THE ORCHID ALBUM. | \ a oe ~~ ORCHID ALBUM, COMPRISING COLOURED FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW, RARE, AND BEAUTIFUL ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS. CONDUCTED BY ROBERT WARNER, F.L.S., F.R.H.S., AvutHor or SELECT ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS, AND BENJAMIN SAMUEL WILLIAMS, F.L.S., F.R.ELS., AUTHOR oF THE ORCHID GROWERS’ MANUAL, Evo. Tue BorantcaL Descriptions By THOMAS MOORE, F.LS., F.R.HLS., CURATOR or tHe CHELSEA BOTANIC GARDEN. THE COLOURED FIGURES BY JOHN NUGENT FITCH, F.L.S. "COLUM E IY. L ON D 0 N: PuBLisHED By B. 8. WILLIAMS, AT THE VICTORIA AND PARADISE NURSERIES, UPPER HOLLOWAY, N. MDCCCLXXXYV. DEDICATED BY SPECIAL PERMISSION TO HD. She Princess of Tales, BY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS’ Very obedient and humble Servants, ROBERT WARNER, BENJAMIN 8. WILLIAMS. PNOEX TO PaA TES. AERIDES VIRENS, Lindl. ANGRACUM BILOBUM KIRKII, Rehb. f. . ANGRASCUM KOTSCHYI, Rehb. - BARKERIA CYCLOTELLA, Rehb. f. BATEMANNIA WALLISII MAJOR, Rehb. f. BRASSIA ANTHEROTES, Rehb. t CATASETUM MACROCARPUM, Richard. CATTLEYA BRYMERIANA, Rehb. f. . CATTLEYA CALUMMATA, André CATTLEYA MENDELII JAMESIANA, Hort. ; CATTLEYA TRIANA! SPLENDIDIS- SIMA, Williams and Moore : CATTLEYA WALKERIANA, Gardner . CaiLOGYNE GARDNERIANA, Lindl. . CYMBIDIUM DEVONIANUM, Pazton . CYPRIPEDIUM GODEFROY A, as Leboeuf CYPRIPEDIUM INSIGN E, Wallich CYRTOPODIUM CARDIOCHILUM, Lindl. DENDROBIUM ORASSINODE, Benson and Rehb. ; DENDROBIUM CRUENTUM, Rehb. f. DENDROBIUM MOSCHATUM CU- PREUM, Rchb. f.. : DENDROBIUM PHALAIN OPSIS, Fite- gerald, EPIDENDRUM ATRO-PURPUREUM, Willd. EPIDENDRUM BICORNUTUM, Hooker PLATE EPIDENDRUM RADICANS, Pavon 161 GRAMMATOPHYLLUM ELLISIIL, Lindl, 147 LAILIA ANCEPS HILLIANA, Rchb.f. 146 LAILIA ANCEPS WILLIAMSII, Sander 190 LALIA PEDUNCULARIS, Lindl. 173 LAILIA PERRINII NIVEA, Rchb.f. . 181 MILTONIA SPECTABILIS RADIANS, 164 ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESIL, La Llave and Lexarza . ; ODONTOGLOSSUM CIRRHOSUM, Lindl. ODONTOGLOSSUM CORDATUM, Lindl. ODONTOGLOSSUM JOSEPHINA, Williams ‘. 188 OboNTORLOSSUM PESCATOREI, Tinden . ODONTOGLOSSUM VEXILLARIUM SUPERBUM, Rehb. f.. ODONTOGLOSSUM WILLIAMSIANDY, chb. f.. ONCIDIUM JONESIANUM, Rehb. f. ONCIDIUM VARICOSUM, Lindl. PAPHINIA GRANDIS, Rehb. f. . PHALAINOPSIS SPECIOSA, Rehd. f. . PHALAINOPSIS VIOLACEA, — and Binnendjik : SACCOLABIUM AMPULLACEUM, Lindl. 191 SACCOLABIUM BELLINUM, Rehb. f. . SACCOLABIUM BLUMEI, Lindl... VANDA CATHCARTII, Lindl. VANDA INSIGNIS, Blume . VANDA SUAVIS, Lindl. INDEX TO NOTES AND SYNONYMS. UNDER PLATE. Aérides Lawrencixz, Baron Schréder’s Angrecum Grantii, Batem. Arachnanthe Cathcartii, Bentham and Hooker Bletia peduncularis, Rehb. f. Catasetum Claveringii, Loddiges. -Catasetum tridentatum, Hooker . Cattleya Brymeriana, Mr. Brymer’s . Cattleya bulbosa, Lindl. Cattleya Dowiana, Mr. R. B. White’s. Cattleya gigas, M. Jules Picot’s. Cattleya labiata Percivaliana, Schréder’s Cattleya Mossi Pottsii, Mr. Potts Cattleyas, Mr. Brymer’s Baron Cattleya House, Messrs Veitch’s new. Coelogyne trisaccata, Griffith : ‘ Cymbidium cordigerum, Humboldt et Kth. . Cypripedium Godefroy, Baron de Roths- child’s and Mr. Lee’s Cyrtopodium punctatum, at Laeken Dendrobium Calceolus, Williams Dendrobinm cupreum, Herbert . Epidendrum auro-purpureum : Epidendrum macrochilum, Hooker Epidendrum rhizophorum, Batem Epidendrum Walkerianum, Rehb. f. . Esmeralda Cathcartii, Rchb. f. Grammangis Ellisii, Rehb. f. 158 199 UNDER PLATE. Grammatophyllum Ellisii, Mr. Partington’s Leelia autumnalis, Mr. Williams’ Lelia pumila spectabilis Lycaste Skinneri, new varieties of Manchester Whit-week Exhibition . 150, - Masdevallia Chimera, Mr. Vanner’s . Masdevallia Roezlii rubra, Mr. Vanner’s Odontoglossum Josephinz, Mr. Measures’ . Odontoglossum neevium rare Mr. Thomp- i Maes : eee nobile, », Rehb. rs Odontoglossum Schréderianum, Baron Schréder’s : Oncidium antherotes, Rehb. of Oncidium Jonesianum, Mr. Lee’s Orchids, Grand Exhibition of, at Holloway. Orchids, Exhibition of, at Victoria Nurseries, Holloway : é . 190, Orchids, Mr. Buchanan’s . Orchids, Mr. H. Shaw’s Orchids, rare, at Streatham 178 ' Orchids at Wilton House . Orchid Conference at South easiptin Orchid Conference, programme of. . 187, Rhynchostylis retusa, Blume ; Rouen, Horticultural Exhibition at . 163, Saccolabium rubrum, Lindl. : Sobralia macrantha, Mr. Philbrick’s. . Vanda tricolor (a), Rchb. f. 153 170 PAPHINIA GRANDIS. [Puate 145. ] | Native of Brazil. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs clustered, small, ovate, angular, furrowed, about one and a half inch high, and of a shining green colour. Leaves short, eight to ten inches long, plaited, sub-membranaceous in texture, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, of a pale bright green, with one or two short scales at the tapered base. Pedwncles pendent, springing from the base of the pseudobulbs, about three-flowered ; bracts ovate pointed. lowers large, measuring seven inches each way, semi-expanded, with a lip of remarkable form; dorsal sepal ovate-lanceolate acuminate, one and a_ half inch broad, the lower half of a creamy white, with irregular narrow transverse bands of chocolate-purple, the upper half wholly chocolate-purple, excepting a narrow border of creamy white; the lateral ones somewhat oblique, less fully and less regularly banded, but freely broken up into transverse patches, and margined with creamy white ; petals about the same size and form as the sepals, but more narrowed towards the base, marked similarly to the dorsal sepal, but with finer and narrower bands of chocolate-brown, set more concentrically, small at the base, larger upwards, the upper half wholly chocolate-purple, with creamy white edge; lip shorter than the sepals and petals, somewhat obovate in circumscription, with a blackish purple claw widening into an oblong-obovate cream-coloured disk, from which proceed a pair of bluntly-linear incurved side lobes half an inch long, and of a pale chocolate-brown ; then becoming much constricted, the middle or front lobe furnished with two prominent laterally spreading black-purple acute faleate recurved teeth, and terminating eyond these in a roundish knob covered with a bunch of long shaggy cream-coloured hairs. Column green, spotted with purple, the apex yellow, with a long prominent rostellum. PAPHINIA GRANDIS, Reichenbach fil. MS. This genus of Orchids has curiously formed flowers, and is altogether very distinct in aspect and character. There are but few species known in cultivation, and this Paphinia grandis, which we now figure, is the finest we have seen, the flowers being much larger than those of P. cristata, which we figured at Plate 34 of our first volume. Since then this rare and fine species has produced its blossoms in the collection of W. Williams, Esq., Sugnall, Lccleshall, Staffordshire. The plant was a well-grown one, and the flowers large and very peculiar, as will be seen by our representation—indeed, the flower, when received for our Artist to figure, was quite a surprise to us. | Paphinia grandis is similar in its manner of growth to P. cristata, but is of more vigorous habit. The pseudobulbs are green and shining, and the leaves light f green and plaited, about ten inches high. The flower scapes are produced from the base of the pseudobulbs after they have completed their growth, the young pseudo- bulbs being developed when the flowering is over. The flowers are large and dependent, very quaint both in form and marking, the sepals and petals being of a_ dark reddish purple, barred and margined towards the base with pale creamy yellow, while the lip is deeply fringed and of a creamy white colour at the apex, the remaining portion being beautifully coloured with red and dark brown; the column is of a bright green, tipped with deep yellow. It blooms during October and November, and lasts in beauty about ten days. This plant is found established on the branches of trees in the warmer parts of Brazil, where there is also a great deal of moisture during the growing season, while in the drier season the supply being limited they become withered; but as soon as the rainy season recommences they plump up, and show signs of flowering, and afterwards make their new growths. We find a warm moist house to suit the Paphinias, which should be grown in pans and suspended as near the roof as possible. The leaves being thin in texture, the plants require shading from the burning sun, which soon scorches them, and prevents them from performing those functions which are essential to their well- being. In fact, the maintenance of the foliage in a perfect condition is the means of securing good bulbs, and insuring good spikes of bloom. The pans they are grown in must be filled three parts full of charcoal and crocks, then a layer of sphagnum moss mixed with rough fibrous peat and charcoal should be put in, and on this the plant set so as to be elevated above the pot rim, filling up with the peat and a few lumps of charcoal, among which the roots will work freely. It requires a liberal supply of water during the growing season, and by having the soil kept well open with good drainage the water will pass off quickly and not become stagnant. There are more plants injured by bad potting material and bad drainage than most persons imagine. After the growth is completed, merely give sufficient water to keep the bulbs plump until they begin to show signs of flowering and making their shoots; then as the growth progresses, more may be given. They should always be suspended near the light, and when a suitable place has been found for them, it is well to keep them in it, as the cultivation of this plant is not so easy as that of some others. If, however, care and attention are bestowed on them they may be made to thrive. We were some time before we got our plants of P. cristata to do well, but we tried them in pans suspended near the glass in a warm house, and they are now no trouble. They have been in the same house for three years, and continue to make fine bulbs and to bloom freely. The P. grandis requires the same mode of treatment. TRE Nugent Fitch del.ct ith LASLIA ANCEPS HILLIANA BSWilliams Publ d Ne LALIA ANCEPS HILLIANA. [PuaTe 146. | Native of Mexico. