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A CHAT

BY

FREDERICK BOYLE

WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON: CHAPMAN and HALL, LTD.

1893

[All rights reserved |

LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,
ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL, E.C.

INSCRIBE
THIS BOOK TO MY GUIDE, COMFORTER
AND FRIEND,

JOSEPH GODSEFF.

CON LENTS.

MY GARDENING . ; ; ‘ ; : P I
AN ORCHID SALE : . ; : F ., 26
ORCHIDS ; f : : : . ; ; Peay
COOL ORCHIDS . x ; ‘ : : » | 60
WARM ORCHIDS . : ‘ ; - a: : » a3
HOT ORCHIDS. : ‘ ‘ 3 : ae
THE Lost ORCHID . = ‘ 3 ‘ ey
AN ORCHID FARM . : : : ©2163

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING g : : ‘ 2-286

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Piet OF LELUSTRATIONS.

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VANDA SANDERIANA . , : P
ODONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM ALEXANDRA
ONCIDIUM MACRANTHUM .
DENDROBIUM BRYMERIANUM
CcELOGENE PANDURATA

CATTLEYA LABIATA . :

L@LIA ANCEPS SCHROEDERIANA

CYPRIPEDIUM (HYBRIDUM) POLLETTIANUM

PAGE
Frontispiece

Pre 3:
88

rREPACE,

THE purport of this book is shown in the letter
following which I addressed to the editor of the
Dazly News some months ago :—

“T thank you for reminding your readers, by
reference to my humble work, that the delight of
growing orchids can be enjoyed by persons of very
modest fortune. To spread that knowledge is my
contribution to philanthropy, and I make bold to
say that it ranks as high as some which are com-
mended from pulpits and platforms. For your
leader-writer is inexact, though complimentary, in
assuming that any ‘special genius’ enables me to
cultivate orchids without more expense than other
greenhouse plants entail, or even without a gar-
dener. I am happy to know that scores of worthy
gentlemen—ladies too—not more gifted than their
neighbours in any sense, find no greater difficulty.
If the pleasure of one of these be due to any

xl PREFACE.

writings of mine, I have wrought some good in
my generation.”

With the same hope I have collected those
writings, dispersed and buried more or less in
periodicals. The articles in this volume are col-
lected—with permission which I gratefully acknow-
ledge—from The Standard, Saturday Review, St.
James's Gazette, National Review, and Longman’s
Magazine. With some pride I discover, on read-
ing them again, that hardly a statement needs
correction, for they contain many statements, and
some were published years ago. But in this, as
in other lore, a student still gathers facts. The
essays have been brought up to date by additions
—in especial that upon “ Hybridizing,” a theme
which has not interested the great public hitherto,
simply because the great public knows nothing about
it. Thereis not, in fact, so far as I am’aware, any
general record of the amazing and delightful
achievements which have been made therein of
late years. It does not fall within my province to
frame such a record. But at least any person
who reads this unscientific account, not daunted
by the title, will understand the fascination of the
study.

These essays profess to be no more than chat of
a literary man about orchids. They contain a

PREFACE. Xlil

multitude of facts, told in some detail where such
attention seems necessary, which can only be
found elsewhere in baldest outline if found at all.
Everything that relates to orchids has a charm for
me, and IJ have learned to hold it as an article of
faith that pursuits which interest one member of
the cultured public will interest all, if displayed
clearly and pleasantly, in a form to catch attention
at the outset. Savants and professionals have
kept the delights of orchidology to themselves as
yet. They smother them in scientific treatises, or
commit them to dry earth burial in gardening
books. Very few outsiders suspect that any
amusement could be found therein. Orchids are
environed by mystery, pierced now and again by
a brief announcement that something with an
incredible name has been sold for a fabulous
number of guineas; which passing glimpse into
an unknown world makes it more legendary
than before. It is high time such noxious super-
stitions were dispersed. Surely, I think, this
volume will do the good work—if the public will
read it.

The illustrations are reduced from those delight.
ful drawings by Mr. Moon admired throughout
the world in the pages of ‘“ Reichenbachia.”
The licence to use them is one of many favours

xiv PREFACE.

for which I am indebted to the proprietors of that
stately work. 7

I do not give detailed instructions for culture. No
one could be more firmly convinced that a treatise
on that subject is needed, for no one assuredly
has learned, by more varied and disastrous ex-
perience, to see the omissions of the text-books.
They are written for the initiated, though designed
for the amateur. Naturally it isso. A manwho
has been brought up to business can hardly re-
sume the utter ignorance of the neophyte. Un-
consciously he will take a certain degree of know-
ledge for granted, and he will neglect to enforce
those elementary principles which are most im-
portant of all. Nor is the writer of a gardening
book accustomed, as a rule, to marshal his facts
in due order, to keep proportion, to assure himself
that his directions will be exactly understood by
those who know nothing.

The brief hints in “ Reichenbachia ” are admir-
able, but one does not cheerfully refer to an
authority in folio. Messrs. Veitch’s ‘“ Manual of
Orchidaceous Plants” is a model of lucidity and a
mine ofinformation. Repeated editions of Messrs.
B. S. Williams’ “ Orchid Growers’ Manual” have
proved its merit, and, upon the whole, I have no
hesitation in declaring that this is the most useful

PREFACE. Xv

work which has come under my notice. But they
are all adapted for those who have passed the
elementary stage.

Thus, if I have introduced few remarks on
culture, it is not because I think them needless.
The reason may be frankly confessed. I am not
sure that my time would be duly paid. If this
little book should reach a second edition, I will
resume once more the ignorance that was mine
eight years ago, and as a fellow-novice tell the

unskilled amateur how to grow orchids.
FREDERICK BOYLE.

North Lodge, Addiscombe, 1893.

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MY GARDENING.
L

THE contents of my Bungalow gave material for
some “Legends” which perhaps are not yet
universally forgotten. I have added few curiosities
to the list since that work was published. My
days of travel seem to be over ; but in quitting that
happiest way of life—not willingly—I have had
the luck to find another occupation not less inte-
resting, and better suited to grey hairs and stiffened
limbs. This volume deals with the appurtenances
of my Bungalow, as one may say—the orchid-
houses. But a man who has almost forgotten
what little knowledge he gathered in youth about
English plants does not readily turn to that
higher branch of horticulture. More ignorant even
than others, he will cherish all the superstitions and
illusions which environ the orchid family. En-
B

2 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

lightenment is a slow process, and he will make
many experiences before perceiving his true bent.
How I came to grow orchids will be told in this
first article.

The ground at my disposal is a quarter of an
acre. From that tiny area deduct the space
occupied by my house, and it will be seen that
myriads of good people dwelling in the suburbs,
whose garden, to put it courteously, is not sung by
poets, have as much land as I. The aspect is due
north—a grave disadvantage. Upon that side,
from the house-wall to the fence, I have forty-five
feet, on the east fifty feet, on ‘the south sixty feet,
on the west a mere vwe//e, Almost every one who
works out these figures will laugh,and the remainder
sneer. Here’s a garden to write about! That
area might do for a tennis-court or for a general
meeting of Mr. Frederic Harrison’s persuasion.
You might kennel a pack of hounds there, or beat
a carpet, or assemble those members of the cul-
tured class who admire Mr. Gladstone. But grow
flowers—roses—to cut by the basketful, fruit to
make jam for a jam-eating household the year
round, mushrooms, tomatoes, water-lilies, orchids ;
those Indian jugglers who bring a mango-tree to
perfection on your verandah in twenty minutes
might be able to do it, but not a consistent

MY GARDENING. 3

Christian. Nevertheless I affirm that I have done
all these things, and I shall even venture to
make other demands upon the public credulity.

When I first surveyed my garden sixteen years
ago, a big Cupressus stood before the front door,
in a vast round bed one half of which would yield
no flowers at all, and the other half only spindlings.
This was encircled by a carriage-drive! A close
row of limes, supported by more Cupressus, over-
hung the palings all round; a dense little shrub-
bery hid the back door; a weeping-ash, already
tall and handsome, stood to eastward. Curiously
green and snug was the scene under these condi-
tions, rather like a forest glade ; but if the space
available be considered and allowance be made for
the shadow of all those trees, any tiro can calculate
the room left for grass and flowers—and the
miserable appearance of both. Beyond that dense
little shrubbery the soil was occupied with potatoes
mostly, and a big enclosure for hens.

First I dug up the fine Cupressus. They
told me such a big tree could not possibly
“move; but it did, and it now fills an out-
of-the-way place as usefully as ornamentally.
I suppressed the carriage-drive, making a straight
path broad enough for pedestrians only, and
cut down a number of the trees. The blessed

B 2

4 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

sunlight recognized my garden once more. Then
I rooted out the shrubbery; did away with
the fowl-house, using its materials to build
two little sheds against the back fence; dug
up the potato-garden—made fZabula rasa, in
fact ; dismissed my labourers, and considered. I
meant to be my own gardener. But already,
sixteen years ago, I had a dislike of stooping.
To kneel was almost as wearisome. Therefore I
adopted the system of raised beds—common
enough. Returning home, however, after a year’s
absence, I found my oak posts decaying—un-
seasoned, doubtless, when put in. To prevent
trouble of this sort in future, I substituted drain-
pipes set on end; the first of those ideas which
have won commendation from great authorities.
Drain-pipes do not encourage insects. Filled with
earth, each bears a showy plant—lobelia, pyre-
thrum, saxifrage, or what not, with the utmost
neatness, making a border; and they last
eternally. But there was still much stooping, of
course, whilst I became more impatient of it. One
day a remedy flashed through my mind: that
happy thought which became the essence or
principle of my gardening, and makes this account
thereof worth attention perhaps. Why not raise
to a comfortable level all parts of the area over

MY GARDENING. 5

which I had need to bend? Though no horti-
culturist, perhaps, ever had such a thought before,
expense was the sole objection visible. Called
away just then for another long absence, I gave
orders that no “dust” should leave the house;
and found a monstrous heap on my return. The
road-contractors supplied “sweepings” at a
shilling aload. Beginning at the outskirts of my
property, I raised a mound three feet high and
three feet broad, replanted the shrubs on the back
edge, and left a handsome border for flowers. So
well this succeeded, so admirably every plant
throve in that compost, naturally drained and
lifted to the sunlight, that I enlarged my views.
The soil is gravel, peculiarly bad for roses; and
at no distant day my garden was a swamp, not
unchronicled had we room to dwell on such
matters. The bit of lawn looked decent only at
midsummer. I first tackled the rose question.
The bushes and standards, suchas they were, faced
south, of course—that is, behind the house. A
line of fruit-trees there began to shade them
grievously. Experts assured me that if I raised a
bank against these, of such a height as I proposed,
they would surely die; I paid no attention to the
experts, nor did my fruit-trees. The mound
raised is, in fact, a crescent on the inner edge,

6 ABOOT ORCHIDS:

thirty feet broad, seventy feet between the horns,
square at the back behind the fruit-trees ; a walk
runs there, between it and the fence, and in the
narrow space on either hand I grow such herbs as
one cannot easily buy—chervil, chives, tarragon.
Also I have beds of celeriac, and cold frames
which yield a few cucumbers in the summer when
emptied of plants. Not one inch of ground is lost
in my garden.

The roses occupy this crescent. After sinking
to its utmost now, the bank stands two feet six
inches above the gravel path. At that elevation
they defied the shadow for years, and for the most
part they will continue to do so as long as I feel
any interest in their well-being. But there is a
space, the least important fortunately, where the
shade, growing year by year, has got the mastery.
That space I have surrendered frankly, covering it
over with the charming saxifrage, S. hypnoides,
through which in spring push bluebells, prim-
roses, and miscellaneous bulbs, while the exquisite
green carpet frames pots of scarlet geranium and
such bright flowers, movable at will. That saxi-
frage, indeed, is one of my happiest devices.
Finding that grass would not thrive upon the
steep bank of my mounds, I dotted them over
with tufts of it, which have spread, until at this

MY GARDENING. 7

time they are clothed in vivid green the year
round, and white as an untouched snowdrift in
spring. Thus also the foot-wide paths of my rose-
beds are edged ; and a neater or a lovelier border
could not be imagined.

With such a tiny space of ground the choice of
roses is very important. Hybrids take up too
much room for general service. One must have
a few for colour; but the mass should be Teas,
Noisettes, and, above all, Bengals. This day, the
second week in October, I can pick fifty roses ;
and I expect to do so every morning till the
end of the month ina sunny autumn. They will
be mostly Bengals; but there are two exquisite
varieties sold by Messrs. Paul—I forget which
of them—nearly as free flowering. These are
Camoens and Mad. J. Messimy. They have a
tint unlike any other rose; they grow strongly
for their class, and the bloom is singularly
graceful.

The tiny but vexatious lawn was next attacked.
I stripped off the turf, planted drain-pipes along
the gravel walk, filled in with road-sweepings to
the level of their tops, and relaid the turf. It is
now a little picture of a lawn. Each drain-pipe
was planted with a cutting of ivy, which now form

a beautiful evergreen roll beside the path. Thus

8 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

as you walk in my garden, everywhere the ground
is more or less above its natural level ; raised so
high here and there that you cannot look over the
plants which crown the summit. Any gardener at
least will understand how luxuriantly everything
grows and flowers under such conditions. Enthu-
Siastic visitors declare that I have “scenery,” and
picturesque effects, and delightful surprises, in my
quarter-acre of ground! Certainly I have flowers
almost enough, and fruit, and perfect seclusion
also. Though there are houses all round within
a few yards, you catch but a glimpse of them at
certain points while the trees are still clothed.
Those mounds are all the secret.

rm:

I WAS my own gardener, and sixteen years ago I
knew nothing whatever of the business. The
process of education was almost as amusing as
expensive ; but that fashion of humour is thread-
bare. In those early days I would have none of
your geraniums, hardy perennials, and such com-

27)

mon things. Diligently studying the “ growers

MY GARDENING. 9

catalogues, I looked out, not novelties alone, but
curious novelties. Not one of them “did any good”
to the best of my recollection. Impatient and dis-
gusted, I formed several extraordinary projects to
evade my ignorance of horticulture. Among
others which I recollect was an idea of growing
bulbs the year round! No trouble with bulbs!
you just plant them and they do their duty. A
patient friend at Kew made mea list of genera and
species which, if all went well, should flower in
succession. But there was a woeful gap about
midsummer—just the time when gardens ought
to be brightest. Still, I resolved to carry out the
scheme, so far as it went, and forwarded my list to
Covent Garden for an estimate of the expense.
It amounted to some hundreds of pounds. So that
notion fell through.

But the patient friend suggested something for
which I still cherish his memory. He pointed
out that bulbs look very formal mostly, unless
planted in great quantities,as may be done with
the cheap sorts—tulips and such. An_ under-
growth of low brightly-coloured annuals would
correct this disadvantage. I caught the hint, and
I profit by it to this more enlightened day.
Spring bulbs are still a spécralité of my gardening.
I buy them fresh every autumn—but of Messrs.

fe) ABOCH (ORCHIDS.

Protheroe and Morris, in Cheapside; not at the
dealers’. Thus they are comparatively inexpen-
sive. After planting my tulips, narcissus,and such
tall things, however, I clothe the beds with forget-
me-not or Szlene pendula, or both, which keep
them green through the winter and form a dense
carpet in spring. Through it the bulbs push, and
both flower at the same time. Thus my brilliant
tulips, snowy narcissus poeticus, golden daffodils,
rise above and among a sheet of blue or pink—
one or the other to match their hue—and look
infinitely more beautiful on that ground colour. I
venture to say, indeed, that no garden on earth can
be more lovely than mine while the forget-me-not
and the bulbs are flowering together. This may
be a familiar practice, but I never met with it
elsewhere.

Another wild scheme I recollect. Water-plants
need no attention. The most skilful horticul-
turist cannot improve, the most ignorant cannot
harm them. I seriously proposed to convert my
lawn into a tank two feet deep lined with Roman
cement and warmed by a furnace, there to grow
tropical nympheza, with a vague “etcetera.” The
idea was not so absolutely mad as the unlearned may
think, for two of my relatives were first and second
to flower Victorza Regia in the open-air—but they

MY GARDENING. II

had more than a few feet of garden. The chances
go, in fact, that it would have been carried through
had I been certain of remaining in England for the
time necessary. Meanwhile I constructed two
big tanks of wood lined with sheet-zinc, and a
small one to stand on legs. The experts were
much amused. Neither fish nor plant, they said,
could live in a zinc vessel. They proved to be
right in the former case, but utterly wrong in the
latter—which, you will observe, is their special
domain. I grew all manner of hardy nympheza
and aquatics for years, until my big tanks sprung
a leak. Having learned by that time the A BC,
at least, of ¢erra-firma gardening, I did not trouble
to have them mended. On the contrary, making
more holes, I filled the centre with Pampas grass
and variegated Eulalias, set lady-grass and others
round, and bordered the whole with lobelia—
renewing, in fact, somewhat of the spring effect.
Next year, however, I shall plant them with
Anomatheca cruenta — quaintest of flowering
grasses, ifa grass it must be called. This charm-
ing species from South Africa is very little known ;
readers who take the hint will be grateful to me.
They will find it decidedly expensive bought by
the plant, as growers prefer to sell. But, with a
little pressing seed may be obtained, and it

I2 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

multiplies fast. I find Anomatheca cruenta hardy
in my sheltered garden.

The small tank on legs still remains, and I cut
a few Nymphaea odorata every year. But it is
mostly given up to Afonogeton adzstachyon—the
“Cape lily.’ They seed very freely in the open ;
and if this tank lay in the ground, long since their
exquisite white flowers, so strange in shape and so
powerful of scent, would have stood as thick as
blades of grass upon it—such a lovely sight as was
beheld in the garden of the late Mr. Harrison, at
Shortlands. But being raised two feet or so, with
a current of air beneath, its contents are frozen to
a solid block, soil and all, again and again, each
winter. That a Cape plant should survive such
treatment seems incredible—contrary to all the
books. But my established Aponogeton do some-
how; only the seedlings perish. Here again is a
useful hint, I trust. But evidently it would be
better, if convenient, to take the bulbs indoors
before frost sets in.

Having water thus at hand, it very soon occurred
to me to make war upon the slugs by propagating
their natural enemies. Those banks and borders
of Saxifraga hypnoides, to which I referred for-
merly, exact some precaution of the kind. Much
as every one who sees admires them, the slugs, no

MY GARDENING. 13

doubt, are more enthusiastic still. Therefore I do
not recommend that idea, unless it be supple-
mented by some effective method of combating a
grave disadvantage. My own may not commend
itself to every one. Each spring I entrust some
casual little boy with a pail ; he brings it back full
of frog-spawn and receives sixpence. I speculate
sometimes with complacency how many thou-
sand of healthy and industrious batrachians I
have reared and turned out for the benefit of my
neighbours. Enough perhaps, but certainly no
more, remain to serve me—that I know because
the slugs give very little trouble in spite of the
most favourable circumstances. You can always
find frogs in my garden by looking for them, but
of the thousands hatched every year, ninety-nine
per cent. mustvanish. Do blackbirds and thrushes
eat young frogs? They are strangely abundant
with me. But those who cultivate tadpoles must
look over the breeding-pond from time to time.
My whole batch was devoured one year by
“devils”—the larve of Dytiscus marginalis, the
Plunger beetle. I have benefited, or at least have
puzzled my neighbours also by introducing to
them another sort of frog. Three years ago I
bought twenty-five Hyloe, the pretty green tree
species, to dwell in my Odontoglossum house and

14 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

exterminate the insects. Every ventilator there
is covered with perforated zinc—to prevent insects
setting in; but, by some means approaching the
miraculous, all my Hylce contrived to escape.
Several were caught in the garden and put back,
but again they found their way to the open-air ;
and presently my fruit-trees became vocal. So
far, this is the experience of every one, probably,
who has tried to keep green frogs. Butin my case
they survived two winters—one which everybody
recollects, the most severe of this generation. My
frogs sang merrily through the summer; but
all in a neighbour’s garden. I am not acquainted
with that family; but it is cheering to think how
much innocent diversion I have provided for its
members.

Pleasant also it is, by the way, to vindicate the
character of green frogs. I never heard them
spoken of by gardeners but with contempt. Not
only do they persist in escaping ; more than that,
they decline to catch insects, sitting motionless all
day long—pretty, if you like, but useless. The
fact is, that all these creatures are nocturnal of
habit. Very few men visit their orchid-houses at
night, as I do constantly. They would see the
frogs active enough then, creeping with wondrous
dexterity among the leaves, and springing like a

MY GARDENING. 15

green flash upon their prey. Naturally, therefore,
they do not catch thrips or mealy-bug or aphis ;
these are too small game for the midnight sports-
man. Wood-lice,centipedes, above all, cockroaches,
those hideous and deadly foes of the orchid, are
their victims. All who can keep them safe should
have green frogs by the score in every house which
they do not fumigate.

I have come to the orchids at last. It follows,
indeed, almost of necessity that a man who has
travelled much, an enthusiast in horticulture,
should drift into that branch as years advance.
Modesty would be out of place here. I have
had successes, and if it please Heaven, I shall win
more. But orchid culture is not to be dealt with
at the end of an article.

eae

IN the days of my apprenticeship I put up a big
ereenhouse: unable to manage plants in the open-
air, I expected to succeed with them under un-
natural conditions! These memories are strung
together with the hope of encouraging a forlorn
and desperate amateur here or there ; and surely

16 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

that confession will cheer him. However deep his
ignorance, it could not possibly be more finished
than mine some dozen years ago; and yet If may
say, Je suzs arrivé! What that greenhouse cost,
“ chilled remembrance shudders ”’ to recall ; briefly,
six times the amount, at least, which I should find
ample now. And it was all wrong when done;
not a trace of the original arrangement remains at
this time, but there are inherent defects. Nothing
throve, of course—except the insects. Mildew
seized my roses as fast as I put them in;
camellias dropped their buds with rigid punctu-
ality ; azaleas were devoured by thrips ; “ bugs,”
mealy and scaly, gathered to the feast ; geraniums
and pelargoniums grew like giants, but declined to
flower. I consulted the local authority who was
responsible for the well-being of a dozen gardens
in the neighbourhood—an expert with a character
to lose, from whom I bought largely. Said he,
after a thorough inspection: “ This concrete floor
holds the water ; you must have it swept carefully
night and morning.” That worthy man had a
large business. His advice was sought by scores
of neighbours like myself. And I tell the story as
a warning; for he represents no small section of
his class. My plants wanted not less but a great
deal more water on that villainous concrete floor.

MY GARDENING. 17

Despairing of horticulture indoors as out, I
sometimes thought of orchids. I had seen much
of them in their native homes, both East and
West—enough to understand that their growth is
governed by strict law. Other plants—roses and
so forth—are always playing tricks. They must
have this and that treatment at certain times, the
nature of which could not be precisely described,
even if gardening books were written by men used
to carry all the points of a subject in their minds,
and to express exactly what they mean. Expe-
rience alone, of rather a dirty and uninteresting
class, will give the skill necessary for success.
And then they commit villanies of ingrati-
tude beyond explanation. I knew that orchids
must be quite different. Each class demands
certain conditions as a preliminary: if none of
them can be provided, it is a waste of money to
buy plants. But when the needful conditions are
present, and the poor things, thus relieved of a
ceaseless preoccupation, can attend to business, it
follows like a mathematical demonstration that if
you treat them in such and such a way, such and
such results will assuredly ensue. Iwas not aware
then that many defy the most patient analysis of
cause and effect. That knowledge is familiar now ;
but it does not touch the argument. Those cases

C

18 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

also are governed by rigid laws, which we do not
yet understand.

Therefore I perceived or suspected, at an early
date, that orchid culture is, as one may say, the
natural province of an intelligent and enthusiastic
amateur who has not the technical skill required
for growing common plants. For it is brain-work
—the other mechanical. But I shared the popular
notion—which seems so very absurd now—that
they are costly both to purchase and to keep:
shared it so ingenuously that I never thought to
ask myself how or why they could be more expen-
sive, after the first outlay, than azaleas or gardenias.
And meanwhile I was laboriously and impatiently
gathering some comprehension of the ordinary
plants. It was accident which broke the spell
of ignorance. Visiting Stevens’ Auction Rooms
one day to buy bulbs, I saw a Cattleya Mossia, in
bloom, which had not found a purchaser at the
last orchid sale. A lucky impulse tempted me to
ask the price. “ Four shillings,” said the invalu-
able Charles. I could not believe it—there must
be a mistake: as if Charles ever made a mistake in
his life! When he repeated the price, however, I
seized that precious Cattleya, slapped down the
money, and fled with it along King Street, fearing
pursuit. Since no one followed, and Messrs.

MY GARDENING. 19

Stevens did not write within the next few days
reclaiming my treasure, I pondered the incident
calmly. Perhaps they had been selling bankrupt
stock, and perhaps they often do so. Presently I
returned.

“Charles!” I said, “you sold me a Cattleya
Mossi@ the other day.”

Charles, in shirt-sleeves of course, was analyzing
and summing up half a hundred loose sheets of
figures, as calm and sure as a calculating machine.
“TI know I did, sir,” he replied, cheerfully.

“It was rather dear, wasn’t it ?”’ I said.

“That’s your business, sir,” he laughed.

“Could I often get an established plant of
Cattleya Mossi@ in flower for 4s.?” I asked.

“ Give me the order, and I'll supply as many as
you are likely to want within a month.”

That was a revelation ; and I tell the little story
because I know it will be a revelation to many
others. People hear of great sums paid for
orchids, and they fancy that such represent only
the extreme limits of an average. In fact, they
have no relation whatsoever to the ordinary price.
One of our largest general growers, who has but
lately begun cultivating those plants, tells me that
half-a-crown is the utmost he has paid for Cattle-
yas and Dendrobes, one shilling for Odonto-

C2

20 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

slots and Oncidiums. At these rates he has
now a fine collection, many turning up among the
lot for which he asks, and gets, as many pounds
as the pence he gave. For such are imported, of
course, and sold at auction as they arrive. This
is not an article on orchids, but on “ My Garden-
ing,” or I could tell some extraordinary tales.
Briefly, I myself once bought a case two feet long,
a foot wide, half-full of Odontoglossums for 8s. 6d.
They were small bits, but perfect in condition.
Of the fifty-three pots they made, not one, I think,
has been lost. I sold the less valuable some years
ago, when established and tested, at a fabulous
profit. Another time I bought three “strings” of
O. Alexandre, the Pacho variety, which is finest,
for 15s. They filled thirty-six pots, some three to
a pot, for I could not make room for them all
singly. Again—but this isenough. I only wish to
demonstrate, for the service of very small amateurs
like myself, that costliness at least is no obstacle if
they have a fancy for ‘this culture: unless, of
course, they demand wonders and “ specimens.”
That Cattleya Mosste@ was my first orchid,
bought in 1884. It dwindled away, and many
another followed it to limbo ; but I knew enough,
as has been said, to feel neither surprised nor
angry. First of all, it is necessary to understand

MY GARDENING. 21

the general conditions, and tosecure them. Books
give little help in this stage of education ; they all
lack detail in the preliminaries. I had not the
good fortune to come across a friend or a gardener
who grasped what was wrong until I found out for
myself. For instance, no one told me that the
concrete flooring of my house was a fatal error,
When, a little disheartened, I made a new one, by
glazing that rwelle mentioned in the preliminary
survey of my garden, they allowed me to repeat it.
Ingenious were my contrivances to keep the air
moist, but none answered. It is not easy to finda
material trim and clean which can be laid over
concrete, but unless one can discover such, it is
useless to grow orchids. I have no doubt that
ninety-nine cases of failure in a hundred among
amateurs are due to an_ unsuitable flooring.
Glazed tiles, so common, are infinitely worst ofall.
May my experience profit others in like case!
Looking over the trade list of a man who manu-
factures orchid-pots one day, I observed, “ Sea-
sand for Garden Walks,” and the preoccupation of
years was dissipated. Sea-sand will hold water,
yet will keep a firm, clean surface; it needs no
rolling, does not show footprints nor muddy a
visitor’s boots. By next evening the floors were
covered therewith six inches deep, and forthwith

22 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

my orchids began to flourish—not only to live.
Long since, of course, I had provided a supply of
water from the main to each house for “damping
down.” All round them now a leaden pipe was
fixed, with pin-holes twelve inches apart, and a
length of indiarubber hose at the end to fix upon
the “stand-pipe.” Attaching this, I turn the cock,
and from each tiny hole spurts forth a jet, which
in ten minutes will lay the whole floor under
water, and convert the house into a shallow pond ;
but five minutes afterwards not a sign of the
deluge is visible. Then I felt the joys of orchid
culture. Much remained to learn—much still
remains. We have some five thousand species in
cultivation, of which an alarming number demand
some difference of treatment if one would grow
them to perfection. The amateur does not easily
collect nor remember all this, and he is apt to be
daunted if he inquire too deeply before “letting
himself go.” Such in especial I would encourage.
Perfection is always a noble aim ; but orchids do
not exact it—far from that! The dear creatures
will struggle to fulfil your hopes, to correct your
errors, with pathetic patience. Give them but a
chance, and they will await the progress of your
education. That chance lies, as has been said, in
the general conditions—the degree of moisture you

MY GARDENING. 23

can keep in the air, the ventilation, and the light.
These secured, you may turn up the books, con-
sult the authorities, and gradually accumulate the
knowledge which will enable you to satisfy the
preferences of each class. So, in good time, you
may enjoy such a thrill of pleasure as I felt the
other day when a great pundit was good enough
to pay me acall. He entered my tiny Odonto-
glossum house, looked round, looked round again,
and turned to me. “Sir,” he said, “ we don’t call
this an amateur’s collection !”

I have jotted down such hints of my experience
as may be valuable to others, who, as Juvenal put
it, own buta single lizard’s run of earth. That
space is enough to yield endless pleasure, amuse-
ment, and indeed profit, if a man cultivate it him-
self. Enthusiast as I am, I would not accept

another foot of garden.’

1 Tt is not inappropriate to record that when these
articles were published in the Sz, James’ Gazette, the editor
received several communications warning him that his con-
tributor was abusing his good faith—to put it in the mild
French phrase. Happily, my friend was able to reply that
he could personally vouch for the statements.

24 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

AN ORCHID, SALE

SHORTLY after noon on a sale day, the habitual
customers of Messrs. Protheroe and Morris begin
to assemble in Cheapside. On tables of roughest
plank round the auction-rooms there, are neatly
ranged the various lots ; bulbs and sticks of every
shape, big and little, withered or green, dull or
shining, with a brown leaf here and there, or a
mass of roots dry as last year’s bracken. No
promise do they suggest of the brilliant colours
and strange forms buried in embryo within their
uncouth bulk. On a cross table stand some
dozens of “established” plants in pots and
baskets, which the owners would like to part
with. Their growths of this year are verdant,
but the old bulbs look almost as sapless as those
new atrivals. Very few are in flower just now—
July and August are a time of pause betwixt the
glories of the Spring and the milder effulgence of
Autumn. Some great Dendrobes—D. Dalhousia-

num—are bursting into untimely bloom, betraying

AN ORCHID SALE, 25

to the initiated that their “ establishment” is little
more than a phrase. Those garlands of bud were
conceived, so to speak, in Indian forests, have lain
dormant through the long voyage, and began to
show a few days since when restored to a con-
genial atmosphere. All our interest concentrates
in the unlovely things along the wall.

The habitual attendants at an auction-room are
always somewhat of a family party, but, asa rule,
an ugly one. It is quite different with the regular
sroup of orchid-buyers. No black sheep there.
A dispute is the rarest of events, and when it
happens everybody takes for granted that the
cause is a misunderstanding. The professional
srowers are men of wealth, the amateurs men of
standing at least. All know each other, and a
cheerful familiarity rules. We have a duke in
person frequently, who compares notes and asks a
hint from the authorities around; some clergy-
men; gentry of every rank; the recognized
agents of great cultivators, and, of course, the
representatives of the large trading firms. So
narrow even yet is the circle of orchidaceans that
almost all the faces at a sale are recognized, and
if one wish to learn the names, somebody present
can nearly always supply them. There is reason
to. hope that this will not be the case much

26 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

longer. As the mysteries and superstitions en-
vironing the orchid are dispersed, our small and
select throng of buyers will be swamped, no
doubt ; and if a certain pleasing feature of the
business be lost, all who love the flower and their
fellow-men alike will cheerfully submit.

The talk is of orchids mostly, as these gentlemen
stroll along the tables, lifting a root and scruti-
nizing it with practised glance that measures its
vital strength in a second. But nurserymen take
advantage of the gathering to show any curious or
striking flower they chance to have at the moment.
Mr. Bull’s representative goes round, showing to
one and another the contents of a little box—a
lovely bloom of Aristolochia elegans, figured in
dark red on white ground like a sublime cretonne
—and a new variety of Impatiens; he distributes
the latter presently, and gentlemen adorn their
coats with the pale crimson flower.

Excitement does not often run so high as in the
times, which most of those present can recall,
when orchids common now were treasured by
millionaires. Steam, and the commercial enter-
prise it fosters, have so multiplied our stocks,
that shillings—or pence, often enough—represent
the guineas of twenty years back. There are
many here, scarcely yet grey, who could describe

AN ORCHID SALE. 27

the scene when Masdevallia Tovarensis first
covered the stages of an auction-room. Its
dainty white flowers had been known for several
years. A resident in the German colony at
Tovar, New Granada, sent one plant to a friend
at Manchester, by whom it was divided. Each
fragment brought a great sum, and the purchasers
repeated this operation as fast as their morsels
grew. Thus a conventional price was established
—one guinea per leaf. Importers were few in
those days, and the number of Tovars in South
America bewildered them. At length Messrs.
Sander got on the track, and commissioned Mr.
Arnold to solve the problem. Arnold was a man
of great energy and warm temper. Legend
reports that he threw up the undertaking once
because a gun offered him was second-hand ; his
prudence was vindicated afterwards by the mis-
fortune of aconfréere, poor Berggren, whose second-
hand gun, presented by a Belgian employer,
burst at a critical moment and crippled him for
life. At the very moment of starting, Arnold had
trouble with the railway officials. He was taking
a quantity of Sphagnum moss in which to wrap
the precious things, and they refused to Ict him
carry it by passenger train. The station-master at
Waterloo had never felt the atmosphere so warm,

28 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

they say. In brief, this was a man who stood no
nonsense.

A young fellow-passenger showed much sym-
pathy while the row went on, and Arnold
learned with pleasure that he also was bound for
Caraccas. This young man, whose name it is not
worth while to cite, presented himself as agent for
a manufacturer of Birmingham goods. There was
no need for secrecy with a person of that sort.
He questioned Arnold about orchids with a blank
but engaging ignorance of the subject, and before
the voyage was over he had learned all his friend’s
hopes and projects. But the deception could not
be maintained at Caraccas. There Arnold dis-
covered that the hardware agent was a collector
and grower of orchids sufficiently well known. He
said nothing, suffered his rival to start, overtook
him ata village where the man was taking supper,
marched in, barred the door, sat down opposite,
put a revolver on the table, and invited him to
draw. It should be a fair fight, said Arnold, but
one of the pair must die. So convinced was the
traitor of his earnestness—with good reason, too,
as Arnold’s acquaintances declare—that he slipped
under the table, and discussed terms of abject sur-
render from that retreat. So, in due time, Messrs.

