orchid as well as other white flowers, are scarce. These are all worth growing for the purpose of cutting, as they keep for a long time in water.
Cymbidium Parishii is very much like C. eburneum and C. Mastersii in its manner of growth, and also in its general appearance; in fact, it is somewhat difficult, when the plants are not in bloom, to distinguish the one from the other. An inspection of our figure will, however, show that the foliage of C. Parishii is broader and that it is of a lighter green colour.
It requires the same treatment as C. eburneum. We grow the plants in pots, in the Cattleya house, on the side tables, near the glass. The material we use for potting is rough fibrous peat and loam, with thoroughly good drainage, the plants being also elevated above the rim of the pot. Their roots are thick and fleshy, and they therefore require a good supply of water during the growing season, but when at rest, the soil must be kept only just moist. They must be shielded from bright sunshine, by blinds or some other means, otherwise their foliage will become spotted. In winter they do not like to have their leaves damped, although in summer, on warm days, it will not injure them.
They are propagated by dividing the tufts just as they are starting to make fresh growth, leaving some of the established portion at the back of the new growth. They must be kept free from insects. The white scale, which sometimes endeavours to make its way on the foliage, is that chiefly to be guarded against.
Vanda tricolor.—In November last, we saw in the collection of J. Broome, Esq., of Didsbury, a very finely grown plant of V. tricolor, with two spikes of exceedingly richly coloured flowers—one of the best we have ever seen. It is in the way of the Dalkeith variety, but the flowers are large and of a remarkably bright colour. Mr. Broome sent us a spike to figure but it was spoilt in the transit; we hope, however, to be able to procure another when the plant again blooms, so that our subscribers may see what a well-grown specimen it is. It stands two feet six inches in height, and has beautifully healthy foliage down to the pot.
PL. 26. CATTLEYA VELUTINA.
Epiphytal. Stems slender, terete, from twelve to eighteen inches high, supporting the evergreen foliage, and furnished at intervals with short ovate appressed bracts. Leaves in pairs, oblong, acute, widest near the base, leathery, about eight inches long, and an inch and a half broad, of a dark green colour. Scape two-flowered, issuing from a terminal compressed sheath or bract. Flowers of medium size, stout in texture, tawny orange, the lip white marked with purplish spots arranged in radiating lines, very fragrant; sepals ligulate-oblong, acute, recurved, rich tawny orange, spotted with purple; petals of the same colour, cuneate-oblong, acute, somewhat lobulate or wavy; lip three-lobed, the side lobes very short semi-ovate, partially enclosing the column, the front lobe large, roundish-ovate, apiculate, wavy and toothletted, the disk between the side lobes yellow with purplish streaks, the radiating veins purplish, the front or middle lobe white with dark purple veins, everywhere clothed with velvety pubescence. Column free at the back, marked with many purple spots, and having a purplish border to the anther-bed.
Cattleya velutina, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1870, 140, 1373; Id. 1872, 1259, figs. 288, 289; Williams, Orchid Grower’s Manual, 5 ed. 135.
This fine Orchid first flowered in 1870, under the care of Mr. A. Williams, in the collection of Joseph Broome, Esq., of Didsbury, Manchester, and subsequently in that of E. G. Wrigley, Esq., of Bury. What is described as a still finer variety of the same plant appeared shortly after in the collection of Consul Schiller, of Hamburgh. One of the most remarkable and special peculiarities of the species is the powerful fragrance of its flowers, which is so strongly developed as to scent the whole house in which a blooming plant is placed.
It is a very rare as well as a very distinct species. We have, ourselves, only met with one example in bloom, besides that from what our illustration was taken, and that was the specimen in the collection of Mr. J. Broome, above referred to, as being the first which bloomed in this country. Our figure was taken from a plant which flowered recently in the grand collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., who was good enough to send it for our artist to sketch, and he has succeeded in securing a very faithful likeness of it. We have no doubt our collectors will meet with it in their journeyings in its native country, but it must be rare there, or we should have obtained more of it; most probably, like others of its genus, it is difficult to secure. It resembles Cattleya bicolor in its habit of growth, the stems bearing two leaves, which grow about twelve to eighteen inches in length. The sepals and petals are of a rich tawny orange colour, irregularly spotted with purple, and the lip has the side lobes yellow, and is white in front, and distinctly striped with violet. Mr. Spyers says it blooms in September and October, when its fragrance, combined with its distinct colour, renders it a very acceptable inmate of the Orchid house; it also flowers at a time when few other Cattleyas are in bloom.
Cattleya velutina requires the same treatment as the other Cattleyas, that is, to be potted in peat soil with good drainage; it does not need so much water at the roots as some kinds, but it should be borne in mind, on the other hand, that it must not be allowed to shrivel, and therefore a little moisture should always be supplied to the roots. If the plant once gets into an unhealthy condition its recovery will be very doubtful. Those of the Cattleyas, such as C. bicolor and C. velutina, which have very slender bulbs are more liable to go wrong than those that form thick fleshy bulbs, the latter having more substance from which to draw their support. They require to be kept near the light, with very little shade, excepting just sufficient to keep them from the burning sun.
Like other Cattleyas, this species is subject to the inroads of the scale insect, which should be frequently sought for, and, if found, promptly removed. The foliage should be kept in a plump condition and not allowed to shrivel. In cleansing the leaves injury is often caused by too hard rubbing, by which they become bruised; rather should they be handled delicately, as, if once damaged, they cannot be restored to a sound healthy appearance. A damaged leaf is not only a disfigurement, but is of great injury to the health of the plant, by interfering with the action of its pores. Cleanliness is one of the great secrets of success in plant cultivation, but the operation of cleansing should be taken in hand before the insects get a-head, or they will assuredly eat into the leaves, which will thus become permanently injured at the points of attack.