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovate or oblong-ovate, compressed, angulate, clustered, monophyllous or diphyllous. Leaves lanceolate oblong-acute, six to nine inches long, smooth, leathery, channelled at the base. Scape at the apex of the pseudobulb, from between the folded leaf-base, a foot long, two-edged, almost covered with long carinate semi-sheathing bracts, larger upwards, pale green tinged with red. Flowers large, two or three at the apex of each scape, white, with a charming blush-tinted lip; sepals lanceolate, two to two and a half inches long, the dorsal one somewhat longest, white, half an inch wide, the lateral ones channelled ; petals ovate-lanceolate, an inch wide, spreading, white; lip two inches long, three-lobed, the side lobes folded over the column, and spreading at the subacute apex, where they are of a pretty blush-pink, the tubular portion just tinted outside with pale yellow; throat or disk furnished with two deep yellow ridges, separated and bordered by three red _ lines, extending across the whitish portion at the base, and having recurved hairs spreading from the two lateral ones; front lobe an inch long, recurved, acute, mucronulate, yellowish white at the base, the anterior two-thirds of a delicate blush-pink. Column enclosed, green at the tip. 2 Laiia anceps Hiniiana, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, w.s., xv. e109; et, Fe es tine Ss BS.Wilhams Publi | TELLA. BARKERIA CYCLO lth . h delet li ite. {a4 - BARKERIA CYCLOTELLA. [Puare 148. ] Native of Guatemala. Epiphytal. Stems short, erect, leafy, as thick as a quill, springing from a creeping rhizome. Leuwves ligulate-oblong acute, distichous, clasping the stem at the base, of a light green colour. ape terminal, erect, slender, reddish, about a foot high, with a few sheathing pallid whitish brown striate bracts, surmounted by a _raceme of about six flowers, which have slender purple-red pedicels one and a half inch long, with short membranaceous triangular acute bracts at their base. lowers spreading, about two inches across, richly coloured and very handsome; sepals anceolate acute, spreading, about an inch long, entire, of a rich deep magenta, the dorsal one projected forwards; petals ovate, twice as broad as the sepals and about the same length, acute, deep magenta; lip broad, roundish, entire, emarginate, narrowed suddenly at the base, the disk white, with a broad even margin about one-fourth of an inch wide of deep magenta, and having a tapering pointed crest running out beyond the tip of the adnate column towards the apex of the lip. Column adnate to the base of the lip, broad upwards, deep magenta on the exposed side, es one-third the length of the lip, the slightly-winged edge and under e side white. BARKERIA CYCLOTELLA, Reichenbach JSu., 1 Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S. xili., 72. The genus of which we here picture a representative is a most beautiful one, and there are among its members some charming species with bright coloured flowers, such as Barkeria Skinneri and others. B. spectabilis, with its most beautiful rosy pink blossoms dotted with crimson, forms a nice contrast to this highly coloured plant, of which there are many varieties, varying both in size and colour. We exhibited a specimen of B. Skinneri nearly forty years ago at the Regent Street meetings, and Dr. Lindley awarded it a Silver Banksian Medal. When Mr. Skinner was sending home Orchids these plants were more numerous, and they were then well cultivated. The Barkerias are plants of which we require large importations every few years, but we have known specimen plants to be cultivated and kept in order for several seasons. They require to be grown in a cool airy house, with all the light and sun that can be given them, as they naturally grow in exposed situations. We are indebted to F. A. Philbrick, Esq., Q.C., of Oldfield, Bickley, who grows these Barkerias well, for the opportunity of figuring the present beautiful species. This gentleman has favoured us with some remarks giving his own experience, which, with his permission, we gladly introduce, that our readers may be profitably guided by it. Mr. Philhrick writes:—‘In Barkeria culture air is everything; the fullest freest circulation, no shade even in the hottest sun, but full in its rays— the more sun the better. When growing, keep watered, dipped over head as: often as you can. I often dip mine myself (they hang in an old vinery facing due south, at an end where no vines are) and put them back into full sun dripping wet; they like this, extraordinary as it sounds. I get sturdy growth and red- brown foliage. But, then, the plant is a true rambler; no pot or basket holds it, it is best on a branch of wood suspended in a basket, roots outside, and hanging down freely; hence you can treat it as I suggest. “In a common Orchid house, especially if with no air on at night, ‘it living doth languish, and languishing doth die.’ “T grow it as described from after the flower spikes are cut or over till they are coming on in November again, and then move it to cool end of Cattleya house to flower, and take back directly flowering is finished to the cold vinery, 1¢., frequently 45°, never over 51°. The plant I gave you a spike of bore two, the finer one [ kept, as it opened later than that I gave you. They keep five to six weeks in beauty.” Barkeria cyclotella is a deciduous plant, and produces its flower spikes from the top of the stems at the time they are making their growths. The blossoms are of a magenta-purple colour, and are produced during February and March, lasting some six weeks in bloom. SoBRALIA MACRANTHA.—Mr. Heims, gardener to F. A. Philbrick, Esq., Q.C., exhibited at the First Summer Show of the Royal Botanic Society, a wonderful specimen of this beautiful and much neglected Orchid. The plant bore about two. dozen large fresh flowers, It is many years since we have seen this Orchid so well exhibited.—B. S. W. et pile ——- oer EPIDENDRUM ATROPURPUREUM heise EPIDENDRUM ATROPURPUREUM. [PuaTEe 149,] Native of Guatemala, Panama, and Colombia. EPIDENDRUM ATROPURPUREUM, Willdenow, Species Plantarum, 115,—f. Rehb. ; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicw, vi., 344, EpIpENDRUM MAcRocuiLuM,. Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 3534; Morven, Annales de Gand, 1846, t. 86; Lindley, Folia Orchidacea, art. Epidendrum, No. 79. EPIDENDRUM AUROPURPUREUM, Lindley, Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 99,—f. Rchb. CymBipium corpiceruM, Humboldt & Kunth, Nova Genera Plantarum, i. 341, —f. Rchb. The Epidendrums form a very large genus, among which rank some exceed- ingly beautiful species ; some, indeed, of them which have come under our notice are inferior to others in regard to their flowers, but there are those who like to cultivate them on account of their fragrance, which gives them an especial value in an Orchid house, and also when cut and mixed with other flowers. They do not like much shade, and therefore grow well on blocks of wood suspended near the glass, and as they flower in drooping panicles such a position suits them admirably. The species we are now figuring is one of the most beautiful, and there are also other good kinds which we hope to introduce at some future time. Some of them have most brilliant colours, as an example of which we may refer to Epidendrum vitellinum majus figured in our first volume, while E. bicornutum is a chaste pure white, for which we hope to find a place in the present volume. c Of the fine plant now illustrated, there are two distinct varieties: one having a white lip with a crimson spot as figured in our plate, and in those quoted above; the other, most commonly known in gardens as FH. macrochilwm rosewm, having a pretty rose-coloured lip, as figured by Bateman in his splendid Orchidacee of Mexico and Guatemala, by Reichenbach in Pescatorea, by Paxton in the Magazine of Botany, and by Van Houtte in the Flore des Serres. Both forms are exceed- ingly beautiful. We are indebted to Baron Schréeder for our present figure, the drawing for which was made by our artist from a plant in the grand collection cultivated at The Dell, Staines. Epidendrum atropurpureum is an evergreen plant with pear-shaped pseudobulbs of a light green colour. The foliage grows about ten inches or a foot high, and the flower-spike proceeds from the top of the pseudobulb during the winter and spring months after the bulbs have. completed their growth. The sepals and petals are of a deep reddish purple, and the lip is white, with a distinct purple-crimson blotch in the centre; it continues in bloom for several weeks and is worthy of a place in every collection, for, as Mr. Ballantyne says, it is most useful and takes up so little room. This plant will do either in a basket or on a block suspended near the light, and slightly shaded from the burning sun. It is found growing in exposed situations, and the bulbs require to be well matured in order to induce them to bloom freely. If grown in baskets the material we recommend for the roots is good fibrous peat and sphagnum moss, with good drainage. They require but little soil, but they seem to enjoy a few lumps of charcoal on the surface of the peat. If grown on blocks some live sphagnum moss applied during the period of active growth helps to keep them moist about the roots during warm weather when their growth is pro- gressing; the blocks must be syringed every day in hot weather. ‘The Cattleya house is the most suitable locality for them. When the plant is found to be doing well and rooting freely, do not on any account disturb it, as it dislikes being cut, and if the back bulbs are cut they seldom break or do any further good. Some Orchids will stand being disturbed, while in other cases it causes them to dwindle — away. CattLeya Mossta Porrsu.