Sander received more than forty thousand plants

AN ORCHID SALE. 29

of Masdevallia Tovarensis—-sent them direct to
the auction-room—and drove down the price in one
month from a guinea a leaf to the fraction of a
shilling.

Other great sales might be recalled, as
that of Pkhalenopsis Sanderiana and Vanda
Sanderiana, when asum as yet unparalleled was
taken in the room; Cypripedium Spicerianum,
Cyp. Curtisiz, Lela anceps alba. Rarely now are
we thrilled by sensations like these. But 1891
brought two of the old-fashioned sort, the re-
appearance of Cattleya labiata autumnalis and the
public sale of Dendrobium phalenopsis Schro-
derranum. The former event deserves a special
article, ‘‘ The Lost Orchid ;” but the latter also was
most interesting. Messrs. Sander are the heroes
of both. Dendrobium ph. Schroederianum was not
quite a novelty. The authorities of Kew obtained
two plants from an island in Australasia a good
many yearsago. They presented a piece to Mr.
Lee of Leatherhead, and another to Baron
Schroeder ; when_Mr. Lee’s grand collection was
dispersed, the Baron bought his plant also, for
£35, and thus possessed the only specimens in
private hands. His name was given to the
species,

Under these conditions, the man lucky and

30 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

enterprising enough to secure a few cases of the
Dendrobium might:look for a grand return. It
seemed likely that New Guinea would prove to be
its chief habitat, and thither Mr. Micholitz was
despatched. He found it without difficulty, and
collected a great number of plants. But then
troubles began. The vessel which took them
aboard caught fire in port, and poor Micholitz
escaped with bare life. He telegraphed the
disastrous news, “ Ship burnt! What do?” “Go
back,” replied his employer. “Too late. Rainy
season,’ was the answer. “Go back!” Mr.
Sander repeated. Back he went.

This was in Dutch territory. “Well,” writes
Mr. Micholitz, “there is no doubt these are the
meanest people on earth. On my telling them
that it was very mean to demand anything from a
shipwrecked man, they gave me thirty per cent.
deduction on my passage”—z2oI1 dollars instead
of 280 dollars. However, he reached New Guinea
once more and tried fresh ground, having ex-
hausted the former field. Again he found the
Dendrobiums, of better quality and in greater
number than before. But they were growing
among bones and skeletons, in the graveyard of
the natives. Those people lay their dead ina
slight coffin, which they place upon the rocks just

AN ORCHID SALE. 31

above high tide, a situation which the Dendrobes
love. Mr. Micholitz required all his tact and all
his most attractive presents before he could
persuade the Papuans to let him even approach.
But brass wire proved irresistible. They not only
suffered him to disturb the bones of their ancestors,
but even helped him to stow the plunder. One
condition they made: that a favourite idol should
be packed therewith; this admitted, they per-
formed a war dance round the cases, and assisted
in transporting them. All went well this time,
and in due course the tables were loaded with
thousands of a plant which, before the consign-
ment was announced, had been the special glory
of a collection which is among the richest of the
universe.

There were two memorable items in this sale:
the idol aforesaid and a skull to which one of the
Dendrobes had attached itself. Both were ex-
hibited as trophies and curiosities, not to be dis-
posed of; but by mistake, the idol was put up,
It fetched only a trifle—quite as much as it was
worth, however. But Hon. Walter de Rothschild
fancied it for ,jhis museum, and on learning what
had happened Mr. Sander begged the purchaser
to name his own price. That individual refused.

It was a great day indeed. Very many of the

32 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

leading orchid-growers of the world were present,
and almost all had their gardeners or agents there.
Such success called rivals into the field, but New
Guinea is a perilous land to explore. Only last
week we heard that Mr. White, of Winchmore Hill,
has perished in the search for Dendrobtum ph.
Schroederitanum.

I mentioned the great sale of Cyp. Curtzsz
justnow. An odd little story attaches to it. Mr.
Curtis, now Director of the Botanic Gardens,
Penang, sent this plant home from Sumatra
when travelling for Messrs. Veitch, in 1882. The
consignment was small, no more followed, and
Cyp. Curtist became a prize. Its habitat was un-
known. Mr. Sander instructed his collector to
look for it. Five years the search lasted—with
many intermissions, of course, and many a success
in discovering other fine things. But Mr. Ericks-
son despaired at last. In one of his expeditions
to Sumatra he climbed a mountain—it has been
observed before that one must not ask details of
locality when collecting orchid legends. So well
known is this mountain, however, that the
Government, Dutch I presume, has built a shelter
for travellers upon it. There Mr. Ericksson put
up for the night. Several Europeans had in-
scribed their names upon the wall, with reflections

AN ORCHID SALE. 33

and sentiments, as is the wont of people who climb
mountains. Among these, by the morning light,
Mr. Ericksson perceived the sketch of a Cypri-
pedium, as he lay upon his rugs. It represented a
green flower, white tipped, veined and spotted
with purple, purple of lip. “ Curtisz, by Jove!”
he cried, in his native Swedish, and jumped up.
No doubt of it! Beneath the drawing ran:
“C. Cs contribution to the adornment of this
house.” Whipping out his pencil, Mr. Ericksson
wrote: “Contribution accepted. Cypripedium
collected!—C.E.” But day by day he sought
the plant in vain. His cases filled with other
treasures. But for the hope that sketch conveyed,
long since he would have left the spot. After all,
Mr. Curtis might have chosen the flower by mere
chance to decorate the wall. The natives did not
know it. So orders were given to pack, and next
day Mr. Ericksson would have withdrawn. Onthe
very evening, however, one of his men brought in
the flower. A curious story, if one think, but J
am in a position to guarantee its truth.

Of another class, but not less renowned in
its way, was the sale of March 11th last year.
It had been heavily advertised. A leading con-
tinental importer announced the discovery of a
new Odontoglossum. No less than six varieties

D

34 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

of type were employed to call public attention to
its merits, and this was really no extravagant
allowance under the circumstances alleged. It
was a “grand new species,’ destined to be a
“oem in the finest collections,” a “favourite,” the
“most attractive of plants.” Its flowers were wholly
“tinged with a most delicate mauve, the base of the
segment and the lip of a most charming violet ”—
in short, it was “ the blue Odontoglossum ” and well
deserved the title cvleste. And the whole stock
of two hundred plants would be offered to British
enthusiasm. No wonder the crowd was thick at
Messrs. Protheroe’s room on that March morning.
Few leading amateurs or growers who could not
attend in person were unrepresented. At the
psychological moment, when eagerness had reached
the highest pitch, an orchid was brought in and set
before them. Those experienced persons glanced
at it and said, “ Very nice, but haven’t you an
Odontoglossum caleste to show?” The unhappy
agent protested that this was the divine thing. No
one would believe at first ; the joke was too good
—to put it in that mild form. When at length it
became evident that this grand new species,
heavenly gem, &c., was the charming but familiar
Odontoglossum ramossissimum, such a tumult of
laughter and indignation arose, that Messrs.

AN ORCHID SALE. 35

Protheroe quashed thesale. A few other instances
of the kind might be given but none so grand.
The special interest of the sale to us lies in some
novelties collected by Mr. Edward Wallace in parts
unknown, and he is probably among us. Mr.
Wallace has no adventures in particular to relate
this time, but he tells, with due caution, where and
how his treasures were gathered in South America.
There is a land which those who have geographical
knowledge sufficient may identify, surrounded by
the territories of Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Vene-
zuela, and Brazil. It is traversed by some few
Indian tribes, and no collector hitherto had pene-
trated it. Mr. Wallace followed the central line of
mountains from Colombia for a hundred and fifty
miles, passing a succession of rich valleys described
as the loveliest ever seen by this veteran young
traveller, such as would support myriads of cattle.
League beyond league stretches the “ Pajadena
grass,” pasturage unequalled ; but “ the wild herds
that never knew a fold” are its only denizens.
Here, on the mountain slopes, Mr. Wallace found
Bletia Sherrattiana, the white form, very rare ;
another terrestrial orchid, unnamed and, as is
thought, unknown, which sends up a branching
spike two feet to three feet high, bearing ten to
twelve flowers, of rich purple hue, in shape like a
D2

36 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Sobralia, three and four inches across; and yet
another of the same family, growing on the rocks,
and “‘ looking like masses of snow on the hill-side.”
Such descriptions are thrilling, but these gentle-
men receive them placidly; they would like to
know, perhaps, what is the reserve price on such
fine things, and what the chance of growing them
to a satisfactory result. Dealers have a profound
distrust of novelties, especially those of terrestrial
genus ; and their feeling is shared, fora like reason,
by most who have large collections. Mr. Burbidge
estimates roughly that we have fifteen hundred to
two thousand species and varieties of orchid in
cultivation ; a startling figure, which almost justi-
fies the belief of those who hold that no others
worth growing will be found in countries already
explored. But beyond question there are six
times this number in existence, which collectors
have not taken the trouble to gather. The chances,
therefore, are against any new thing. Many
species well known show slight differences of
srowth in different localities. Upon the whole,
regular orchidaceans prefer that some one else
should try experiments, and would rather pay a
good price, when assured that it is worth their while,
than a few shillings when the only certainty is
trouble and the strong probability is failure. Mr.

AN ORCHID SALE. 0

Wallace has nothing more to tell of the undis-
covered country. The Indians received him with
composure, after he had struck up friendship with
an old woman, and for the four days of his stay
made themselves both useful and agreeable in
their fashion.

The auctioneer has been chatting among his
customers. He feels an interest in his wares,
as who would not that dealt in objects of the
extremest beauty and fascination? To him
are consigned occasionally plants of unusual
class, which the owner regards as unique, and
expects to sell at the fanciest of prices. Unique
indeed they must be which can pass unchallenged
the ordeal of those keen and learned eyes.
Plumeria alba, for instance, may be laid before
them, and by no inexperienced horticulturist,
with such a “reserve” as befits one of the most
exquisite flowers known, and the only specimen
in England. Buta quiet smile goes round, anda
gentleman present offers, in an audible whisper,
to send in a dozen of that next week at a
fraction of the price. So pleasant chat goes on,
until, at the stroke of half-past twelve, the
auctioneer mounts his rostrum. First to come
before him are a hundred lots of Odontoglossum
crispum Alexandre, described as of “the very

38 ABOUT ORCHIDS..

best type, and in splendid condition.” For the
latter point everyone present is able to judge,
and for the former all are willing to accept the
statements of vendors. The glossy bulbs are clean
as new pins, with the small “eye” just bursting
among their roots; but nobody seems to want
Odontoglossum Alexandre in particular. One
neat little bunch is sold for 11s., which will surely
bear a wreath of white flowers, splashed with red
brown, in the spring—perhaps two. And then
bidding ceases. The auctioneer exclaims, ‘‘ Does
anybody want any crespums?” and instantly
passes by the ninety-nine lots remaining.

It would mislead the unlearned public, and
would not greatly interest them, to go through
the catalogue of an orchid sale and quote the
selling price of every lot. From week to week the
value of these things’ fluctuates—that is, of course,
of bulbs imported and unestablished. Various
circumstances effect it, but especially the time of
year. They sell best in spring, when they have
months of light and sun before them, in which to
recover from the effects of a long voyage and
uncomfortable quarters. The buyer must make
them grow strong before the dark days of an
English winter are upon him ; and every month
that passes weakens his chance. In August it is

AN ORCHID SALE. 39

already late ; in September, the periodical auctions
ceased until lately. Some few consignments will
be received, detained by accident, or forwarded
by persons who do not understand the business.
That instance of Odontoglossum Alexandre
shows well enough the price of orchids this
month, and the omission of all that followed
illustrates it. The same lots would have been
eagerly contested at twice the sum in April.
But those who want that queenliest of flowers
may get it for shillings at any time. The repu-
tation of the importer, and his assurance that the
plants belong to the very best type, give these
more value than usual. He will try his-luck once
more perhaps this season ; and then he will pot

the bulbs unsold to offer them as “established ”
next year.

Oncidium luridum follows the Odontoglots, a
broad-leaved, handsome orchid, which the un-
trained eye might think to have no pseudo-bulb at
all. This species always commands a sale, if cheap,
and ten shillings isa reasonable figure for a piece
of common size. If all go well, it may throw out
a branching spike six or seven feet long next
summer, with—such a sight has been offered—
several hundred blooms, yellow, brown and orange,
Oncidium junctfolium, which comes next, is un-

a

40 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

known to us, and probably to others ; no offer is
made for its reed-like growths described as “very
free blooming all the year round, with small
yellow flowers.” Lpzdendrum bicornutum, on the
other hand, is very well known and deeply
admired, when seen ; but this is an event too rare.
The description of its exquisite white blossoms,
crimson spotted on the lip, is still rather a legend
than a matter of eye-witness. Somebody is
reported to have grown it for some years “like a

)

cabbage;” but his success was a mystery to
himself. At Kew they find no trouble in certain
parts of a certain house. Most of these, however,
are fine growths, and the average price should be
12s. 6d. to 15s. Compare such figures with those
that ruled when the popular impression of the cost
of orchids was forming. I have none at hand
which refer to the examples mentioned, but in the
cases following, one may safely reckon shillings at
the present day for pounds in 1846. That year, I
perceive, such common species as Sarkeria
spectabilis fetched 57. to 172. each; Epidendrum
Stamfordianum, five guineas ; Dendrobium formo-
sum, fifteen guineas; Aerzdes maculosum, crispum
and odoraium 20/., 21/7, and 16/., respectively. No
one who understands orchids will believe that the

specimens which brought such monstrous prices

AN ORCHID SALE. 41

were superior in any respect to those we now
- receive, and he will be absolutely sure that they
were landed in much worse condition. But the
average cost of the most expensive at the present
day might be 30s., and only a large piece would
fetch that sum. It is astonishing to me that so
few people grow orchids. Every modern book on
gardening tells how five hundred varieties at
least, the freest to flower and assuredly as beautiful
as any, may be cultivated without heat for seven
or eight months of the year, It is those “legends,”
I have spoken of which deter the public from
entertaining the notion. An afternoon at an
orchid sale would dispel them.

42 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

ORCHIDS.

THERE is no room to deal with this great subject
historically, scientifically, or even practically, in the
space of a chapter. I am an enthusiast, and I hold
some strong views, but this is not the place to urge
them. It is my purpose to ramble on, following
thoughts as they arise, yet with a definite aim.
The skilled reader will find nothing to criticize,
I hope, and the indifferent, something to amuse.
Those amiable theorists who believe that the
resources of Nature, if they be rightly searched,
are able to supply every wholesome want the fancy
of man conceives, have a striking instance in the
case of orchids. At the beginning of this century,
the science of floriculture, so far as it went, was at
least as advanced as now. Under many disadvan-
tages which we escape—the hot-air flue especially,
and imperfect means of ventilation-—our fore-
fathers grew the plants known to them quite as
well as we do. Many tricks have been discovered
since, but for lasting success assuredly our systems
are no improvement. Men interested in such

ORCHIDS. 43

matters began to long for fresh fields, and they
knew where to look. Linnzus had told them
something of exotic orchids in 1763, though his
knowledge was gained through dried specimens
and drawings. One bulb, indeed—we spare the
name—showed life on arrival, had been planted,
and had flowered thirty years before, as Mr. Castle
shows. Thus horticulturists became aware, just
when the information was most welcome, that a
large family of plants unknown awaited their
attention; plants quite new, of strangest form,
of mysterious habits, and beauty incomparable.
Their notions were vague as yet, but the fascination
of the subject grew from year to year. Whilst
several hundred species were described in books,
the number in cultivation, including all those
gathered by Sir Joseph Banks, and our native
kinds, was only fifty. Kew boasted no more than
one hundred and eighteen in 1813 ; amateurs still
watched in timid and breathless hope.

Gradually they came to see that the new field
was open, and they entered with arush. In 1830
a number of collections still famous in the legends
of the mystery are found complete. Atthe Orchid
Conference, Mr. O’Brien expressed a “ fear that we
could not now match some of the specimens men-
tioned at the exhibitions of the Horticultural

44 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Society in Chiswick Gardens between 1835 and
1850;” and extracts which he gave from the re-
ports confirm this suspicion. The number of
species cultivated at that time was comparatively
small. People grew magnificent “specimens” in
place of many handsome pots. We read of things
amazing to the experience of forty years later.
Among the contributions of Mrs. Lawrence, mother
to our “chief,’ Sir Trevor, was an Aerides with
thirty to forty flower spikes; a Cattleya with
twenty spikes ; an Epzdendrum bicornutum, difficult
to keep alive, much more to bloom, until the last

”)

few years, with “many spikes;” an Oncidium,
“bearing a head of golden flowers four feet across.”
Giants dwelt in our greenhouses then.

So the want of enthusiasts was satisfied. In
1852 Mr. B.S. Williams could venture to publish
“ Orchids for the Million,’ a hand-book of world-
wide fame under the title it presently assumed,
“The Orchid Grower’s Manual.” An occupation or
amusement the interest of which grows year by
year had been discovered. All who took trouble
to examine found proof visible that these master-
works of Nature could be transplanted and could
be made to flourish in our dull climate witha
regularity and a certainty unknown to them at
home. The difficulties of their culture were found

ORCHIDS. 45

to be a myth—we speak generally, and this point
must be mentioned again. The “ Million” did not
yet heed Mr. Williams’ invitation, but the Ten
Thousand did, heartily.

I take it that orchids meet a craving of the
cultured soul which began to be felt at the moment
when kindly powers provided means to satisfy it.
People of taste, unless I err, are tiring of those
conventional forms in which beauty has been pre-
sented in all past generations. It may be an
unhealthy sentiment, it may be absurd, but my
experience is that it exists and must be taken into
account. A picture, a statue, a piece of china, any
work of art, is eternally the same, however charm-
ing. The most one can do is to set it in different
positions, different lights. Théophile Gautier
declared in a moment of frank impatience that if
the Transfiguration hung in his study, he would
assuredly find blemishes therein after awhile—
quite fanciful and baseless, as he knew, but such,
nevertheless, as would drive him to distraction
presently. I entertain a notion, which may appear
very odd to some, that Gautier’s influence on the
esthetic class of men has been more vigorous than
that of any other teacher; thousands who never
read a line of his writing are unconsciously inspired
by him. The feeling that gave birth to his protest

46 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

nearly two generations since is in the air now.
Those who own a collection of art, those who have
paid a great sum for pictures, will not allow it,
naturally. Asa rule, indeed, a man looks at his
fine things no more than at his chairs and tables,
But he who is best able to appreciate good work,
and loves it best when he sees it, is the one who
crows restless when it stands constantly before him.

“Oh, that those lips had language!” cried
Cowper. “Oh, that those lovely figures would
combine anew—change their light—do anything,
anything !” cries the esthete after awhile. “Oh,
that the wind would rise upon that glorious sea ;
the summer green would fade to autumn yellow ;
that night would turn to day, clouds to sunshine,
or sunshine to clouds.” But the “ttera scripta
manet—the stroke of the brush is everlasting.
Apollo always bends the bow in marble. One
may read a poem till it is known by heart, and in
another second the familiar words strike fresh upon
the ear. Painters lay a canvas aside, and pre-
sently come to it, as they say, with a new eye; but
a purchaser once seized with this desperate malady
has no such refuge. After putting his treasure
away for years, at the first glance all his satiety
returns. I myself have diagnosed a case where a
fine drawing by Gerdme grew to be a veritable

ORCHIDS. 47

incubus. It is understood that the market for
pictures is falling yearly. I believe that the
erowth of this dislike to the eternal stillness of a
painted scene is a chief cause of the disaster. It
operates among the best class of patrons.

For such men orchids are a blessed relief.
Fancy has not conceived such loveliness, complete
all round, as theirs—form, colour, grace, distribu-
tion, detail, and broad effect. Somewhere, years
ago—in Italy perhaps, but I think at the Taylor
Institution, Oxford—I saw the drawings made by
Rafaelle for Leo X. of furniture and decoration in
his new palace ; be it observed in parenthesis, that
one who has not beheld the master’s work in this
utilitarian style of art has but a limited under-
standing of his supremacy. Among them were
idealizations of flowers, beautiful and marvellous
as fairyland, but compared with the glory divine
that dwells in a garland of Odontoglossum Alex-
andre, artificial, earthy. [Illustrations of my
meaning are needless to experts, and to others
words convey no idea. But on the table before
me now stands a wreath of Oncidium crispum
which I cannot pass by. What colourist would
dare to mingle these lustrous browns with pale
gold, what master of form could shape the bold
yet dainty waves and crisps and curls in its broad

48 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

petals, what human imagination could bend the
graceful curve, arrange the clustering masses of
its bloom? All beauty that the mind can hold is
there—the quintessence of all charm and fancy.
Were I acquainted with an atheist who, by possi-
bility, had brain and feeling, I would set that
spray before him and await reply. If Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like a lily of the field,
the angels of heaven have no vesture more ethereal
than the flower of the orchid. Let us take breath.

Many persons indifferent to gardening—who are
repelled, indeed, by its prosaic accompaniments,
the dirt, the manure, the formality, the spade, the
rake, and all that—love flowers nevertheless. For
such these plants are more than a relief. Observe
my Oncidium. It stands in a pot, but this is only
for convenience—a receptacle filled with moss,
The long stem feathered with great blossoms
springs from a bare slab of wood. No mould nor
peat surrounds it; there is absolutely nothing save
the roots that twine round their support, and the
wire that sustains itin the air. It asks no atten-
tion beyond its daily bath. From the day I tied it
on that block last year—reft from home and all its
pleasures, bought with paltry silver at Stevens’
Auction Rooms—I have not touched it save to
dip and to replace it on its hook. When the

ORCHIDS. 49

flowers fade, thither it will return, and grow and
grow, please Heaven, until next summer it rejoices
me again ; and so, year by year, till the wood rots.
Then carefully I shall transfer it to a larger perch
and resume. Probably I shall sever the bulbs
without disturbing them, and in seasons following
two spikes will push—then three, then a number,
multiplying and multiplying when my remotest
posterity is extinct. That is, so Nature orders it;
whether my descendants will be careful to allow
her fair play depends on circumstances over which
I have not the least control.

For among their innumerable claims to a place
apart among all things created, orchids may boast
immortality. Said Sir Trevor Lawrence, in the
speech which opened our famous Congress, 1885 :
“TI do not see, in the case of most of them, the
least reason why they shouid ever die. The parts
of the orchidez are annually reproduced ina great
many instances, and there is really no reason they
should not live for ever unless, as is generally the
case with them in captivity, they be killed by
errors in cultivation.” Sir Trevor was addressing
an assemblage of authorities—a parterre of kings
in the empire of botany—or he might have enlarged
upon this text.

The epiphytal orchid, to speak generally, and to

E

50 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

take the simple form, is one body with several
limbs,crowned byone head. Its circulation pulsates
through the whole, less and less vigorously, of
course, in the parts that have flowered, as the
crowing head leaves them behind. At some age,
no doubt, circulation fails altogether in those old
limbs, but experience does not tell me distinctly
as yet in how long time the worn-out bulbs of an
Oncidium or a Cattleya, for example, would perish
by natural death. One may cut them off when
apparently lifeless, even beginning to rot, and
under proper conditions—it may be a twelvemonth
after—a tiny green shoot will push from some
“eye,” withered and invisible, that has slept for
years, and begin existence on its own account.
Thus, I am not old enough as an orchidacean to
judge through how many seasons these plants will
maintain a limb apparently superfluous. Their
charming disposition is characterized above all
things by caution and foresight. They keep as
many strings to their bow, as many shots in their
locker, as may be, and they keep them as long as
possible. The tender young head may be nipped
off by a thousand chances, but such mishaps only
rouse the indomitable thing to replace it with
two, or even more. Beings designed for immor-
tality are hard to kill.

ORCHIDS. 51

Among the gentle forms of intellectual excite-
ment I know not one to compare with the joy of
restoring a neglected orchid to health. One may
buy such for coppers—rare species, too—of a size
and a “ potentiality ” of display which the dealers
would estimate at as many pounds were they in
good condition on their shelves. I am avoiding
names and details, but it will be allowed me to
say, in brief, that I myself have bought more than
twenty pots for five shillings at the auction-rooms,
not twice nor thrice either. One half ofthem were
sick beyond recovery, some few had been injured
by accident, but by far the greater part were
victims of ignorance and ill-treatment which might
still be redressed. Orchids tell their own tale,
whether of happiness or misery, in characters
beyond dispute. Mr. O’Brien alleged, indeed,
before the grave and experienced signors
gathered in conference, that “like the domestic
animals, they soon find out when they are in hands
that love them. With such a guardian they seem
to be happy, and to thrive, and to establish an
understanding, indicating to him their wants in
many important matters as plainly as though they
could speak.” And the laugh that followed this
statement was not derisive. He who glances at
the endless tricks, methods, and contrivances

E 2

52 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

devised by one or other species to serve its turn
may well come to fancy that orchids are reasoning
things.

At least, many keep the record of their history
inform unmistakable. Here is a Cattleya which
I purchased last autumn, suspecting it to be rare
and valuable, though nameless ; I paid rather less
than one shilling. The poor thing tells me that
some cruel person bought it five years ago—an
imported piece, with two pseudo-bulbs. They
still remain, towering like columns of old-world
glory above an area of shapeless ruin. To speak
in mere prose—though really the conceit is not
extravagant—these fine bulbs, grown in their
native land, of course, measure eight inches high
by three-quarters of an inch diameter. In the first
season, that malheureux reduced their progeny to
a stature of three and a half inches by the foot-
rule ; next season, to two inches; the third, to an
inch andahalf. By this time the patient creature
had convinced itself that there was something
radically wrong in the circumstances attending its
normal head, and tried a fresh departure from the
stock—a ‘‘back growth,’ as we call it, after the
fashion I have described. In the third year then,
there were two heads. In the fourth year, the
chief of them had dwindled to less than one inch

ORCHIDS. 53

and the thickness of a straw, while the second
struggled into growth with pain and difficulty,
reached the size of a grain of wheat, and gave it
up. Needless to say that the wicked and unfortu-
nate proprietor had not seen trace of a bloom.
Then at length, after five years’ torment, he set it
free, and I took charge of the wretched sufferer.
Forthwith he began to show his gratitude, and at
this moment—the summer but half through—his
leading head has regained all the strength lost in
three years, while the back growth, which seemed
dead, outtops the best bulb my predecessor could
produce.

And I have perhaps a hundred in like case,
cripples regaining activity, victims rescued on
their death-bed. If there be a placid joy in life
superior to mine, as I stro]l through my houses of
a morning, much experience of the world in many
lands and many circumstances has not revealed it
tome. And any of my readers can attain it, for—
in no conventional sense—I am my own gardener ;
that is to say, no male being ever touches an
orchid of mine.

One could hardly cite a stronger argument to
demolish the superstitions that still hang around
this culture. If a busy man, journalist, essayist,
novelist, and miscellaneous /zttérateur, who lives by

54 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

his pen, can keep many hundreds of orchids in
such health that he is proud to show them to ex-
perts—with no help whatsoever beyond, in
emergency, that which ladies of his household,
or a woman-servant give—if he can do this,
assuredly the pursuit demands little trouble and
little expense. Iam not to lay down principles
of cultivation here, but this must be said : orchids
are indifferent to detail. There lies a secret.
Secure the general conditions necessary for their
well-doing, and they will gratefully relieve you of
further anxiety ; neglect those general conditions,
and no care will reconcile them. The gentleman
who reduced my Cattleya to such straits gave him-
self vast pains, it is likely, consulted no end of
books, did all they recommend ; and now declares
that orchids are unaccountable. It is just the
reverse. No living things follow with such ob-
stinate obedience a few most simple laws; no
machine produces its result more certainly, if one
comply with the rules of its being.

This is shown emphatically by those cases which
we do not clearly understand ; I take for example
the strangest, as is fitting. Some irreverent zealots
have hailed the Phalcenopsis as Queen of Flowers,
dethroning our venerable rose. I have not to
consider the question of allegiance, but decidedly

ORCHIDS. 55

this is, upon the whole, the most interesting of all -
orchids in the cultivator’s point of view. For
there are some genera and many species that
refuse his attentions more or less stubbornly—in
fact, we do not yet know how to woo them. But
the Phalcenopsis is not among them. It gives no
trouble in the great majority of cases. For my-
self, I find it grow with the calm complacency of
the cabbage. Yet we are all aware that our
success is accidental, ina measure. The general
conditions which it demands are fulfilled, com-
monly, in any stove where East Indian plants
flourish ; but from time to time we receive a
vigorous hint that particular conditions, not
always forthcoming, are exacted by Phalcenopsis.
Many legends on this theme are current; I may
cite two, notorious and easily verified. The
authorities at Kew determined to build a special
house for the genus, provided with every comfort
which experience or scientific knowledge could
suggest. But when it was opened, six or eight
years ago, not a Phalcenopsis of all the many
varieties would grow in it; after vain efforts, Mr.
Thiselton Dyer was obliged to seek another use
for the building, which is now employed to
show plants in flower. Sir Trevor Lawrence
tells how he laid out six hundred pounds

56 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

for. the same object with the same result. And
yet one may safely reckon that this orchid does
admirably in nine well-managed stoves out of ten,
and fairly in nineteen out of twenty. _Neverthe-
less, it is a maxim with growers that Phalcenopsis
should never be transferred from a situation where
they are doing well. Their hooks are sacred as
that on which Horace suspended his lyre. Nor
could a reasonable man think this fancy extrava-
gant, seeing the evidence beyond dispute which
warns us that their health is governed by circum-
stances more delicate than we can analyze at
present.

It would be wrong to leave the impression that
orchid culture is actually as facile as market
gardening, but we may say that the eccentricities
of Phalcenopsis and the rest have no more practical
importance for the class I would persuade than
have the terrors of the deep for a Thames water-
man. How many thousanl householders about
this city have a “bit of glass” devoted to
geraniums and fuchsias and the like! They
started with more ambitious views, but successive
disappointments have taught modesty, if not
despair. The poor man now contents himself with
anything that will keep tolerably green and show
some spindling flower. The fact is, that hardy

ORCHTDS. 57

plants under glass demand skilful treatment—all
their surroundings are unnatural, and with insect
pest on one hand, mildew on the other; an amateur
stands betwixt the devil and the deep sea. . Under
those circumstances common plants become
really capricious—that is, being ruled by no
principles easy to grasp and immutable in opera-
tion, their discomfort shows itself in perplexing
forms. But such species of orchids as a poor man
would think of growing are incapable of pranks.
For one shilling he can buy a manual which will
teach him what these species are, and most of the
things necessary for him to understand besides.
An expenditure of five pounds will set him up for
life and beyond—since orchids are immortal.
Nothing:else is needed save intelligence.

Not even heat, since his collection will be
“cool” naturally; if frost be excluded, that is
enough. I should not have ventured to say this
some few years ago—before, in fact, I had visited
St. Albans. But in the cool house of that palace
of enchantment with which Mr. Sander has
adorned the antique borough, before the heating
arrangements were quite complete though the
shelves were occupied, often the glass would fall
very low into the thirties. I could never learn
distinctly that mischief followed, though Mr.

58 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Godseff did not like it at all. One who beheld the
sight when those fields of Odontoglossum burst
into bloom might well entertain a doubt whether
improvement was possible. There is nothing to
approach it in this lower world. I cannot forbear
to indicate one picture in the grand gallery.
Fancy a corridor four hundred feet long, six
wide, roofed with square baskets hanging from the
glass as close as they will fit. Suspend to each of
these—how many hundreds or thousands has
never been computed—one or more garlands of
snowy flowers, a thicket overhead such as one
might behold ina tropic forest, with myriads of
white butterflies clustering amongst the vines.
But imagination cannot bear mortal man thus far.
‘Upon the banks of Paradise” those “ twa clerks ”
may have seen the like; yet, had they done so
their hats would have been adorned not with “the
birk,” but with plumes of Odontoglossum citros-
mum.

I have but another word to say. If any of the
class to whom I appeal incline to let “I dare not
wait upon I would,” hear the experience of a bold
enthusiast, as recounted by Mr. Castle in his small
brochure, “ Orchids.” This gentleman had a fern-
case outside his sitting-room window, six feet long
by three wide. He ran pipes through it, warmed

ORCHIDS. 59

presumably by gas. More ambitious than I

66s

venture to recommend, “in this miniature
structure,’ says Mr. Castle, “with liberal supplies
of water, the owner succeeded in growing, in a
smoky district of London”—lI will not quote the
amazing list of fine things, but it numbers twenty-
five species, all the most delicate and beautiful of
the stove kinds. Ifso much could be done under
such circumstances, what may rightly be called

difficult in the cultivation of orchids ?

60 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

GOGOL ORCHIDS.

THIS is a subject which would interest every cul-
tured reader, I believe, every householder at least,
if he could be brought to understand that it lies
well within the range of his pratical concerns. But
the public has still to be persuaded. It seems
strange to the expert that delusions should prevail
when orchids are so common and so much talked
of; but I know by experience that the majority
of people, even among those who love their garden,
regard them as fantastic and mysterious creations,
designed, to all seeming, for the greater glory of
pedants and millionaires. I try to do my little part,
as occasion serves, in correcting this popular error,
and spreading a knowledge of the facts. It is no
less than a duty. If every human being should
do what he can to promote the general happiness,
it would be downright wicked to leave one’s fellow-
men under the influence of hallucinations that
debar them from the most charming of quiet
pleasures. I suspect also that the misapprehension
of the public is largely due to the conduct of

COOL ORCHIDS. 61

experts in the past. It was a rule with growers
formerly, avowed among themselves, to keep their
little secrets. When Mr. B. S. Williams published
the first edition of his excellent book forty years
ago, he fluttered his colleagues sadly. The plain
truth is that no class of plant can be cultivated so
easily, as none are so certain to repay the trouble,
as the Cool Orchids.

Nearly all the genera of this enormous family
have species which grow in a temperate climate,
if not in the temperate zone. At this moment,
in fact, I recall but two exceptions, Vanda and
Phalcenopsis. Many more there are, of course—
half a dozen have occurred to me while I wrote
the last six words—but in the small space at
command I must cling to generalities. We have
at least a hundred genera which will flourish any-
where if the frost be excluded ; and as for species,
a list of two thousand would not exhaust them
probably. But a reasonable man may content
himself with the great classes of Odontoglossum,
Oncidium, Cypripedium, and Lycaste ; among the
varieties of these, which no one has ventured to
calculate perhaps, he may spend a happy existence.
They have every charm—foliage always green, a
graceful habit, flowers that rank among the master
works of Nature. The poor man who succeeds

62 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

with them in his modest “bit of glass” has no
cause to envy Dives his flaunting Cattleyas and
“fox-brush” Aerides. I should like to publish it
in capitals—that nine in ten of those suburban
householders who read this book may grow the
loveliest of orchids if they can find courage to
try. |

Odontoglossums stand first, of course—I know
not where to begin the list of their supreme merits.
It will seem perhaps a striking advantage to many
that they burst into flower at any time, as they
chance to ripen. I think that the very perfection
of culture is discounted somewhat in this instance.
The gardener who keeps his plants at the me plus
ultra stage brings them all into bloom within the
space of afew weeks. Thus in the great collections
there is such a show during April, May, and June
as the Gardens of Paradise could not excel, and
hardly a spike in the cool houses for the rest of
the year. At a large establishment this signifies
nothing ; when the Odontoglossums go off other
things “come on” with equal regularity. But the
amateur, with his limited assortment, misses every
bloom. He has no need for anxiety with this
senus. It is their instinct to flower in spring, of
course, but they are not pedantic about it in the
least. Some tiny detail overlooked here and there,

COOL ORCHIDS. 63

absolutely unimportant to health, will retard
florescence. It might very well happen that the
owner of a dozen pots had one blooming every
month successively. And that would mean two
spikes open, for, with care, most Odontoglossums
last above four weeks.