Dr. Ainsworth’s Orchids.—When in Manchester we had the pleasure of visiting the collection of R. F. Ainsworth, Esq., M.D., in whose fine and varied collection the plant that most especially attracted our attention was Masdevallia Chimæra, the blossoms of which were very large, each flower measuring seventeen inches across. The effect of these beautiful and curiously spotted flowers hanging around the basket was very striking. We have had it sent to us to figure, but the flowers do not travel well; we hope, however, some day, when it is in bloom, to be able to figure it. We also noticed, in the same house, a wonderfully fine form of Odontoglossum Alexandræ, with broad sepals and petals of beautiful white, while the centre of the petals is marked with a pleasing rose colour, which gives it a very pretty appearance; the lip is large, white, beautifully crisped round the edge, the upper part bright orange-yellow. It was, altogether, a very showy flower. Mr. Mitchell, the gardener, said it had been in bloom for several weeks, and it was still fresh and fine when we saw it.
PL. 27. ODONTOGLOSSUM BREVIFOLIUM.
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, monophyllous. Leaves short, oblong, two inches broad, and sometimes not much exceeding that in length, spreading. Scape simple, radical, bearing at the apex a many-flowered erect raceme, the membranaceous bracts of which are oblong acute, and as long as the pedicels. Flowers nearly or quite two inches in diameter, of a rich chestnut brown on the inner, and olive-green on the outer surface; sepals roundish-ovate, somewhat undulated, narrowed at the base, of a bright chestnut-brown, narrowly bordered with yellow; petals similar in size and colour, oblong-ovate; lip clawed, auriculate, wedge-shaped, emarginate, shorter than the sepals, bright yellow, bearing at the base five warty tubercles, with a three-toothed appendage in front of them. Column small, the edges of the anther-bed serrated, and decurrent in the form of membranous wings.
Odontoglossum brevifolium, Lindley in Bentham’s Plantæ Hartwegianæ, 152; Id. Folia Orchidacea, art. Odontoglossum no. 61; André in Illustration Horticole, 3 ser. t. 170; Reichenbach, fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicæ. vi. 846.
This very distinct species was first found by Hartweg, on the Peruvian Andes, near Loxa, and was described by Lindley, in Mr. Bentham’s account of the plants collected by that traveller. It appears to have been introduced by M. Linden, and to have been first flowered in his establishment, the figure published in L’Illustration Horticole having been derived from this source. The small compressed pseudobulbs are formed at the end of a sucker or offshoot, which is invested by large membranous bracts or scales, the upper of which covering the base of the flower-scape is somewhat broader and leaf-like.
This Odontoglot ranks among the most distinct species of its genus, as may indeed be seen by a glance at our illustration. It produces dense spikes of its beautiful flowers, which are more in the way of those of Odontoglossum coronarium than of any other cultivated species; it, however, blooms more freely. The spike of flowers we have here represented was sent to us by Mons. F. Massange, of Liége, in whose collection the gardener—Mr. Kramer—induces it to flower freely every year. M. Massange is a great connoisseur of Orchids, and in his collection are to be found many rare and valuable specimens, which have been frequently exhibited during the past few years, including the Liége Exhibition of 1881.
Odontoglossum brevifolium is a dwarf growing plant, and produces its erect spikes of flowers from the side of the pseudobulbs. There were seventeen blossoms on that which is here represented. The sepals and petals are of a bright chestnut-brown, margined and slightly marked near the base with yellow, the lip is rich yellow with two light brown patches at its base. It is altogether a strikingly showy plant, and one that should be always cultivated amongst Odontoglots for its distinctness of colouring.
The treatment which we find to suit the plant, is to grow it in a basket suspended from the roof, as it requires and enjoys all the light that can be given to it; but, of course, it needs to be shaded from the burning sun. The most suitable material in which to grow the plant is sphagnum moss and fibrous peat. It requires also a good supply of water in the growing season, so that it must be thoroughly drained. It thrives best in a cool house in which the same temperature is maintained as is found congenial to Odontoglossum Alexandræ, and others of that class.
Odontoglossum Londesboroughianum.—We have been under the impression that this species was not so good as it was first reported to be, but we are now of a different opinion. There are no doubt many varieties of the plant, as is the case with nearly all Orchids. In their native countries they are produced freely from seeds, all of the variations not being equally good. If our collectors could only pick out the best, when in bloom, we should be saved many disappointments, but of course they cannot spend their time in doing this. We were agreeably surprised when we paid a visit to the collection of G. W. Law-Scholefield, Esq., New-Hall-Hey, Rawtenstall, near Manchester, to see a fine spike of the O. Londesboroughianum with twenty-five of its large blossoms, much finer than any we had ever seen before. The sepals and petals are yellow, barred with brown; the lip is large, of a bright golden yellow, and very showy, and, as the long spikes hung drooping among the white and coloured flowers of the other Orchids the effect was very good. No one could complain of having such a species as this, for it is a most showy flower.
Cypripedium insigne.—When calling at Mrs. Haywood’s, Norris Green, Liverpool, a few weeks ago, we were pleased to see a fine specimen of this old Orchid, which was two feet in diameter; on nearly all the numerous scapes there were two flowers, and very fine ones they were. Mr. Bardney, the gardener, informed us that they come so every year, which makes this plant the more interesting, as the character of the species is merely to produce one flower on a stalk. This plant was grown in the grand conservatory, in which there was a most wonderful display of blossom, in fact, the grandest lot of greenhouse flowers we ever remember to have seen in winter, consisting of Pelargoniumns, Primulas, Camellias, Cyclamens, and the Luculia gratissima, with 40 or 50 heads of bloom. There are not many Orchids at this place, but, what there are, are doing well, and are well looked after.