—This is a most lovely variety of an old favourite, and was bloomed in June this year by Arthur Potts, Esq., Hoole Hall, Chester, after whom it is named. We must congratulate Mr. Potts on being so fortunate as to bloom such a gem. The flower is about seven inches in diameter, the petals beimg broad and flat, blush, beautifully feathered in the centre with a broad band of magenta-purple of a most irregular form; the sepals are irregularly marked in the same way; the lip is large and broad, deep magenta-purple, broadly ‘margined with blush white, and with a yellow throat. The effect of the pale margin of the lip against the deep colouring of the segments is most charming.—B. S. W. Fie eet as a B.S.Wilhams J.Nugent Piten del.et hth . ica ee as Ae : q . CATTLEYA TRIANA SPLENDIDISSIMA | = = Publ CATTLEYA TRIANAZ SPLENDIDISSIMA. [PLaTE 150. ] Native of New Grenada. Epiphytal. Stems oblong club-shaped, furrowed, the lower parts enveloped in pallid membranaceous sheaths. Leaves solitary, coriaceous, ligulate-oblong obtuse, emarginate, pale green. Scape two-flowered, issuing from a pale brownish yellow oblong spathe or sheath three inches long. lowers large, measuring six inches across, splendidly coloured ; sepals lanceolate, entire, recurved, white, with the slighest possible flush of grey; petals of the same colour, three inches long and two and a half inches wide, broadly ovate, neatly undulated, and toothed towards the apex ; lip three inches long and nearly two inches wide, the tubulose base formed by the infolding of the sides, blush deepening to magenta towards the front, the inside also blush with a large bilobed recurved patch of deep golden yellow, the front portion roundish and bipartite, the whole surface close up to the yellow curves rich crimson- magenta extending to the margin, which is neatly and conspicuously but not exces- sively undulated. The brilliancy of the colour is very striking. CATTLEYA TRIANA SPLENDIDISSIMA, supra. There is no doubt that the class of Cattleya Triane is becoming a very numerous one and many of the sorts are extremely beautiful and very different from the original type. There have been frequent importations of late and among them are many distinct and well coloured forms: in fact, there is such an endless variety of them that it is sometimes difficult to know what to do. We, however, purpose to figure the most distinct kinds. It is, we think, a most extraordinary fact, that but few plants of these better kinds turn up in the numerous importations. The species abounds in different localities, in some of which only poor pale varieties of little value are found, while in others there are many good forms of brilliant colours, possessing also fine form and substance. There are some varieties which we named fifteen years ago or more, that we have not seen equalled in colour, form, and substance, taking all these good qualities into account; still there is little doubt that our energetic collectors may find some that will put in the shade those we have already spoken of; there may, indeed, be some such now in other collections which we have not seen. : Our present plate was taken from a specimen with many flowers which was bloomed in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries. This, when shown at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, was unanimously awarded a First-class Certificate. The plant is now in the possession of Baron Schroeder who has large specimens of some of the most splendid forms of this Triane group. There was a grand display of them at The Dell when they were in blossom. Cattleya Triane splendidissima is a compact evergreen plant, with pseudobulbs and foliage about eighteen inches in height. The sepals and petals are pure white, of fine form and substance; and the lip is of a brilliant magenta, the colour being carried well to the margin, while the throat is deep orange. It is a very attractive — variety, flowering in February and March, and lasting six weeks in beauty. This, like others of the Trianz section, requires good fibrous peat and also good drainage; it grows well with C. Mossie and others. As soon as the flowering season is over the plants begin to start into growth, which should be encouraged so that they may make strong sound pseudobulbs, and have them well ripened for the next season, as they bloom early in winter, when flowers are in request. Wuit-weex Exuisition at Mancuester.—We often hear individuals expressing their astonishment, that the Exhibition of Orchids, at Manchester, is always better than elsewhere. The answer to this is, that the Council of the Royal Manchester Botanical Society are gentlemen who have made it their study to induce exhibitors to bring their specimens from far and near, by building a fine Exhibition House for the safety and accommodation of these valuable plants. For example, we have taken Cattleyas, Lelias, Odontoglosswms, &c., in full blossom to this exhibition, and after the week’s show, travelling 400 miles, loading and reloading, they have arrived home quite fresh and unhurt. The flowers were opened in their usual houses, not forced for the show as is often the case. This system of forcing is, however, the cause of many of them fading so quickly, while those which are opened in their proper temperature travel best, and are not so liable to be injured, especially in such a house as is provided for them at Manchester. Mr. Findlay does all in his power to preserve the specimens sent there, and the result is that exhibitors, knowing that their valuable specimens are safe, do not hesitate to trust them at the show. We may truthfully state that the show of the present year was the grandest display of Orchids we ever saw; and we feel sure our readers will be glad to have some account of the wonderful specimens that were staged, so we will note a few of the most worthy of them. R. P. Percival, Esq., of Southport, exhibited the finest single specimen, that has ever come under our notice, of Cattleya Mendelii, bearing fifty of its richly-coloured flowers, the sepals and ‘petals being of a light rose, the lip rich magenta. Next to this was a most magnificent specimen of Lelia purpurata, bearing eighty fully expanded flowers, having the sepals and petals white, the lip rich crimson, and of fine form; this plant was imported about two years ago, and Mr. G. Beddoes has lost no time in bringing it to perfection. Cattleya Mossie was also a marvellous specimen, and there were many other fine plants in Mr. Percival's collection. J. Broome, Esq., exhibited a wonderful plant of Vanda teres, with more than one hundred and fifty expanded flowers four feet high. Phalaenopsis amabilis, three feet high, and as much through, having many flower- spikes, on which were two hundred and forty of its pure white blossoms. [For continuation, see wader Plate 1 52. ] of good colour; the plant stood about — Next to this, Dr. Ainsworth exhibited a magnificent mass of © PL 194 J-Nugent Fitch del.et lth . : : BS.Williams Pai ODONTOGLOSSUM CIRRHOSUNM. % ODONTOGLOSSUM CIRRHOSUM. [ PLATE 151. | Native of the Ecuadorean Andes: Mindo, ete. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs elongate oblong, narrowed at the apex, two to three inches long, compressed, two-edged, monophyllous, with one or two pairs of accessory leaves sheathing the base of the bulb, evergreen. Leaves ligulate oblong acute, channelled at the base. Scape radical, springing from the axil of one of the accessory leaves, bearing a spreading or somewhat drooping raceme or panicle of numerous flowers, each flower having an ovate bract at the base of its pedicel. Flowers large, but starry, the long narrow sepals, in fair-sized flowers, expanding to a breadth of four inches and a depth of five inches, white, thickly spotted with bright chocolate-purple ; sepals narrow lanceolate acuminate, the dorsal one two and a half inches long, and less than half an inch broad, slightly undulated, lengthened out to a_ slender attenuated recurved or cirrhiform point, marked with numerous unequally disposed moderate-sized spots of bright chocolate purple, the back of the flower faintly spotted, and the base narrowed down to its point of attachment; petals similar in size and general form, but rather shorter, more expanded at the base, and more undulated at the margin, similarly marked, or with a few of the spots near the base smaller; lip shorter, with the side lobes curving round the column, the expanded front portion heart-shaped, with the upper edges spreading, and the long caudate apex directed downwards, the spreading sides marked with several (6—8) veins of deep crimson, the rest bright yellow, excepting the elongated tail-like apex, which is white, spotted with chocolate-purple like the other parts of the flower; on the disk there is borne a crest of two prominent ascending yellow horns. Column trigonous, short, bearing a pair of cirrhi at the apex, whence the name. ODONTOGLOssuM ctRRHOsUM, Lindley, Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 211; Jd., Folia Orchidacea, art. Odontoglossum, No. 5; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers Annales Botanices Systematice, vi. 827; Id., Gardeners’ Chronicle, N. 8., Vv. 501, 508, figs. 91, 92> ix, -18], fig. 33; Illustration Horticole, t. 301; Floral Magazine, x. s., t. 222; Williams, Orchid Grower's Manual, 5 ed., 231, with figure. Odontoglossum cirrhosum is one of the prettiest of the small-growing Odontoglots, and one that varies a good deal, but all the forms are useful for cutting and decorative purposes. Our plate represents a very beautifully spotted variety, and resembles the one we first flowered when the species was newly imported. There is a variety with larger flowers, which is called O. cirrhoswm Klabochorum, and a beautiful variety it is. The species has been imported in large quantities, and is most useful for small houses, as the cultivator may grow a good quantity, and it may be bought at a cheap rate. ‘There is a strong-growing form which throws up tall panicles of flowers, but as this variety does not produce so many flowers, and as it takes up more room, it is consequently not of the same value for decorative purposes and disappointing to those that grow it, this kind, which may easily be picked out by those that have grown it, should be avoided. The accompanying figure was taken from a specimen which flowered in the collection of CG. W. N ewman, Hsq., Wyncote, Allerton, Liverpool. There are some good