Another virtue, shared by others of the cool
class in some degree, is their habit of growing in
winter. They take no “rest ;” all the year round
their young bulbs are swelling, graceful foliage
lengthening, roots pushing, until the spike demands
a concentration of all their energy. But winter is
the most importanttime. I think any man will see
the peculiar blessing of this arrangement. It gives
interest to the long dull days, when other plant
life is at a standstill. It furnishes material for
cheering meditations on a Sunday morning—is
that a trifle? And at this season the pursuit is
joy unmixed. We feel no anxious questionings,
as we go about our daily business, whether the
placens uxor forgot to remind Mary, when she
went out, to pull the blinds down ; whether Mary
followed the instructions if given ; whether those
confounded patent ventilators have snapped to
again. Green fly does not harass us. One syringing
a day, and one watering per week suffice. Truly
these are not grave things, but the issue at

64 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

stake is precious: we enjoy the boon of relief
proportionately.

Very few of those who grow Odontoglossums
know much about the “ Trade,” or care, seemingly.
It is a curious subject, however. The genus is
American exclusively. It ranges over the continent
from the northern frontier of Mexico to the southern
frontier of Peru, excepting, to speak roughly, the
empire of Brazil. This limitation is odd. It can-
not be due to temperature simply, for, upon the
one hand, we receive Sophronitis, a very cool genus,
from Brazil, and several of the coolest Cattleyas ;
upon the other, Odontoglossum Roezli, a very hot
species, and O, vexilartum, most decidedly warm,
flourish up to the boundary. Why these should
not step across, even if their mountain sisters refuse
companionship with the Sophronitis, is a puzzle.
Elsewhere, however, they abound. Collectors dis-
tinctly foresee the time when all the districts they
have “worked ” up to this will be exhausted. But
South America contains a prodigious number of
square miles, and a day’s march from the track
carries one into terra incognita. Still, the end will
come. The English demand has stripped whole
provinces, and now all the civilized world is enter-
ing into competition. We are sadly assured that
Odontoglossums carried off will not be replaced

COOL ORCHIDS. 65

for centuries. Most other genera of orchid propa-
gate so freely that wholesale depredations are
made good in very few years. For reasons beyond
our comprehension as yet, the Odontoglossum
stands in different case. No one in England has
raised a plant from seed—that we may venture to
say definitely. Mr. Cookson and Mr. Veitch,
perhaps others also, have obtained living germs,
but they died incontinently. Frenchmen, aided
by the climate, have been rather more successful.
MM. Bleu and Moreau have both flowered seedling
Odontoglots. M. Jacob, who takes charge of M.
Edmund de Rothschild’s orchids at Armainvilliers,
has a considerable number of young plants. The
reluctance of Odontoglots to propagate is re-
garded as strange; it supplies a constant theme
for discussion among orchidologists. But I think
that if we look more closely it appears consistent
with other facts known. For among importations
of every genus but this—and Cypripedium—a
plant bearing its seed-capsules is frequently dis-
covered ; but I cannot hear of such an incident
in the case of Odontoglossums. They have been
arriving in scores of thousands, year by year, for
half a century almost, and scarcely anyone recol-
lects observing a seed-capsule. This shows how
rarely they fertilize in their native home. When
F

66 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

that event happens, the Odontoglossum is yet
more prolific than most, and the germs, of course,
are not so delicate under their natural conditions.
But the moral to be drawn is that a country once
stripped will not be reclothed.

I interpolate here a profound observation of
Mr. Roezl. That wonderful man remarked that
Odontoglossums grow upon branches thirty feet
above the ground. It is rare to find them at
thirty-five feet, rarer at twenty-five; at greater
and less heights they do not exist. Here, doubt-
less, we have the secret of their reluctance to
fertilize; but I will offer no comments, because
the more one reflects the more puzzling it becomes.
Evidently the seed must be carried above and
must fall below that limit, under circumstances
which, to our apprehension, seem just as favourable
as those at the altitude of thirty feet. But they do
not germinate. Upon the other hand, Odonto-
glossums show no such daintiness of growth in
our houses, They flourish at any height, if the
general conditions be suitable. Mr. Roezl dis-
covered a secret nevertheless, and in good time we
shall learn further.

To the Royal Horticultural Society of England
belongs the honour of first importing orchids
methodically and scientifically. Messrs. Weir and

WHAINVxXa' TY WOdsleHo

yyy ues

COOL ORCHIDS. 67

Fortune, I believe, were their earliest employés.
Another was Theodor Hartweg, who discovered
Odontoglossum crispum Alexandre in 1842; but
he sent home only dried specimens. From these
Lindley described and classed the plant, aided by
the sketch of a Spanish or Peruvian artist, Tagala.
A very curious mistake Lindley fell into on either
point. The scientific error does not concern us,
but he represented the colouring of the flower as
yellow with a purple centre. So Tagala painted
it, and his drawing survives. It is an odd little
story. He certainly had Hartweg’s bloom before
him, and that certainly was white. But then again
yellow Alexandres have been found since that
day. To the Horticultural Society we are indebted,
not alone for the discovery of this wonder, but
also for its introduction. John Weir was travelling
for them when he sent living specimens in 1862.
It is not surprising that botanists thought it new
after what has been said. As such Mr. Bateman
named it after the young Princess of Wales—a
choice most appropriate in every way.

Then a few wealthy amateurs took up the
business of importation, such as the Duke of
Devonshire. But “the Trade” came to see
presently that there was money in this new
fashion, and imported so vigorously that the

F 2

68 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Society found its exertions needless. Messrs.
Rollisson of Tooting, Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea,
and Messrs. Low of Clapton distinguished them-
selves from the outset. Of these three firms one
is extinct ; the second has taken up, and made
its own, the fascinating study of hybridi-
zation among orchids; the third still per-
severes. Twenty years ago, nearly all the great
nurserymen in London used to send out their
travellers ; but they have mostly dropped
the practice. Correspondents forward a ship-
ment from time to time. The expenses of the
collector are heavy, even if he draw no more than
his due—and the temptation to make up a fancy bill
cannot be resisted by some weak mortals. Then,
crave losses are always probable—in the case of
South American importations, certain. It has
happened not once but a hundred times that the
toil of months, the dangers, the sufferings, and the
hard money expended go to absolute waste.
Twenty or. thirty thousand plants or moie an
honest man collects, brings down from the moun-
tains or the forests, packs carefully, and ships.
The freight alone may reach from three to eight
hundred pounds—I have personally known in-
stances when it exceeded five hundred. The cases

arrive in England—and not a living thing therein!

COOL ORCHIDS. 69

A steamship company may reduce its charge under
such circumstances, but again and again it will
happen that the speculator stands out of a thousand
pounds clean when his boxes are opened. He may
hope to recover it on the next cargo, but that is
still a question of luck. No wonder that men
whose business is not confined to orchids withdrew
from the risks of importation, returning to roses and
lilies and daffodowndillies with a new enthusiasm.

There is another point also, which has vary-
ing force with different characters. The loss of
life among those men who “go out collecting”
has been greater proportionately, than in any class
of which I have heard. In former times, at least,
they were chosen haphazard, among intelligent and
trustworthy employés of the firm. Trustworthi-
ness was a grand point, for reasons hinted. The
honest youth, not very strong perhaps in an English
climate, went bravely forth into the unhealthiest
parts of unhealthy lands, where food is very scarce,
and very, very rough; where he was wet through
day after day, for weeks at a time; where “the
fever,” of varied sort, comes as regularly as Sunday ;
where from month to month he found no one with
whom to exchange a word. I could make out a
startling list of the martyrs of orchidology.
Among Mr. Sander’s collectors alone, Falkenberg

70 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

perished at Panama, Klaboch in Mexico, Endres
at Rio Hacha, Wallis in Ecuador, Schroeder in
Sierra Leone, Arnold on the Orinoco, Digance
in Brazil, Brown in Madagascar. Sir Trevor
Lawrence mentions a case where the zealous
explorer “waded for a fortnight up to his middle
in mud,” searching for a plant he had heard of.
I have not identified this instance of devotion, but
we know of rarities which would demand perse-
verance and sufferings almost equal to secure them.
If employers could find the heart to tempt a fellow-
creature into such risks, the chances are that it
would prove bad business. For to discover a new
or valuable orchid is only the first step in a com-
mercial enterprise. It remains to secure the
“ article,” to bring it safely into a realm that may
be called civilized, to pack it and superintend its
transport through the sweltering lowland to a
shipping place. Ifthe collector sicken after find-
ing his prize, these cares are neglected more or
less; if he die, all comes toa full stop. Thus it
happens that the importing business has been
given up by one firm after another.
Odontoglossums, as I said, belong to America—
to the mountainous parts of the continent in
general. Though it would be wildly rash to pro-
nounce which is the loveliest of orchids, no man

COOL ORCHIDS. 71

with eyes would dispute that O. crispum Alexandre
is the queen of this genus. She has her home in the
States of Colombia, and those who seek her make
Bogota their headquarters. If the collector wants
the broad-petalled variety, he goes about ten days
to the southward before commencing operations ;
if the narrow-petalled, about two days to the north
—on mule-back of course. His first care on
arrival in the neighbourhood—which is unexplored
ground, if such he can discover—is to hire a wood ;
that is, a track of mountain clothed more or less
with timber. I have tried to procure one of these
“leases,” which -must be odd documents; but
orchid-farming isaclose and secret business. The
arrangement concluded in legal form, he hires
natives, twenty or fifty or a hundred, as circum-
stances advise, and sends them to cut down trees,
building meantime a wooden stage of sufficient
length to bear the plunder expected. This is used
for cleaning and drying the plants brought in.
Afterwards, if he be prudent, he follows his lumber-
men, to see that their indolence does not shirk the
big trunks—which give extra trouble naturally,
though they yield the best and largest return. It
is a terribly wasteful process. If we estimate that
a good tree has been felled for every three scraps
of Odontoglossum which are now established in

72 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Europe, that will be no exaggeration. And for
many years past they have been arriving by hun-
dreds of thousands annually! But there is no
alternative. An European cannot explore that
green wilderness overhead; if he could, his
accumulations would be so slow and costly as to
raise the proceeds to an impossible figure. The
natives will not climb, and they would tear the
plants to bits. Timber has no value in those parts
as yet, but the day approaches when Government
must interfere. The average yield of Odonto-
glossum crispum per tree is certainly not more than
five large and small together. Once upona time
Mr. Kerbach recovered fifty-three at one felling,
and the incident has grown into a legend ; two or
three is the usual number. Upon the other hand,
fifty or sixty of O. gloriosum, comparatively worth-
less, are often secured. The cutters receive a fixed
price of sixpence for each orchid, without reference
to species or quality.

When his concession is exhausted, the traveller
overhauls the produce carefully, throwing away
those damaged pieces which would ferment in the
long, hot journey home, and spoil the others.
When all are clean and dry, he fixes them with
copper wire on sticks, which are nailed across °
boxes for transport. Long experience has laid

COOL ORCHIDS. 73

down rules for each detail of this process. The
sticks, for example, are one inch in diameter, fitting
into boxes two feet three inches wide, two feet
deep, neither more nor less, Then the long file of
mules sets out for Bogota, perhaps ten days’ march,
each animal carrying two boxes—a burden ridicu-
lously light, but on such tracks it is dimension
which has to be considered. On arrival at Bogota,
the cases are unpacked and examined for the last
time, restowed, and consigned to the muleteers
again. In six days they reach Honda, on the
Magdalena River, where, until lately, they were
embarked on rafts for a voyage of fourteen days to
Savanilla. At the present time, an American
company has established a service of flat-bottomed
steamers which cover the distance in seven days,
thus reducing the risks of the journey by one-half.
But they are still terrible. Not a breath of wind
stirs the air at that season, for the collector cannot
choose his time. The boxes are piled on deck;
even the pitiless sunshine is not so deadly as the
stewing heat below. He has a store of blankets
to cover them, on which he laysa thatch of palm-
leaves, and all day long he souses the pile with
water; but too well the poor fellow knows that
mischief is busy down below. Another anxiety
possesses him too. It may very well be that on

74 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

arrival at Savanilla he has to wait days in that
sweltering atmosphere for the Royal Mail steamer.
And when it comes in, his troubles do not cease,
for the stowage of the precious cargo is vastly im-
portant. On deck it will almost certainly be
injured by salt water. In the hold it will ferment.
Amidships it is apt to be baked by the engine fire.
Whilst writing I learn that Mr. Sander has lost
two hundred and sixty-seven cases by this latter
mishap, asis supposed. So utterly hopeless is their
condition, that he will not go to the expense of
overhauling them ; they lie at Southampton, and
to anybody who will take them away all parties
concerned will be grateful. The expense of making
this shipment a reader may judge from the hints
given. The Royal Mail Company’s charge for
freight from) Manzanilla is 7507. I could give an
incident of the same class yet more startling with
reference to Phalcenopsis. It is propertoadd that
the most enterprising of Assurance Companies do
not yet see their way to accept any kind of risks
in the orchid trade ; importers must bear all the
burden. To me it seems surprising that the plants
can be sold so cheap, all things considered. Many
persons think and hope that prices will fall, and
that may probably happen with regard to some
genera. But the shrewdest of those very shrewd

COOL ORCHIDS. 75

men who conduct the business all look for a
rise.

Od. Harryanum always reminds me—in such
an odd association of ideas as everyone has
experienced—of a thunderstorm. The contrast
of its intense brown blotches with the azure
throat and the broad, snowy lip, affect me some-
how with admiring oppression. Very absurd ; but
on est fait comme ca, as Nana excused herself.
To call this most striking flower “ Harryanum”
is grotesque. The public is not interested in
those circumstances which give the name signi-
ficance for a few, and if there be any flower
which demands an expressive title, it is this, in
my judgment. Possibly it was some Indian report
which had slipped his recollection that led Roezl
to predict the discovery of a new Odontoglot, un-
like any other, in the very district where Od.
Hlarryanum was found after his death, though the
story is quoted as an example of that instinct
which guides the heaven-born collector. The first
plants came unannounced in a small box sent by
Senor Pantocha, of Colombia, to Messrs. Horsman
in 1885, and they were flowered next year by
Messrs. Veitch. The dullest who sees it can now
imagine the excitement when this marvel was dis-
played, coming from an unknown habitat. Roezl’s

76 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

prediction occurred to many of his acquaintance, I
have heard ; but Mr. Sander had a living faith in
his old friend’s sagacity. Forthwith he despatched
a collector to the spot which Roezl had named—
but not visited—and found the treasure. The
legends of orchidology will be gathered one day,
perhaps; and if the editor be competent, his
volume should be almost as interesting to the
public as to the cognoscenti.

I have been speaking hitherto of Colombian
Odontoglossums, which are reckoned among the
hardiest of their class. Along with them, in the
same temperature, grow thecool Masdevallias, which
probably are the most difficult of all to transport.
There was once a grand consignment of Masde-
vallia Schlimiz, which Mr. Roez! despatched on his
own account. It contained twenty-seven thousand
plants of this species, representing at that time a
fortune. Mr. Roezl was the luckiest and most
experienced of collectors, and he took special
pains with this unique shipment. Among twenty-
seven thousand two bits survived when the cases
were opened; the agent hurried them off to
Stevens’s auction-rooms, and sold them forthwith
at forty guineaseach. But I must stick to Odonto-
slossums. Speculative as is the business of im-
porting the northern species, to gather those of

COOL ORCHIDS. 77

Peru and Ecuador is almost desperate. The roads
of Colombia are good, the population civilized,
conveniences abound, if we compare that region
with the orchid-bearing territories of the south.
There is a fortune to be secured by anyone who
will bring to market a lot of O. n@veum in fair con-
dition. Its habitat is perfectly well known. I am
not aware that it has a delicate constitution ; but
no collector is so rash or so enthusiastic as to try
that adventure again, now that its perils are under-
stood ; and no employer is so reckless as to urge
him. The true variety of O. Hal stands in much
the same case. To obtain it the explorer must
march in the bed of a torrent and on the face of a
precipice alternately for an uncertain period of
time, with a river to cross about every day. And
he has to bring back his loaded mules, or Indians,
over the same pathless waste. The Roraima
Mountain begins to be regarded as quite easy
travel for the orchid-hunter nowadays. If I
mention that the canoe-work on this route demands
thirty-two portages, thirty-two loadings and un-
loadings of the cargo, the reader can judge what a
“ difficult road’ must be. Ascending the Roraima,
Mr. Dressel, collecting for Mr. Sander, lost his
herbarium in the Essequibo River. Savants alone
are able to estimate the awful nature of the crisis

78 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

when a comrade looses his grip of that treasure.
For them it is needless to add that everything else
went to the bottom.’

One is tempted to linger among the Odonto-
clots, though time is pressing. In no class of
orchids are natural hybrids so mysterious and
frequent. Sometimes one can detect the parent-
age ; in such cases, doubtless, the crossing occurred
but a few generations back: as a rule, however,
such plants are the result of breeding in and in
from age to age, causing all manner of delightful
complications. How many can trace the lineage
of Mr. Bull’s Od. delectabtle—ivory white, tinged
with rose, strikingly blotched with red and showing
a golden labellum? or Mr. Sander’s Od. Alberiz-
Edwardi, which has a broad soft margin of gold
about its stately petals? Another is rosy white,
closely splashed with pale purple, and dotted
round the edge with spots of the same tint so
thickly placed that they resemble a fringe. Such
marvels turn up in an importation without the
slightest warning—no peculiarity betrays them
until the flowers open ; when the lucky purchaser
discovers that a plant for which he gave perhaps
a shilling is worth an indefinite number of guineas.

Lycaste also is a genus peculiar to America,

1 See a letter at p. 92.

COOL ORCHIDS. 79

such a favourite among those who know its merits
that the species Z. Skinner? is called the “ Drawing-
Room Flower.” Professor Reichenbach observes
in his superb volume that many people utterly
ignorant of orchids grow this plant in their mis-
cellaneous collection. I speak of it without preju-
dice, for to my mind the bloom is stiff, heavy, and
poor in colour. But there are tremendous excep-
tions. In the first place, Lycaste Skinner? alba,
the pure white variety, beggars all description.
Its great flower seems to be sculptured in the
snowiest of transparent marble. That stolid pre-
tentious air which offends one—offends me, at least
—in the coloured examples, becomes virginal
dignity in this case. Then, of the normal type
there are more than a hundred variations recog-
nized, some with lips as deep in tone, and as
smooth in texture, as velvet, of all shades from
maroon to brightest crimson. It will be under-
stood that I allude to the common forms in depre-
ciating this species. How vast is the difference
between them, their commercial value shows.
Plants of the same size and the same species
range from 3s. 6a. to 35 guineas, or more inde-
finitely.

Lycastes are found in the woods, of Guatemala
especially, and I have heard no such adventures

80 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

in the gathering of them as attend Odontoglos-
sums. Easily obtained, easily transported, and
remarkably easy to grow, of course they are cheap.
A man must really “give his mind to it” to killa
Lycaste. This counts for much, no doubt, in the
popularity of the genus, but it has plenty of other
virtues. ZL. Skinneri opens in the depth of winter,
and all the rest, I think, in the dull months.
Then, they are profuse of bloom, throwing up half
a dozen spikes, or, in some species, a dozen, from
a single bulb, and the flowers last a prodigious
time. Their extraordinary thickness in every part
enables them to withstand bad air and changes of
temperature, so that ladies keep them on a draw-
ing-room table, night and day, for months, with-
out change perceptible. Mr. Williams names an
instance where a L. Skinnert, bought in full bloom
on February 2, was kept in a sitting-room till
May 18, when the purchaser took it back, still
handsome. I have heard cases more surprising.
Of species somewhat less common there is L, aro-
matica, a little gem, which throws up an indefinite
number of short spikes, each crowned with a
greenish yellow triangular sort of cup, | deli-
ciously scented. I am acquainted with no flower
that excites such enthusiasm among ladies who
fancy Messrs. Liberty’s style of toilette; sad ex-

COOL ORCHIDS. 81

perience tells me that ten commandments or
twenty will not restrain them from appropriating
it. LZ. cruenta is almost as tempting. As for
L. leucanthe, an exquisite combination of pale
green and snow white, it ranks with L. Skinnerz
alba as a thing too beautiful for words. This
species has not been long introduced, and at the
moment it is dear proportionately. There is yet
another virtue of the Lycaste which appeals to
the expert. It lends itself readily to hybridization.
This most fascinating pursuit attracts few amateurs
as yet, and the professionals have little time or
inclination for experiments. They naturally prefer
to make such crosses as are almost certain to pay.
Thus it comes about that the hybridization of
Lycastes has been attempted but recently, and
none of the seedlings, so far as I can learn, have
flowered. They have been obtained, however, in
abundance, not only from direct crossing, but also
from alliance with Zygopetalum, Anguloa, and
Maxillaria.

The genus Cypripedium, Lady’s Slipper, is
perhaps more widely scattered over the globe than
any other class of plant; I, at least,am acquainted
with none that approaches it. From China to
Peru—nay, beyond, from Archangel to Torres
Straits,—but it is wise to avoid these semi-poetic

G

82 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

descriptions. In brief, if we except Africa and the
temperate parts of Australia, there is no large
tract of country in the world that does not produce
Cypripediums ; and few authorities doubt that a
larger acquaintance with those realms will bring
them under the rule. We have a species in
England, C. calceolus, by no means insignificant ;
it can be purchased from the dealers, but it is
almost extinct in this country now. America
furnishes a variety of species: which ought to be
hardy. They will bear a frost below zero, but
our winter damp is intolerable. Mr. Godseff tells
me that he has seen C. sfectabzle growing like any
water-weed in the bogs of New Jersey, where it
is frozen hard, roots and all, for several months
of the year; but very few survive the season in
this country, even if protected. Those fine speci-
mens so common at our spring shows are imported
in the dry state. From the United States also we
get the charming C: candidum, C. parviflorum, C.
pubescens,and many more less important. Canada
and Siberia furnish C. guttatum, C. macranthum,
and others. I saw in Russia, and brought home,
a magnificent species, tall and stately, bearing a
great golden flower, which is not known “in the
trade ;” but they all rotted gradually. Therefore
I do not recommend these fine outdoor varieties,

COOL ORCHIDS. 83

which the inexperienced are apt to think so easy.
At the same cost others may be bought, which,
coming from the highlands of hot countries, are
used to a moderate damp in winter.

Foremost of these, perhaps the oldest of cool
orchids in cultivation, is C. zzsigne, from Nepal.
Everyone knows its original type, which has grown
so common that I remarked a healthy pot at
a window-garden exhibition some years ago in
Westminster. One may say that this, the early
and familiar form, has no value at present, so many
fine varieties have been introduced. A reader
may form a notion of the difference when I state
that a small plant of exceptional merit sold for
thirty guineas a short time ago—it was C. insigne,
but glorified. This ranks among the fascinations
of orchid culture. You may buya lot of some
common kind, imported, at a price representing
coppers for each individual, and among them may
appear, when they come to bloom, an eccentricity
which sells fora hundred pounds or more. The
experienced collector has a volume of such legends.
There is another side to the question, truly, but it
does not personally interest the class which I
address. To make a choice among numberless
stories of this sort, we may take the instance of
C. Spicerianum.

G 2

84 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

It turned up among a quantity of Cypripedium
insigne in the greenhouse of Mrs. Spicer, a lady
residing at Twickenham. Astonished at the ap-
pearance of this swan among her ducks, she asked
Mr. Veitch to look at it. He was delighted to
pay seventy guineas down for such a prize.
Cypripediums propagate easily, no more examples
came into the market, and for some years this
lovely species was a treasure for dukes and
millionaires. It was no secret that the precious
novelty came from Mrs. Spicer’s greenhouse ; but
to call on a strange lady and demand how she
became possessed of a certain plant is not a course
of action that commends itself to respectable busi-
ness men. The circumstances gave no clue.
Messrs. Spicer were and are large manufacturers
of paper; there is no visible connection betwixt
paper and Indian orchids. By discreet inquiries,
however, it was ascertained that one of the lady’s
sons had a tea-plantation in Assam. Nomore was
needed. By the next mail Mr. Forstermann started
for that vague destination, and in process of time
reached Mr. Spicer’s bungalow. There he asked
for “a job.” None could be found for him ; but
tea-planters are hospitable, and the stranger was
invited to stop a day or two. But he could not
lead the conversation towards orchids—perhaps

COOL ORCHIDS. 85

because his efforts were too clever, perhaps because
his host took no interest in the subject. One day,
however, Mr. Spicer’s manager invited him to go
shooting, and casually remarked “we shall pass
the spot where I found those orchids they’re mak-
ing such a fuss about at home.” Be sure Mr.
Forstermann was alert that morning! Thus put
upon the track, he discovered quantities of it,
bade the tea-planter adieu, and went to work;
but in the very moment of triumph a tiger barred
the way, his coolies bolted, and nothing would
persuade them to go further. Mr. Forstermann
was no shikari, but he felt himself called upon to
uphold the cause of science and the honour of
England at this juncture. In great agitation he
went’ for that feline, and, in short, its skin still
adorns Mrs. Sander’s drawing-room. Thus it
happened that on a certain Thursday a small
pot of C. Sprcerianum was sold, as usual, for
sixty guineas at Stevens’s; on the Thursday fol-
lowing all the world could buy fine plants at a
cuinea.

Cypripedium is the favourite orchid of the day.
It has every advantage, except, to my perverse
mind—brilliancy of colour. None show a whole
tone ; even the lovely C. mzveum is not pure white.
My views, however, find no backing. At all other

86 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

points the genus deserves to be a favourite.
In the first place, it is the most interesting of all
orchids to science.! Then its endless variations
of form, its astonishing oddities, its wide range of
hues, its easy culture, its readiness to hybridize
and to ripen seed, the certainty, by comparison,
of rearing the proceeds, each of these merits
appeals to one or other of orchid-growers. Many
of the species which come from torrid lands,
indeed, are troublesome, but with such we are not
concerned. The cool varieties will do well any-
where, provided they receive water enough in
summer, and not too little in winter. I do not
speak of the American and Siberian classes, which
are nearly hopeless for the amateur, nor of the
Hong-Kong Cypripedium purpuratum, a very
puzzling example.

On the roll of martyrs to orchidology, Mr. Pearce
stands high. To him we owe, among many fine
things, the hybrid Begonias which are becoming
such favourites for bedding and other purposes,
He discovered the three original types, parents of
the innumerable “garden flowers” now on sale—
Begonia Pearciu, B. Veitchiz,and BL. Bolzviensis. It
was his great luck, and great honour, to find
Masdevallia Vettchiti—so long, so often, so labori-

1 Vide “ Orchids and Hybridizing,” z/fra, p. 210.

COOL ORCHIDS. 87

ously searched for from that day to this, but never
even heard of. To collect another shipment of
that glorious orchid, Mr. Pearce sailed for Peru, in
the service, I think, of Mr. Bull. Unhappily—for
us all as well as for himself—he was detained at
Panama. Somewhere in those parts there is a
magnificent Cypripedium with which we are ac-
quainted only by the dried inflorescence, named
planifolium. The poor fellow could not resist this
temptation. They told him at Panama that no
white man had returned from the spot, but he went
on. The Indians brought him back, some days or
weeks later, without the prize; and he died on
arrival.

Oncidiums also are a product of the New World
exclusively ; in fact, of the four classes most useful
to amateurs, three belong wholly to America, and
the fourth in great part. I resist the temptation
to include Masdevallia, because that genus is not
so perfectly easy as the rest ; but if it be added,
nine-tenths, assuredly, of the plants in our cool
house come from the West. Among the. special
merits of the Oncidium is its colour. I have heard
thoughtless persons complain that they are “all
yellow ;” which, as a statement of fact, is near
enough to the truth, for about three-fourths may
be so described roughly. But this dispensation is

88 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

another proof of Nature’s kindly regard for the
interests of our science. A clear, strong, golden
yellow is the colour that would have been wanting
in our cool houses had not the Oncidium supplied
it. Shades of lemon and buff are frequent among
Odontoglossums, but, in a rough, general way of
speaking, they have a white ground. Masdevallias
give us scarlet and orange and purple ; Lycastes,
green and dull yellow; Sophronitis, crimson ;
Mesospinidium, rose, and so forth. Blue must not
be looked for. Even counting the new Utricularia
for an orchid, as most people do, there are, I think,
but five species that will live among us at present,
in all the prodigious family, showing this colour ;
and every one of them is very “hot.” Thus
it appears that the Oncidium fills a gap—and
how gloriously! There is no such pure gold
in the scheme of the universe as it displays
under fifty shapes wondrously varied. Thus—
Oncidium macranthum! one is continually tempted
to exclaim, as one or other glory of the orchid
world recurs to mind, that it is the supreme
triumph of floral beauty. I have sinned thus, and
I know it. Therefore, let the reader seek an
opportunity to behold O. macranthum, and judge
for himself. But it seems to me that Nature gives

us a hint. As though proudly conscious what a

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sf ote sn

COOL ORCHIDS. 89

marvel it will unfold, this superb flower often de-
mands nine months to perfect itself. Dr. Wallace
told me of an instance in his collection where
eighteen months elapsed from the appearance of
the spike until the opening of the first bloom.
But it lasts a time proportionate.

Nature forestalled the dreams of zsthetic colour-
ists when she designed Onxcidium macranthum.
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’wuvre in the
wilds of Ecuador. Hardly less striking, however,
though perhaps less beautiful, are its sisters of the
“‘small-lipped ” species—Onc. serratum, O. super-
biens, and O. sculptum. ‘This last is rarely seen.
As with others of its class, the spike grows very
long, twelve feet perhaps, if it were allowed to
stretch. The flowers are small comparatively,
clear bronze-brown, highly polished, so closely and
daintily frilled round the edges that a fairy goffer-
ing-iron could not give more regular effects, and
outlined by a narrow band of gold. Onc. serratum
has a much larger bloom, but less compact, rather
fly-away indeed, its sepals widening gracefully from
a narrow neck. Excessively curious is the dis-
position of the petals, which close their tips to form

go ABOUT ORCHIDS.

a circle of brown and gold around the column.
The purpose of this extraordinary arrangement—
unique among orchids, I believe—will be dis-
covered one day, for purpose there is, no doubt ;
to judge by analogy, it may be supposed that the
insect upon which Oxc. serratum depends for
fertilization likes to stand upon this ring while
thrusting its proboscis into the nectary. 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. Seen from the
back, it shows a floriated cross of equal limbs ; but
in front the nethermost is hidden by a spreading
lip, very large proportionately. The prevailing
tint is a dun-purple, but each arm has a broad
white tip. Dun-purple, also, is the centre of the
labellum, edged with a distinct band of lighter hue,
which again, towards the margin, becomes white.
These changes of tone are not gradual, but as clear
as a brush could makethem. Botanists must long
to dissect this extraordinary flower, but the oppor-
tunity seldom occurs. It is desperately puzzling

COOL ORCHIDS. gr

to understand how nature has packed away the
component parts of its inflorescence, so as to re-
solve them into four narrow arms and a labellum.
But the colouring of this plant is not always dull.
In the small Botanic Garden at Florence, by Santa
Maria Maggiore, I remarked with astonishment an
Onc. fuscatum, of which the lip was_ scarlet-
crimson and the other tints bright to match.
That collection is admirably grown, but orchids
are still scarce in Italy. The Society did not
know what a prize it had secured by chance.

The genus Oncidium has, perhaps, more exam-
ples of a startling combination in hues than any
other—but one must speak thoughtfully and
cautiously upon such points. |

I have not to deal with culture, but one hint
may be given. Gardeners who have a miscella-
neous collection to look after, often set themselves
against an experiment in orchid-growing because
these plants suffer terribly from green-fly and
other pests, and will not bear “smoking.” To
keep them clean and healthy by washing demands
labour for which they have no time. This is a
very reasonable objection. _ But though the smoke
of tobacco is actual ruination, no plant whatever
suffers from the steam thereof. An ingenious
Frenchman has invented and patented in England

92 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

lately a machine called the Thanatophore, which
I confidently recommend. It can be obtained from
Messrs. B. S. Williams, of Upper Holloway. The
Thanatophore destroys every insect within reach of
its vapour, excepting, curiously enough, scaly-bug, —
which, however, does not persecute cool orchids
much. The machine may be obtained in dif-
ferent sizes through any good ironmonger.

To sum up: these plants ask nothing in return
for the measureless enjoyment they give but light,
shade from the summer sun, protection from the
winter frost, moisture—and brains.

I am allowed to print a letter which bears upon
several points to which I have alluded. It is not
cheerful reading for the enthusiast. He will be
apt to cry, “ Would that the difficulties and perils
were infinitely graver—so grave that the collecting
srounds might have a rest for twenty years!”

January 19th, 1893.
DEAR SIR,

I have received your two letters asking for
Cattleya Lawrenceana, Pancratium Guianense, and
Catasetum pileatum. Kindly excuse my answer-
ing your letters only to-day. But I have been

COOL ORCHIDS. 93

away in the interior, and on my return was sick,
besides other business taking up my time; I was
unable to write until to-day. Now let me give
you some information concerning orchid-collecting
in this colony. Six or seven years ago, just when
the gold industry was starting, very few people
ever ventured in the far interior. Boats, river-
hands, and Indians could be hired at ridiculously
low prices, and travelling and bartering paid ;
wages for Indians being about a shilling per day,
and all found ; the same for river-hands. Captains
and boatswains to pilot the boat through the
rapids up and down for sixty-four cents a day.
To-day you have got to pay sixty-four to eighty
cents per day for Indians and river-hands. Captains
and boatswains, $2 the former, and $1:50 the
latter per day, and then you often cannot get
them. Boat-hire used to be $8 to $10 fora big
boat for three to four months ; to-day $5, $6, and
$7 per day, and all through the rapid development
of the gold industry. As you can calculate twenty-
five days’ river travel to get within reach of the
Savannah lands, you can reckon what the expenses
must be, and then again about five to seven days
coming down the river, and a couple of days to
lay.over. Then you must count two trips like
this, one to bring you up, and one to bring you

94 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

down three months after, when you return with
your collection. Besides this, you run the risk of
losing your boat in the rapids either way, which
happens not very unfrequently either going or
coming ; and we have not only to record the loss
of several boats with goods, etc.,every month, but
generally to record the loss of life; only two cases
happening last month, in one case seven, in the
other twelve men losing their lives. Besides, river-
hands and blacks will not go further than the boats
can travel, and nothing will induce them to go
among the Indians, being afraid of getting poisoned
by Inds. (Kaiserimas) or strangled. So you have
to rely utterly on Indians, which you often cannot
get, as the district of Roraima is very poorly in-
habited, and most of the Indians died by smallpox
and measles breaking out among them four years
ago, and those that survived left the district, and
you will find whole districts nearly uninhabited.
About five years ago I went up with Mr. Osmers
to Roraima, but he broke down before we reached
the Savannah. He lay there for a week, and I
save him up; he recovered, however, and dragged
himself into the Savannah near Roraima, about
three days distant from it, were I left him. Here
we found and made a splendid collection of about
3000 first-class plants of different kinds.