Orchids grown here by Mr. Newman, who, however, does not profess to keep up a collection of them, but they are cultivated along with other stove plants, amongst which are some of the finest-grown specimens to be found in the North of England, Mr. Mease, the gardener, being most successful in carrying off the leading prizes at the Liverpool Exhibitions. Odontoglossum cirrhosum is an evergreen species, of a compact habit of growth, with light green foliage. It produces branching panicles of flowers, from two to three feet in length, at different times of the year according to the period of the completion of the growth of the pseudobulbs. The sepals and petals are white, heavily spotted with blotches of chocolate-purple, and the lip is marked with the same. colours, and also stained with yellow at the base. This plant was flowering in November and December. The flowers last for several weeks in beauty. This plant requires the same treatment as O. Alexandre. We grow the two in the same house, and they associate well together, their graceful drooping masses of blossom overhanging the green foliage; while the flowers of O. Alexandre and - other kinds, such as O, triumphans, O. Hallii and its varieties, form a_ pleasing contrast of colour which is always to be admired. They will thrive well in baskets, and when .grown in this way their drooping habit produces a pleasing effect. Most persons grow them in pots, with rough peat and sphagnum moss, but they must have good drainage, as they require a bountiful supply of water during the summer season; in fact, they like to be kept moist at the roots the whole year round. They make their growth after flowering, and as there will always be some growing, they will bloom at different times of the year. : Diaconate ccc eel ra ee ae ODONTOGLOSSUM Na&VIUM Masus.—Mr. Stevens, gardener to W. Thompson, Esq., Walton, Stone, Staffordshire, has forwarded us a grand branched spike of this most rare and beautiful Orchid. The spike sent had thirty-three flowers upon it, and Mr. Stevens informs us that the pseudobulb which produced this spike also had another one with seventeen flowers. This is very distinct from the plant we so often see named O. neviun majus, but which is in reality O. gloriosum. Accom- panying this was a spike of Odontoglossum Alexandre Thompsoni, a splendid spotted variety with pure white petals, having a large irregular crimson-purple blotch im the centre, whilst the petals are pale rose and heavily blotched with the same colour; a very distinct and handsome form.—B, §. W =a oa plage DENDROBIUM CRASSINODE. ms DENDROBIUM CRASSINODE. ([Prate 152. ] Native of Arracan, Burmah, Siam, ete. Epiphytal. Stems numerous, tufted, erect or ascending, four to ten inches high, slender at the base, thickened _upwards, nodose, the nodes or joints covered on the upper half with a scarious appressed scale, somewhat crowded and swollen so as to become depressed-spherical, fully twice the thickness of the contracted internodes, and slightly grooved. Leaves ligulate acute, sheathing at the base, deciduous, falling away from the ripened shoots before the development of the flowers, leaving the swollen joints bare. Flowers about three inches across, very handsome, on two- flowered peduncles, furnished with oblong sheathing scarious bracts, issuing from just above the nodes; sepals oblong subacute, heavily tipped with soft mauve, the lower two-thirds white; petals rather broader, otherwise similar both in form and colouring ; lip concave roundish-ovate, shortly clawed, the surface covered with fine velvety down, the edge minutely erose and ciliolate, furnished at the base with a deep yellow blotch three-fourths of an inch wide, exterior to which is a band of white, narrowing off towards the back, the front border being a soft mauve; spur or mentum very short and blunt. Column short, greenish white, with purple margins. ENDROBIUM CRASSINODE, Benson & Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle 1869, 164; Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 5766. In this remarkable genus there are many fine species and our present plate illustrates one of the most useful and beautiful of them. Moreover, the importations that have been brought home during the past few years bring it within the reach of everyone who has an inclination to grow it. A few years ago it was very scarce, and cost guineas where now it costs only shillings. It is free-growing as well as free-blooming ; a flower may be plucked and placed with a small Fern frond, and a button-hole bouquet is formed at once. It may be grown in a small space suspended from the roof, which is a situation in which it delights. Our drawing was taken from a specimen in the wonderful collection of J. T. Peacock, Esq., Sudbury House, Hammersmith, where thousands of Orchidaceous plants are grown and well grown too. Dendrobium crassinode is a native of Burmah and other parts of India, and is a deciduous species, loosing its leaves after the growth of the stems is completed. It grows from one to two feet in height, and has large swollen or knotted joints or nodes, from which it takes its name, which means thick-jointed. The sepals and petals are white, heavily tipped with rosy purple, the lip is also white, tipped with rosy purple, and having a large blotch of yellow in the throat. It blooms in March and April, and continues two or three weeks in perfection. We find the East Indian house the most suitable for it, and it should be grown as much in the light as possible, but slightly shaded from the burning sun, The plant will do in pots or baskets suspended from the roof. The material best suited for planting it in is sphagnum moss and good fibrous peat, perfect drain- age being also secured. During the warm summer weather the foliage requires syringing. Generally the plant requires just the same treatment as D. Wardianum, with a similar amount of moisture during the growing season; after the stems have completed their growth in Autumn they may be put in a cooler house, such as the Cattleya house. We have seen them placed in a small vinery, only just enough water bemg given to keep the stems plump until they begin to show flower, when a little more water was given to encourage the buds to swell, and in this way they have done well. If they are required to bloom early place them in a warmer house; and should flowers be wanted later place them in a cool house, but do not — keep them too long there as the buds may damp off. If they begin to ‘grow at the time they are blooming they should be pushed on in order to induce them to finish and ripened stems for their blooming in the following year, for unless good well-ripened stems or bulbs are secured, it is idle to expect good .flowers. As regards — insects, red spider and thrips attack them, and must be kept down. | Wauit-weex Exursrrron at Mancugsrer (Concluded from Plate 150.)—There were also some remarkably fine specimens from O. Schneider, Esq.: for example, — Dendrobium nobile intermedium, with from six hundred to seven hundred flowers ; also a fine Cattleya Mossie, with thirty fine flowers, and a wonderful plant of a good variety of Dendrobium Dathousianum, with twenty-five flower spikes. Mr. Cypher, — of Cheltenham, had a fine specimen of D. infundibulum, with forty flowers ; also a beautiful plant of D,. Dearii, a most useful species with pure white flowers, and | other equally good plants. Mr. James, of Lower Norwood, exhibited the rare Odontoglossum cordatum aureum, with six spikes of creamy yellow flowers ; also a good variety and fine specimen of Masdevallia Harryana, and a good variety of Odontoglossum Pescatorei, with a grand spike. Messrs, Heath. of Cheltenham, had some smaller plants of Cattleya Mendelii and C. Mossie, and a large specimen of Lelia elegans. The most wonderful Oncidium Marshallianum was exhibited by G. Neville Wyatt, Esq., of Cheltenham, the flowers large, and of the brightest yellow, the lip being two inches in diameter; it was a noble spike. | Messrs. Ireland and Thomson exhibited a box of fine ‘cut Orchids, among which were good specimen flowers of Cattleyas, Lelias, Odontoglossums, &c. , Leach, Esq., Fallowfield, also exhibited some fine plants. There were also many — — specimen Orchids, which space will not allow us to mention. Suffice it to say, that this show was worthy of being seen by everyone interested in these — flowers, and was a sight that will never be forgotten —B. 8. W. | ae PL 4, | ARDNERIA? G re ts a ae iN, ELOG a WV CHELOGYNE GARDNERIANA. [PuaTE 153. ] Native of India: Nepal, Khasya, §c. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs flask-shaped, terete, somewhat furrowed, attaining six inches in length, diphyllous. Leaves broad lanceolate, acuminate, a foot and a. hal long, five-nerved, narrowed below into a long stoutish petiole. Scape lateral or terminal, bearing a dense nutant distichous raceme shorter than the leaves, and furnished with broad oblong cucullate bracts, the sterile ones fleshy, the floriferous ones persistent and petaloid, of a pale sienna-brown (or yellow) colour. Flowers two to two and a half inches long, closed, that is, having the sepals, petals, and lip connivent ; sepals oblong, keeled, saccate at the base, white; petals linear-oblong acute, also white; lip narrow-elongate denticulate, bisaccate at the base, three-lobed, the middle lobe bifid, recurved at the tip, yellow, the lateral lobes erect, rounded at the front, white; the disk having two flexuose crests running out below the middle. olumn semiterete, gibbous at the back below the apex, the margins bluntly winged. | | 2 Ca@LOGYNE GARDNERIANA, Lindley, in Wallich’s Plante Asiatice Rariores, i., 33, t. 38; Jd. Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 41; Id. Folia Orchidacea, art. Coelogyne, No. 1; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 222; Paaton, Magazine of Botany, ix., 73. C@LOGYNE TRISACCATA, Griffith, Itinerary Notes, 72. This rare and charming plant is one of the most distinct of the species of Calogyne. We have known it for many years, but, at the present time, one seldom ‘sees ‘it in collections, which is much to be regretted. It belongs to a large genus containing many fine things, and we hope our Orchid collectors will send us more abundant materials, that we may enrich our Stoves and Orchid houses with the best and most striking of them. But though there are amongst them many beautiful Species, there are some which produce diminutive flowers, and these are unattractive and uninteresting to those who are fond of showy flowers. The smaller kinds may be cultivated on blocks of wood, which are very suitable to them, since they produce pendulous spikes, which gives them an. interesting aspect when grown in that way. Our present drawing was taken from a fine plant in the well-known collection of Dr. Paterson, Bridge of Allan, near Stirling, N.B., who flowers this choice species very freely. Celogyne Gardneriana has dark shining green pseudobulbs, with foliage about a - foot high or more. It produces its flowers on drooping spikes, the blossoms being pure white, having a pale lemon-yellow tip to the lip; and it blooms in October and D FAA (oe Se eet te November, continuing in beauty for three and four weeks, providing it is kept free- from damp in a dry part of the house, as white flowers, it is well known, so quickly spot if suffered to get damp. We find this Coelogyne does well grown in a pot or basket with good fibrous peat and sphagnum moss, and perfect drainage. It must be well elevated above the pot rim or basket; a few lumps of charcoal may advantageously be added to. the peat. In the growing season the material about the roots must be kept moist. When the growth is completed, it should get only just enough moisture to keep the pseudobulbs in a plump state; but when the plant begins to grow, more water must be afforded it, in order to induce it to grow freely. We find it thrives well in the Cattleya house, placed as near the glass as possible, but it must be shaded from the burning rays of the sun. We mention this because we have seen the evil results of exposure, in the foliage becoming scorched by sunshine, from which cause the season’s growth has been spoiled, and the plant so much weakened that often the growth for the following year is damaged. This species being very scarce, the — greatest care should be taken of it. Re a Oe ee See are IR NT A es ‘ty GRAMMATOPHYLLUM Exustt.—Of this grand plant, we had the pleasure to receive from E. J. Partington, Esq., Heaton House, Cheshunt, a most wonderful arching spike, bearing thirty-five fully expanded blossoms, of large size and well formed. The colour was bright, and the glossy appearance of the flowers so different from that of any other Orchid. Our readers can refer to plate 147 of our fourth volume, where a figure and description are given. Mr. Partington had this plant imported about two years ago, and we must testify that it has been well grown by Mr. Searing, the gardener. We also received, at the same time, a fine spike of Saccolabium Blumei, over twenty inches in length, from a specimen bearing two such racemes. We are always glad to receive such well-grown spikes, so that we can give our readers some idea of the size the spikes attain when the plants are: kept in vigorous health.—B. S. W. Bass re gp SE Rig: % ee ac iy J.Nagent Fitch del. et lith 2 res Fe CATTLEYA WALKE CATTLEYA WALKERIANA. [Puate 154. | Native of Brazil. Epiphytal. Stems oval-oblong, shorter than the leaves, resembling pseudobulbs. Leaves solitary, elliptic-oblong obtuse, marginate, mucronato-apiculate, of stout leathery texture. Peduncles radical, two-flowered. Flowers large for the size of the plant, ‘spreading, four and’ a half inches in diameter; sepals oblong-lanceolate acute, calloso- apiculate, of a pleasing dilute magenta-purple ; petals broadly-ovate acute, twice as broad as the sepals and of the same colour; Jip three-lobed, the lateral lobes strongly and obliquely truncated in front, rounded at the base, enveloping half the column, dilute magenta-purple, the middle lobe transversely siugdauobiong, cuneate at the base, plain and emarginate in front, deep magenta-crimson, with the contracted claw-like base pale sulphur, the margin denticulate, the base having rugose elevated veins or crests. Column very broadly winged, about half the length of the tubulose base of the lip, so that the front portion is exposed, pale magenta, sometimes tinged with green. CaTTLEYA WALKERIANA, Gardner, in Hooker's Journal of Botany, ii, 662; Reichenbach fil., in Pescatorea, t. 41; Lindley, in Paxton’s Flower Garden, t. 3. CaTrteyA BULBOSA, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1847, t. 42; Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, xv., 49. EpPIpDENDRUM WALKERIANUM, Reichenbach fil. MS.; Id. in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 416. The plant we now bring to the notice of our readers, is one that has been grown under various names in different collections. We flowered it many years ago, and it was shown by us at the exhibitions of the Royal Horticultural Society, when Dr. Lindley called it Cuttleya Walkeriana. It was for many years a very rare plant, but of late it has been imported by the Messrs. Low, Sander, and others, and having been sent over in large quantities, it can now be procured at a cheap rate. It is a most beautiful species, and one that takes but little room for its cultivation; it is, moreover, of easy culture if it is treated in the right way. There are different varieties to be found, varying in colour, but alike in growth. We are indebted to W. E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., of Ilsington House, Piddletown, Dorchester, for the specimen whence our drawing was taken, and which bloomed in his fine collection. Cattleya Walkeriana is a small-growing evergreen plant, with short bulb-like stems, and light green foliage. The plant attains the height of from four to six inches, and is of compact growth, the flowers being generally produced in pairs from a distinct radical growth, as will be seen by our figure. After it has bloomed, it produces the strong round stems which are peculiar to this species. The blossoms are large for the size of the plant, over four inches in diameter, and sweetly- _ scented; the sepals and petals are of a bright magenta-purple, the lip of a brilliant rosy purple, with a yellow disc. This plant flowered in December, but we have seen them blooming in February and April, according to the period of the completion of their growth, and they last four or five weeks in perfection; so that where a good many plants are cultivated, their blooming season may be much prolonged, which is a great advantage in the case of so beautiful a species. We grow our plants in small pans, suspended from the roof of the house; and they also succeed well on blocks of wood which is natural to them, as they are found on the branches of trees in their native country, and generally in those parts of the forest where they procure all the light and sun, with the exception of a— little shade during some portion of the day. We have grown this plant in different situations and under different aspects, but we have found it succeed best when grown in a warm house with Crotons, where it gets nearly all the sun and light; this causes it to root more freely, and make better and well-ripened pseudobulbs. We have seen it grown well in a Cattleya house, placed within a few inches of the glass, with a very little thin shading during the hotter parts of the day. We believe Mr. Powell, gardener to — Mr. Brymer, grows it in this way. We find it to thrive well in a small quantity of rough fibrous peat, but it must have plenty of drainage, and it delights m having some lumps of charcoal for the roots to cling to. A liberal supply of water is necessary at the roots in the growing season, but when the growth is completed, merely enough should be applied to keep the stem and leaves plump, until they show signs of growth. If cultivated on blocks, they will require more water, which must be given by syringing and by dipping the blocks in water, the latter being of the same temperature as the house in which they are grown. | Always bear in mind to keep these plants free from insects. They are subject to the white scale, which may be easily kept under by attention; these pests are often overlooked, as they are small-growing ‘plants, and the insects are nob generally so conspicuous as on the larger ones. If neglected in this way, they will not thrive. PI, fk arent hek,.| lel + LH SUQENE TIteh Giel.et Hon, wr Put BS. Wilhams* CYPRIPEDIUM INSIGNE CYPRIPEDIUM INSIGNE. [Puate 155. | Native of India: Sylhet, $c. Epiphytal. Plant acaulescent, forming a dense tuft of evergreen foliage. Leaves distichous, linear-ligulate acute, channelled down the centre and clasping at the base, keeled at the back, smooth, leathery, of a pale unspotted green colour. Scapes erect issuing from the heart of the plant, erect, terete, downy, of a dark chocolate- | purple, each bearing one flower, which issues from an ovate green spathiform bract, which is about as long as the ovary. lowers large and showy, when well grown occasionally measuring five inches across from the tip of one petal to that of the other; sepals (dorsal) two and a half inches deep, fornicate, that is, thrown forward or overarching, oblong-obovate, wavy, emarginate, longitudinally ribbed, greenish yellow thickly dotted with brownish purple, the upper or anterior third white, the combined lateral sepals ovate greenish; petals spreading, linear-obovate, slightly undulated, bearded at the base, the outer surface pubescent, the inner greenish yellow, stripe and slightly reticulated with tawny brown, the margin being of a clear greenish yellow; lip saccate, oblong, the mouth inflected and bearing an obtuse erect obe on each side, of a deep tawny brown with greenish yellow rim. Staminode yellow, obcordate, glandular-pubescent with a small central boss. Cypripepium nsiGNe, Wallich MS; Lindley, Collectanea Botanica, t. 32; Hooker, Exotic Flora, t. 34; Id. Botanical Magazine, t. 3412; Loddiges, Botanical Cabinet, t. 1321; Flore des Serres, t. 1564; Maund, Botanist, ii., t. 56. This old inhabitant of our stoves and greenhouses has been a friend to all growers of plants, both for its use as a decorative object in conservatories