COOL ORCHIDS. 95

While I was going up to Roraima, he stayed in
the Savannah, still too sick to go further. At
Roraima I collected everything except Catt. Law-
renceana, which was utterly rooted out already by
former collectors. On my return to Osmers’ camp,
I found him more dead than alive, thrown down by
a new attack of sickness; but not alone that, I
also found him abandoned by most of our Indians,
who had fled on account of the Kanaima having
killed three of their number. So Mr. Osmers—
who got soon better—and I, made up our baskets
with plants, and made everything ready. Our
Indians returning partly, I sent him ahead with
as many loads as we could carry, I staying behind
with the rest of baskets of plants. Had all our
Indians come back, we would have been all right,
but this not being the case I had to stay until the
Indians returned and fetched me off. After this
we got back all right. This was before the sickness
broke out among the Indians.

Last year I went up with Mr. Kromer, who met
me going up-river while I was coming down. So
I joined him. We got up all right to the river’s
head, but here our troubles began, as we got only
about eight Indians to go on with us who had
worked in the gold-diggings, and no others could
be had, the district being abandoned. We had to

96 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

pay them half a dollar a day to carry loads. So
we pushed on, carrying part of our loads, leaving
the rest of our cargo behind, until we reached the
Savannah, when we had to send them back several
times to get the balance of our goods. From the
time we reached the Savannah we were starving,
more or less, as we could procure only very little
provisions. We hunted all about for Cazt. Law-
venceana, and got only about 1500 or so, it growing
only here and there. At Roraima we did not
hunt at all, as the district is utterly rubbed out by
the Indians. We were about fourteen days at
Roraima and got plenty of Utricularia Camp-
belliana, U. Humboldtiz, and U. montana. Also
Zygopetalum, Cyp. Lindleyanum, Oncidium nigra-
tum (only fifty—very rare now), Cypripedium
Schomburgkianum, Zygopetalum Burkeww, and in
fact, all that is to be found on and about Roraima,
except the Cattleya Lawrenceana. Also plenty
others, as Sobralia, Liliastrum, etc. So our collec-
tion was not a very great one; we had the hardest
trouble now through the want of Indians to carry
the loads. Besides this, the rainy weather set in
and our loads suffered badly for all the care we
took of them. Besides, the Indians got disagree-
able, having to go back several times to bring the
remaining baskets. Nevertheless, we got down as

COOL ORCHIDS. 97

far as the Curubing mountains. Up to this time
we were more or less always starving. Arrived at
the Curubing mountains, procured a scant supply
of provisions, but lost nearly all of them in a
small creek, and what was saved was spoiling
under our eyes, it being then that the rainy
season had fully started, drenching us from morn-
ing to night. It took us nine days to get our loads
over the mountain, where our boat was to reach us
to take us down river. And we were for two and
a half days entirely without food. Besides the
plants being damaged by stress of weather, the
Indians had opened the baskets and thrown partly
the loads away, not being able to carry the heavy
soaked-through baskets over the mountains, so
making us lose the best of our plants.

Arrived at our landing we had to wait for our
boat, which arrived a week later in consequence of
the river being high, and, of course, short of pro-
visions. Still, we got away with what we had of
our loads until we reached the first gold places
kept by a friend of mine, who supplied us with
food. Thereafter we started for town. Halfway,
at Kapuri falls (one of the most dangerous), we
swamped down over a rock, and so we lost some
of our things; still saved all our plants, though
they lay for a few hours under water with the boat.

H

98 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

After this we reached town in safety. So after
coming home we found, on packing up, that we
had only about goo plants, that is, Cattleya Law-
venceana, of which about one-third good, one-third
medium, and one-third poor quality. This trip
took us about three and a half months, and cost
over 2500 dollars. Besides, I having poisoned my
leg on a rotten stump which I run up in my foot,
lay for four months suffering terrible pain.

You will, of course, see from this that orchid-
hunting is no pleasure, as you of course know, but
what I want to point out to you is that Cattleya
Lawrenceana is very rare in the interior now.

The river expenses fearfully high, in fact, un-
reasonably high, on account of the gold-digging.
Labourers getting 64 c. to $1.00 per day, and all
found. No Indians to be got, and those that you
can get at ridiculous prices, and getting them, too,
by working on places where they build and thatch
houses and clear the ground from underbush, and
as huntsmen for gold-diggers. Even if Mr. Kromer
had succeeded to get 3000 or 4000 fine Cattleya
Lawrenceana, it would have been of no value to us,
as we could not have got anybody to carry them
to the river where a boat could reach. Besides
this, I also must tell you that there is a license to
be paid out here if you want to collect orchids,

COOL ORCHIDS. 99

amounting to $100, which Mr. Kromer had to pay,
and also an export tax duty of 2 cents per piece.
So that orchid collecting is made a very expensive
affair. Besides its success being very doubtful,
even if a man is very well acquainted with Indian
life and has visited the Savannah reaches year after
year. We spent something over $2500 to $2900,
including Mr. Kromer’s and Steigfer’s passage out,
on our last expedition.

If you want to get any Lawrenceana, you will
have to send yourself, and as I said before, the
results will be very doubtful. As far as I myself
am concerned, I am interested besides my baking
business, in the gold-diggings, and shall go up to
the Savannah in a few months. I can give you
first-class references if you should be willing to
send an expedition, and we could come to some
arrangement; at least, you would save the ex-
penses of the passage of one of your collectors.
I may say that I am quite conversant with the
way of packing orchids and handling them as well
for travel as shipment.

Kindly excuse, therefore, my lengthy letter and
its bad writing. And if you should be inclined to
go in for an expedition, just send mea list of what
you require, and I will tell you whether the plants
are found along the route of travel and in the

H 2

100 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Savannah visited; as, for instance, Catt. superba
does not grow at all in the district where Catz.
Lawrenceana is to be found, but far further south.

Before closing, I beg you to let me know the
prices of about twenty-five of the best of and
prettiest South American orchids, which I want
for my own collection, as Catt. Medelli, Catt.
Triane, Odontoglossum crispum, Miltonia vexillaria,
Catt. labtata, &c.

I shall await your answer as soon as possible,
and send you a list by last mail of what is to be
got in this colony.

We also found on our last visit something new
—a very large bulbed Oncidium, or may be Cata-
setum, on the top of Roraima, where we spent a
night, but got only two specimens, one of which
got lost, and the other one I left in the hands of
Mr. Rodway, but so we tried our best. It decayed,
having been too seriously damaged to revive and
flower, and so enable us to see what it was, it not
being in flower when found.

Awaiting your kind reply,
Yours truly,
SEYLER.

P.S.—If you should send out one of your
collectors, or require any information, I shall be
clad to give it.

COOL ORCHIDS. IOI

One of the most experienced collectors, M.
Oversluys, writes from the Rio de Yanayacca,
January, 1893 :—

“ Here it is absolutely necessary that one goes
himself into the woods ahead of the peons, who
are quite cowards to enter the woods; and not
altogether without reason, for the larger part of
them get sick here, and it is very hard to enter—
nearly impenetrable and full of insects, which make
fresh-coming people to get cracked and mad. I
have from the wrist down not a place to put in a
shilling piece which is not a wound, through the
very small red spider and other insects. Also my
people are the same. Of the five men I took out,
two have got fever already,and one ran back.
To-morrow I expect other peons, but not a single
one from Mengobamba. It is a trouble to get
men who will come into the woods, and I cannot
have more than eight or ten to work with, because
when I should not be continually behind them or
ahead they do nothing. It is not a question of
money to do good here, but merely luck and the
way one treats people. The peons come out less
for their salaries than for good and plenty of food,
which is very difficult to find in these scarce times. . .

“The plants are here one by one, and we have
got but one tree with three plants. They are on

102 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

the highest and biggest trees, and these must be
cut down with axes. Below are all shrubs, full of
climbers and lianas about a finger thick. Every
step must be cut to advance, and the ground
cleared below the high trees in order to spy the
branches. It is a very difficult job. Nature has
well protected this Cattleya. . . Nobody can like
this kind of work.”

The poor man ends abruptly, “I will write when
I can—the mosquitos don’t leave me a moment.”

WARM ORCHIDS.

)

By the expression “warm” we understand that
condition which is technically known as “ inter-
mediate.”’ It is waste of time to ask, at this day,
why a Latin combination should be employed
when there is an English monosyllable exactly
equivalent; we, at least, will use our mother-
tongue. Warm orchids are those which like a
minimum temperature, while growing, of 60°;
while resting, of 55°. As for the maximum, it
signifies little in the former case, but in the latter
—during the months of rest—it cannot be allowed
to go beyond 60°, for any length of time, without
mischief. These conditions mean, in effect, that the
house must be warmed during nine months of the
twelve in this realm of England. ‘‘ Hot” orchids
demand a fire the whole year round—saving a few
very rare nights when the Briton swelters in
tropical discomfort. Upon this dry subject of
temperature, however, I would add one word of
encouragement for those who are not willing to pay

104 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

a heavy bill for coke. The cool-house, in general,
requires a fire, at night, until June 1. Under that
condition, if it face the south, in a warm locality,
very many genera and species classed as inter-
mediate should be so thoroughly started before
artificial heat is withdrawn that they will do
excellently, unless the season be unusual.

Warm orchids come from a sub-tropic region, or
from the mountains of a hotter climate where
their kinsfolk dwelling in the plains defy the ther-
mometer; just as in sub-tropic lands warm species
occupy the lowlands, while the heights furnish
Odontoglossums and such lovers of a chilly atmo-
sphere. There are, however, some warm Odonto-
glossums, notable among them O. vexdllarium, which
botanists class with the Miltonias. This species is
very fashionable, and I give it the place of honour ;
but not, in my own view, for its personal merits. The
name is so singularly appropriate that one would
like to hear the inventor’s reasons fortransfiguring it.
Vexillum we know, and vexrillarins, but vextllarium
goes beyond my Latin. However,it is an intelligible
word, and those acquainted with the appearance
of “regimental colours” in Old Rome perceive its
fitness at.a glance. The flat bloom seems to hang
suspended from its centre, just as the vexcllum
figures in bas-relief—on the Arch of Antoninus, for

-

ee
eet

WARM ORCHIDS. 105

example. To my mind the colouring is insipid,
as a rule, and the general effect stark—fashion
in orchids, as in other things, has little reference to
taste. I repeat with emphasis, as a rule, for some
priceless specimens are no less than astounding in

~ “tHeir blaze of colour, the quintessence of a million

uninteresting blooms. The poorest of these plants
have merit, no doubt, for those who can accommo-
date giants. They grow fast and big. There are
specimens in this country a yard across, which
display a hundred and fifty or two hundred flowers
open at the same time for months. A superb
show they make, rising over the pale sea-green
foliage, four spikes perhaps from a single bulb.
But this is a beauty of general effect, which must
not be analyzed, as I think.

Odontoglossum vexillarium is brought from
Colombia. There are two forms: the one—small,
evenly red, flowering in autumn—was discovered
by Frank Klaboch, nephew to the famous Roezl,
on the Dagua River, in Antioquia. For eight
years he persisted in despatching small quantities
to Europe, though every plant died; at length a
safer method of transmission was found, but simul-
taneously poor Klaboch himself succumbed. It is
an awful country—perhaps the wettest under the
sun. Though a favourite hunting-ground of

106 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

collectors now—for Cattleyas of value come from
hence, besides this precious Odontoglot—there
are still no means of transport, saving Indians and
canoes. O. vextllarium would not be thought
costly if buyers knew how rare it is, how expensive
to get, and how terribly difficult to bring home.
Forty thousand pieces were despatched to Mr.
Sander in one consignment—he hugged himself
with delight when three thousand proved to have
some trace of vitality.

Mr. Watson, Assistant Curator at Kew, recalls
an amusing instance of the value and the mystery
attached to this species so late as 1867. In that
year Professor Reichenbach described it for the first
time. He tells how a friend lent him the bloom
upon a negative promise under five heads—“ First,
not to show it to any one else; (2) not to speak
much about it; (3) not to take a drawing of it ;
(4) not to have a photograph made; (5) not to
look oftener than three times at it.” By-the-bye,
Mr. Watson gives the credit of the first discovery
to the late Mr. Bowman; but I venture to believe
that my account is exact—in reference to the
Antioquia variety, at least.

The other form occurs in the famous district of
Frontino, about two hundred and fifty miles due
north of the first habitat, and shows—savants

WARM ORCHIDS. 107

would add “ of course ”—a striking difference. In
the geographical distinctions of species will be
found the key to whole volumes of mystery that
perplex usnow. I once saw three Odontoglossums
ranged side by side, which even an expert would
pronounce mere varieties of the same plant if he
were not familiar with them—Od. Williamsz, Od.
grande, and Od. Schlieperianum. The middle one
everybody knows, by sight at least, a big, stark,
spread-eagle flower, gamboge yellow mottled with
red-brown, vastly effective in the mass, but indivi-
dually vulgar. On one side was Od. Williamsz,
essentially the same in flower and bulb and growth,
but smaller; opposite stood Od. Schlieperianum,
only to be distinguished as smaller still. But
both these latter rank as species. They are
separated from the common type, O. grande, by
nearly ten degrees of latitude and ten degrees of
longitude, nor—we might almost make an affidavit
—do any intermediate forms exist in the space
between; and those degrees are sub-tropical, by
so much more significant than an equal distance in
our zone. Instances of the same class and more
surprising are found in many genera of orchid.
The Frontino verzllartum grows “ cooler,” has a
much larger bloom, varies in hue from purest
white to deepest red, and flowers in May or June.

108 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

The most glorious of these things, however, is
O. vex. superbum, a plant of the greatest rarity,
conspicuous for its blotch of deep purple in the
centre of the lip, and its little dot of the same on
each wing. Doubtless this is a natural hybrid
betwixt the Antioquia form and Odontoglossum
Roezliz, which is its neighbour. The chance ot
finding a bit of superbum in a bundle of the
ordinary kind lends peculiar excitement to a sale
of these plants. Such luck first occurred to Mr.
Bath, in Stevens’ Auction Rooms. He paid half-
a-crown fora very weakly fragment, brought it
round, flowered it, and receiveda prize for good
gardening in the shape of seventy-two pounds,
cheerfully paid by Sir Trevor Lawrence for a
plant unique at that time. I am reminded ot
another little story. Among a great number of
Cypripedium tnsigne received at St. Albans, and
“ established,’ Mr. Sander noted one presently of
which the flower-stalk was yellow instead of brown,
as is usual. Sharp eyes are a valuable item of the
orchid-grower’s stock-in-trade, for the smallest
peculiarity among such “sportive” objects
should not be neglected. Carefully he put
the yellow stalk aside—the only one among
thousands, one might say myriads, since C. zmsigne
is one of our oldest and commonest orchids,

WARM ORCHIDS. 109

and it never showed this phenomenon before.
In due course the flower opened, and proved
to be all golden! Mr. Sander cut his plant
in two, sold half for seventy-five pounds to a
favoured customer, and the other half, publicly, for
one hundred guineas. One of the purchasers has
divided his plant now and sold two bits at 100
guineas. Another piece was bought back by
Mr. Sander, who wanted it for hybridizing, at
250 guineas—not a bad profit for the buyer, who
has still two plants left. Another instance occurs
to me while I write—such legends of shrewdness
worthily rewarded fascinate a poor journalist who
has the audacity to grow orchids. Mr. Harvey,
solicitor, of Liverpool, strolling through the houses
at St. Albans on July 24, 1883, remarked a plant
of Lelia anceps, which had the ring-mark on its
pseudo-bulb much higher up than is usual. There
might be some meaning in that eccentricity, he
thought, paid two guineas for the little thing, and
on December 1, 1888, sold it back to Mr. Sander
for 200/. It proved to be L. a. Amesiana, the
grandest form of L. anceps yet discovered—rosy
white, with petals deeply splashed; thus named
after F. L. Ames, an American amateur. Such
pleasing opportunities might arise for you or me
any day.

IIO ABOUT OR CHIDS.

The first name that arises to most people in
thinking of warm orchids is Cattleya, and natu-
rally. The genus Odontoglossum alone has more
representatives under cultivation. Sixty species of
Cattleya are grown by amateurs who pay special
attention to these plants; as for the number of
“varieties” in a single species, one boasts forty,
another thirty, several pass the round dozen. They
are exclusively American, but they flourish over
all the enormous space between Mexico and the
Argentine Republic. The genus is not a favourite
of my own, for somewhat of the same reason
which qualifies my regard for O. vexdlarium.
Cattleyas are so obtrusively beautiful, they have
such great flowers, which they thrust upon the eye
with such assurance of admiration! Theirs is a
style of effect—I refer to the majority—which may
be called infantine ; such as an intelligent and
tasteful child might conceive if he had no fine
sense of colour, and were too young to distinguish
a showy from a charming form. But I say no
more.

The history of Orchids long established is un-
certain, but I believe that the very first Cattleya
which appeared in Europe was C. vzolacea Loddt-
gesi, imported by the great firm whose name it
bears, to which we owe such a heavy debt. Two

WARM ORCHIDS, III

years later came C. /abzata, of which more must be
said ; then C. Mossig, from Caraccas; fourth, C.
Triane, named after Colonel Trian, of Tolima, in
the United States of Colombia. Trian well
deserved immortality, for he was a native of that
secluded land—and a botanist! It is a natural
supposition that his orchid must be the commonest
of weeds in its home; seeing how all Europe is
stocked with it, and America also, rash people
might say there are millions in cultivation. But
it seems likely that C. 7vzan@ was never very fre-
quent, and at the present time assuredly it is so
scarce that collectors are not sent after it. Prob-
ably the colonel, like many other savants, was an
excellent man of business, and he established “a
corner” when he saw the chance. C. Mossie
stands in the same situation—or indeed worse ; it
can scarcely be found now. These instances con-
vey a serious warning. In seventy years we have
destroyed the native stock of two orchids, both so
very free in propagating that they have an excep-
tional advantage in the struggle for existence.
How long can rare species survive, when the
demand strengthens and widens year by year,
while the means of communication and _ transport
become easier over all the world? Other instances
will be mentioned in their place.

112 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Island species are doomed, unless, like Lelza
elegans, they have inaccessible crags on which
to find refuge. It is only a question of time; but
we may hope that Governments will interfere
before it is too late. Already Mr. Burbidge has
suggested that “some one” who takes an interest
in orchids should establish a farm, a plantation,
here and there about the world, where such plants
srow naturally, and devote himself to careful
hybridization on the spot. “One might make as
much,” he writes, “by breeding orchids as by
breeding cattle, and of the two, in the long run, I |
should prefer the orchid farm.” This scheme will
be carried out one day, not so much for the purpose
of hybridization as for plain “ market-gardening ;”
and the sooner the better.

The prospect is still more dark for those who
believe—as many do—that no epiphytal orchid
under any circumstances can be induced to establish
itself permanently in our greenhouses as it does at
home. Doubtless, they say, it is possible to grow
them and to flower them, by assiduous care, upon
a scale which is seldom approached under the
rough treatment of Nature. But they are dying
from year to year, in spite of appearances. That
it is so in a few cases can hardly be denied ; but,
seeing how many plants which have not changed

WARM ORCHIDS. 113

hands since their establishment, twenty or thirty
or forty years ago, have grown continually bigger
and finer, it seems much more probable that our
ignorance is to blame for the loss of those species
which suddenly collapse. Sir Trevor Lawrence
observed the other day: “With regard to the
longevity of orchids, I have one which I know to
have been in this country for more than fifty years,
probably even twenty years longer than that—
Renanthera coccinea.” The finest specimens of
Cattleya in Mr. Stevenson Clarke’s houses have
been “grown on” from small pieces imported
twenty years ago. If there were more collections
which could boast, say, half a century of uninter-
rupted attention, we should have material for
forming a judgment; as a rule, the dates of
purchase or establishment were not carefully pre-
served till late years.

But there is one species of Cattleya which must
needs have seventy years of existence in Europe,
since it had never been re-discovered till 1890.
When we see a pot of C. labiata, the true, autumn-
flowering variety, more than two years old, we know
that the very plant itself must have been established
about 1818, or at least its immediate parent—for
no seedling has been raised to public knowledge.’

1 Vide “ The Lost Orchid,” zzfra, p. 173.
I

114 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

In avowing a certain indifference to Cattleyas, I
referred to the bulk, of course. The most gorgeous,
the stateliest, the most imperial of all flowers on
this earth, is C. Dowzana—unless it be C. aurea, a
“ geographical variety” of the same. They dwell
a thousand miles apart at least, the one in Colombia,
the other in Costa Rica ; and neither occurs, so far
as is known, in the great intervening region. Not
even a connecting link has been discovered ; but
the Atlantic coast of Central America is hardly
explored, much less examined. In my time it was
held, from Cape Camarin to Chagres, by indepen-
dent tribes of savages—not independent in fact
alone, but in name also. The Mosquito Indians
are recognized by Europe as free; the Guatusos
kept a space of many hundred miles from which
no white man had returned ; when I was in those
parts, the Talamancas, though not so unfriendly,
were only known by the report of adventurous
pedlars. I made an attempt — comparatively
spirited—to organize an exploring party for the
benefit of the Guatusos, but no single volunteer
answered our advertisements in San José de Costa
Rica; I have lived to congratulate myself on that
disappointment. Since my day a road has been
cut through their wilds to Limon, certain luckless
Britons having found the money for a railway;

WARM ORCHIDS. 115

but an engineer who visited the coast but two years
ago informs me that no one ever wandered into
“the bush.” Collectors have not been there,
assuredly. So there may be connecting links
between C. Dowzana and C. aurea in that vast
wilderness, but it is quite possible there are none.

Words could not picture the glory of these
marvels. In each the scheme of colour is yellow
and crimson, but there are important modifications.
Yellow is the ground all through in Cattleya aurea
—sepals, petals, and lip; unbroken in the two
former, in the latter superbly streaked with
crimson. But Caétleya Dowiana shows crimson
pencillings on its sepals, while the ground colour
of the lip is crimson, broadly lined and reticulated
with gold. Imagine four of these noble flowers on
ene stalk, each half a foot across! But it lies
beyond the power of imagination.

C. Dowiana was discovered by Warscewicz about
1850, and he sent home accounts too enthusiastic
for belief. Steady-going Britons utterly refused
to credit such a marvel—his few plants died, and
there was an end of itforthetime. 1 may mention
an instance of more recent date, where the eye-
witness of a collector was flatly rejected at home.
Monsieur St. Leger, residing at Asuncion, the
capital of Paraguay, wrote a warm description of

I 2

116 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

an orchid in those parts to scientific friends. The
account reached England, and was treated with
derision. Monsieur St. Leger, nettled, sent some
dried flowers for a testimony ; but the mind of the
Orchidaceous public was made up. In 1883 he
brought a quantity of plants and put them up at
auction; nobody in particular would buy. So
those reckless or simple or trusting persons who
invested a few shillings in a bundle had all the fun.
to themselves a few months afterwards, when the
beautiful Oncidium Jonesianum appeared, to con-—
found the unbelieving. It must be added, however,
that orchid-growers may well become an incredu-
lous generation. When their judgment leads them
wrong we hear of it, the tale is published, and out-
siders mock. Butthese gentlemen receive startling
reports continually, honest enough for the most
part. Much experience and some loss have made
them rather cynical when a new wonder is ©
announced. The particular case of Monsieur St.
Leger was complicated by the extreme resemblance
which the foliage of Onc. Jonestanum bears to that
of Onc. cibolletum, a species almost worthless. Un-
fortunately the beautiful thing declines to live with
us—as yet.

Cattleya Dowiana was rediscovered by Mr.
Arce, when collecting birds: it must have been a

WARM ORCHIDS. 117

scrand moment for Warscewicz when the horti-
cultural world was convulsed by its appearance in
bloom. Cattleya aurea had no adventures of this
sort. Mr. Wallis found it in 1868 in the province
of Antioquia, and again on the west bank of the
Magdalena ; but it is very rare. This species is
persecuted in its native home by a beetle, which
accompanies it to Europe not infrequently—in the
form of eggs, no doubt. A more troublesome
alien is the fly which haunts Cattleya Mendelliz,
and for a long time prejudiced growers against
that fine species, until, in fact, they had made a
practical and rather costly study of its habits. An
experienced grower detects the presence of this
enemy ata glance. It pierces an “ eye”—a back
one in general, happily—and deposits an egg in the
very centre. Presently this growth begins to swell
in a manner that delights the ingenuous horti-
culturist, until he remarks that its length does not
keep pace with its breadth. But one remedy has
yet been discovered—cutting off any suspected
crowth. We understand now that C. Mendelliz is
as safe to import as any other species, unless it
be gathered at the wrong time.'

' IT have learned by a doleful experience that this fly,
commonly called “the weavil,” is quite at home on Le/ia
purpurata ; in fact, it will prey on any Cattleya.

118 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Among the most glorious, rarest, and most
valuable of Cattleyas is C. Hardyana, doubtless a
natural hybrid of C. aurea with C. gigas San-
deriana. Few of us have seen it—two-hundred-
guinea plants are not common spectacles. It has
an immense flower, rose-purple; the lip purple-
magenta, veined with gold. Cattleya Sanderiana
offers an interesting story. Mr. Mau, one of Mr.
Sander’s collectors, was despatched to Bogota in
search of Odontoglossum crispum. While tramp-
ing through the woods, he came across a very
large Cattleya at rest, and gathered such pieces as
fell in his way—attaching so little importance to
them, however, that he did not name the matter in
his reports. Four cases Mr. Mau brought home
with his stock of Odontoglossums, which were
opened in due course of business. We can quite
believe that it was one of the stirring moments of
Mr. Sander’s life. The plants bore many dry
specimens of last year’s inflorescence, displaying
such extraordinary size as proved the variety to
be new; and there is no large Cattleya of in-
different colouring. To receive a plant of that
character unannounced, undescribed, is an ex-
perience without parallel for half a century. Mr.
Mau was sent back by next mail to secure every
fragment he could find. Meantime, those in hand

WARM ORCHIDS. 119

were established, and Mr. Brymer, M.P., bought
one—Mr. Brymer is immortalized by the Dend-
robe which bears his name. The new Cattleya
proved kindly, and just before Mr. Mau returned
with some thousands of its like Mr. Brymer’s pur-
chase broke into bloom. That must have been
another glorious moment for Mr. Sander, when the
sreat bud unfolded, displaying sepals and petals of
the rosiest, freshest, softest pink, eleven inches
across; and a crimson labellum exquisitely shown
up by a broad patch of white on either side of the
throat. Mr. Brymer was good enough to lend his
specimen for the purpose of advertisement, and
Messrs. Stevens enthusiastically fixed a green
baize partition across their rooms as a background
for the wondrous novelty. What excitement
reigned there on the great day is not to be de-
scribed. I have heard that over 2000/. was taken
in the room.

Most of the Cattleyas with which the public is
familiar—Mossie, Triane, Mendelliz,and so forth
—have white varieties ; but an example absolutely
pure is so uncommon that it fetches a long price.
Loveliest of these is C. Skinnerz alba. For genera-
tions, if not for ages, the people of Costa Rica have
been gathering every morsel they can find, and
planting it upon the roofs of their mud-built

120 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

churches. Roezl and the’early collectors had a
“good time,” buying these semi-sacred flowers from
the priests, bribing the parishioners to steal them,
or, when occasion served, playing the thief them-
selves. But the game is nearly up. Seldom now
cana piece of Cat. Skinneri alba be obtained by
honest means, and when a collector arrives guards
are set upon the churches that still keep their
decoration. No plant has ever been found in the
forest, we understand.

It is just the same case with Lelia anceps alba.
The genus Leelia is distinguished from Cattleya
by a peculiarity to be remarked only in dissec-
tion ; its pollen masses are eight as against four.
To my taste, however, the species are more
charming on the whole. Thereis ZL. purpurata.
Casual observers always find it hard to grasp the
fact that orchids are weeds in their native homes,
just like foxgloves and dandelions with us. In this
instance, as I have noted, they flatly refuse to be-
lieve, and certainly “upon the face of it” their
incredulity is reasonable.

Lelia purpurata falls under the head of hot
orchids. JL. anceps, however, is not so exacting;
many people grow it in the cool house when they
can expose it there to the full blaze of sunshine.
In its commonest form it is divinely beautiful.

WARM ORCHIDS. 121

I have seen a plant in Mr. Eastey’s collection with
twenty-three spikes, the flowers all open at once.
Such a spectacle is not to be described in prose.
But when the enthusiast has rashly said that
earth contains no more ethereal loveliness, let him
behold Z. a. alba, the white variety. The dullest
man I ever knew, who had a commonplace for all
occasions, found no word in presence of that marvel.
Even the half-castes of Mexico who have no soul,
apparently, for things above horseflesh and cock-
fights, and love-making, reverence this saintly
bloom. The Indians adoreit. Like their brethren
to the south, who have tenderly removed every
plant of Cattleya Skinneri alba for generations un-
known, to set upon their churches, they collect this
supreme effort of Nature and replant it round their
huts. So thoroughly has the work been done in
either case that no single specimen was ever seen
in the forest. Every one has been bought from
the Indians, and the supply is exhausted ; that is
to say, a good many more are known to exist, but
very rarely now can the owner be persuaded to
part with one. The first example reached Eng-
land nearly half a century ago, sent probably by a
native trader to his correspondent in this country ;
but, as was usual at that time, the circumstances
are doubtful. It found its way, somehow, to Mr.

122 ABOUT ORCHIDS:

Dawson, of Meadowbank, a famous collector, and
by him it was divided. Search was made for the
treasure in its home, but vainly ; travellers did not
look in the Indian gardens. No more arrived for
many years, Mr. Sander once conceived a fine idea.
He sent one of his collectors to gather Lela a. alba
at the season when it is in bud, with an intention
of startling the universe by displaying a mass
of them in full bloom; they were still more un-
common then than now, when a dozen flowering
plants is still a show of which kings may be
proud. Mr. Bartholomeus punctually fulfilled his
instructions, collected some forty plants with their
spikes well developed; attached them to strips of
wood which he nailed across shallow boxes, and
shipped them to San Francisco. Thence they
travelled by fast train to New York, and proceeded
without a moment’s delay to Liverpool on board ~
the Umbria; it was one of her first trips. All
went well. Confidently did Mr. Sander anticipate
the sensation when a score of those glorious
plants were set outin full bloom upon the tables.
But on opening the boxes he found’every spike
withered. The experiment is so tempting that it
has been essayed once more, with a like result.
The buds of Lelia anceps will not stand sea air.
Catasetums do not rank as a genus among our

WARM ORCHIDS. 123

beauties; in fact, saving C. pzleatum, commonly
called C. Bungerothi, and C. barbatum, I think
of none, at this moment, which are worthy
of attraction on that ground. C. fimbriatum,
indeed, would be lovely if it could be per-
suaded to show itself. I have seen one plant
which condescended to open its spotted blooms,
but only one. No orchids, however, give more
material for study; on this account Catasetum
was a favourite with Mr. Darwin. It is approved
also by unlearned persons who find relief from the
monotony of admiration as they stroll round in
observing its acrobatic performances. The
“column” bears two horns; if these be touched,
the pollen-masses fly as if discharged from a cata-
pult. C. pileatum, however, is very handsome,
four inches across, ivory white, with a round well
in the centre of its broad lip, which makes a
theme for endless speculation. The daring eccen-
tricities of colour in this class of plant have no
stronger example than C. callosum,a novelty from
Caraccas, with inky brown sepals and petals,
brightest orange column, labellum of verdigris-
green tipped with orange to match.
Schomburgkias are not often seen. Having a
boundless choice of fine things which grow and
flower without reluctance, the practical gardener

124 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

gets irritated in these days when he findsa plant
beyond his skill. Itis a pity, for the Schomburg-
kias are glorious things—in especial Sch. tibicinzs.
No description has done it justice, and few are
privileged to speak as eye-witnesses. The cluster-
ing flowers hang down, sepals and petals of dusky
mauve, most gracefully frilled and twisted, en-
circling a great hollow labellum which ends in a
golden drop. That part of the cavity which is
visible between the handsome incurved wings has
bold stripes of dark crimson. The species is
interesting, too. It comes from Honduras, where
the children use its great hollow pseudo-bulbs as
trumpets—whence the name. At their base isa
hole—a touch-hole, as we may say, the utility of
which defies our botanists. Had Mr. Belt travelled
in those parts, he might have discovered the secret,
as in the similar case of the Bullthorn, one of the
Gummifere. The great thorns of that bush
have just such a hole, and Mr. Belt proved by
lengthy observations that it is designed, to speak
roughly, for the ingress of an ant peculiar to that
acacia, whose duty it is to defend the young
shoots—vide Belt’s “Naturalist in Nicaragua,”
page 218. Importers are too well aware that
Schomburgkia tibicints also is inhabited by an
ant of singular ferocity, for it survives the voyage,

WARM ORCHIDS. 12

J
and rushes forth to battle when the case is
opened. We may suppose that it performs alike
service.

Dendrobiums are “warm” mostly; of the hot
species, which are many, and the cool, which are
few, I have not tospeak here. But aremark made
at the beginning of this chapter especially applies
to Dendrobes. Ifthey be started early, so that the
young growths are well advanced by June 1; if
the situation be warm, and a part of the house
sunny—if they be placed in that part without any
shade till July, and freely syringed—with a little
extra attention many of them will do well enough.
That is to say, they will make such a show of
blossom as is mighty satisfactory in the winter
time. We must not look for “specimens,” but
there should be bloom enough to repay handsomely
the very little trouble they give. Among those
that may be treated so are D. Wardianum,
Falconeri, crassinode, Puterardiz, crystallinum,
Devonianum—sometimes—and wxodile, of course.
Probably there are more, but these I have tried
myself.

Dendrobium Wardianum, at the present day,
comes almost exclusively from Burmah—the
neighbourhood of the Ruby Mines is its favourite
habitat. But it was first brought to England from

126 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Assam in 1858, when botanists regarded it as a
form of D. Fatlconeri. This error was not so
strange as its seems, for the Assamese variety has
pseudo-bulbs much less sturdy than those we are
used to see, and they are quite pendulous. It was
rather a lively business collecting orchids in
Burmah before the annexation. The Roman
Catholic missionaries established there made it a
source of income, and they did not greet an
intruding stranger with warmth—not genial
warmth, at least. He was forbidden to quit the
town of Bhamo, an edict which compelled him to
employ native collectors—in fact, coolies—himself
waiting helplessly within the walls; but his reverend
rivals, having greater freedom and an acquaintance
with the language, organized a corps of skirmishers
to prowl round and intercept the natives returning
with their loads. Doubtless somebody received
the value when they made a haul, but who, is un-
certain perhaps—and the stranger was disap-
pointed, anyhow. It may be believed that un-
edifying scenes arose—especially on two or three
occasions when an agent had almost reached one
of the four gates before he was intercepted. For
the hapless collector—having nothing in the world
to do—haunted those portals all day long, flying
from one to the other in hope to see “somebody

WARM ORCHIDS. 127

coming.” Very droll, but Burmah is a warm
country for jests of the kind. Thus it happened
occasionally that he beheld his own discomfiture,
and rows ensued at the Mission-house. At length
Mr. Sander addressed a formal petition to the
Austrian Archbishop, to whom the missionaries
owed allegiance. He received a sympathetic
answer, and some assistance.