and also for cutting purposes; in fact, anyone or everyone can grow it, who has a frame or pit with glass, or a small greenhouse. If well grown it produces its flowers during the autumn and winter months, and it will stand in a warm room during the blooming season, and continue for several weeks in perfection. We do not, indeed, know of a more accommodating species in the whole Orchid family. Mr. Bruce Findlay, of the Manchester Botanic Gardens, makes a special feature of this plant during the autumn and winter months. The secret of keeping up its blooming powers is to take care of it after the flowering season is over. The form we are figuring is a good variety of the type. There are other forms, such as C. Maulei, C. Chantinii, and C. punctatum-violaceum, which are more showy on account of their larger spots, but they are rare. It is with this as with all other species of Orchids, there are different varieties amongst the imported stock, but this, perhaps, varies less than do many other species. Our drawing was taken from a fine specimen plant grown in the collection of Mrs. Heywood, Norris Green, West Derby, Liverpool, ‘and in autumn and winter Mr. Bardney, the energetic gardener, cultivates many specimens for furnishing the conservatory, in which the grandest display is kept up with thousands of spikes of Pelargoniums, Primulas, Camellias, and other kinds of winter-blooming decorative plants, and he finds the Cypripediums most useful for this purpose. There are also some other good Orehids well grown in these gardens. Cypripedium imsigne is an evergreen plant with light green foliage, producing its flowers from the centre of its growth, the flower stalks being about ten inches high. The dorsal sepal is greenish yellow spotted with dull purple and orange, and tipped with white; the petals are of a pale purplish green veined with dull purple and tinged with yellow. The plant continues in bloom for six or eight weeks if kept in a warm greenhouse or conservatory. We grow this Cypripedium in a warm pit during winter, after the flowering is over; in spring and summer no heat is required, but it must have plenty of ventilation during the day, the pit being closed at night. When the growths are strong they will soon show signs of flowering. When the blossoms are nearly ready to open we take them into a warmer house in order to expand their flowers to perfection, for if kept in a cool place the blooms will be much smaller. When they have finished flowering we repot them if they require it, but do not over-pot them. They require a liberal supply of water if the pots are full of roots, as they root very freely; and a little manure water applied during the growing season is a help to them, as the roots are of a fleshy texture. | We find good rough fibrous loam over two inches of drainage to suit them, if in a large pot; in smaller pots they require less. During the whole year they like to be grown near the glass, so that they get all the light possible to mature Strong healthy foliage. Although, therefore, this may be considered an easy plant to grow, it requires good treatment or it will not flower freely. B.S. Wilhams Publ’ aS Nugent Bitch delet hth — < SACCOLABIUM BELLINUM. SACCOLABIUM BELLINUM. : [PLATE 156. ] Native of Burmah. Kpiphytal. Stems short, erect, clothed with persistent distichous pale green leaves, and throwing out aérial roots at intervals. Leaves evergreen, channelled, lorate acuminate, obliquely bifid at. the apex, both points being entire and acute. Peduneles short, decurved, issuing from opposite the alternate leaves, and terminating in a compact corymb of small but remarkably elegant blossoms. Flowers about one and a half inch across, prettily spotted; the hollow base less deep than in S. calceolare, which this plant closely resembles, except that the parts are everywhere larger ; sepals obovate-oblong obtuse, straw-coloured, with large dark brown blotches almost wholly covering the surface: petals oblong obtuse, straw yellow, marked with brown spots, rather smaller than those on the sepals; lip about an inch long, fleshy, with a semicupular basilar sac, the side lobes semi-oblong, transverse, erect, whitish, with red spots; the front lobe transversely triangular, its margins strongly serrated, and having on each side a large cushion of filiform processes; white, with a yellow central spot, and marked with bright red blotches. Column short, white, with mauve-purple blotches. SACCOLABIUM BELLINUM, [Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., xxi., 174. The pretty small-growing Saccolabium bellinum is deserving of a place in every collection where East Indian Orchids are cultivated. It occupies but little space, and is a free-blooming species, as may be seen by glancing at the small specimen we now represent. There are several other small-growing kinds, such as S. bigibbum, S. calceolare, &e. We consider S. bellinum superior to those kinds, the flowers being larger and more showy, although the others are pretty and well worth cultivating. These are very different from the large-growing kinds, such as S. guttatum, S. Blumei, and others, that produce the magnificent spikes familiar at our flower shows, and which will be figured in their turn. Our artist made the drawing of the present species, from a plant in the well- known collection of W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead. Saccolabium bellinum is an evergreen species, with light green foliage, about six inches long. The long sepals and petals are yellow, heavily spotted with brown ; the lip white, sac-shaped, hairy, and yellow inside, marked with purple-rose at the base. It blooms in February and March, and lasts some time in beauty. Mr. Woolford grows this species in the East India house, suspended near the roof in a basket, with sphagnum moss and sufficient drainage. It will thrive well on blocks of wood, or in small pans hung near the light, but shaded from the hot sun. The moss must be kept moist, as it has no fleshy bulbs to support it, There have been but few imported, and that during the last two years. Orcuips at Witton Hovsr, Sournampton, the property of H. J. Buchan, Esq. —We have often heard of this collection, and we have now had the pleasure of seeing it. Mr. Buchan’s is a very pretty garden, and everything seems done well in all departments, as well, indeed, as the Orchids. There are several span-roofed houses so arranged that one can pass from one end of them to the other. We noticed some finely grown plants of Lycaste Skinneri and other species. Auguloas were well grown, and there was a fine lot of Odontoglosswms, including many well grown plants of O. Alexandre and O. Pescatorei, which have been blooming finely, together with well-grown: specimens of O. Andersonianum and others. There were also fine plants of Masdevallias and a very fine specimen of Epidendrum prismatocarpum in bloom, the latter, with eleven spikes of flower, a rich dark spotted variety, which, with its light green foliage, produced a good effect. Associated with this was a good specimen of Cypripedium superbiens in full bloom; this is the best species of the barbatum section, and good plants are still rare. We further noted a good specimen of Oncidium macranthwm showing finely for bloom, and we believe from what Mr. Osband, the gardener, told us, that it was a good form. Oncidium Papilio, the curious butterfly Orchid, which is always interesting, was here associated with Odontoglossum Roezlii and the graceful Dendrochilum filiforme, with its yellow drooping spikes. Odontoglosum Alexandre was well represented in bloom. Cyprt- pedium Sedeni, with twelve spikes of its pretty flowers, was attractive; this is a most useful species as it is nearly always blooming, for as soon as one blossom fades a new one appears. Besides the plants here mentioned, there were several other good ‘Orchids in bloom.—B. 8. W. , IM gent Fitch delet hth 7 | BS Wilhams Pu EPIDENDRUM BICORNUTUM : EPIDENDRUM BICORNUTUM. [PuatEe 157. ] Native of Trinidad and Demerara. Epiphytal. Stems elongate, nearly a foot high, fusiform, furrowed, the younger ones leafy at the summit, the older ones marked by the cicatrices whence the leaves have fallen. Leaves ligulate, oblong, distichous, coriaceous, channelled scarcely striated, about four or five in number, of a darkish green colour. Pedwncles terminal on the mature stems, supporting an erect dense raceme of about twelve (sometimes eighteen) flowers; the rachis green, the pedicels white with a small acute purplish bract at their base. owers large, very fragrant, the scent being described as resembling that of the Persian Iris ; sepals lanceolate acuminate, about one and a half inch long, the dorsal one pure white, the lateral ones with a few purple dots; petals broadly ovate, cuspidate, as long as the dorsal sepal, white; lp lanceolate, three-lobed, white spotted with purple-crimson, contracted below the lateral lobes which are oblong acute; the central portion of the elongate lance-shaped middle lobe, and the sides of the lateral lobes towards the base spotted with purple, sessile, broader than the base of the column, with two yellow triangular hollow fleshy horns standing erect on the disk. Colwmn white, projected over the horns, semiterete, dilated, and somewhat winged upwards. EPIpDENDRUM BIcoRNUTUM, Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 3332; Paaton, Magazine of Botany, v. 245; Lindley, Folia Orchidacea, art. Epidendrum, No. 82; Jennings, Orchids, t. 21. We are glad to be able to bring under notice one of the most beautiful and distinct of this comprehensive genus, and one which has been but seldom seen of late years, Formerly it used to appear at our London exhibitions, and we ourselves exhibited it for many years at Chiswick and the Regent’s Park shows, taking prizes with the same plant for several successive years; indeed, it was always admired by Orchid growers. Since then it has lost none of its charms, and When grown like the plant from which our drawing was taken, it will still hold its position as one of the most ornamental of the Epidendrums. Sometimes it gets discarded in consequence of some supposed difficulty in its cultivation; we, however, have