From the Ruby Mines also comes a Dendrobium
so excessively rare that I name it only to call the
attention of employés in the new company. This
is D. rhodopterygium. Sir Trevor Lawrence has or
had a plant, I believe ; there are two or three at
St. Albans ; but the lists of other dealers will be
searched in vain. Sir Trevor Lawrence had also
a scarlet species from Burmah ; but it died even
before the christening, and no second has yet been
found. Sumatra furnishes a scarlet Dendrobe, D.
Forstermanni, but it again is of the utmost rarity.
Baron Schroeder boasts three specimens—which
have not yet flowered, however. From Burmah
comes D. Brymerianum, of which the story is brief,
but very thrilling if we ponder it a moment. For
the missionaries sent this plant to Europe without
a description—they had not seen the bloom, doubt-
less—and it sold cheap enough. We may fancy
Mr. Brymer’s emotion, therefore, when the striking

128 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

flower opened. Its form is unique, though some
other varieties display a long fringe—as that
extraordinary object, Manodes Meduse, and also
Brassavola Digbyana, which is exquisitely lovely
sometimes. In the case of D. brymerianum the
bright yellow lip is split all round, for two-thirds
of its expanse, into twisted filaments. We may
well ask what on earth is Nature’s purpose in this
eccentricity ; but it is a question that arises every
hour to the most thoughtless being who grows
orchids.

Everybody knows Dendrobium nobile so well
that it is not to be discussed in prose; something
might be done in poetry, perhaps, by young gentle-
men who sing of buttercups and daisies, but the
rhyme would be difficult. D. obzle nobilius, how-
ever, is by no means so common—would it were!
This glorified form turned up among an importa-
tion made by Messrs. Rollisson. They propagated
it, and sold four small pieces, which are still in
cultivation. But the troubles of that renowned
firm, to which we owe so great a debt, had already
begun. The mother-plant was neglected. It had
fallen into such a desperate condition when Messrs.
Rollisson’s plants were sold, under a decree in
bankruptcy, that the great dealers refused to bid
for what should have been a little gold-mine. A

WARM ORCHIDS. 129

casual market-gardener hazarded thirty shillings,
brought it round so far that he could establish a
number of young plants, and sold the parent for
forty pounds at last. There are, however, several
fine varieties of D. mzobzle more valuable than
nobtlius. D.n. Sanderianum resembles that form,
but it is smaller and darker. Albinos have been
found ; Baron Schroeder has a beautiful example.
One appeared at Stevens’ Rooms, announced as
the single instance in cultivation—which is not
quite the fact, but near enough for the auction-
room, perhaps. It also was imported originally
by Mr. Sander, with D. 2. Sanderianum. Biddings
reached forty-three pounds, but the owner would
not deal at the price. Albinos are rare among the
Dendrobes,

D. nobile Cooksont was the fons et origo of an
unpleasant misunderstanding. It turned up inthe
collection of Mr. Lange, distinguished by a reversal
of the ordinary scheme ofcolour. There is actually
no end to the delightful vagaries of these plants.
If people only knew what interest and pleasing
excitement attends the inflorescence of an imported
orchid—one, that is, which has not bloomed before
in Europe—they would crowd the auction-rooms
in which every strange face ismarkednow. There
are books enough to inform them, certainly ; but

K

130 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

who reads an Orchid Book? Even the enthusiast
only consults it.

Dendrobium nobile Cooksonz, then, has white tips
to petal and sepal; the crimson spot keeps its
place ; and the inside of the flower is deep red—
an inversion of the usual colouring. Mr. Lange
could scarcely fail to observe this peculiarity, but
he seems to have thought little of it. Mr. Cookson,
paying him a visit, was struck, however—as well he
might be—and expressed a wish to have the plant.
So the two distinguished amateurs made an ex-
change. Mr. Cookson sent a flower at once to
Professor Reichenbach, who, delighted and enthu-
siastic, registered it upon the spot under the name
of the gentleman from whom he received it. Mr.
Lange protested warmly, demanding that his dis-
covery should be called, after his residence, Heath-
fieldsayeanum. But Professor Reichenbach drily
refused to consider personal questions ; and really,
seeing how short is life, and how long Dendrobium
nobile Heathfield, &c., true philanthropists will hold
him justified.

We may expect wondrous Dendrobes from New
Guinea. Some fine species have already arrived,
and others have been sent in the dried inflorescence.
Of D.phalenopsis Schroederi | havespoken elsewhere.
There is D. Goldiez, a variety of D. superbiens—but

WARM ORCHIDS. 131

much larger. There is D. Albertesiz, snow-white ;
D. Broomfieldianum,curiously like Lelia 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 lip in some
varieties is washed with lavender blue, in some with
crimson! Another is nearly related to D. digib-
bum, but much larger, with sepals more acute. Its
hue is a glorious rosy-purple, deepening on the lip,
the side lobes of which curl over and meet, forming
a cylindrical tube, while the middle lobe, prolonged,
stands out at right angles, veined with very dark
purple ; this has just been named D. Statterianum.
It has upon the disc an elevated, hairy crest, like
D.bigibbum, but instead of being white as always,
more or less, in that instance, the crest of the
new species is dark purple. I have been particular
in describing this noble flower, because very, very
few have beheld it. Those who live will see
marvels when the Dutch and German portions of
New Guinea are explored.

Recently I have been privileged to see another,
the most impressive to my taste, of all the lovely
genus. Itiscalled D. atvo-violaceum. The stately
flowers hang down their heads, reflexed like a
“Turban Lily,” ten or a dozen ona spike. The
colour is ivory-white, with a faintest tinge of green,

K 2

132 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

~

and green spots are dotted all over. The lobes of
the lip curl in, making half the circumference of a
funnel, the outside of which is dark violet-blue ;
with that fine colour the lip itself. is boldly striped.
They tell me that the public is not expected to
“catch on” to this marvel. It hangs its head too
low, and the contrast of hues is too startling. If
that be so, we multiply schools of art and County
Council lectures perambulate the realm, in vain.
The artistic sense is denied us.

Madagascar also will furnish some astonishing
novelties; it has already begun, in fact—with a
vengeance. Imagineascarlet Cymbidium! That
such a wonder existed has been known for some
years, and three collectors have gone in search of
it; two died, and the third has been terribly ill
since his return to Europe—but he won the treasure,
which we shall behold in good time. Those parts
of Madagascar which especially attract botanists
must be death-traps indeed! M. Léon Humblot
tells how he dined at Tamatave with his brother
and six compatriots, exploring the country with
various scientific aims. Within twelve months he
was the only survivor. One of these unfortunates,
travelling on behalf of Mr. Cutler, the celebrated
naturalist of Bloomsbury Street, to find butter-
flies and birds, shot at a native idol, as the report

WARM ORCHIDS. 133

goes. The priests soaked him with paraffin, and
burnt him on a table—perhaps their altar. M.
Humblot himself has had awful experiences. He
was attached to the geographical survey directed
by the French Government, and ten years ago he
found Phajus Humblotit and Phajus tuberculosus
in the deadliest swamps of the interior. A few of
the bulbs gathered lived through the passage home,
and caused much excitement when offered for sale
at Stevens’ Auction Rooms. M. Humblot risked
his life again, and secured a great quantity for
Mr. Sander, but at a dreadful cost. He spent
twelve months in the hospital at Mayotte, and on
arrival at Marseilles with his plants the doctors
gave him no hope of recovery. P. Humblotit isa
marvel of beauty—rose-pink, with a great crimson
labellum exquisitely frilled, and a bright green
column.

Everybody who knows his “ Darwin” is aware
that Madagascar is the chosen home of the
Angrecums. All, indeed, are natives of Africa,
so far as I know, excepting the delightful A. falca-
tum, which comes, strangely enough, from Japan.
One cannot but suspect, under the circumstances,
that this species was brought from Africa ages
ago, when the Japanese were enterprising seamen,
and has been acclimatized by those skilful horti-

134 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

culturists. Itis certainly odd that the only “ cool”
Aerides—the only one found, I believe, outside of
India and the Eastern Tropics—also belongs to
Japan, and a cool Dendrobe, A. arcuatum, is
found in the Transvaal; and I have reason
to hope that another or more will turn up when
South Africa is thoroughly searched. A_ pink
Angrecum, very rarely seen, dwells somewhere on
the West Coast ; the only species, so far as I know,
which is not white. It bears the name of M. Du
Chaillu, who found it—he has forgotten where,
unhappily. I took that famous traveller to St.
Albans in the hope of quickening his recollection,
and I fearI bored him afterwards with categorical
inquiries. But all was vain. M. Du Chaillu can
only recall that once on a time, when just starting
for Europe, it occurred to him to run into the bush
and strip the trees indiscriminately. Mr. Sander
was prepared to send a man expressly for this
Angrecum. The exquisite A. Sanderianum is a
native of the Comorro Islands. No flower could
be prettier than this, nor more deliciously scented
—when scented it is! It grows in a climate
which travellers describe as Paradise, and, in
truth, it becomes such a scene. Those who
behold young plants with graceful garlands of
snowy bloom twelve to twenty inches long are

WARM ORCHIDS. 135

prone to fall into raptures; but imagine it as
a long-established specimen appears just now
at St Albans, with racemes drooping two and a
half feet from each new growth, clothed on either
side with flowers like a double train of white long-
tailed butterflies hovering! A. Scottzanum comes
from Zanzibar, discovered, I believe, by Sir John
Kirk ; A. caudatum, from Sierra Leone. This latter
species is the nearest rival of A. sesguzpedale, show-
ing “tails” ten incheslong. Next in order for this
characteristic detail rank A. Leonzs and Kotschyi—
the latter rarely grown—with seven-inch “ tails ;”
Scottianum and Elliszi with six-inch ; that is to say,
they ought to show such dimensions respectively.
Whether they fulfil their promise depends upon the
grower,

With the exceptions named, this family belongs
to Madagascar. It has a charming distinction,
shared by no other genus which I recall, save, in
less degree, Cattleya—every member is attractive.
But I must concentrate myself on the most strik-
ing—that which fascinated Darwin. In the first
place it should be pointed out that savans call this
plant ranthus sesquipedalis, not Angrecum—a
fact useful to know, but unimportant to ordinary
mortals. It was discovered by the Rev. Mr.
Ellis, and sent home alive, nearly thirty years ago;

136 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

but civilized mankind has not yet done wondering

at it. The stately growth, the magnificent green-

white flowers, command admiration at a glance,
but the “tail,” or spur, offers a problem of which
the thoughtful never tire. It is commonly ten
inches long, sometimes fourteen inches, and at
home, I have been told, even longer; about the
thickness of a goose-quill, hollow, of course, the
last inch and a half filled with nectar. Studying
this appendage by the light of the principles he
had laid down, Darwin ventured on a prophecy
which roused special mirth among the unbelievers.
Not only the abnormal length of the nectary had
to be considered ; there was, besides, the fact that
all its honey lay at the base, a foot or more from
the orifice. Accepting it as a postulate that every
detail of the apparatus must be equally essential
for the purpose it had to serve, he made a series of
experiments which demonstrated that some insect
of Madagascar—doubtless a moth—must be
equipped with a proboscis long enough to reach
the nectar, and at the same time thick enough at
the base to withdraw the pollinia—thus fertilizing
the bloom. For, if the nectar had lain so close to
the orifice that moths with a proboscis of reason-
able length and thickness could get at it, they
would drain the cup without touching the pollinia.

WARM ORCHIDS. 137

Darwin never proved his special genius more
admirably than in this case. He created an in-
sect beyond belief, as one may say, by the force of
logic ; and such absolute confidence had he in his
own syllogism that he declared, “If such great
moths were to become extinct in Madagascar,
assuredly this Angreecum would become extinct.”
Iam not aware that Darwin’s fine argument has
yet been clinched by the discovery of that insect.
But cavil has ceased. Long before his death a
sphinx moth arrived from South Brazil which
shows a proboscis between ten and eleven inches
long—very nearly equal, therefore, to the task of
probing the nectary of Angrecum sesqutpedale.
And we know enough of orchids at this time to be
absolutely certain that the Madagascar species

must exist.

138 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

HOT “ORCHIDS.

IN former chapters I have done my best to show
that orchid culture is no mystery. The laws
which govern it are strict and simple, easy to
define in books, easily understood, and subject to
few exceptions. It is not with Odcntoglossums
and Dendrobes as with roses—an intelligent man
or woman needs no long apprenticeship to master
their treatment. Stove orchids are not so readily
dealt with; but then, persons who own a stove
usually keep a gardener. Coming from the hot
lowlands of either hemisphere, they show much
greater variety than those of the temperate and
sub-tropic zones ; there are more genera, though
not so many species, and more exceptions to every
rule. These, therefore, are not to be recommended
to all householders. Not everyone indeed is
anxious to grow plants which need a minimum
night heat of 60° in winter, 70° in summer, and
cannot dispense with fire the whole year round.
The hottest of all orchids probably is Perzsterza

HOT ORCHIDS. 139

elata, the famous “ Spirito Santo,” flower of the
Holy Ghost. The dullest soul who observes that
white dove rising with wings half spread, as in the
very act of taking flight, can understand the
frenzy of the Spaniards when they came upon it.
Rumours of Peruvian magnificence had just
reached them at Panama—on the same day,
perhaps—when this miraculous sign from heaven
encouraged them to advance. The empire of the
Incas did not fall a prey to that particular band of
ruffians, nevertheless. Peristeria clata is so well
known that I would not dwell upon it, but an odd
little tale rises to my mind. The great collector
Roezl was travelling homeward, in 1868, by
Panama. The railway fare to Colon was sixty
dollars at that time, and he grudged the money.
Setting his wits to work, Roezl discovered that the
company issued tickets from station to station at a
very low price for the convenience of its employes.
Taking advantage of this system, he crossed the
isthmus for five dollars—such an advantage it is in
travelling to be an old campaigner! At one of
the intermediate stations he had to wait for his
train, and rushed into the jungle of course.
Peritsteria abounded in that steaming swamp, but
the collector was on holiday. To his amazement,
however, he found, side by side with it, a Masde-

140 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

vallia—that genus most impatient of sunshine
among all orchids, flourishing here in the hottest
blaze! Snatching up half a dozen of the tender
plants with a practised hand, he brought them
safe to England. On the day they were put up to
auction news of Livingstone’s death arrived, and in
a flash of inspiration Roezl christened his novelty
M. Livingstoniana. Few, indeed, even among
authorities, know where that rarest of Masdevallias
has its home; none have reached Europe since.
A pretty flower it is—white, rosy tipped, with
yellow “tails.” And it dwells by the station of
Culebras, on the Panama railway.

Of genera, however, doubtless the Vandas are
hottest ; and among these, V. Sanderiana stands
first. It was found in Mindanao, the most southerly
of the Philippines, by Mr. Roebelin when he went
thither in search of the red Phalcenopsis, as will be
told presently. Vanda Sanderzana is a plant to be
described as majestic rather than lovely, if we
may distinguish among these glorious things. Its
blooms are five inches across, pale lilac in their
eround colour, suffused with brownish yellow, and
covered with a network of crimson brown. Twelve
or more of such striking flowers toa spike, and
four or five spikes upon a plant make a wonder
indeed. But, to view matters prosaically, Vanda

HOT ORCHIDS. 141

Sandertana is “bad business.” It is not common,
and it grows on the very top of the highest trees,
which must be felled to secure the treasure ;
and of those gathered but a small proportion
survive. In the first place, the agent must
employ natives, who are paid so much per plant,
no matter what the size—a bad system, but they
will allow no change. It is evidently their interest
to divide any “specimen” that will bear cutting
up ; if the fragments bleed to death, they have
got their money meantime. Then, the Manilla
steamers call at Mindanao only once a month.
Three months are needed to get together plants
enough to yield a fair profit. Atthe end of that
time a large proportion of those first gathered will
certainly be doomed—Vandas have no pseudo-
bulbs to sustain their strength. Steamers run
from Manilla to Singapore every fortnight. Ifthe
collector be fortunate he may light upon a captain
willing to receive his packages ; in that case he
builds structures of bamboo on deck, and spends
the next fortnight in watering, shading, and venti-
lating his precious ¢vouvaz/les, alternately. But
captains willing to receive such freight must be
waited for too often. At Singapore it is necessary
to make a final overhauling of the plants—to their
woeful diminution. This done, troubles recom-

142 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

mence. Seldom will the captain of a mail steamer
accept that miscellaneous cargo. Happily, the
time of year is, or ought to be, that season when
tea-ships arrive at Singapore. The collector may
reasonably hope to secure a passage in one of
these, which will carry him to England in thirty-
five days or so. If this state of things be pon-
dered, even without allowance for accident, it will
not seem surprising that V. Sanderiana is a costly
species. The largest piece yet secured was bought
by Sir Trevor Lawrence at auction for ninety
suineas. It had eight stems, the tallest four feet
high. No consignment has yet returned a_ profit,
however.

The favoured home of Vandas is Java. They
are noble plants even when at rest, if perfect—
that is, clothed in their glossy, dark green leaves
from base to crown. If there be any age or any
height at which the lower leaves fall of necessity,
I have not been able to identify it. In Mr.
Sander’s collection, for instance, there is a giant
plant of Vanda suavis, eleven growths, a small
thicket, established in 1847. The tallest stem
measures fifteen feet, and every one of its leaves
remain. They fall off easily under bad treatment,
but the mischief is reparable at a certain sacrifice.

The stem may be cut through and the crown re-

HOT ORCHIDS. 143

planted, with leaves perfect ; but it will be so
much shorter, of course. The finest specimen I
ever heard of is the V. Lowzz at Ferrié¢res, seat of
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, near Paris, It
fills the upper part of a large greenhouse, and year
by year its twelve stems produce an indefinite
number of spikes, eight to ten feet long, covered
with thousands of yellow and brown blooms,
Vandas inhabit all the Malayan Archipelago ;
some are found even in India. The superb /.
teres comes from Sylhet; from Burmah also. This
might be called the floral cognizance of the house
of Rothschild. At Frankfort, Vienna, Ferriéres,
and Gunnersbury little meadows of it are grown—
that is, the plants flourish at their own sweet will,
uncumbered with pots, in houses devoted to them.
Rising from a carpet of palms and maidenhair,
each crowned with its drooping garland of rose
and crimson and cinnamon-brown, they make a
glorious show indeed. A pretty little coincidence
was remarked when the Queen paid a visit to
Waddesdon.the other day. V. ¢eres first bloomed
in Europe at Syon House, and a small spray was
sent to the young Princess, unmarried then and
uncrowned. The incident recurred to memory
when Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild chose this

‘ Vanda Lowit is properly called Renanthera Lowi?t.

144 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

same flower for the bouquet presented to Her
Majesty ; he adorned the luncheon table there-
with besides. This story bears a moral. The
plant of which one spray was a royal gift less than
sixty years ago has become so far common that it
may be used in masses to decorate a room,
Thousands of unconsidered subjects of Her
Majesty enjoy the pleasure which one great duke
monopolized before her reign began. There is
matter for an essay here. I hasten back to my
theme.

V. teves is not such a common object that
description would be superfluous. It belongs to
the small class of climbing orchids, delighting to
sun itself upon the rafters of the hottest stove. If
this habit be duly regarded, it is not difficult to
flower by any means, though gardeners who do
not keep pace with their age still pronounce it a
hopeless rebel.. Sir Hugh Low tells me that he
clothed all the trees ‘round Government House at
Pahang with Vanda teres, planting its near relative,
V. Hookeri, more exquisite still, if. that were
possible, ina swampy hollow. His servants might
gather a basket of these flowers daily in the
season. So the memory of the first President for
Pahang will be kept green. A plant rarely seen is
V. limbata from the island of Timor—dusky

HOT ORCHIDS. 145

yellow, the tip purple, outlined with white, formed
like a shovel.

I may cite a personal reminiscence here, in the
hope that some reader may be able to supply what
is wanting. In years so far back that they seem
to belong to a “ previous existence,” I travelled in
Borneo, and paid a visit to the antimony-mines of
Bidi. The manager, Mr. Bentley, showed me a
grand tapong-tree at his door from which he
had lately gathered a “blue orchid,’—we were
desperately vague about names in the jungle at
that day, or in England for that matter. In a
note published on my return, I said, “As Mr.
Bentley described it, the blossoms hung in an
azure garland from the bough, more gracefully
than art could design. This specimen is, I believe,
the only one at present known, and both Malays
and Dyaks are quite ignorant of such a flower!
What was this? There is no question of the
facts. Mr. Bentley sent the plant, a large mass
to the chairman of the Company, and it reached
home in fair condition. I saw the warm letter.
enclosing cheque for 100/,, in which Mr. Templar
acknowledged receipt. But further record I have
not been able to discover. One inclines to assume
that a blue orchid which puts forth a“ garland” of
bloom must be a Vanda. The description might

i

146 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

be applied to V.-cwrulea, but that species is a
native of the Khasya hills; more appropriately,
as I recall Mr. Bentley’s words, to V. cwrulescens,
which, however, is Burmese. Furthermore, neither
of these would be looked for on the branch
of a great tree. Possibly someone who reads
this may know what became of Mr. Templar’s
specimen.

Both the species of Renanthera need great heat.
Among “facts not generally known” to orchid-
erowers, but decidedly interesting for them, is the
commercial habitat, as one may say, of &. coccznea.
The books state correctly that it is a native of
Cochin China. Orchids coming from such a
distance must needs be withered on arrival.
Accordingly, the most experienced horticulturist
who is not up to a little secret feels assured that
all is well when he beholds at the auction-room or
at one of the small dealer’s a plant full of sap,
with glossy leaves and unshrivelled roots. It
must have been in cultivation for a year at the
very least, and he buys with confidence. Too
often, however, a disastrous change sets in from
the very moment his purchase reaches home.
Instead of growing it falls back and back, until in
a very few weeks it has all the appearance of
a newly-imported piece. The explanation is

HOT ORCHIDS. 147

curious. At some time, not distant, a quantity of
R. coccinea must have found its way to the neigh-
bourhood of Rio. There it flourishes as a weed,
with a vigour quite unparalleled in its native soil.
Unscrupulous persons take advantage of this
extraordinary accident. From a country so near
and so readily accessible they can get plants home,
pot them up, and sell them, before the withering
process sets in. May this revelation confound
such knavish tricks! The moral is old—buy
your orchids from one of the great dealers, if you
do not care to “establish ” them yourself.

R. coccinea is another of the climbing species,
and it demands, even more urgently than V. éeves,
to reach the top of the house, where sunshine is
fiercest, before blooming. Under the best condi-
tions, indeed, it is slow to produce its noble
wreaths of flower—deep red, crimson, and orange.
Upon the other hand, the plant itself is orna-
mental, and it grows very fast. The Duke of
Devonshire has some at Chatsworth which
never fail to make a gorgeous show in their
season; but they stand twenty feet high, twisted
round birch-trees, and they have occupied their
present quarters for half a century or near it.
There is but one more species in the genus, so far
as the unlearned know, but this, generally

L 2

148 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

recognized as Vanda Lowtiz,as has been already
mentioned, ranks among the grand curiosities of
botanic science. Like some of the Catasetums
and Cycnoches, it bears two distinct types of
flower on each spike, but the instance of R. Lowzz
is even more perplexing. In those other cases
the differing forms represent male and female sex,
but the microscope has not yet discovered any
sort of reason for the like eccentricity of this
Renanthera. Its proper inflorescence, as one may
put it, is greenish yellow, blotched with brown,
three inches in diameter, clothing a spike some-
times twelve feet long. The first two flowers to
open, however—those at the base—present a
strong contrast in all respects — smaller, of
different shape, tawny yellow in colour, dotted
with crimson. It would be a pleasing task for
ingenious youth with a bent towards science to
seek the utility of this arrangement.

Orchids are spreading fast over the world in
these days, and we may expect to hear of other
instances where a species has taken root in alien
climes like 2. coccinea in Brazil. I cannot cite a
parallel at present. But Mr. Sander informs me
that there is a growing demand for these plants in
realms which have their own native orchids. We
have an example in the letter which has been

HOT ORCHIDS. 149

already quoted.' Among customers who write to
him direct are magnates of China and Siam, an
Indian and a Javanese rajah. Orders are received
—not unimportant, nor infrequent—from mer-
chants at Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Rio
de Janeiro, and smaller places, of course. It is
vastly droll to hear that some of these gentlemen
import species at a great expense which an
intelligent coolie could gather for them in any
quantity within a few furlongs of their go-down !
But for the most part they demand foreigners.

The plants thus distributed will be grown in the
open air; naturally they will seed; at least, we
may hope so. Even Angraecum sesquipedale, of
which I wrote in the preceding chapter, would find
a moth able to impregnate itin South Brazil. Such
species as recognize the conditions necessary for
their existence will establish themselves. It is
fairly safe to credit that in some future time, not
distant, Cattleyas may flourish in the jungles of
India, Dendrobiums on the Amazons, Phalcoe-
nopsis in the coast lands of Central America.
Those who wish well to their kind would like to
hasten that day.

Mr. Burbidge suggested at the Orchid Con-

ference that gentlemen who have plantations ina

1 Vide page 100.

150 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

country suitable should establish a “farm,” or
rather a market-garden, and grow the precious
things for exportation. It is an excellent idea,
and when tea, coffee, sugar-cane, all the regular
crops of the East and West Indies, are so depre-
ciated by competition, one would think that some
planters might adopt it. Perhaps some have ; it
is too early yet for results. Upon inquiry I hear
of a case, but it is not encouraging. One of Mr.
Sander’s collectors, marrying when on service in
the United States of Colombia, resolved to follow
Mr. Burbidge’s advice. He set up his “ farm”
and began “hybridizing” freely. No man living
is better qualified as a collector, for the hero of
this little tale is Mr. Kerboch, a name familiar
among those who take interest in such matters ;
but I am not aware that he had any experience in
growing orchids. To start with hybridizing seems
very ambitious—too much of a short cut to for-
tune. However, in less than eighteen months
Mr. Kerbach found it did not answer, for reasons
unexplained, and he begged to be reinstated in
Mr. Sander’s service. It is clear, indeed, that the
orchid-farmer of the future, in whose success I
firmly believe, will be wise to begin modestly,
cultivating the species he finds in his neighbour-
hood. It is not in our greenhouses alone that

FHIOT ORCHIDS. ISI

these plants sometimes show likes and dislikes
beyond explanation. For example, many gentle-
men in Costa Rica—a wealthy land, and com-
paratively civilized —have tried to cultivate the
glorious Cattleya Dowiana. For business pur-
poses also the attempt has been made. But never
with success. In those tropical lands a variation
of climate or circumstances, small perhaps, but
such as plants that subsist mostly upon air can
recognize, will be found ina very narrow circuit.
We say that Trichopilias have their home at
Bogota. Asa matter of fact, however, they will
not live in the immediate vicinity of that town,
though the woods, fifteen miles away, are stocked
with them. The orchid-farmer will have to begin
cautiously, propagating what he finds at hand, and
he must not be hasty in sending his crop to market.
It is a general rule of experience that plants
brought from the forest and “established” before
shipment do less well than those shipped direct in
good condition, though the public, naturally, is
slow to admit a conclusion opposed by @ priori
reasoning. The cause may be that they exhaust
their strength in that first effort, and suffer more
severely on the voyage.

I hear of one gentleman, however, who appears
to be cultivating orchids with success. This is

152 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Mr. Rand, dwelling on the Rio Negro, in Brazil,
where he has established a plantation of Hevza
Brazilienses, a new caoutchouc of the highest
quality, indigenous to those parts. Some years
ago Mr. Rand wrote to Mr. Godseff, at St.
Albans, begging plants of Vanda Sanderiana and
other Oriental species, which were duly for-
warded. In return he despatched some pieces of
a new Epidendrum, named in his honour &.
Randii, a noble flower, with brown sepals and
petals, the lip crimson, betwixt two large white
wings. This and others native to the Rio Negro
Mr. Rand is propagating on a large scale in
shreds of bamboo, especially a white Cattleya
superba which he himself discovered. It is pleas-
ing to add that by latest reports all the Oriental
species were thriving to perfection on the other
side of the Atlantic.

Vandas, indeed, should flourish where Catéleya
superba is at home, or anything else that loves the
atmosphere of a kitchen on washing-day at mid-
summer. Though all the Cattleyas, or very
nearly all, will “do” in an intermediate house,
several prefer the stove. Of two among them, C.
Dowiana and C. aurea, 1 spoke in the preceding
chapter with an enthusiasm that does not bear
repetition. Cattleya guttata Leopoldi grows upon

HOT ORCHIDS,

153
rocks in the little island of Sta. Catarina, Brazil,
in company with Lelia elegans and L. pur-
purata. There the four dwelt in such numbers
only twenty years ago that the supply was
thought inexhaustible. It has come to an end
already, and collectors no longer visit the spot.
Cliffs and ravines which men still young can
recollect ablaze with colour, are as bare now as a
stone-quarry. Nature had done much to protect
her treasures; they flourished mostly in places
which the human foot cannot reach — Lelia
elegans and Cattleya g. Leopoldi inextricably
entwined, clinging to the face of lofty rocks. The
blooms of the former are white and mauve, of the
latter chocolate-brown, spotted with dark red, the
lip purple. A wondrous sight that must have
been in the time of flowering. It is lost now,
probably for ever. Natives went down, sus-
pended on a rope, and swept the whole circuit of
the island, year by year. A fewspecimens remain
in nooks absolutely inaccessible, but those happy
mortals who possess a bit of L. elegans should
treasure it, for more are very seldom forthcoming.
Lelia elegans Statteriana is the finest variety
perhaps; the crimson velvet tip of its labellum
is as clearly and sharply-defined upon the snow-
white surface as pencil could draw; it looks like

154 ABOOTL ORCHIDS,

painting by the steadiest of hands in angelic
colour. C. g¢. Leopoldi has been found elsewhere.

It is deliciously scented. I observed a plant at
St. Albans lately with three spikes, each bearing

over twenty flowers ; many strong perfumes there
were in the house, but that overpowered them all.
The Lela purpurata of Sta. Catarina, to which the
finest varieties in cultivation belong, has shared
the same fate. It occupied boulders jutting out
above the swamps in the full glare of tropic sun-
shine. Many gardeners give it too much shade.
This species grows also on the mainland, but of
inferior quality in all respects ; curiously enough
it dwells upon trees there, even though rocks be at
hand, while the island variety, I believe, was never
found on timber.

Another hot Cattleya of the highest class is C.
Acklandig. It belongs to the dwarf section of
the genus, and inexperienced persons are vastly
surprised to see such a little plant bearing two
flowers on a spike, each larger than itself. They
are four inches in diameter, petals and sepals
chocolate-brown, barred with yellow, lip large, of
colour varying from rose to purple. C. Acklandie
is found at Bahia, where it grows side by side with
C. amethystoglossa, also a charming species, very
tall, leafless to the tip of its pseudo-bulbs. Thus

HOT ORCHIDS. 155

the dwarf beneath is seen in all its beauty. As
they cling together in great masses the pair must
make a flower-bed to themselves — above, the
clustered spikes of C. amethystoglossa, dusky-lilac,
purple-spotted, with a lip of amethyst; upon the
eround the rich chocolate and rose of C. Acklandie.

Cattleya superba, as has been said, dwells also on
the Rio Negro in Brazil ; it has a wide range, for
specimens have been sent from the Rio Meta in
Colombia. This species is not loved by gardeners,
who find it difficult to cultivate and almost impos-
sible to flower, probably because they cannot give
it sunshine enough. I have heard that Baron
Hruby, a Hungarian enthusiast in our science, has
no sort of trouble; wonders, indeed, are reported
of that admirable collection, where all the hot
orchids thrive like weeds. The Briton may
find comfort in assuming that cool species are
happier beneath his cloudy skies ; if he be prudent,
he will not seek to verify the assumption. The
Assistant Curator of Kew assures us, in his
excellent little work, “ Orchids,” that the late Mr.
Spyers grew C. superba well, and he details his
method. I myself have never seen the bloom.
Mr. Watson describes it as five inches across,
“bright rosy-purple suffused with white, very
fragrant, lip with acute side lobes folding over the

156 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

column,” —making a funnel, in short—“the front
lobe spreading, kidney-shaped, crimson-purple,
with a blotch of white and yellow in front.”

In the same districts with Cattleya superba
grows Galleandra Devoniana under circumstances
rather unusual. It clings to the very tip of a
slender palm, in swamps which the Indians them-
selves regard with dread as the chosen home of
fever and mosquitoes. It was discovered by Sir
Robert Schomburgk, who compared the flower to
a foxglove, referring especially, perhaps, to the
graceful bend of its long pseudo-bulbs, which is
almost lost under cultivation. The tube-like
flowers are purple, contrasting exquisitely with a
snow-white lip, striped with lilac in the throat.

Phalcenopsis, of course, are hot. This is one of
our oldest genera which still rank in the first
class. It was drawn and described so early as
1750, and a plant reached Messrs. Rollisson in
1838 ; they sold it to the Duke of Devonshire
for a hundred guineas. Many persons regard
Phalcenopsis as the loveliest of all, and there is
no question of their supreme beauty, though not
everyone may rank them first. They come mostly
from the Philippines, but Java, Borneo, Cochin
China, Burmah, even Assam contribute some
species. Colonel Berkeley found Pz, ¢tetraspis,

HOT ORCHIDS. 157

snow-white, and Pk, speciosa, purple, in the
Andamans, when he was Governor of that settle-
ment, clinging to low bushes along the mangrove
creeks. So far as I know, all the species dwell
within breath of the sea, as it may be put, where
the atmosphere is laden with salt; this gives a
hint to the thoughtful. Mr. Partington, of
Cheshunt, who was the most renowned cultivator
of the genus in his time, used to lay down salt
upon the paths and beneath the stages of his
Phalcenopsis house. Lady Howard de Walden
stands first, perhaps, at the present day, and her
gardener follows the same system. These plants,
indeed, are affected, for good or ill, by influences
too subtle for our perception as yet. Experiment
alone will decide whether a certain house, or a
certain neighbourhood even, is agreeable to their
taste. It is a waste of money in general to make
alterations ; if they do not like the place they
won't live there, and that’s flat! It is probable
that Maidstone, where Lady Howard de Walden
resides, may be specially suited to their needs,
but her ladyship’s gardener knows how to turna
lucky chance to the best account. Some of his
plants have ten leaves!—the uninitiated may
think that fact grotesquely undeserving of a note
of exclamation, but to explain would be too

158 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

technical. It may be observed that the famous
Swan orchid, Cycnoches chlorochilon, flourishes at
Maidstone as nowhere else perhaps in England.
Phalcenopsis were first introduced by Messrs.
Rollisson, of Tooting, a firm that vanished years
ago, but will live in the annals of horticulture as
the earliest of the great importers. In 1836 they
got home a living specimen of Ph. amadilis,
which had been described, and even figured,
eighty years before. A few months later the
Duke of Devonshire secured Ph. Schzlleriana.
The late Mr. B. S. Williams told me a very
curious incident relating to this species. It comes
from the Philippines, and exacts a very hot, close
atmosphere of course. Once upon a time, how-
ever, a little piece was left in the cool house at
Holloway, and remained there some months
unnoticed by the authorities. When at length
the oversight was remarked, to their amaze this
stranger from the tropics, abandoned in the tem-
perate zone, proved to be thriving more vigorously
than any of his fellows who enjoyed their proper
climate !—so he was left in peace and cherished
as a “phenomenon.” Four seasons had passed
when I beheld the marvel, and it was a picture of
health and strength, flowering freely; but the
reader is not advised to introduce a few Phalc-

HOT ORCHIDS. 159

nopsis to his Odontoglossums—not by any means.
Mr. Williams himself never repeated the experi-
ment. It was one of those delightfully perplexing
vagaries which the orchid-grower notes from time
to time.

There are rare species of this genus which will
not be found in the dealers’ catalogues, and
amateurs who like a novelty may be pleased to
hear some names. Ph. Manni, christened in
honour of Mr. Mann, Director of the Indian
Forest Department, is yellow and red; PA,
cornucervit, yellow and brown; Ph. Portei, a
natural hybrid, of Pz. rosea and Ph. Aphrodite,
white, the lip amethyst. It is found very, very
rarely in the woods near Manilla. Above all,
Ph. Sanderiana, to which hangs a little tale.

So soon as the natives of the Philippines
began to understand that their white and lilac
weeds were cherished in Europe, they talked of a
scarlet variety, which thrilled listening collectors
with joy ; but the precious thing never came to
hand, and, on closer inquiry, no responsible witness
could be found who had seen it. Years passed by
and the scarlet Phaloenopsis became a jest among
orchidaceans. The natives persisted, however,
and Mr. Sander found the belief so general, if
shadowy, that when a service of coasting steamers

160 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

was established, he sent Mr. Roebelin to make
a thorough investigation. His enterprise and
sagacity were rewarded, as usual. After floating
round for twenty-five years amidst derision, the
rumour proved true in part. Ph. Sanderiana is
not scarlet but purplish rose, a very handsome and
distinct species.

To the same collector we owe the noblest of
Aerides, A. Lawrencie, waxy white tipped with
purple, and deep purple lip. Besides the lovely
colouring it is the largest by far of that genus.
Mr. Roebelin sent two plants from the Far East ;
he had not seen the flower, nor received any descrip-
tion from the natives. Mr. Sander grew them in
equal ignorance for three years, and sent one to’
auction in blossom; it fell to Sir Trevor Law-
rence’s bid for 235 guineas.

Many of the Ccelogenes classed as cool, which,
indeed, rub along with Odonteglossums, do better
in the stove while growing. Cel. cristata itself
comes from Nepaul, where the summer sun is
terrible, and it covers the rocks most exposed.
But I will only name a few of those recognized as
hot. Amongst the most striking of flowers,
exquisitely pretty also, is Cwl. pandurata, from
Borneo. Its spike has been described by a person
of fine fancy as resembling a row of glossy pea-

HOT ORCHIDS. 161

green frogs with black tongues, each three inches
in diameter. The whole bloom is_ brilliantly
green, but several ridges clothed with hairs as
black and soft as velvet run down the lip, seeming
to issue from a mouth. It is strange to see that
a plant so curious, so beautiful, and so sweet
should be so rarely cultivated ; I own, however,
that it is very unwilling to make itself at home
with us. Cal. Dayana, also a native of Borneo,
one of our newest discoveries, is named after Mr.
Day, of Tottenham. I may interpolate a remark
here for the encouragement of poor but enthusi-
astic members of our fraternity. When Mr. Day
sold his collection lately, an American “ Syndicate”
paid 12,000/. down, and the remaining plants
fetched 12,000/. at auction; so, at least, the un-
contradicted report goes. Cel. Dayana is rare,
of course, and dear, but Mr. Sander has lately
imported a large quantity. The spike is three
feet long sometimes, a pendant wreath of buff-
yellow flowers broadly striped with chocolate.
Cel. Massangeana, from Assam, resembles this,
but the lip is deep crimson-brown, with lines of
yellow, and a white edge. Newest of all the
Coelogenes, and supremely beautiful, is CvZ/,
Sandertana, imported by the gentleman whose
name it bears. He has been called “The Orchid
M

162 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

King.” This superb species has only flowered
once in Europe as yet; Baron Ferdinand Roth-
schild is the happy man. Its snow-white blooms,
six on a spike generally, each three inches across,
have very dark brown stripes on the lip. It was
discovered in Borneo by Mr. Forstermann, the
same collector who happed upon the wondrous
scarlet Dendrobe, mentioned in a former chapter.
There I stated that Baron Schroeder had three
pieces; this was a mistake unfortunately. Mr.
Forstermann only secured three, of which two died
on the journey. Baron Schroeder bought the
third, but it has perished. No more can be found
as yet.

Of Oncidiums there are many that demand
stove treatment. The story of Onc. splendidum is
curious. It first turned up in France some thirty
years ago. A ship’s captain sailing from St.
Lazare brought half a dozen pieces, which he
gave to his “owner,’ M. Herman. The latter
handed them to MM. Thibaut and Ketteler, of
Sceaux, who split them up and distributed them.
Two of the original plants found their way to
England, and they also appear to have been cut
up. A legend of the King Street Auction Room
recalls how perfervid competitors ran up a bit of
Onc. splendidum, that had only one leaf, to thirty

HOT ORCHIDS. 163

guineas. The whole stock vanished presently,
which is not surprising if it had all been divided
in the same ruthless manner. From that day the
species was lost until Mr. Sander turned his
attention to it. There was no record of its
habitat. The name of the vessel, or even of the
captain, might have furnished a clue had it been
recorded, for the shipping intelligence of the day
would have shown what ports he was frequenting
about that time. I could tell of mysterious
orchids traced home upon indications less distinct.
But there was absolutely nothing. Mr. Sander,
however, had scrutinized the plant carefully, while
specimens were still extant, and from the structure
of the leaf he formed a strong conclusion that it
must belong to the Central American flora;
furthermore, that it must inhabit a very warm
locality. In 1882 he directed one of his collectors,
Mr. Oversluys, to look for the precious thing in
Costa Rica. Year after year the search pro-
ceeded, until Mr. Oversluys declared with some
warmth that Oxc. splendidum might grow in
heaven or in the other place, but it was not to be
found in Costa Rica. But theorists are stubborn,
and year after year he was sent back. At length,
in 1882, riding through a district often explored,
the collector found himself in a grassy plain,
M 2

164 ABOU ORCHIDS.

dotted with pale yellow flowers. He had beheld
the same many times, but his business was orchids.
On this occasion, however, he chanced to approach
one of the masses, and recognized the object of
his quest. It was the familiar case of aman who
overlooks the thing he has to find, because it is
too near andtoo conspicuous. But Mr. Oversluys
had excuse enough. Who could have expected
to see an Oncidium buried in long grass, exposed
to the full power of a tropic sun ?

Oncidium Lanceanum is, perhaps, the hottest of
its genus. Those happy mortals who can grow
it declare they have no trouble, but unless per-
fectly strong and healthy it gets “the spot,” and
promptly goes to wreck. In the houses of the
“New Plant and Bulb Company,” at Colchester—
now extinct—Oznc. Lanceanum flourished with a
vigour almost embarrassing, putting forth such
enormous leaves, as it hung close to the glass, as
made blinds quite superfluous at midsummer.
But this was an extraordinary case. Certainly it
is a glorious spectacle in flower—yellow, barred
with brown; the lip violet. The spikes last a
month in full beauty—sometimes two.

An Oncidium which always commands atten-
tion from the public and grateful regard from the
devotee is Onc. papilio. Its strange form fascinated

HOT ORCHIDS. 165

the Duke of Devonshire, grandfather to the
present, who was almost the first of our lordly
amateurs, and tempted him to undertake the ex-
plorations which introduced so many fine plants to
Europe.

The “ Butterfly orchid” is so familiar that I do
not pause to describe it. But imagine that most
interesting flower all blue, instead of gold and
brown! I have never been able to learn what
was the foundation of the old belief in such a
marvel. But the great Lindley went to his grave
in unshaken confidence that a blue papzlzo exists.
Once he thought he had a specimen; but it
flowered, and his triumph had to be postponed. I
myself heard of it two years back, and tried to
cherish a belief that the news was true. A friend
from Natal assured me that he had seen one on
the table of the Director of the Gardens at Dur-
ban; but it proved to be one of those terrestrial
orchids, so lovely and so tantalizing to us, with
which South Africa abounds. Very slowly do we
lengthen the catalogue of them in our houses.
There are gardeners, such as Mr. Cook at
Loughborough, who grow JDzsa_ grandiflora
like a weed. Mr. Watson of Kew demon-
strated that Dzsa racemosa will flourish under
conditions easily secured. I had the good fortune

166 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

todo as much for Disa Coopferz, though not by my
own skill. One supreme little triumph is mine,
however, In very early days, when animated
with the courage of utter ignorance, I bought
eight bulbs of Dzsa discolor, and flowered them,
every one! No mortal in Europe had done it
before, nor has any tried since, I charitably hope,
for a more rubbishing bloom does not exist. But
there it was—Ego fect! And the specimen in the
Herbarium at Kew bears my name.

But legends should not be disregarded when it
is certain that they reach us from a native source.
Some of the most striking finds had been an-
nounced long since by observant savages. I
have told the story of Phalenopsis Sanderiana.
It was a Zulu who put the discoverer of the
new yellow Calla on the track. The blue Utri-
cularia had been heard of and discredited long
before it was found—Utricularias are not orchids
indeed, but only botanists regard the distinction.
The natives of Assam persistently assert that a
bright yellow Cymbidium growsthere, of supremest
beauty, and we expect it to turn up one day;
the Malagasy describe a scarlet one. But I am
digressing.

Epidendrums mostly will bear as much heat as
can be given them while growing ; all demand

HOT ORCHIDS. 167

more sunshine than they can get in our climate.
Amateurs do not seem to be so well acquainted
with the grand things of this genus as they should
be. They distrust all imported Epidendrums.
Many worthless species, indeed, bear a perplexing
resemblance to the finest; so much so, that the
most observant of authorities would not think of
buying at the auction-room unless he had confi-
dence enough in the seller’s honesty to accept his
description of a “lot.” Gloriously beautiful, how-
ever, are some of those rarely met with; easy to
cultivate also, in a sunny place, and not dear.
Epid. rhizophorum has been lately rechristened
Epid. radicans—a name which might be confined
to the Mexican variety. For the plant recurs in
Brazil, practically the same, but with a certain
difference. The former grows on shrubs, a true
epiphyte; the latter has its bottom roots in the
soil, at foot of the tallest trees, and runs up to the
very summit, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet.
The flowers also show a distinction, but in effect
they are brillant orange-red, the lip yellow, edged
with scarlet. Forty or fifty of them hanging in a
cluster from the top of the raceme make a show
to remember. Mr. Watson “saw a plant a few
years ago, that bore eighty-six heads of flowers !”
They last forthree months. zd. prismatocarpum,

168 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

also, is a lovely thing, with narrow dagger-like
sepals and petals, creamy-yellow, spotted black,
lip mauve or violet, edged with pale yellow.

Of the many hot Dendrobiums, Australia sup-
plies a good proportion. There is D. begibbum, of
course, too well known for description ; it dwells
on the small islands in Torres Straits. 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. super-
biens, from Torres Straits, rosy purple, edged with
white, lip crimson. Handsomest of all by far is
D. phalenopsis. It throws out along, slender spike
from the tip of the pseudo-bulb, bearing six or
more flowers, three inches across. The sepals are
lance-shaped, and the petals, twice as broad, rosy-
lilac, with veins of darker tint; the lip, arched
over by its side lobes, crimson-lake in the throat,
paler and striped at the mouth. It was first sent
home by Mr. Forbes, of Kew Gardens, from Timor
Laiit, in 1880. But Mr. Fitzgerald had made
drawings of a species substantially the same, some
years before, from a plant he discovered on the
property of Captain Bloomfield, Balmain, in
Queensland, nearly a thousand miles south of

HOT ORCHIDS. 169

Timor. Mr. Sander caused search to be made,
and he has introduced Mr. Fitzgerald’s variety
under the name of D. ph. Statterianum. It is
smaller than the type, and crimson instead of lilac.

Bulbophyllums rank among the marvels of
nature. It is a point comparatively trivial that
this genus includes the largest of orchids and,
perhaps, the smallest.

B. Beccariz has leaves two feet long, eighteen
inches broad. It encircles the biggest tree in one
clasp of its rhizomes, which travellers mistake for
the coil of a boa constrictor. Futhermore, this
species emits the vilest stench known to scientific
persons, which is a great saying. But these points
are insignificant. The charm of Bulbophyllums
lies in their machinery for trapping insects. Those
who attended the Temple show last year saw
something of it, if they could penetrate the crush
around &. darbigerum on Sir Trevor Lawrence’s
stand. This tiny but amazing plant comes from
Sierra Leone. The long yellow lip is attached to
the column by the slenderest possible joint, so that
it rocks without an instant’s pause. At the tip is
set a brush of silky hairs, which wave backwards
and forwards with the precision of machinery. No
wonder that the natives believe it a living thing.

The purpose of these arrangements is to catch flies,

170 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

which other species effect with equal ingenuity if
less elaboration. Very pretty tooare some of them,
as B. Lobbu. Its clear, clean, orange-creamy hue
is delightful to behold. The lip, so delicately
balanced, quivers at every breath. If the slender
stem be bent back, as by a fly alighting on the
column, that quivering cap turns and hangs im-
minent; another tiny shake, as though the fly
approached the nectary, and it falls plump, head
over heels, like a shot, imprisoning the insect.
Thus the flower is impregnated. If we wished
to excite a thoughtful child’s interest in botany
—not regardless of the sense of beauty either
—we should make an investment in Bulbophyllum
Lobbit. Bulbophyllum Dearez also is pretty—golden
ochre spotted red, with a wide dorsal sepal, very
narrow petals flying behind, lower sepals broadly
striped with red, and a yellow lip, upon a hinge,
of course; but the gymnastic performances of
this species are not so impressive as in most of its
kin,

A new Bulbophyllum, B. Godseffianum, has
lately been brought from the Philippines, contrived
on the same principle, but even more charming.
The flowers, two inches broad, have the colour of
“old gold,’ with stripes of crimson on the petals,
and the dorsal sepal shows membranes almost

HOT ORCHIDS. 171

transparent, which have the effect of silver em-
broidery.

Until B. Beccarit was introduced, from Borneo,
in 1867, the Grammatophyllums were regarded as
monsters incomparable. Mr. Arthur Keyser,
Resident Magistrate at Selangor, in the Straits
Settlement, tells of one which he gathered on a
Durian tree, seven feet two inches high, thirteen
feet six inches across, bearing seven spikes of
flower, the longest eight feet six inches~a weight
which fifteen men could only just carry. Mr. F.
W. Burbidge heard a tree fallin the jungle one
night when he was four miles away, and on visiting
the spot, he found, “right in the collar of the trunk,
a Grammatophyllum big enough to filla Pickford’s
van, just opening its golden-brown spotted flowers.
on stout spikes two yards long.” It is not to be
hoped that we shall ever see monsters like these
in Europe. The genus, indeed, is unruly. G.
speciosum has been grown to six feet high, I
believe, which is big enough to satisfy the modest
amateur, especially when it develops leaves two
feet long. The flowers are—that is, they ought to
be—six inches in diameter, rich yellow, blotched
with reddish purple. They have some giants at
Kew now, of which fine things are expected. G.
Measureseanum,named after Mr.Measures,a leading

172 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

amateur, is pale buff, speckled with chocolate, the
ends of the sepals and petals charmingly tipped
with the same hue. Within the last few months
Mr. Sander has obtained G. multzflorum from the
Philippines, which seems to be not only the most
beautiful, but the easiest to cultivate of those yet
introduced. Its flowers droopin a garland of pale
green and yellow, splashed with brown, not
loosely set, as is the rule, but scarcely half an inch
apart. The effect is said to be lovely beyond
description. We may hope to judge for ourselves
in no long time, for Mr. Sander has presented a
wondrous specimen to the Royal Gardens, Kew.
This is assuredly the biggest orchid ever brought
to Europe. Its snakey pseudo-bulbs measure
nine feet, and the old flower spikes stood eighteen
feet high. It will be found in the Victoria Regia

house, growing strongly.

CATTLEYA LABIATA.

THE LOST ORCHID.

Nov a few orchids are “ lost ”—have been described
that is, and named, even linger in some great
collection, but, bearing no history, cannot now be
found. Such, forinstance,are Cattleya Jongheana,
Cymbidium Hookerianum, Cypripedium Faitria-
num. But there is one to which the definite article
might have been applied a very few days ago.
This is Cattleya labiata vera. It was the first to
bear the name of Cattleya, though not absolutely
the first of that genus discovered. C Loddigesii
preceded it by a few years, but was called an
Epidendrum. Curious it is to note how science
has returned in this latter day to the views of a
pre-scientific era. Professor Reichenbach was only
restrained from abolishing the genus Cattleya,
and merging all its species into Epidendrum, by
regard for the weakness of human nature.
Cattleya labiata vera was sent from Brazil to Dr.
Lindley by Mr. W. Swainson, and reached Liver-
pool in 1818. So much is certain, for Lindley

174 ABOUT ORCHIDS..

makes the statement in his Collectanea Botanica.
But legends and myths encircle that great event.
It is commonly told in books that Sir W. Jackson
Hooker, Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow,
begged Mr. Swainson—who was collecting speci-
mens in natural history—to send him some lichens.
He did so, and with the cases arrived a quantity
of orchids which had been used to pack them.
Less suitable material for “dunnage ” could not be
found, unless we suppose that it was thrust between
the boxes to keep them steady. Paxton is the
authority for this detail, which has its importance.
The orchid arriving in such humble fashion proved
to be Cattleya labiata; Lindley gave it that name
—there was no need to add vera then. He
established a new genus for it, and thus preserved
for all time the memory of Mr. Cattley, a great
horticulturist dwelling at Barnet. There was no
ground in supposing the species rare. A few
years afterwards, in fact, Mr. Gardner, travelling
in pursuit of butterflies and birds, sent home
quantities of a Cattleya which he found on the
precipitous sides of the Pedro Bonita range,
and also on the Gavea, which our sailors call
“Topsail” Mountain, or “Lord Hood’s Nose.”
These orchids passed as C. labiata for a while.
Paxton congratulated himself and the world in

THE LOST ORCHID. 175

his Flower Garden that the stock was so greatly
increased. Those were the coaching days, when
botanists had not much opportunity for com-
parison. It is to be observed, also, that Gardner’s
Cattleya was the nearest relative of Swainson’s ;—
it is known at present as C. labiata Warnerz.
The true species, however, has points unmis-
takable. Some of its kinsfolk show a double
flower-sheath ;—very, very rarely, under excep-
tional circumstances. But Cattleya labiata vera
never fails, and an interesting question it is to
resolve why this alone should be so carefully
protected. One may cautiously surmise that its
habitat is even damper than others’. In the next
place, some plants have their leaves red under-
neath, others green, and the flower-sheath always
corresponds ; this peculiarity is shared by C. 2.
Warnerz alone. Thirdly—and there is the grand
distinction, the one which gives such extreme
value to the species—it flowers in the late autumn,
and thus fills a gap. Those who possess a plant
may have Cattleyas in bloom the whole year
round—and they alone. Accordingly, it makes a
section by itself in the classification of Rezchen-
bachia,as the single species that flowers from the
current year’s growth, after resting. Section II.
contains the species that flower from the current

176 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

year’s growth before resting. Section III., those’
that flower from last year’s growth after resting.
All these are many, but C. /. vera stands alone.
We have no need to dwell upon the contest that
arose at the introduction of Cattleya Mossie in
1840, which grew more and more bitter as others
of the class came in, and has not yet ceased. It
is enough to say that Lindley declined to recog-
nize C. Mossie as a species, though he stood
almost solitary against “the trade,” backed by a
host of enthusiastic amateurs. The great botanist
declared that he could see nothing in the beautiful
new Cattleya to distinguish it as a species from
the one already named, C. /abiata, except that
most variable of characteristics, colour. Modes
of growth and times of flowering do not concern
science. The structure of the plants is identical,
and to admit C. J7ossie as a sub-species of the
same was the utmost concession Lindley would
make. This was in 1840. Fifteen years later
came C. Warscewiczt, now called gzgas; then,
next year, C. Triane; C. Dowiana in 1866;
C, Mendellit in 1870—all labzatas, strictly speak-
ing. At each arrival the controversy was re-
newed; it is not over yet. But Sir Joseph
Hooker succeeded Lindley and Reichenbach
succeeded Hooker as the supreme authority, and

THE LOST ORCHID. 177

each of them stood firm. There are, of course,
many Cattleyas recognized as species, but Lind-
ley’s rule has been maintained. We may return
to the lost orchid.

As time went on, and the merits of C /abiata
vera were understood, the few specimens extant—
proceeding from Mr. Swainson’s importation —
fetched larger and larger prices. Those merits,
indeed, were conspicuous. Besides the season of
flowering, this proved to be the strongest and
most easily grown of Cattleyas. Its normal type
was at least as charming as any, and it showed an
extraordinary readiness to vary. Few, as has
been said, were the plants in cultivation, but they
gave three distinct varieties. Van Houtte shows
us two in his admirable Pore des Serres; C1.
candida, from Syon House, pure white excepting
the ochrous throat—which is invariable—and C. 7.
picta, deep red, from the collection of J. J. Blandy,
Esq., Reading. The third was C. 2 Pescatorei,
white, with a deep red blotch upon the lip,
formerly owned by Messrs. Rouget-Chauvier, of
Paris, now by the Duc de Massa.

Under such circumstances the dealers began to
stir in earnest. From the first, indeed, the more
enterprising had made efforts to import a plant
which, as they supposed, must be a common weed

N

178 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

at Rio, since men used it to “pack” boxes, But
that this was anerror they soon perceived. Taking
the town as a centre, collectors pushed out on all
sides. Probably there is not one of the large
dealers, in England or the Continent, dead or
living, who has not spent money—a large sum,
too—in searching for C. 7. vera. Probably, also,
not one has lost by the speculation, though never
a sign nor a hint, scarcely a rumour, of the thing
sought rewarded them. For all secured new
orchids, new bulbs—Eucharis in especial—Di-
pladenias, Bromeliacez, Calladiums, Marantas,
Aristolochias, and what not. In this manner the
lost orchid has done immense service to botany
and to mankind. One may say that the hunt
lasted seventy years, and led collectors to strike a
path through almost every province of Brazil—
almost, for there are still vast regions unexplored.
A man might start, for example, at Para, and
travel to Bogota, two thousand miles or so, with a
stretch of six hundred miles on either hand which
is untouched. It may well be asked what Mr.
Swainson was doing, if alive, while his discovery
thus agitated the world. Alive he was, in New
Zealand, until the year 1855, but he offered no
assistance. It is scarcely to be doubted that he
had none to give. The orchids fell in his way

THE LOST ORCHID. 179

by accident—possibly collected in distant parts by
some poor fellow who died at Rio. Swainson
picked them up, and used them to stow his lichens.

Not least extraordinary, however, in this extra-
ordinary tale is the fact that.various bits of C. 2.
vera turned up during this time. Lord Home
hasa noble specimen at Bothwell Castle, which
did not come from Swainson’s consignment. His
gardener told the story five years ago. “I am
quite sure,’ he wrote, “that my nephew told me
the small bit I had from him ”—forty years before
—“was off a newly-imported plant, and I under-
stood it had been brought by one of Messrs.
Horsfall’s ships.” Lord Fitzwilliam seems to
- have got one in the same way, from another ship.
But the most astonishing case is recent. About
seven years ago two plants made their appearance
in the Zoological Gardens at Regenit’s Park—in the
conservatory behind Mr. Bartlett’s house. How
they got there is an eternal mystery. Mr.
Bartlett sold them for a large sum; but an equal
sum offered him for any scrap of information
showing how they came into his hands he was
sorrowfully obliged to refuse—or, rather, found
himself unable to earn. They certainly arrived
in company with some monkeys ; but when, from
what district of South America, the closest search

N 2

180 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

of his papers failed to show. In 1885, Dr. Regel,
Director of the Imperial Gardens at St. Petersburg,
received a few plants. It may be worth while
to name those gentlemen who recently possessed
examples of C. 2, vera, so far as our know-
ledge goes. They were Sir Trevor Lawrence,
Lord Rothschild, Duke of Marlborough, Lord
Home, Messrs. J. Chamberlain, T. Statten, J. J.
Blandy, and G. Hardy, in England ; in America,
Mr. F. L. Ames, two, and Mr. H. H. Hunnewell ;
in France, Comte de Germiny, Duc de Massa,
Baron Alphonse and Baron Adolf de Rothschild,
M. Treyeran of Bordeaux. There were two, as is
believed, in Italy.

And now the horticultural papers inform us
that the lost orchid is found, by Mr. Sander of St.
Albans. Assuredly he deserves his luck—if the
result of twenty years’ labour should be so
described. It was about 1870, we believe, that
Mr. Sander sent out Arnold, who passed five years
in exploring Venezuela. He had made up his
mind that the treasure must not be looked for in
. Brazil. Turning next to Colombia, in successive
years, Chesterton, Bartholomeus, Kerbach, and
the brothers Klaboch overran that country.
Returning to Brazil, his collectors, Oversluys,
Smith, Bestwood, went over every foot of the

THE LOST ORCHID. 181

ground which Swainson seems, by his books, to
have traversed. At the same time Clarke followed
Gardner’s track through the Pedro Bonita and
Topsail Mountains. Then Osmers traced the
whole coast-line of the Brazils from north to south,
employing five years in the work. Finally,
Digance undertook the search, and died this year.
To these men we owe grand discoveries beyond
counting. To name but the grandest, Arnold
found Cattleya Percevaliana ; from Colombia were
brought Odont. vex. rubellum, Bollea celestis, Pesca-
torea Klabochorum ; Smith sent Cattleya O’ brien-
tana; Clarke the dwarf Cattleyas, pumzla and
prestans; WLawrenceson Cattleya Schroedere ;
Chesterton Cattleya Sanderiana ; Digance Cattleya
Diganceana, which received a Botanical certificate
from the Royal Horticultural Society on Sep-
tember 8th, 1890. But they heard not a whisper
of the lost orchid.

In 1889 a collector employed by M. Moreau, of
Paris, to explore Central and North Brazil in search
of insects, sent home fifty plants—for M. Moreau is
an enthusiast in orchidology also. He had no object
in keeping the secret of its habitat, and when Mr.
Sander, chancing to call, recognized the treasure
so long lost, he gave every assistance. Meanwhile,
the International Horticultural Society of Brussels

182 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

had secured a quantity, but they regarded it as
new, and gave it the name of Catt. Warocqueana ;
in which error they persisted until Messrs. Sander
flooded the market.

AN ORCHID FARM.

My articles brought upon mea flood of questions
almost as embarrassing as flattering to a busy
journalist. The burden of them was curiously
like. Three ladies or gentlemen in four wrote
thus: “I love orchids. I had not the least sus-
picion that they may be cultivated so easily and
so cheaply. I am going to begin. Will you
please inform me”—here diversity set in with a
vengeance! From temperature to flower-pots,
from the selection of species to the selection of
peat, from the architecture of a greenhouse to the
capabilities of window-gardening, with excursions
between, my advice was solicited. I replied as
best Icould. It must be feared, however, that the
most careful questioning and the most elaborate
replies by post will not furnish that ground-work
of knowledge, the A B C of the science, which is
needed by a person utterly unskilled ; nor will he
find it readily in the hand-books. Written by
men familiar with the alphabet of orchidology

184 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

from their youth up, though they seem to begin
at the beginning, ignorant enthusiasts who study
them find woful gaps. It is little I can do in
this matter; yet, believing that the culture of
these plants will be as general shortly as the
culture of pelargoniums under glass—and firmly
convinced that he who hastens that day is a real
benefactor to his kind—I am most anxious to do
what lies in my power. Considering the means by
which this end may be won, it appears necessary
above all to avoid boring the student. He should
be led to feel how charming is the business in
hand even while engaged with prosaic details;
and it seems to me, after some thought, that the
sketch of a grand orchid nursery will best serve
our purpose for the moment. There I can show
at once processes and results, passing at a step
as it were from the granary into the harvest-field,
from the workshop to the finished and glorious
production.

“ An orchid farm” is no extravagant description
of the establishment at St. Albans, There alone
in Europe, so far as I know, three acres of ground
are occupied by orchids exclusively. It is possible
that larger houses might be found—everything is
possible ; but such are devoted more or less toa
variety of plants, and the departments are not all

AN ORCHID FARM. 185

gathered beneath one roof, I confess, for my own
part, a hatred of references. They interrupt the
writer, and they distract the reader. At the place
I have chosen to illustrate our theme, one has
but to cross a corridor from any of the working
quarters to reach the showroom. We may start
upon our critical survey from the very dwelling-
house. Pundits of agricultural science explore the
sheds, I believe, the barns, stables, machine-rooms,
and so forth, before inspecting the crops. We
may follow the same course, but our road offers an
unusual distraction.

It passes from the farmer’s hall beneath a high
glazed arch. Some thirty feet beyond, the path
is stopped by a wall of tufa and stalactite which
rises to the lofty roof, and compels the traveller to
turn right or left. Water pours down it and falls
trickling into a narrow pool beneath. Its rough
front is studded with orchids from crest to base.
Coelogenes have lost those pendant wreaths of
bloom which lately tipped the rock as with snow.
But there are Cymbidiums arching long sprays of
green and chocolate ; thickets of Dendrobe set with
flowers beyond counting—ivory and rose and
purple and orange; scarlet Anthuriums: huge
clumps of Phajus and evergreen Calanthe, with a
score of spikes rising from their broad leaves ;

186 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Cypripediums of quaint form and striking half-
tones of colour; Oncidiums which droop their
slender garlands a yard long, golden yellow and
spotted, purple and white—a hundred tints. The
crown of the rock bristles all along with
Cattleyas, a dark-green glossy little wood against
the sky. The Zvianes are almost over, but here
and there a belated beauty pushes through, white
or rosy, with a lip of crimson velvet. Mosst@s
have replaced them generally, and from beds three
feet in diameter their great blooms start by the
score, in every shade of pink and crimson and
rosy purple. There is Lwlza elegans, exterminated
in its native home, of such bulk and such luxuri-
ance of growth that the islanders left forlorn might
almost find consolation in regarding it here. Over
all, climbing up the spandrils of the roof in full
blaze of sunshine, is Vanda teres, round asa pencil
both leaves and stalk, which will drape those bare
iron rods presently with crimson and pink and
gold... The way to our farmyard is not like
others. It traverses a corner of fairyland.

We find a door masked by such a rock as that
faintly and vaguely pictured, which opens on a
broad corridor. Through all its length, four
hundred feet, it is ceilinged with baskets of

1 | was too sanguine. Vanda deres refused to thrive.

AN ORCHID FARM. 187

Mexican orchid, as close as they will fit. Upon
the left hand lie a series of glass structures; upon
the right, below the level of the corridor, the
workshops ; at the end—why, to be frank, the end
is blocked by a ponderous screen of matting just
now. But this dingy barrier is significant of a
work in hand which will not be the least curious
nor the least charming of the strange sights here.
The farmer has already a “siding” of course, for
the removal of his produce ; he finds it necessary
to have a station of his own also for the con-
venience of clients. Beyond the screen at present
lies an ‘area of mud and ruin, traversed by
broken walls and rows of hot-water piping
swathed in felt to exclude the chill air. A few
weeks since, this little wilderness was covered with
glass, but the ends of the long “ houses” have been
cut off to make room for a structure into which
visitors will step direct from the train. The plat-
form is already finished, neat and trim; so are the
vast boilers and furnaces, newly rebuilt, which
would drive a cotton factory.

A busy scene that is which we survey, looking
down through openings inthe wall of the corridor.
Here is the composing-room, where that magnifi-
cent record of orchidology in three languages, the
“ Reichenbachia,” slowly advances from year to

188 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

year. There is the printing-room, with no steam
presses or labour-saving machinery, but the most
skilful craftsmen to be found, the finest paper, the
most deliberate and costly processes, to rival the
great works of the past in illustrating modern
science. These departments, however, we need
' not visit, nor the chambers, lower still, where
mechanical offices are performed.

The “Importing Room” first demands notice.
Here cases are received by fifties and hundreds,
week by week, from every quarter of the orchid
world, unpacked, and their contents stored until
space is made for them up above. It is a long
apartment, broad and low, with tables against the
wall and down the middle, heaped with things
which to the uninitiated seem, for the most part,
dry sticks and dead bulbs. Orchids everywhere!
They hang in dense bunches from the roof. They
lie a foot thick upon every board, and two feet
thick below. They are suspended on the walls.
Men pass incessantly along the gangways, carrying
a load that would fill a barrow. And all the
while fresh stores are accumulating under the
hands of that little group in the middle, bent and
busy at cases just arrived. They belong to a lot
of eighty that came in from Burmah last night—
and while we look on,a boy brings a telegram

AN ORCHID FARM. 189

announcing fifty more from Mexico, that will
reach Waterloo at 2.30 p.m. Great is the wrath
and great the anxiety at this news, for some one
has blundered; the warning should have been
despatched three hours before. Orchids must not
arrive at unknown stations unless there be some-
body of discretion and experience to meet them,
and the next train does not leave St. Albans until
2.44 p.m. Dreadful is the sense of responsibility,
alarming the suggestions of disaster, that arise
from this incident.

The Burmese cases in hand just now are filled ©
with Dendrobiums, crassinode and Wardianum,
stowed in layers as close as possible, with D.
Falconertt for packing material. A royal way of
doing things indeed to substitute an orchid of
value for shavings or moss, but mighty con-
venient and profitable. For that packing will
be sent to the auction-rooms presently, and will
be sold for no small proportion of the sum which
its more delicate charge attains. We remark that
the experienced persons who remove these pre-
cious sticks, layer by layer, perform their office
gingerly. There is not much danger or un-
pleasantness in unpacking Dendrobes, compared
with other genera, but ship-rats spring out oc-

casionally and give an ugly bite; scorpions and

190 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

centipedes have been known to harbour in the
close roots of D. Falconeru ; stinging ants are by
no means improbable, nor huge spiders; while
cockroaches of giant size, which should be killed,
may be looked for with certainty. But men learn
a habit of caution by experience of cargoes much
more perilous. In those masses of Arundina
bambusefolia beneath the table yonder doubt-
less there are centipedes lurking, perhaps even
scorpions, which have escaped the first inspection.
Happily, these pests are dull, half-stupefied with
the cold, when discovered, and no man here has
been stung, circumspect as they are; but ants
arrive as alert and as vicious as in their native.
realm. Distinctly they are no joke. To handle
a consignment of Lpzdendrum bicornutum demands
some nerve. A very ugly species loves its hollow
bulbs, which, when disturbed, shoots out with
lightning swiftness and nips the arm or hand so
quickly that it can seldom be avoided. But the
most awkward cases to deal with are those which
contain Schomburghkia tbicints. This superb
orchid is so difficult to bloom that very few will
attempt it; I have seen its flower but twice.
Packers strongly approve the reluctance of the
public to buy, since it restricts importation. The
foreman has been laid up again andagain. But they

AN ORCHID FARM. IgI

find pleasing curiosities also, tropic beetles, and
insects, and cocoons. Dendrobiums in especial are
favoured by moths ; D. Wardianum is loaded with
their webs, empty as a rule. Hitherto the men
have preserved no chrysalids, but at this moment
they have a few, of unknown species.