found no difficulty in growing it, when we have beeh fortunate enough to get the plant to break after it is imported. It is one of those which are difficult to import, as the front eyes are apt to damp off, and the bulbs to crack. We have seen large lots of this plant imported, of which only a few have succeeded. This is to be regretted, as it is a plant that is in every way worth all the care that can be bestowed upon its cultivation. There is a great deal of pleasure in being E ‘ able to succeed with a plant that presents some difficulties in its culture; and in the present case, if it gets the treatment it likes it will grow freely- enough, Our drawing was taken from a fine specimen plant in the choice collection of W. E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., Lsington House, Piddletown, Dorchester, where this Epidendrum is grown with great vigour by Mr. Powell, one spike on the plant having borne the unusual number of eighteen flowers. We hope other cultivators will follow so good an example. Epidendrum bicornutum is an evergreen species, with stem-like pseudobulbs about eight inches in height, furnished with light green foliage. The flower spikes grow about eighteen inches high, proceeding from the top of the stem when the growth is completed; they are upright, and produce twelve or more flowers, which are about two inches across, of good form, pure white, slightly spotted with liac- purple towards the centre. It blooms during April and May, each flower lasting fresh for two or three weeks, and the spike continuing to open its buds in succession until the last has been developed. This plant will thrive either on blocks or in baskets. We have grown it well on blocks with live sphagnum moss about its roots; but we prefer the small open teak baskets, with rough fibrous peat or sphagnum moss, lumps of charcoal being intermixed with the peat or moss, and good drainage secured. This plant requires but little material to grow in. It is found naturally on trees and rocks in very damp hot places, and consequently it thrives best in a very hot stove near the ridge of the roof, where it can receive as much light and sun as possible without burning the foliage. Our house stands south-east and north-west, and there it gets first the early morning sun, while as the sun gets higher, the power of its rays are somewhat broken by the ridge of the house, and then in the afternoon it gets the sun from the west, so that it is in the sun all day, with the ridge and rafters to ward off the hottest rays, which would burn the foliage. The plants hang in the same position all the year round; they should not be moved, but ee moist at the roots during the growing season, which is after the flowering 1s over during summer, and finishes in autumn, but during the summer they get 4 slight syringing, and are often taken down ‘and soaked in water until the soil 1s yuite moist; during the time of rest, when the plants have finished their growth, they must get ily just sufficient to keep the bulbs and foliage plump. . This plant does not like to be disturbed: if doing well never meddle with it. Do not allow insects to attack it, or good results cannot be ensured. Se eerste eee i astilbin ps NOPSIS iCIOSA . PHALAINOPSIS SPECIOSA. [Puate 158.] Native of the Andaman Islands. Epiphytal.. Acaulescent or with very short stems, the crown furnished with greenish flexuose roots. Leaves few, tufted, drooping, cuneate-oblong, blunt and slightly emarginate, six to eight inches long, slightly seven-nerved, of a palish green colour. Peduwnele axillary, bearing a drooping raceme about as long as the leaves. Flowers showy, some five or six in the raceme, each about one and _three- quarter inch across, stellately spreading ; sepals oblong acute, the dorsal one magenta, indistinctly longitudinally striate, the lateral ones also striate, and closely marked, in addition, with parallel transverse bands of the same colour, the outer surface blotched in a similar way but with the colour less clearly defined; petals about the same m size and form, of a similar magenta hue, marked with the longitudinal strie only; lip narrow oblong in outline, three-lobed, the front lobe purple, fleshy, nearly ancipitous, the apex furnished with a cushion of thread-like filaments, the lateral lobes orange-yellow, erect, ligulate retuse, with a few teeth on the outer side, the upper of which “is largest. Column short, narrowed below, greenish white, the anther-bed toothletted., | ; PHAL&NopsIs SPECIOSA, Lteichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, X. 8., Xv., 562; Id., xviii., 302; 745, figs. 130, 131, 132 (varieties). : There can be no doubt as to the high position which Phalenopsis takes in the Orchid family. The genus is admitted on all sides to be among the most beautiful, including many fine species, of which, as opportunity offers, we hope to publish portraits. Our present illustration represents one of a group of smaller and newer kinds, quite distinct from the large-flowering species, like P. amabilis, P. grandiflora, P. Schilleriana, &c., which are among the most lovely of the genus. Several new - Species have of late years made their way into our stoves, and it is really astonishing that collectors in search of Orchids should continue to find novel and handsome kinds. No doubt there is a field yet open for discoveries. We have heard of a scarlet Phalenopsis, and we believe it is yet to be found, for some years ago a traveller told us he saw one, but he was not able to procure it, for the poor fellow never went back again. Plants, however, that he spoke of then, have since been brought home. Thus for many years we were only cognisant of the white-flowered P. amabilis, &c., then there came the mauve-coloured P. Schilleriana, and others, of which we were entirely ignorant; and therefore, we think, it may fairly be hoped that our energetic collectors will some day be fortunate enough to Secure the scarlet one, and this would indeed be a grand acquisition to our collections. The species we now bring before our subscribers is a very pretty one, introduced by Lieut.-Col. Emeric 8. Berkeley, Sibbertoft, Market Harborough, from whose plant our drawing was taken. There are several others that Mr. Berkeley has imported, and he seems to be still searching for novelties. Phalenopsis speciosa is a small compact evergreen plant, with light green leaves, about six inches in length, and bearing flowers of a deep crimson-purple, faintly barred with white. It blooms during the spring months, and continues in perfection — for a long time. It is best grown in the East India house, in a small basket, or on a block of wood. We consider small baskets to be the most advantageous, as they secure to the roots a better and more regular supply of moisture at the time they are in vigorous growth. Sphagnum moss is the best material, a few lumps of charcoal being intermixed with it, and should be accompanied by good drainage. The baskets should be suspended so that the roots can send themselves out into the moist atmosphere of the house, which is what they delight to do. Phalenopsids require to be kept shaded from the hot sun, as they can bear but little during the hot summer days, for the foliage being thick and fleshy they soon get disfigured. Great care should be taken to keep them free from insects. The thrips sometimes attacks them, and, if allowed to accumulate, soon disfigures the foliage and injures the plants, as the juices, which are the life of the plants, are thus taken from them; and since they have no thick fleshy bulbs to support them, but merely their small short stem and roots, they are best grown in the shade, so that the sun may not be allowed to burn them. Aéripes Lawrenct#.—This fine novelty was exhibited by Baron Schroeder at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, September 9th, 1884, and was unanimously awarded a First-class Certificate. We gave a description of this fine thing under plate 109, of our third volume, and we are glad to find that it bears out all we then said of it. It has proved itself to be a plant of great beauty, and is undoubtedly the finest Agrides that has been introduced for many years.—~ B. 8. W. | | eoeninev site sna RCcTioe, Siecle ga. : S ROTE > I SIA ANTHE BRAS BRASSIA ANTHEROTES, [PLaTE 159.] Native of New Grenada? Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs oblong, produced along a creeping rhizome, with lanceolate scales at the base, monophyllous or diphyllous. Leaves ligulate-oblong, acute, eight or nine inches long, channelled at the base, nervose.’ Scape aitial gracefully arching, with a few lance-shaped scales at the base, of a dark purplish brown colour, many-flowered. Flowers large, and striking in colour, of firm texture, about six inches in the longitudinal and two inches in the cross diameter ; sepals linear caudate, tapered to the attenuated apex, the dorsal one erect, the lateral ones directed downwards, all bright and very deep yellow, with a blotch of dark purple-brown about an inch long at the base, that of the dorsal one almost entire, that of the lateral ones broken up into two or three smaller blotches occupying about the same space; petals of the same linear caudate form, but about half the leneth of the sepals, yellow, with a smaller solid blotch of dark brown-purple; lip oblong, extended into a long caudate apex about half as long as the sepals, dilated towards the front and also at the base, bright clear yellow, with several small dark spots, the margins of the tail-like apex incurved; the disk has an orange-coloured oblong- ligulate callus or crest, broader at the base, cohering at the apex, and velvety inside, with an angular line on each side in front. Column short, erect, green, the anther- case yellowish, and the roundish stigmatic hollow dark purple. Brassta AnTHERoTES, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, ¥.s., xii., 782. Oncipium anTHERotES, Reichenbach fil., 1. c. in note. This genus of Orchids has not received from’ cultivators the attention it deserves, for it includes several very pretty species. Some years ago their cultivation was more thought of than at present, and splendidly