The farmer gets strange bits of advice sometimes,
and strange offers of assistance. Talking of insects
reminds him of a letter received last week. Here
it is :—

S1rs,—I have heard that you are large growers of orchids ;
am I right in supposing that in their growth or production
you are much troubled with some insect or caterpillar which
retards or hinders their arrival at maturity, and that these
insects or caterpillars can be destroyed by small snakes? I
have tracts of land under my occupation, and if these small

snakes can be of use in your culture of orchids you might

write, as I could get you some on knowing what these might
be worth to you.
Yours truly

Thence we mount to the potting-rooms, where a
dozen skilled workmen try to keep pace with the
srowth of the imported plants ; taking up, day by
day, those which thrust out roots so fast that
postponement is injurious. The broad middle
tables are heaped with peat and moss and leaf-
mould and white sand. Atcounters on either side
unskilled labourers are sifting and mixing, while
boys come and go, laden with pots and baskets of

192 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

teak-wood andcrocks and charcoal. These things
are piled in heaps against the walls; they are
stacked on frames overhead; they fill the semi-
subterranean chambers of which we get a glimpse
in passing. Our farm resembles a factory in this
department.

Ascending to the upper earth again, and crossing
the corridor, we may visit number one of those
glass-houses opposite. I cannot imagine, much
more describe, how that spectacle would strike one
to whom it was wholly unfamiliar. These build-
ings—there are twelve of them, side by side—
measure one hundred and eighty feet in length, and
the narrowest has thirty-two feet breadth. This
which we enter is devoted to Odontoglossum crispum,
with a few Masdevallias. There were twenty-two
thousand pots init the other day ; several thousand
have been sold, several thousand have been brought
in, and the number at this moment cannot be
computed. Our farmer has no time for speculative
arithmetic; he deals in produce wholesale. Tele-
graph an order for a thousand crzspums and you
cause no stir in the establishment. You take it
for granted that a large dealer only could propose
such a transaction. But it does not follow at all.
Nobody would credit, unless he had talked with one
of the great farmers, on what enormous scale

AN ORCHID FARM. 193

orchids are cultivated up and down by private
persons. Our friend has a client who keeps his
stock of O. crispum alone at ten thousand; but
others, less methodical, may have more.

Opposite the door is a high staging, mounted
by steps, with a gangway down the middle and
shelves descending on eitherhand. Those shelves
are crowded with fine plants of the glorious
O. crispum, each bearing one or two spikes of
flower, which trail down, interlace, arch upward.
Not all are in bloom ; that amazing sight may be
witnessed for a month to come—for two months,
with such small traces of decay as the casual visitor
would not notice. So long and dense are the
wreaths, so broad the flowers, that the structure
seems to be festooned from top to bottom with
snowy garlands. But there is more. Overhead
hang rows of baskets, lessening in perspective, with
pendent sprays of bloom. And broad tables which
edge the walls beneath that staging display some
thousands still, smaller but not less beautiful. A
sight which words could not portray. I yield in
despair.

The tillage of the farm is our business, and
there are many points here which the amateur
should note. Observe the bricks beneath your
feet. They have a hollow pattern which retains

O

194 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

the water, though your boots keep dry. Each side
the pathway lie shallow troughs, always full.
Beneath that staging mentioned is a bed of leaves,
interrupted by a tank here, by a group of ferns
there, vividly green. Slender iron pipes run
through the house from end to end, so perforated
that on turning a tap they soak these beds, fill the
little troughs and hollow bricks, play in all direc-
tions down below, but never touchaplant. Under
such constant drenching the leaf-beds decay,
throwing up those gases and vapours in which
the orchid delights at home. Thus the amateur
should arrange his greenhouse, so far as he may.
But I would not have it understood that these
elaborate contrivances are essential. Ifyou would
beat Nature, as here, making invariably such bulbs
and flowers as she produces only under rare con-
ditions, you must follow this system. But orchids
are not exacting.

The house opens, at its further end, in a
magnificent structure designed especially to
exhibit plants of warm species in bloom. It is
three hundred feet long, twenty-six wide, eighteen
high—the piping laid end to end, would measure
as nearly as possible one mile: we see a practical
illustration of the resources of the establishment,
when it is expected to furnish such a show. Here

AN ORCHID FARM. 195

are stored the huge specimens of Cymbidium Lowia-
num, nine of which astounded the good people of
Berlin with a display of one hundred and fifty
flower spikes, all open at once. We observe at least
a score as well furnished, and hundreds which a
royal gardener would survey with pride. They
rise one above another in a great bank, crowned
and brightened by garlands of pale green and
chocolate. Other Cymbidiums are here, but not
the beautiful C. eburneum. Its large white flowers,
erect on a short spike, not drooping like these, will
be found in a cool house—smelt with delight before
they are found.

Further on we have a bank of Dendrobiums, so
densely clothed in bloom that the leaves are un-
noticed. Lovely beyond all to my taste, if, indeed,
one may make a comparison, is D. luteolum, with
flowers of palest, tenderest primrose, rarely seen
unhappily, for it will not reconcile itself to our
treatment. Then again a bank of Cattleyas, of
Vandas, of miscellaneous genera. The pathway is
hedged on one side with Begonia coralina, an un-
improved species too straggling of growth and too
small of flower to be worth its room under ordinary
conditions ; but a glorious thing here, climbing to
the roof, festooned at every season of the year
with countless rosy sprays.

O 2

196 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Beyond this show-house lie the small structures
devoted to “hybridization,” but I deal with them in
another chapter. Here also are the Phalcenopsis,
the very hot Vandas, Bolleas, Pescatoreas, Anecto-
chili, and such dainty but capricious beauties.

We enter the second of the range of greenhouses,
also devoted to Odontoglossums, Masdevallias,
and “cool” genera, as crowded as the last ; pass
down it to the corridor, and return through
number three, which isoccupied by Cattleyas and
such. There is a lofty mass of rock in front, with
a pool below, and a pleasant sound of splashing
water. Many orchids of the largest size are
planted out here—Cypripedium, Cattleya, Sobralia,
Phajus, Leelia, Zygopetalum, and a hundred more,
“specimens,” as the phrase runs—that is to say,
they have ten, twenty, fifty, flower spikes. I
attempt no more descriptions ; to one who knows,
the plain statement of fact is enough, one who
does not is unable to conceive that sight by the
aid of words. Butthe Sobralias demand attention.
They stand here in clumps two feet thick, bear-
ing a wilderness of loveliest bloom—like Irises
magnified and glorified by heavenly enchantment.
Nature designed a practical joke perhaps when
she granted these noble flowers but one day’s
existence each, while dingy Epidendrums last six

AN ORCHID FARM, 197

months, or nine. I imagine that for stateliness and
delicacy combined there are no plants that excel
the Sobralia. At any single point they may be
surpassed—among orchids, be it understood, by
nothing else in Nature’s realm—but their magnifi-
cence and grace together cannot be outshone.

I must not dwell upon the marvels here, in
front, on either side, and above—a hint is enough.
There are baskets of Lela anceps three feet across,
lifted bodily from the tree in their native forest
where they had grown perhaps for centuries. One
of them—the white variety, too, which esthetic
infidels might adore, though they believed in
nothing—opened a hundred spikes at Christmas
time; we do not concern ourselves with minute
reckonings here. But an enthusiastic novice
counted the flowers blooming one day on that
huge mass of La/za albida yonder, and they num-
bered two hundred and eleven—unless, as some
say, this was the quantity of “spikes,” in which
case one must have to multiply by two or three.
Such incidents may be taken for granted at the farm.

But we must not pass a new orchid, quite dis-
tinct and supremely beautiful, for which Professor
Reichenbach has not yet found a name sufficiently
appreciative. Only eight pieces were discovered,
whence we must suspect that it is very rare at

198 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

home; I do not know where the home is, and I
should not tell if Idid. Such information is more
valuable than the surest tip for the Derby, or most
secrets of State. This new orchid is a Cyrrhope-
talun, of very small size, but, like so many others,
its flower is bigger than itself. The spike inclines
almost ata right angle, and the pendent half is
hung with golden bells, nearly two inches in length.
Beneath it stands the very rare scarlet Utricularia,
growing in the axils of its native Vriesia, asin a
cup always full; but as yet the flower has been
seen in Europe only by the eyes of faith. It may
be news to some that Utricularias do not belong to
the orchid family—have, in fact, not the slightest
kinship, though associated with it by growers to the
degree that Mr. Sander admits them to his farm.
A little story hangs to the exquisite U. Campbellt.
All importers are haunted by the spectral image
of Cattleya labiata, which, in its true form, had
been brought to Europe only once, seventy
years ago, when this book was written. Some
time since, Mr. Sander was looking through
the drawings of Sir Robert Schomburgk, in the
British Museum, among which is a most eccentric
Cattleya named—for reasons beyond comprehen-
sion—a variety of C. Wossie. He jumped at the
conclusion that this must be the long-lost C. dabzata.

AN ORCHID FARM. 199

So strong indeed was his confidence that he de-
spatched a man post-haste over the Atlantic to
explore the Roraima mountain; and, further, gave
him strict injunctions to collect nothing but this
precious species. For eight months the traveller
wandered up and down among the Indians, search-
ing forest and glade, the wooded banks of streams,
the rocks and clefts, but he found neither C. /abzata
nor that curious plant which Sir Robert Schom-
burgk described. Upon the other hand, he came
across the lovely Utricularia Campbelli, and in
defiance of instructions brought it down. But
very few reached England alive. For six weeks
they travelled on men’s backs, from their mountain
home to the River Essequibo ; thence, six weeks in
canoe to Georgetown, with twenty portages; and,
so aboard ship. The single chance of success lies
in bringing them down, undisturbed, in the creat
clumps of moss which are their habitat, as is the
Vriesia of other species.

I will allow myself a very short digression here.
It may seem unaccountable that a plant of large
growth, distinct flower, and characteristic appear-
ance, should elude the eye of persons trained to
such pursuits, and encouraged to spend money on
the slightest prospect of success, for half a century
and more. But if we recall the circumstances it

200 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

ceases to astonish. I myself spent many months
in the forests of Borneo, Central America, and the
West African coast. After that experience I
scarcely understand how such a quest, for a given
object, can ever be successful unless by mere
fortune. To look for a needle ina bottle of hay
is a promising enterprise compared with the search
for an orchid clinging to some branch high up in
that green world of leaves. As a matter of fact,
collectors seldom discover what they are specially
charged to seek, if the district be untravelled—the
natives, therefore, untrained to grasp and assist
their purpose. This remark does not apply to
orchids alone; not by any means. Few besides
the scientific, probably, are aware that the com-
mon Eucharis amazonica has been found only once ;
that is to say, but one consignment has ever been
received in Europe, from which all our millions in
cultivation have descended. Where it exists in
the native state is unknown, but assuredly this
ignorance is nobody’s fault. For a generation at
least skilled explorers have been hunting. Mr.
Sander has had his turn, and has enjoyed the
satisfaction of discovering species closely allied, as
Eucharis Masters and Eucharis Sanderiana ; but
the old-fashioned bulb is still to seek.

In this third greenhouse is a large importation of

AN ORCHID FARM. 201

Cattleya Triane, which arrived so late last year
that their sheaths have opened contemporaneously
with C. Mosste. I should fear to hazard a guess
how many thousand flowers of each are blooming
now. As the Odontoglossums.cover their stage
with snow wreaths, so this is decked with upright
plumes of Cattleya Triane, white and rose and
purple in endless variety of tint, with many a
streak of other hue between.

Suddenly our guide becomes excited, staring at
a basket overhead beyond reach. It contains a
smooth-looking object, very green and fat, which
must surely be good to eat—but this observation
is alike irrelevant and disrespectful. Why, yes!
Beyond all possibility of doubt that is a spike
issuing from the axil of its fleshy leaf! Three
inches long it is already, thick as a pencil, witha
big knob of bud at the tip. Such pleasing sur-
prises befall the orchidacean! This plant came
from Borneo so many years ago that the record is
lost ; but the oldest servant of the farm remembers
it, as a poor cripple, hanging between life and
death, season after season. Cheerful as interest-
ing is the discussion that arises. More like a
Vanda than anything else, the authorities resolve,
but not a Vanda! Commending it to the special
care of those responsible, we pass on.

202 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Here is the largest mass of Catasetum ever
found, or even rumoured, lying in ponderous bulk
upon the stage, much as it lay in a Guatemalan
forest. It is engaged in the process of “ plumping
up.” Orchids shrivel in their long journey, and it
is the importer’s first care to renew that smooth
and wholesome rotundity which indicates a con-
science untroubled, a good digestion, and an
assurance of capacity to fulfil any reasonable
demand. JBeneath the staging you may see
myriads of withered sticks, clumps of shrunken
and furrowed bulbs by the thousand, hung above
those leaf-beds mentioned ; they are “ plumping ”
in the damp shade. The larger pile of Catasetum
—there are two—may be four feet long, three
wide, and eighteen inches thick; how many
hundreds of flowers it will bear passes computa-
tion. I remarked that when broken up into hand-
some pots it would fill a greenhouse of respectable
dimensions ; but it appears that there is not the
least intention of dividing it. The farmer has
several clients who will snap at this natural
curiosity, when, in due time, it is put on the
market.

At the far end of the house stands another piece
of rockwork, another little cascade, and more
marvels than I can touch upon. In fact, there are

AN ORCHID FARM. 203

several which would demand all the space at my
disposition, but, happily, one reigns supreme.
This is a Cattleya Mossiw, the pendant of the
Catasetum, by very far the largest orchid of any
kind that was ever brought to Europe. For some
years Mr. Sander, so to speak, hovered round it,
employing his shrewdest and most diplomatic
agents, For this was not a forest specimen. It
grew upon a hich tree beside an Indian’s hut, near
Caraccas, and belonged to him as absolutely as the
fruit in his compound. His great-grandfather,
indeed, had “ planted ” it, so he declared, but this
is highly improbable. The giant has embraced
two stems of the tree, and covers them both so
thickly that the bare ends of wood at top alone
betray its secret ; for it was sawn off, of course,
above and below. I took the dimensions as accu-
rately as may be, with an object so irregular and
prickly. It measures—the solid bulk of it, leaves
not counted—as nearly as possible five feet in
height and four thick—one plant, observe, pulsat-
ing through its thousand limbs from one heart ; at
least, I mark no spot where the circulation has
been checked by accident or disease, and the
pseudo-bulbs beyond have been obliged to start an
independent existence.

In speaking of Lelia elegans, I said that those

204 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Brazilian islanders who have lost it might find solace
could they see its happiness in exile. The gentle
reader thought this an extravagant figure of speech,
no doubt, but it is not wholly fanciful. Indians of
Tropical America cherish a fine orchid to the
degree that in many cases no sum, and no offer of

valuables, will tempt them to part with it. Owner- |
ship is distinctly recognized when the specimen
grows near a village. The root of this feeling,
whether superstition or taste, sense of beauty,
rivalry in magnificence of church displays, I have
not been able to trace. It runs very strong in
Costa Rica, where the influence of the aborigines
is scarcely perceptible, and there, at least, the
latter motive is sufficient explanation. Glorious
beyond all our fancy can conceive, must be the
show in those lonely forest churches, which no
European visits save the “ collector,” ona feast day.
Mr. Roezl, whose name is so familiar to botanists,
left a description of the scene that time he first
beheld the Flor de Majo. The church was hung
with garlands of it, he says, and such emotions
seized him at the view that he choked. The state-
ment is quite credible. Those who see that
wonder now, prepared for its transcendent glory,
find no words to express their feeling : imagine an
enthusiast beholding it for the first time, unwarned,

AN ORCHID FARM. 205

unsuspecting that earth can show such a sample of
the flowers that bloomed in Eden! And not a
single branch, but garlands of it! Mr. Roezl pro-
ceeds to speak of bouquets of Masdevallia Harry-
ana three feet across, and so forth. The natives
showed him “ gardens” devoted to this species, for
the ornament of their church ; it was not cultivated,
of course, but evidently planted. They were acres
in extent.

The Indian to whom this Cattleya Mossie
belonged refused to part with it at any price for
years ; he was overcome by a rifle of peculiar fas-
cination, added to the previous offers. A magic-
lantern has very great influence in such cases, and
the collector provides himself with one or more
nowadays as part of his outfit. Under that charm,
with 47/. in cash, Mr. Sander secured his first C.
Mossic alba, but it has failed hitherto in another
instance, though backed by 100/., in “trade” or
dollars, at the Indian’s option.

Thence we pass to a wide and lofty house which
was designed for growing Victorza Regia and other
tropic water-lilies. It fulfilled its purpose fora time,
and I never beheld those plants under circumstances
so well fitted to display their beauty. But they
generate a small black fly in myriads beyond belief,
and so the culture of Vymphewa was dropped. A

206 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

few remain, in manageable quantities, just enough
to adorn the tank with blue and rosy stars ; but it
is arched over now with baskets as thick as they
will hang—Dendrobium, Ccelogene, Oncidium,
Spathoglottis, and those species which love to
dwell in the neighbourhood of steaming water.
My vocabulary is used up by this time. The
wonders here must go unchronicled.

We have viewed but four houses out of twelve, a
most cursory glance at that! The next also is
intermediate, filled with Cattleyas, warm Oncidiums,
Lycastes, Cypripediums—the inventory of names
alone would occupy all my space remaining. At
every step I mark some object worth a note,
something that recalls, or suggests, or demands a
word. But we must get along. The sixth house
is cool again—Odontoglossums and such; the
seventh is given to Dendrobes. But facing us as
we enter stands a Lycaste Skinner, which illus-
trates in a manner almost startling the infinite
variety of the orchid. I positively dislike this
species, obtrusive, pretentious, vague in colour, and
stiff in form. But what a royal glorification of it
we have here !—what exquisite veining and edging
of purple or rose; what a velvet lip of crimson
darkening to claret! It is merely a sport of
Nature, but she allows herself such glorious freaks

AN ORCHID FARM. 207

in no other realm of her domain. And here is a
new Brassia just named by the pontiff of orchid-
ology, Professor Reichenbach. Those who know
the tribe of Brassias will understand why I make
no effort to describe it. This wonderful thing is
yet more “all over the shop” than its kindred.
Its dorsal sepal measures three inches in length,
its “ tail,” five inches, with an enormous lip between.
They term it the Squid Flower, or Octopus, in
Mexico ; andagood nametoo. Butin place of the
rather weakly colouring habitual it has a grand
decision of character, though the tones are like—
pale yellow and greenish ; its raised spots, red and
deep green, are distinct as points of velvet upon
muslin. |
In the eighth house we return to Odontoglos-
sums and cool genera. Here are a number of
Hybrids of the “natural class,” upon which I
should have a good deal to say if inexorable fate
permitted ; “natural hybrids”? are plants which
seem species, but, upon thoughtful examination
and study, are suspected to be the offspring of
kindred and neighbours. Interesting questions
arise in surveying fine specimens side by side,
in flower, all attributed to a cross between Odonto-
Slossum Lindleyanum and Odontoglossum crispum
Alexandre, and all quite different. But we must

208 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

get on to the ninth house, from which the tenth
branches.

Here is the stove, and twilight reigns over that
portion where a variety of super-tropic genera are
“plumping up,’ making roots, and generally re-
conciling themselves to a new start in life. Such
dainty, delicate souls may well object to the
apprenticeship. It must seem very degrading to
find themselves laid out upon a bed of cinders and
moss, hung up by the heels above it, and even
planted therein ; but if they have as much good
sense as some believe, they may be aware that it is
all for their good. At the end, in full sunshine,
stands a little copse of Vanda teres, set as closely
as their stiff branches will allow. Still we must
gseton. There are bits of wood hanging here so
rotten that they scarcely hold together ; faintest
dots of green upon them assure the experienced
that presently they will be draped with pendant
leaves, and presently again, we hope, with blue and
white and scarlet flowers of Utricularia.

From the stove opens a very long, narrow house,
where cool genera are “plumping,” laid out on
moss and potsherds; many of them have burst
into strong growth. Pleiones are flowering freely
as they lie. This farmer’s crops come to harvest
faster than he can attendtothem. Things beauti-

AN ORCHID FARM. 209

ful and-*are and costly are measured here by the
yard—so many feet of this piled up on the stage,
so many of the other, from all quarters of the
world, waiting the leisure of these busy agricul-
turists. Nor can we spare them more than a
gelance. The next house is filled with Odonto-
glossums, planted out like “bedding stuff” in a
nursery, awaiting their turn to be potted. They
make a carpet so close, so green, that flowers are
not required to charm the eye as it surveys the
long perspective. The rest are occupied just now
with cargoes of imported plants.

My pages are filled—to what poor purpose,
seeing how they might have been used for such a
theme, no one could be so conscious as I.

210 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING.

IN the very first place, I declare that this is no
scientific chapter. It is addressed to the thou-
sands of men and women in the realm who tend a
little group of orchids lovingly, and mark the
wonders of their structure with as much bewil-
derment as interest. They read of hybridization,
they see the result in costly specimens, they get
books, they study papers on the subject. But
the deeper their research commonly, the more
they become convinced that these mysteries lie
beyond their attainment. I am not aware of any
treatise which makes a serious effort to teach the.
uninitiated. Putting technical expressions on one
side—though that obstacle is grave enough—every
one of those which have come under my notice
takes the mechanical preliminaries for granted.
All are written by experts for experts. My pur-
pose is contrary. I wish to show how it is done
so clearly that a child or the dullest gardener may >
be able to perform the operations—so very easy
when you know how to set to work,

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 211

After a single lesson, in the genus Cypripedium
alone, a young lady of my household amused her-
self by concerting the most incredible alliances—
Dendrobium with Odontoglossum, Epidendrum with
Oncidium, Oncidium with Odontoglossum, and so
forth. It is unnecessary to tell the experienced
that in every case the seed vessel swelled ; that
matter will be referred to presently. I mention
the incident only to show how simple are these
processes if the key be grasped.

Amateur hybridizers of an audacious class are
wanted because, hitherto, operators have kept so
much to the beaten paths. The names of Veitch
and Dominy and Seden will endure when those of
great savants are forgotten; but business men
have been obliged to concentrate their zeal upon
experiments that pay. Fantastic crosses mean,
in all probability, a waste of time, space, and
labour ; in fact, it is not until recent years that
such attempts could be regarded as serious. So
much the more creditable, therefore, are Messrs,
Veitch’s exertions in that line.

But it seems likely to me that when hybridizing
becomes a common pursuit with those who grow
orchids—and the time approaches fast—a very
strange revolution may follow. It will appear, as
I think, that the enormous list of pure species—

P 2

212 ABOUT ORCAIDS.

even genera—recognized at this date may be
thinned inasurprising fashion. I believe—timidly,
as becomes the unscientific—that many distinc-
tions which anatomy recognizes at present as
essential to a true species will be proved, in the
future, to result from promiscuous hybridization
through zons of time. ‘‘ Proved,” perhaps, is the
word too strong, since human life is short ; but
such a mass of evidence will be collected that
reasonable men can entertain nodoubt. Of course
the species will be retained, but we shall know it
to be a hybrid—the offspring, perhaps, of hybrids
innumerable.

I incline more and more to think that even
genera may be disturbed in a surprising fashion,
and I know that some great authorities agree with
me outright, though they are unprepared to
commit themselves at present. A very few years
ago this suggestion would have been absurd, in
the sense that it wanted facts in support. As our
ancestors made it an article of faith that to fer-
tilize an orchid was impossible for man, so we
imagined until lately that genera would not
mingle. But this belief grows unsteady. Though
bi-generic crosses have not been much favoured, as
offering little prospect of success, such results have
been obtained already that the field of speculation

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 213

lies open to irresponsible persons like myself.
When Cattleya has been allied with Sophronitis,
Sophronitis with Epidendrum, Odontoglossum
with Zygopetalum, Ccelogene with Calanthe,
one may credit almost anything. What should
be stated on the other side will appear pre-
sently.

How many hybrids have we now, established,
and passing from hand to hand as freely as natural
species? There is no convenient record ; but in
the trade .list of a French dealer those he is pre-
pared to supply are set apart with Gallic precision.
They number 416; but imagination and com-
mercial enterprise are not less characteristic of
the Gaul than precision.

In the excellent “ Manual” of Messrs. Veitch,
which has supplied me with a mass of details, I
find ten hybrid Calanthes; thirteen hybrid Cattleyas,
and fifteen Leelias, besides sixteen “natural hybrids”
—species thus classed upon internal evidence—
and the wondrous Sophro-Cattleya, bi-generic ;
fourteen Dendrobiums and one natural; eighty-
seven Cypripediums—but as for the number in
existence, it is so great, and it increases so fast,
that Messrs. Veitch have lost count; Phajus one,
but several from alliance with Calanthe ; Chysis
two; Epidendrum one; Miltonia one, and two

214 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

natural ; Masdevallia ten, and two natural; and so
on. And it must be bornein mind that these amaz-
ing results have been effected in one generation,
Dean Herbert’s achievements eighty years ago were
not chronicled, and it is certain that none of the
results survive. Mr. Sander of St. Albans pre-
serves an interesting relic, the only one as yet
connected with the science of orchidology. This
is Cattleya hybrida, the first of that genus raised
by Dominy, manager to Messrs. Veitch, at the
suggestion of Mr. Harris of Exeter, to the stupe-
faction of our grandfathers. Mr. Harris will ever
be remembered as the gentleman who showed
Mr. Veitch’s agent how orchids are fertilized,
and started him on his career. This plant was
lost for years, but Mr. Sander found it by
chance in the collection of Dr.) Jagmchiee
Hamburg, and he keeps it as a curiosity, for
in itself the object has no value. But this isa
digression.

Dominy’s earliest success, actually the very first
of garden hybrids to flower—in 1856—was Calanthe
Domini, offspring of C. Masuca x C. furcata ;
—be it here remarked that the name of the
mother, or seed parent,always stands first. Another
interest attaches to C. Dominiz. Both its parents
belong to the Veratrefolia section of Calanthe,

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 215

the terrestrial species, and no other hybrid has yet
been raised among them. We have here one of
the numberless mysteries disclosed by hybridiza-
tion. The epiphytal Calanthes, represented by
C. vestita, will not cross with the terrestrial, repre-
sented by C. veratrefolia, nor will the mules of
either. We may “give this up” and proceed. In
1859 flowered C. Veztchit, from C. rosea, still called,
as a rule, Lzmatodes rosea, x C. vestitta. No
orchid is so common as this, and none more simply
beautiful. But although the success was so strik-
ing, and the way to it so easy, twenty years passed
before even Messrs. Veitch raised another hybrid
Calanthe. In 1878 Seden flowered C. Sedenz
from C. Vettchit x C. vestita. Others entered the
field then, especially Sir Trevor Lawrence, Mr.
Cookson, and Mr. Charles Winn. But the genus
is small, and they mostly chose the same families,
often giving new names to the progeny, in ignor-
ance of each other’s labour.

The mystery I have alluded to recurs again and
again. Large groups of species refuse to inter-
marry with their nearest kindred, even plants
-which seem identical in the botanist’s point of
view. There is good ground for hoping, however,
that longer and broader experience will annihilate
some at least of the axioms current in this matter.

216 ABOUT: ORCHIDS.

Thus, it is repeated and published in the very latest
editions of standard works that South American
Cattleyas, which will breed, not only among
themselves, but also with the Brazilian’ Leelias,
decline an alliance with their Mexican kindred.
But Baron Schroeder possesses a hybrid of such
typical parentage as Catt. citrina, Mexican, and
Catt. intermedia, Brazilian. It was raised by Miss
Harris, of Lamberhurst, Kent, one single plant only;
and it has flowered several times. Messrs. Sander
have crossed Catt. guttata Leopoldit, Brazil, with
Catt. Dowtana, Costa Rica, giving Catt. Chamber-
liana; Lela crispa, Brazil, with the same, giving
Lelio-Cattleya Pallas; Catt. citrina, Mexico, with
Catt. intermedia, Brazil, giving Catt. citrina inter-
media (Lamberhurst hybrid) ; Leta flava, Brazil,
with Catt. Skinneri, Costa Rica, giving Lelio-Catt.
Marriottiana; Lelia pumila, Brazil, with Catt.
Dowzana, Costa Rica, giving Lelio-Catt. Normani ;
Lelia Digbyana, Central America, with Catz.
Mossia, Venezuela, giving Lelio-Catt. Digbyana-
Mossie; Catt. Mossie, Venezuela, with Lelia
cinnabarina, Brazil, giving Lelio-Catt. Phoebe.
Not yet flowered and unnamed, raised in the,
Nursery, are Catt. citrina, Mexico, with Lelia pur-
purata, Brazil; Catt. Harrisoniga, Brazil, with

Catt. citrina, Mexico; Lelia anceps, Mexico, with

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 217

Epidendrum ciliare, U.S. Colombia. In other
genera there are several hybrids of Mexican and
South American parentage ; as L. anceps X Epid.
ciltare, Sophronitis grandifiora x Epid. radicans,
Epid, xanthinum X Epid. radicans.

But among Cypripediums, the easiest and
safest of all orchids to hybridize, East Indian
and American species are unfruitful. Messrs.
Veitch obtained such a cross, as they had every
reason to believe, in one instance. For sixteen
years the plants grew and grew until it was thought
they would prove the rule by declining to flower.
I wrote to Messrs. Veitch to obtain the latest
news. They inform me that one has bloomed
at last. It shows no trace of the American strain,
and they have satisfied themselves that there was
an error in the operation or the record. Again,
the capsules secured from very many by-generic
crosses have proved, time after time, to contain
not a single seed. In other cases the seed was
excellent to all appearance, but it has resolutely
refused to germinate. And further, certain by-
generic seedlings have utterly ignored one parent.
Zygopetalum Mackayt has been crossed by Mr.
Veitch, ‘Mr. Cookson, and others doubtless, with
various Odontoglossums, but the flower has always
turned out Zygopetalum Mackayz pure and simple

218 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

—which becomes the more unaccountable the
more one thinks of it.

Hybrids partake of the nature of both parents,
but they incline generally, as in the extreme cases
mentioned, to resemble one much more strongly
than the other. When a Cattleya or Leelia of
the single-leaf section is crossed with one of the ~
two-leaf, some of the offspring, from the same
capsule, show two leaves, others one only; and
some show one and two alternately, obeying no
rule perceptible to us at present. So it is with the
charming Lelia Maynardi from L. Dayana x
Cattleya dolosa, just raised by Mr. Sander and
named after the Superintendent of his hybridizing
operations. Catt. dolosa has two leaves, L. Dayana
one; the product has two and one alternately.
Sepals and petals are alike in colour, rosy crimson,
veined with a deeper hue; lip brightest crimson-
lake, long broad and flat, curving in handsomely
above the column, which is closely depressed
after the manner of Catt. dolosa.

The first bi-generic cross deserves a paragraph
to itself if only on that account ; but its own merits
are more than sufficient. Sophro-Cattleya Bate-
maniana was raised by Messrs. Veitch from
Sophronitis grandifiora x Catt. intermedia. It
flowered in August, 1886 ; petals and sepals rosy

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 219

scarlet, lip pale lilac bordered with amethyst and
tipped with rosy purple.

But one natural hybrid has been identified among
Dendrobes—the progeny doubtless of D. crassz-
node X D. Wardianum. Messrs. J. Laing have a
fine specimen of this ; it shows the growth of the
latter species with the bloom of the former, but
enlarged and improved. Several other hybrid
crosses are suspected. Of artificial we have not
less than fifty.

Phaius—it is often spelt Phajus—is so closely
allied with Calanthe that for hybridizing pur-
poses at least there is no distinction. Dominy
raised Ph. irroratus from Ph. grandifolius x Cal.
vestita ; Seden made the same cross, but, using the
variety Cal. v. rubro-occulata, he obtained PA, pur-
pureus. The success is more interesting because
one parent is evergreen, the other, Calanthe,
deciduous. On this account probably very few
seedlings survive; they show the former habit.
Mr. Cookson alone has yet raised a cross between
two species of Phajus—Ph. Cooksont from Ph.
Wallichit x Ph. tuberculosus. One may say that
this is the best hybrid yet raised, saving Ca/anthe
Veztchit, if all merits be considered—stateliness of
aspect, freedom in flowering, striking colour, ease
of cultivation. One bulb will throw up four spikes—

220 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

twenty-eight have been counted in a twelve-
inch pot—each bearing perhaps thirty flowers.

Seden has made two crosses of Chysis, both from
the exquisite Ch. bractescens, one of the loveliest
flowers that heaven has granted to this world, but
sadly fleeting. Nobody, I believe, has yet been so
fortunate as to obtain seea from Ch. aurea. This
species has the rare privilege of self-fertilization—
we may well exclaim, Why ! why ?—and it eagerly
avails itself thereof so soon as the flower begins to
open. Thus, however watchful the hybridizer may
be, hitherto he has found the pollen masses melted
in hopeless confusion before he can secure them.

One hybrid Epidendrum has been obtained—
Epi. O’Briencanum from Eft. evectum x Epi. radt-
cans ; the former purple, the latter scarlet, produce
a bright crimson progeny.

Miltonias show two natural hybrids, and one
artificial—J/2/. Bleuzana from Mil. vextllaria x Mil.
Roezlit,; both of these are commonly classed as
Odontoglots, and I refer to them elsewhere under
that title. MM. Bleu and Messrs. Veitch made this
cross about the same time, but the seedlings of the
former flowered in 1889, of the latter, in 1891.
Here we see an illustration of the advantage which
French horticulturists enjoy, even so far north as
Paris ; a clear sky and abundant sunshine made a

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 221

difference of more than twelve months. When
Italians begin hybridizing, we shall see marvels
—and Greeks and Egyptians !

Masdevallias are so attractive to insects, by
striking colour, as a rule, and sometimes by strong
smell—so very easily fertilized also—that we
should expect many natural hybrids in the genus.
They are not forthcoming, however. Reichenbach
displayed his scientific instinct by suggesting that
two species submitted to him might probably be
the issue of parents named ; since that date Seden
has produced both of them from the crosses which
Reichenbach indicated.

We have three natural hybrids among Phalee-
nopsis. Pk. zntermedia made its appearance ina
lot of Ph. Aphrodite, imported 1852. M. Porte, a
French trader, brought home two in 1861; they
were somewhat different, and he gave them his
name. Messrs. Low imported several in 1874, one
of which, being different again, was called after Mr.
Brymer. Three have been found since, always
among Ph. Aphrodite; the finest known is possessed
by Lord Rothschild. That these were natural
hybrids could not be doubted ; Seden crossed Ph,
Aphrodite with Ph. rosea, and proved it. Our
garden hybrids are two: Ph. #. L. Ames, obtained
from Ph. amabilis x Ph. intermedia, and Ph.

222 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Harriette from Ph. amabilis x Ph. violacea,
named after the daughter of Hon. Erastus Corning,
of Albany, U.S.A.

Oncidiums yield only two natural hybrids at
present, and those uncertain; others are suspected.
We have no garden hybrids, I believe, as yet.
So it is with Odontoglossums, as has been said,
but in the natural state they cross so freely that a
large proportion of the species may probably be
hybrids. I allude to this hereafter.

I have left Cypripediums to the last, in these
hasty notes, because that supremely interesting
genus demands more than a record of dry facts.
Darwin pointed out that Cypripedium represents
the primitive form of orchid. He was acquainted
with no links connecting it with the later and more
complicated genera ; some have been discovered
since that day, but it is nevertheless true that “an
enormous extinction must have swept away a
multitude of intermediate forms, and left this single
genus as the record of a former and more simple
state of the great orchidacean order.” The geo-
graphical distribution shows that Cypripedium was
more common in early times—to speak vaguely—
and covered an area yet more extensive than now.
And the process of extermination is still working,
as with other primitive types,

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 223

Messrs. Veitch point out that although few
genera of plants are scattered so widely over
the earth as Cypripedium, the species have
withdrawn to narrow areas, often isolated, and
remote from their kindred. Some are rare to
the degree that we may congratulate ourselves
upon the chance which put a few specimens in
safety under glass before it was too late, for they
seem to have become extinct even in this genera-
tion. Messrs. Veitch give a few striking in-
stances. All the plants of Cyp. Fatrieanum known
to exist have sprung from three or four casually
imported in 1856. Two bits of Cyp. superbiens
turned up among a consignment of Cyf. barbatum ;
none have been found since, and it is doubtful
whether the species survives in its native home.
Only three plants of Cyp.Marsterstanium have been
discovered. They reached Mr. Bull in a miscella-
neous case of Cypripediums forwarded to him by
the Director of the Botanic Gardens at Buitzen-
zorze, in Java; but that gentleman and his suc-
cessors in office have been unable to find another
plant. These three must have reached the
Gardens by an accident—as they left it—presented
perhaps by some Dutchman who had been tra-
velling.

Cyp. purpuratum is almost extinct at Hong

224 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

Kong, and is vanishing fast on the mainland. It
is still found occasionally in the garden of a
peasant, who, we are told, resolutely declines to
sell his treasure. This may seem incredible to
those who know the Chinaman, but Mr. Roebelin
vouches for the fact; it is one more eccentricity
to the credit of that people, who had quite enough
already. Collectors expect to find a new habitat
of Cyp. purpuratum in Formosa when they are
allowed to explore that realm. Even our native
Cyp.calceolus has almost disappeared ; we get it now
from Central Europe, but in several districts where
it abounded the supply grows continually less.
The same report comes from North America and
Japan. Fortunate it is, but not surprising to the
thoughtful observer, that this genus grows and
multiplies with singular facility when its simple
wants are supplied. There is no danger that a
species which has been rescued from extinction will
perish under human care.

This seems contradictory. How should a plant
thrive better under artificial conditions than in the
spot where Nature placed it? . The reason lies in
that archaic character of the Cypriped which
Darwin pointed out. Its time has passed—Nature
is improving it off the face of the earth, A
sradual change of circumstances makes it more and

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 225

more difficult for this primitive form of orchid to
exist, and, conscious of the fate impending, it
gratefully accepts our help.

One cause of extermination is easily grasped.
Cypripeds have not the power of fertilizing
themselves, except a single species, Cyp. Schlimzz,
which—accordingly, as we may say—is most
difficult to import and establish; moreover, it
flowers so freely that the seedlings are always
weak. In all species the sexual apparatus is
so constructed that it cannot be impregnated by
accident, and few insects can perform the office.
Dr. Hermann Muller studied Cyf. calceolus
assiduously in this point of view. He observed
only five species of insect which fertilize it. Cy.
calceolus has perfume and honey, but none of the
tropical species offer those attractions, Their
colour is not showy. The labellum proves to be
rather a trap thana bait. Large insects which
creep into it and duly bear away the pollen
masses, are caught and held fast by that sticky
substance when they try to escape through the
lateral passages, which smaller insects are too
weak to force their way through.

Natural hybrids occur so rarely, that their exist-
ence is commonly denied. The assertion is not
quite exact ; but when we consider the habits of

Q

226 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

the genus, it ceases to be extraordinary that Cy-
pripeds rarely cross in their wild state. Different
species of Cattleya, Odontoglots, and the rest live
together on the same tree, side by side. But
those others dwell apart in the great majority of
cases, each species by itself, at a vast distance
perhaps from its kindred. The reason for this
state of things has been mentioned—natural laws
have exterminated them in the spaces between,
which are not so well fitted to maintain a doomed
race,

Doubtless Cypripeds rarely fertilize—by com-
parison, that is, of course—in their native homes.
The difficulty that insects find in performing that
service has been mentioned. Mr. Godseff points
out to me a reason far more curious and striking.
When a bee displaces the pollen masses of a
Cattleya, for instance, they cling to its head or
thorax by means of a sticky substance attached
to the pollen cases; so, on entering the next
flower, it presents the pollen outwards to the
stigmatic surface. But in the case of a Cypriped
there is no such substance, the adhesive side of
the pollen itself is turned outward, and it clings
to any intruding substance. But this is the
fertilizing part. Therefore,an insect which by
chance displaces the pollen mass carries it off, as

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 227

one may say, the wrong side up. On entering the
next flower, it does not commonly present the
surface necessary for impregnation, but a sterile
globule which is the backing thereof. We may
suppose that in the earlier age, when this genus
flourished as the later forms of orchid do now, it
enjoyed some means of fertilization which have
vanished.

Under such disadvantages it is not to be expected
that seed capsules would be often found upon im-
ported Cypripeds. Messrs. Veitch state that they
rarely observed one among the myriads of plants
that have passed through their hands. With some
species, however, it is not by any means so un-
common. When Messrs. Thompson, of Cloven-
fords, bought a quantity of the first Cyp. Specerianum
which came upon the market, they found a number
of capsules, and sowed them, obtaining several
hundred fine plants. Pods are often imported
on Cyp. znsigne full of good seed.

In the circumstances enumerated we have the
explanation of an extraordinary fact. Hybrids
or natural species of Cypripediums artificially
raised are stronger than their parents, and they
produce finer flowers. The reason is that they get
abundance of food in captivity, and all things are
made comfortable for them ; whilst Nature, anxious

Q2

228 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

to be rid of a form of plant no longer approved,
starves and neglects them.

The same argument enables us to understand
why Cypripeds lend themselves so readily to the
hybridizer. Darwin taught us to expect that
species which can rarely hope to secure a chance
of reproduction will learn to make the process
as easy and as sure as the conditions would admit
—that none of those scarce opportunities may be
lost. And so it proves. Orchidaceans are apt to
declare that “ everybody ” is hybridizing Cypripeds
nowadays. At least, so many persons have taken
up this agreeable and interesting pursuit that
science has lost count of the less striking results.
Briefly, the first hybrid Cypripedium was raised by
Dominy, in 1869, and named after Mr. Harris, who,
as has been said, suggested the operation to him.
Seden produced the next in 1874—Cyp. Sedenz from
Cyp. Schlimit x Cyp. longiflorum ; curious as the
single instance yet noted in which seedlings turn
out identical, whichever parent furnish the pollen-
masses. In every other case they vary when the
functions of the parents are exchanged,

For a long time after 1853, when serious work
begun, Messrs. Veitch had a monopoly of the
business. It is but forty years, therefore, since
experiments commenced, in which time hundreds

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. _229

of hybrids have been added to our list of flowers ;
but—this is my point—Nature has been busy at
the same task for unknown ages, and who can
measure the fruits of her industry? I do not offer
the remark as an argument; our observations are
too few as yet. It may well be urged that if
Nature had been thus active, the “ natural hybrids”
which can be recognized would be much more
numerous than they are. I have pointed out that
many of the largest genera show very few ; many
none at all. But is it impossible that the explana-
tion appears to fail only because we cannot yet
push it far enough? When the hybridizer causes
by force a fruitful union betwixt two genera, he
seems to triumph over a botanical law. But
suppose the genera themselves are artificial, only
links in a grand chain which Nature has forged
slowly, patiently, with many a break and many a
failure, in the course of ages? She would finish
her work bit by bit, and at every stage the
new variety may have united with others in
endless succession. Few natural hybrids can be
identified among Cattleyas, for instance. But
suppose Cattleyas are all hybrids, the result of
promiscuous intercourse among genera during
cycles of time—suppose, that is, the genus itself
sprang from parents widely diverse, crossing,

230 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

returning, intercrossing from age to age? It is
admitted that Cypripedium represents a primeval
form—perhaps zhe primeval form—of orchid.
Suppose that we behold, in this nineteenth cen-
tury, a mere epoch, or stage, in the ceaseless
evolution? Only an irresponsible amateur could
dare talk in this way. It would, in truth, be very
futile speculation if experiments already successful
did not offer a chance of proof one day, and others,
hourly ripening, did not summon us to think.

I may cite, with the utmost brevity, two or
three facts which—to me unscientific—appear in-
explicable, unless species of orchid were developed
on the spot ; or the theory of special local creations
be admitted. Oncidium cucullatum flourishes in
certain limited areas of Peru, of Ecuador, of
Colombia, and of Venezuela. It is not found in
the enormous spaces between, nor are any Onci-
diums which might be accepted as its immediate
parents. Can we suppose that the winds or the
birds carried it over mountain ranges and broad
rivers more than two thousand miles, in four several
directions, to establish it upon a narrow tract? It
is a question of faith; but, for my own part, I could
as soon believe that «sthetic emigrants took it with
them. But even winds and birds could not bear
the seed of Dendrobium heterocarpum from Ceylon

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 231

to Burmah, and from Burmah to Luzon in the
Philippines ; at least, 1 am utterly unable to credit
it. If the plants were identical, or nearly, in
their different habitats, this case would be less
significant. But the D. heterocarpum of Ceylon
has a long, thin pseudo-bulb, with bright yellow
flowers; that of Burmah is short and thick, with
paler colouring ; that of Luzon is no less than
three feet high, exaggerating the stature of its
most distant relative while showing the colour of
its nearest ; but all, absolutely, the same botanic
plant. I have already mentioned other cases.
Experience hitherto suggests that we cannot
raise Odontoglossum seedlings in this climate;
very, very few have ever been obtained. Attempts
in France have been rather more successful.
Baron Adolf de Rothschild has four different
hybrids of Odontoglossum in bud at this present
moment in his garden at Armainvilliers, near
Paris. M. Moreau has a variety of seedlings.
Authorities admit now that a very great pro-
portion of our Odontoglossums are natural
hybrids ; so many can be identified beyond the
chance of error that the field for speculation has
scarcely bounds. O. excellens is certainly de-
scended from O. PescatoreZ and O. triumphans, O.
elegans from O. cirrhosum and O. Halli, O. Wattz-

232 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

anum from O. Harryanum and O. hystrix. And
it must be observed that we cannot trace
pedigree beyond the parents as yet, saving
a very, very few cases. But unions have been
contracting during cycles of time; doubtless,
from the laws of things the orchid is latest
born of Nature’s children in the world of flora,
but mighty venerable by this time, neverthe-
less. We can identify the mixed offspring of
O. crispum Alexandre paired with O. gloriosum,
with O. luteopurpureum, with O. Lindleyanum ;
these parents dwell side by side, and they could
not fail to mingle. We can already trace with
assurance a few double crosses, as O. danceans, the
result ofan alliance between O. crispum Alexandre
and O. Ruckerianum, which latter is a hybrid of
the former with O. gloriosum. When we observe
O. Roezlit upon the bank of the River Cauca and
O. vexillarium on the higher ground, whilst O.
vexillarium superbum lives between, we may con-
fidently attribute its peculiarity of a broad dark
blotch upon the lip to the influence of O. Roeg/zz.
So, taking station at Manaos upon the Amazons,
we find, to eastward, Cattleya superba, to westward
C. Eldorado, and in the midst C. Arymeriana,
which, it is safe to assume, represents the union of
the two; for that matter, the theory will very soon

ORCHIDS AND HYPRIDIZING, 233

be tested, for M. Alfred Bleu has “made the
cross” of C. superba and C. Eldorado, and its
flower is expected with no little interest,

These cases, and many more, are palpable. We
see a variety in the making at this date. A
thousand years hence, or ten thousand, by more
distant alliances, by a change of conditions, the
variety may well have developed into a species,
or, by marriage excursions yet wider, it may have
founded a genus.

I have named Mr. Cookson several times; in
fact, to discourse of hybridization for amateurs
without reference to his astonishing “record”
would be grotesque. One Sunday afternoon, ten
years ago, he amused himself with investigating
the structure of a few Cypripeds, after reading
Darwin’s book ; and he impregnated them. To
his astonishment the seed-vessel began to swell,
and so did Mr. Cookson’s enthusiasm simul-
taneously. He did not yet know, and, happily,
these experiments gave him no reason to suspect,
that pseudo-fertilization can be produced, actually,
by anything. So intensely susceptible is the
stigmatic surface of the Cypriped that a touch
excites it furiously. Upon the irritation caused
by a bit of leaf, it will go sometimes through ail
the visible processes of fecundation, the ovary will

234 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

swell and ripen, and in due time burst, with every
appearance of fertility ; but, of course, there is no
seed. Beginners, therefore, must not be too
sanguine when their bold attempts promise well.
From that day Mr. Cookson gave his leisure to
hybridization, with such results as, in short, are
known to everybody who takes an interest in
orchids. Failures in abundance he had at first,
but the proportion has grown less and less until,
at this moment, he confidently looks for success
in seventy-five per cent. of his attempts; but this
does not apply to bi-generic crosses, which hitherto
have not engaged his attention much. Begin-
ning with Cypripedium, he has now ninety-four
hybrids—very many plants of each—produced
from one hundred and forty capsules sown. Of
Calanthe, sixteen hybrids from nineteen capsules ;
of Dendrobium, thirty-six hybrids from forty-one
capsules ; of Masdevallia, four hybrids from seven-
teen capsules ; of Odontoglossum, none from nine
capsules; of Phajus, two from two capsules; of
Vanda, none from one capsule ; of bi-generic, one
from nine capsules. There may be another in-
deed, but the issue of an alliance so startling, and
produced under circumstances so dubious, that Mr.
Cookson will not own it until he sees the flower.
It does not fall within the scope of this chapter

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 235

to analyze the list of this gentleman’s triumphs,

but even savants will be interested to hear a few

of the most remarkable crosses therein, for it is

not published.

Phajus Wallichii
Leelia preestans.
»» purpurata

” 99
39 ”
» Marginata
Cattleya Mendellii
Triane
Percivalliana
a Lawrenceana
» gigas
crispa
= Dowiana
a Schofieldiana
» Leopoldii
Cypripedium Stonei
bP) 99
i Sanderianum
i Spicerianum
ae Io
Dendrobium nobile nobilus

3? 3)

ss Wardianum

” ”

me luteolum
Masdevallia Tovarensis

x Shuttleworthii

3 39

ie SE exxXKXXKXKXKXKK KKK KX KKXKKA KM

I cite the following haphazard :—

Phajus tuberculosus.
Cattleya Dowiana
Cattleya Dowiana.
Leelia grandis tenebrosa.
Cattleya Mendellii
Leelia elegans Cooksoni.

5, | purpurata

», harpophylla.
Cattleya Mossiz.

», Gaskelliana.

399 3”
» gigas imperialis.

» Dowiana.
Cypripedium Godefroyz.
ma Spicerianum.
= Veitchii.
ss Sanderianum.
5 vexillarium.

Dendrobium Falconerii.
, nobile Cooksonianum.
»» aureum.
, Linawlanum.
» nobile nobilius.

Masdevallia bella.
fo Tovarensis.
3 rosea.

Of these, and so many more, Mr. Cookson has

236 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

at this moment fifteen thousand plants. Since
my object is to rouse the attention of amateurs,
that they may go and do likewise, I may refer
lightly to a consideration which would be out of
place under other circumstances. Professional
srowers of orchids are fond of speculating how
much the Wylam collection would realize if
judiciously put on the market. I shall not men-
tion the estimates I have heard; it is enough to
say they reach many, many thousands of pounds ;
that the difference between the highest and the
lowest represents a handsome fortune. And this
great sum has been earned by brains alone,
without increase of expenditure, by boldness o1
initiative, thought, care, and patience; without
special knowledge also, at the beginning, for ten
years ago Mr. Cookson had no more acquaintance
with orchids than is possessed by every gentle-
man who takes an interest in them, while his
gardener the early time was both ignorant and
prejudiced. This should encourage enterprise,
I think—the revelation of means to earn great
wealth in a delightful employment. But ama-
teurs must be quick. Almost every professional
crower of orchids is preparing to enter the field.
They, however, must needs give the most of their
attention to such crosses as may be confi-

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 237

dently expected to catch the public fancy, as
has been said. I advise my readers to be
daring, even desperate. It is satisfactory to
learn that Mr. Cookson intends to make
a study of bi-generic hybridization hence-
forward.’

The common motive for crossing orchids is
that, of course, which urges the florist in other
realms of botany. He seeks to combine tints,
forms, varied peculiarities, in a new shape.
Orchids lend themselves to experiment with
singular freedom, within certain limits, and their
array of colours seems to invite our interference.
Taking species and genera all round, yellow
dominates, owing to its prevalence in the great
family of Oncidium ; purples and mauves stand
next by reason of their supremacy among the
Cattleyas. Green follows—if we admit the whole
group of Epidendrums—the great majority of
which are not beautiful, however. Of magenta,
the rarest of natural hues, we have not a few
instances. Crimson, in a thousand shades, is
frequent ; pure white a little rare, orange much
rarer ; scarlet very uncommon, and blue almost

' Mr. Cookson writes to me: “ Give some of the credit to
my present gardener, William Murray, who is entitled to a
large proportion, at least.”

238 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

unknown, though supremely lovely in the few
instances that occur. Thus the temptation to
hybridize with the object of exchanging colours
is peculiarly strong.

It becomes yet stronger! by reason ’of the de-
lightful uncertainty which ‘attends one’s efforts.
So far as I have heard or read, no one has
yet been able to offer a suggestion of any law
which decides the result of combination. In a
general way, both parents will be represented in
the offspring, but how, to what degree either will
dominate, in what parts, colours, or fashions a
hybrid will show its mixed lineage, the ex-
perienced refuse to conjecture, saving certain
easy classes. After choosing parents thought-
fully, with a clear perception of the aim in view,
one must “go it blind.” Very often the precise
effect desired appears in due time; very often
something unlooked for turns up; but nearly
always the result is beautiful, whether or no it
serve the operator’s purpose. Besides effect, how-
ever, there is an utility in hybridization which
relates to culture. Thus, for example, the lovely
Cypripedium Fairieanum is so difficult to grow
that few dealers keep it in their stock; by cross-
ing it with Cyp. darbatum, from Mount Ophir, a
rough-and-ready cool species, we get Cyp. vexil-

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING, 239

larium, which takes after the latter in constitution
while retaining much of the beauty of the former.
Or again, Cypripedium Sanderianum, from the
Malay Archipelago, needs such swampy heat as
few even of its fellows appreciate; it has been
crossed with Cy. znszgne, which will flourish any-
where, and though the seedlings have not yet
bloomed, there is no reasonable doubt that they
will prove as useful and beautiful as in the other
case. Cypripedium insigne, of the fine varieties,
has been employed in a multitude of such in-
stances. There is the striking Cy. hirsutissimum,
with sepals of a nameless green, shaded yeilow,
studded with spicule, exquisitely frilled, and
tipped, by a contrast almost startling, with pale
purple. Itis very “hot” in the first place, and,
in the second, its appearance would be still more
effective if some white could be introduced ;
present it to Cyp. uzveum and confidently expect
that the progeny will bear cooler treatment,
whilst their “ dorsal sepal” will be blanched. So
the charming Masdevalia Tovarensits, warm,
white and lowly, will take to itself the qualities,
in combination, of J7Zas, bella, tall, cool, and
highly coloured red and yellow, as Mr. Cookson
has proved; so Phalenopsis Wightiz, delicate of
growth and small of flower, will become strong

240 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

and generous by union with Phal. grandifiora,
without losing its dainty tones.

It is worth mention that the first Flora medal
offered by the Royal Horticultural Society for
a seedling—a hybrid—in open competition was
won by Lelia Arnoldiana in 1891; the same
variety took the first prize in 1892. It was raised
by Messrs. Sander from JL. purpurata X Cait.
labiata ; seed sown 1881, flowered 1891.

And now for the actual process by which these
most desirable results, and ten thousand others,
may be obtained. I shall not speak upon my own
authority, which the universe has no reason to
trust. Let us observe the methods practised in the
sreat establishment of Mr. Sander at St. Albans,

Remark, in the first place, the low, unshaded
range of houses devoted to hybridization, a con-
trast to those lofty structures, a hundred yards
long or more, where plants merely flourish
and bloom. Their span roofs one may touch
with the hand, and their glass is always newly
cleaned. The first and last demand of the
hybridizer is light—light—eternally light. Want
of it stands at the bottom of all his disappoint-
ments, perhaps. The very great majority of
orchids, such as I refer to, have their home in the
tropics ; even the “ cool” Odontoglots and Masde-

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 241

vallias owe that quality to their mountaineering
habit, not to latitude. They live so near the
equator that sunshine descends almost perpendicu-
larly—and the sun shines for more than half the
year. But in this happy isle of ours, upon the
very brightest day of midsummer, its rays fall at
an angle of 28°, declining constantly until, at mid-
winter, they struggle through the fogs at an in-
clination of 75°. The reader may work out this
proportion for himself, but he must add to his
reckoning the thickness of our atmosphere at its
best, and the awful number of cloudy days. We
cannot spare one particle of light. The ripening
seed must stand close beneath the glass, and how-
ever fierce the sunshine no blind may be interposed.
It is likely that the mother-plant will be burnt up
—quite certain that it will be much injured.

This house is devoted to the hybridizing ot
Cypripediums ; I choose that genus for our demon-
stration, because, as has been said, it is so very
easy and so certain that an intelligent girl mastered
all its eccentricities of structure after a single lesson,
which made her equally proficient in those of
Dendrobes, Oncidiums, Odontoglots, Epiden-
drums, and I know not how many more. The
leaves are green and smooth as yet, with many a
fantastic bloom, and many an ovary that has just

R

242 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

begun to swell, rising amidst the verdure. Each
flower spike which has been crossed carries its neat
label, registering the father’s name and the date
of union.

Mr. Maynard takes the two first virgin blooms to
hand: Cypripedium Sanderianum, and Cypripedium
Godefroy@, as it chances. Let us cut off the lip
in order to see more clearly. Looking down now
upon the flower, we mark two wings, the petals,
which stood on either side of the vanished lip.
From the junction of these wings issues a round
stalk, about one quarter of an inch long, and
slightly hairy, called the “column.” It widens out
at the tip, forming a pretty table, rather more than
one-third of an inch long and wide. This table
serves no purpose in our inquiry ; it obstructs the
view, and we will remove it ; but the reader under-
stands, of course, that these amputations cannot
be performed when business is intended. Now
—the table snipped off—we see those practical
parts of the flower that interest us. Beneath its
protection, the column divides into three knobbly
excrescences, the central plain, those on either
side of it curling back and down, each bearing at
its extremity a pad, the size of a small pin’s head,
outlined distinctly with a brown colour. It is
quite impossible to mistake these things; equally

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING, 243

impossible, I hope, to misunderstand my descrip-
tion. The pads are the male, the active organs.

But the column does not finish here. It trends
downward, behind and below the pads, and widens
out, with an exquisitely graceful curve, into a disc
one-quarter of an inch broad. This is the female,
the receptive part; but here we see the peculiarity
of orchid structure. For the upper surface of the
disc is not susceptible; it is the under surface
which must be impregnated, though the imagina-
tion cannot conceive a mere accident which would
throw those fertilizing pads upon their destined
receptacle. They are loosely attached and adhesive,
when separated, to a degree actually astonishing,
as is the disc itself; but if it were possible to dis-
place them by shaking, they could never fall where
they ought. Some outside impulse is needed to
bring the parts together. In their native home
insects perform that service—sometimes. Here
we may take the first implement at hand, a knife,
a bit of stick, a pencil. We remove the pads,
which yield at a touch, and cling to the object,
We lay them one by one on the receptive disc,
where they seem to melt into the surface—and the
trick is done. Write out your label—“ Cy.
Sandertanum x Cyp. Godefroye, Maynard.” Add
the date, and leave Nature to her work.

R 2

244 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

She does not linger. One may almost say that
the disc begins to swell instantly. That part
which we term the column is the termination of
the seed-purse, the ovary, which occupies an inch,
or two, or three, of the stalk, behind the flower.
In a very few days its thickening becomes percep-
tible. The unimpregnated bloom falls off at its
appointed date, as everybody knows; but if ferti-
lized it remains entire, saving the labellum, until
the seed is ripe, perhaps half a year afterwards—
but withered, of course. Very singular and quite
inexplicable are the developments that arise in
different genera, or even species, after fertilization.
In the Warscewiczellas, for example, not the seed-
purse only, but the whole column swells. Phale-
nopsis Luddemanniana is specially remarkable.
Its exquisite bars and mottlings of rose, brown,
and purple begin to take a greenish hue forthwith.
A few days later, the lip jerks itself off with
a sudden movement, as observers declare. Then
the sepals and petals remaining take flesh, thicken
and thicken, while the hues fade and the green
encroaches, until, presently, they assume the like-
ness of a flower, abnormal in shape but perfect, of
dense green wax.

This Cypripedium of ours will ripen its seed
in about twelve months, more or less. Then

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 245

the capsule, two inches long and_ two-thirds
of an inch diameter, will burst. Mr. Maynard
will cut it off, open it wide, and scatter the
thousands of seeds therein, perhaps 150,000, over
pots in which orchids are growing. After experi-
ments innumerable, this has been found the best
course. The particles, no bigger than a grain of
dust, begin to swell at once, reach the size of a
mustard-seed, and in five or six weeks—or as
many months—they put out a tiny leaf, then a tiny
root, presently another leaf, and in four or five
years we may look for the hybridized flower.
Long before, naturally, they have been established
in their own pots.

Strange incidents occur continually in this
pursuit, as may be believed. Nine years since, Mr.
Godseff crossed Catasetum macrocarpum with
Catasetum callosum. The seed ripened, and in
due time it was sown; but none ever germinated
in the proper place. A long while afterwards
Mr. Godseff remarked a tiny little green speck ina
crevice above the door of thissame house. It grew
and grew very fast, never receiving water unless by
the rarest accident, until those experts could identify
a healthy young Catasetum. And there it has
flourished ever since, receiving no attention; for
it is the first rule in orchid culture to leave a plant

246 ABOUT ORCHIDS.

to itself where it is doing well, no matter how
strange the circumstances may appear tous. This
Catasetum, wafted by the wind, when the seed
was sown, found conditions suitable where it
lighted, and quickened, whilst all its fellows, care-
fully provided for, died without a sign. It thrives
upon the moisture of the house. Ina very few
years it will flower. In another case, when all
hope of the germination of a quantity of seed had
long been lost, it became necessary to take up the
wooden trellis that formed the flooring of the
path; a fine crop of young hybrids was discovered
clinging to the under side.

The amateur who has followed us thus far with
interest, may inquire how long it will be before he
can reasonably expect to see the outcome of our
proceedings ? In the first place, it must be noted
that the time shortens continually as we gain
experience. The statements followingI leave un-
altered, because they are given by Messrs. Veitch,
our oldest authority, in the last edition of their
book. But at the Temple Show this year Norman
C. Cookson, Esq., exhibited Catt. William Murray,
offspring of Catt. Mendellit x Catt. Lawrenceana,
a lovely flower which gained a first class certi-
ficate. It was only four years old.

The quickest record as yet is Calanthe Alex-

ORCHIDS AND HYBRIDIZING. 247

anderiz, with which Mr. Cookson won a first-class
certificate of the Royal Horticultural Society.
It flowered within three years of fertilizing. Asa
genus, perhaps, Dendrobiums are readiest to
show. Plants have actually been “ pricked out”
within two months of sowing, and they have
bloomed within the fourth year. Phajus and
Calanthe rank next for rapid development.
Masdevallia, Chysis, and Cypripedium require
four to five years, Lycaste seven to eight, Leelia
and Cattleya ten to twelve. These are Mr.
Veitch’s calculations in a rough way, but there
are endless exceptions, of course. Thus his
Lelia triophthalma flowered in its eighth season,
whilst his Lelia caloglossa delayed till its
nineteenth. The genus Zygopetalum, which plays
odd tricks in hybridizing, as I have mentioned, is
curious in this matter also. Z. maxzllare crossed
with Z. Mackayz demands five years to bloom, but
vice versd nine years. There is a case somewhat
similar, however, among the Cypripeds. C. Schlimiz
crossed with C. /ongifolium flowers in four years,
but vice versd in six. It is not to be disputed,
therefore, that the hybridizer’s reward is rather
slow in coming ; the more earnestly should he take
measures to ensure, so far as is possible, that it be
worth waiting for,

PAGE PAGE
Aerides Lawrenciz . 160 | Cattleya Acklandie . ax Mab ee
Angrecum arcuatum . . . 134 ys amethystoglossa . . 154
ts caudatum 135 9 «BUTEA «) ee eS
a Duchailluianum 134 »» DBrymeriana. ere
“3 Ellisii . 135 », Dowiana. II5, 151
© falcatum . s 233 »» Hardyana ; 118
re Kotschyi . 135 »» hybrida . o/. 0 214
% Leonis . - 235 » Jabiata. sane eeeee
= Sanderianum 134 », Lawrenceana . 92
i Scottianum . . . 135 »» Mendellii . . 117
Py sesquipedale (@ran- 9 a fly . 117
thus _ sesquipe- 3 Mossien.) = ope aee
dalis) . » 135 5» oandenanass sy 118
Anomatheca cruenta . II »» Skinnerialba . . 119
>» superba . - 152
Begonia coralina . » 195 3 ) Driane) a5 III, 201
Begonias . 86 violacea . o> amo
Brassias . : 207 Ccelogene cristata . . 160
Brassavola Digbyana. . 128 ” Dayana . . 56E
Bulbophyllum barbigerum . 169 ” pandurata 160
= Beccarii . 169 a Sanderiana . - I61
5 Dearei . 170 | Cookson, Norman, Esq. 233

‘, Godsefianum . 170 | Collectors :—
5 Lobbii 170 Arnold . 27, 28, 70, 180, 181
Bullthorn acacia . . 124 Bartholomeus . . . 122, 180
Bestwood. .«< 3 = = ssa
Calanthe Alexanderii 246 Chai'lu, M. Du... .., =< c)aaa
» Domini. 214 Chesterton . 3 ¢ 180, 181
dy | | BOGE) eee a eS Clarke ’ 181
» Veitchii. . . « «» 215 Digance*., ie +
Catasetum barbatum. . 123 Dressel; Sige 77
a Bungerothi(C. pilea- “Endres. > Aaa so an ee
tum) . . a | 82g Ericksson. . 53, 33
a callosum . 123 Falkenberg . 69
ms fimbriatum 123 Forstermann. .. . 162

INDEX.

PAGE
Collectors (continued)—

Gardner . 14 175» 181
Hartweg . 67
Humblot . . Pek
MECUGCN: oie: 6 sm . 7% 180
Klaboch . . 70, 105, 180
Kromer . . . . 95,98, 99
Lawrenceson i eae, dee
Micholitz «Oy 3%
Osmers ies 94, 181
Oversluys. . . « 163, 180
Roebelin . a ha ow FAD 160
Roezl . 66, 75, 76, 105, 139,

204, 205
Schroeder .. 70
Seyler . «. «100
Smith . ‘180, 181

Steigfers ee 99

Swainson 173- 175» 177 179, 181

Wallace . . ° : 35

i eo. ca

Weir . x, ae
Cypripedium calceolus 82, 224, 225

a candidum. . . 82
‘ Curtisi . 32
“ Fairieanum 223
= guttatum . ae
9 insigne . 83, 84, 108
Pe macranthum . . 82
‘ niveum.. ./. » 85
PF parviflorum . 82
be planifolium 87
oe pubescens. . , 82
” purpuratum - 223
* Sedeni. . . . 228
a spectabile . +, ee
= Spicerianum . 83, 85
vexillarium 238
Cymbidium Lowianum . 195
~ Albertesii . 131
Dendrobium atro-violaceum . 131
us bigibbum . . . 168

ie Broomfieldianum. 131

‘ Brymerianum. . 127
a6 Forstermanni. . 127
fe Goldiei . + 840
heterocarpum. . 230

249
PAGE
Dendrobium Johannis . . . 168
a luteolum a: a
- nobile nobilius . 128
a », Cooksoni. . 129
va »» Sanderianum 129
PS phalcenopsis . 168

- B= Schroe-
derianum . 29
” rhodopterygium . 127
‘3 superbiens . . 168
Pe Wardianum oe
Disa Cooperi . 166
a CUSCOLOL. «2 . 166
», grandiflora . 105
gs TACEMOSA. « ¢ ¢ . 165
Epidendrum bicornutum 40
» O’Brienianum . 220
Bs prismatocarpum . 167
ss radicans « 167
_ Randii . - 152
“6 rhizophorum . . 167
Frogs, green, value of 13
Galleandra Devoniana . - 156
Grammatophyllum speciosum . 171
a Measureseanum I71
- multiflorum . 172
Fiver. is eos e | wis BIO
Lycaste Skinneri . 79-81, 206
= vi) SAD © rae Oy ae
“) eromations’:b dose. Se
Oe |: ee 81
Leelia anceps 109, 120, 122
ee ee er ee 8 Le:
»» Maynardii . 218
», purpurata - 153, 154
», guttata Leopoldi. 152, 153
154
by) MACE DS Bis) 6 5 122
a », Amesiana. 109
Masdevallia Livingstoniana 140
- Sch 4 45 =) 76
$s Tovarensis . 27

INDEX.

250
PAGE
Odontoglossum Alexandrze 39,67, &
” citrosmum . 58
x grande . « 107
~ Halli 77
- Harryanum . 75
“s Hybrids . 64, 78,
108, 231
“8 noeveum. 7
= ramossissimum
(cceleste). 34
_ Roezlii (Mil-
tonia Roezlii) 64
= Schlieperianum 107
» vexillarium(Mil-
tonia vexillaria). 104
Williamsi 107
Oncidium cibolletum --Lt6
” crispum 47
‘5 cucullatum 230
ss fuscatum go
iz Jonesianum » 116
» juncifolium ee,
- Lanceanum . 164
= luridum. : eae
ae macranthum . . 88
- papilio . 164
5 sculptum 89
5s serratum ee,
x splendidum 162, 163
5 superbiens . 89
Peristeria elata. 138

9) LELESI eet eeeennere

PAGE
Phajus Cooksoni . 219
» Humblotii. $533
oo.* aXTOFAtUS’ <1 e 219

»» purpureus-. 219

», tuberculosus . 133
Phalcenopsis . oo ie
2: amabilis - WELERS

a4 cornucervi . 159

<. F. L. Ames ,' 221

- Harriette . 22%

os intermedia . 221

54 Luddemanniana. 244

Wy Manni . 159

7 Portei 159

aS Sanderiana. 159

- Schilleriana 158

ss speciosa 2°57
tetraspis : 156

Renanthera coccinea . 11 3, 146, 147
Roraima Mountain s 97,°94
Schomburgkia tibicinis « Teg.
Sobralias 742 See
Sophro-Cattleya Batemaniana . 218
Thanatophore . = o2
Utricularia Campbelli « «40D
Vanda limbata . os it ae
99 LOWll a's 143, 148

143, 144

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