grown plants were to be seen at our flower shows. When they are well brought out, with their fine green foliage and numerous spikes of quaint-looking flowers, they always attract attention. Possibly the cause of this neglect is that there have been so many new things introduced of late, especially among the Odontoglots, some of which, after all, are not half so beautiful as certain of these Brassias. The specimen of which we now offer a representation is one of the better kinds of Brassia, and when we exhibited it at the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, it was awarded a First-class Certificate, and was greatly admired by those who saw it. We have flowered the same plant for two successive years at the Victoria Nurseries, so that we can testify it is a species of easy cultivation, and one that blooms very freely. Brassia, antherotes is an evergreen plant, with bright shining flat green pseudo- bulbs, and grows about eighteen inches high; the foliage is of a lively green colour; the flower spike is produced from the side of the pseudobulb after it has completed its growth, and is about a foot in length, of a gracefully drooping habit; the sepals and petals are. deep yellow, beautifully spotted towards the base with dark purple-brown. It is a rare species, and has only bloomed in a few collections, the flowers being produced in May and June, and lasting three weeks in beauty. Our information respecting its native country is imperfect. This plant is best grown in a pot, with fibrous peat and perfect drainage. It should be cultivated in the Cattleya house, with a moderate amount of water during the time it is making its growth, which is when its blooming season is over. All Brassias like a -little shade, as the leaves are apt to get scorched; but all the light possible must be given them. They will also do well in baskets suspended near the roof, where’ they will get an abundance of light. Oncipium JonEstanum.—W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, has in flower @ fine plant of this new and _ beautiful species, bearing a spike of eleven flowers ; and our artist having taken a sketch of the plant, we shall: be able to present its portrait to our subscribers on some future occasion. The foliage of this plant is very distinct, resembling an upright growing Scuticaria in habit; the leaves are terete, twelve to eighteen inches long; the spike pendent, the sepals and petals yellowish green distinctly spotted with dark brown, and the lip cuneate in shape, pure white, spotted at the base with brown, its side lobes yellow.—B. S. W. Brassia antherotes is an evergreen plant, with bright shining flat green pseudo- bulbs, and grows about eighteen inches high; the foliage is of a lively green colour; the flower spike is produced from the side of the pseudobulb after it has completed its growth, and is about a foot in length, of a gracefully drooping habit ; the sepals and petals are deep yellow, beautifully spotted towards the base with dark purple-brown. It is a rare species, and has only bloomed in a few collections, the flowers being produced in May and June, and lasting three weeks in beauty. Our information respecting its native country is imperfect. This plant is best grown in a pot, with fibrous peat and perfect drainage. It should be cultivated in the Cattleya house, with a moderate amount of water during the time it is making its growth, which is when its blooming season is over. All Brassias like a -little shade, as the leaves are apt to get scorched ; but all the light possible must be given them. They will also do well in baskets suspended near the roof, where’ they will get an abundance of light. Onorpium JoNEsIANUM.—W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, has in flower a fine plant of this new and beautiful species, bearing a spike of eleven flowers; and our artist having taken a sketch of the plant, we shall be able to present its portrait to our subscribers on some future occasion. The foliage of this plant is very distinct, resembling an upright growing Scuticaria in habit; the leaves are terete, twelve to eighteen inches long; the spike pendent, the sepals and petals yellowish green distinctly spotted with dark brown, and the lip cuneate in shape, pure white, — spotted at the base with brown, its side lobes yellow.—B. 8. W. j | r ~ +“, ruP © hth , B.S.Wilhams * AERIDES VIRENS. AERIDES VIRENS. [PLaTE 160. | Native of Java and India: Burmah. Epiphytal. Stem erect or spreading, stout, clothed with distichous leaves, throwing out .stout aérial roots from below, Leaves broadly ligulate, obliquely retuse, channelled at the base, leathery, and of a peculiarly bright green. Pedunele axillary, bearing a pendulous many-flowered cylindrical raceme. Flowers of the general form of those of A. odoratum, and like them deliciously fragrant; sepals oblong obtuse, of a bright rose colour, deeper at the tips, and indistinctly striate, the lateral ones broader; petals oblong-cuneate, smaller than the sepals, but similarly coloured ; lip inflated, and forming a thick acuminate ascending or incurved horn or spur n r nearly an inch in length, of a rich magenta-rose, especially high-coloured down the anterior face, and tipped with green; the lateral lobes denticulate at the upper end, the middle lobe lanceolate, channelled in the middle part, and denticulate towards the tip. Airipes virens, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1848, misc. 48; IJd., 1844, t. 41; Id., Pazxton’s Flower Garden, in note under t. 66. We have no hesitation in saying that the genus Aérides includes some very charming species. In their beautiful foliage and the graceful appearance of their inflorescence, the species of Aérides always present features for admiration. They have, indeed, every good point that a plant can possess, namely, beautiful foliage, graceful habit, fine drooping flower spikes, richly-coloured flowers, fragrance most exquisite, freeness in blooming, easy cultivation, and cheapness—what more can be desired ? In the case of Aérides virens, which we now figure, the size of our plate does not permit of doing full justice to the plant, and if we could but have given it life size, our representation would have been much more attractive. There are several varieties of this species, varying in size. Some persons imagine that East Indian Orchids require a great deal of heat, which is a mistaken notion, as too high a temperature often causes an entire failure. Of course, the day temperature in the East Indies is very intense, but this is when the sun is at its full power, and even then the trees shade the plants to a certain extent; moreover, they get a free circulation of air all the year round, and the nights and early mornings are cool, which we can imitate—at least, to a very great extent. Our cultivated plants being confined under glass, of course we cannot give them the same free circulation of air they get in their native habitats, but we must use the best means at our command in order to imitate their natural conditions as nearly as possible; and thus by perseverance, attention, and observation, most of our cultural difficulties may be disposed of. We have grown our plants in the same house for many years, with no failures to speak of. There will necessarily always be some plants that thrive better than others, as in all classes of Orchids, although they may be receiving exactly the same treatment. Our plate was taken from a fine plant in the collection of KE. Wright, Esq., Gravelly Hill, Birmingham, who has been growing Orchids for many years, under the care of Mr. Hodges, who has had the management of them, and who has taken great interest in the plants under his charge. : Aérides virens, like all the other species of the genus, is evergreen, and has dark green foliage, about ten inches in length. The flower-spikes proceed from the axils of the leaves, on each side of the stem, and are about eight inches in length; the flowers are white, tipped with crimson-purple, and deliciously scented ; it produces its flowers during June and July, and continues from two to three weeks in perfection. The material we find to suit the Aérides is good live sphagnum moss, whether they are grown in pots or baskets; these should be three parts full of drainage, for which we use broken pots, filling up with moss, and a few broken potsherds mixed with it to keep it open. The moss must not be pressed too tightly in the pot or basket. They are best grown as much in the light as possible, being slightly shaded from the hot sun in summer; during autumn and winter they should have plenty of sun and light to induce them to form sturdy growth and bold firm leaves. On this generally depends their flowering. Some people keep them shaded too much, whereas they do not require a thick shade. This plant wants more attention than some growers give to it. The East Indian Orchids must never be kept too wet at the roots; and although, at times, they get a good deal of rain in their native country, yet it must be remembered that they there grow on trees, where they get a free circulation of air—not indoors, in pots or baskets, under which conditions we have to cultivate them. The tem- perature should range from 60° to 65° at night during winter, and may rise a few degrees higher by day; and as the days lengthen more heat may be given, but too much fire heat should always be avoided, —— ae sienna igs en renee TXT MNUdEeN, ni i e A 100On | 1a ©. t] L.ée0 btn EP IDEN Li [DRUM R AD 1 ICA NS é » EPIDENDRUM RADICANS.. [Puate 161. ] Native of Mexico and Guatemala. tal. Stems tall, erect, leafy,. terete, more or less tinted with purple, Epiphy leafless but vaginate for a considerable distance from the top, emitting long white roots opposite the leaves. Leaves fleshy, subcordate ovate-oblong, obtuse, emarginate, channelled, distichous, about two inches long, partially sheathing the stem. Peduncle terminal, erect, invested by appressed lanceolate sheathing bracts, smaller upwards, the pedicels with still smaller lanceolate bracts at their base. lowers numerous, in a roundish corymbiform raceme, highly coloured, each about two inches in depth ; sepals and petals lariceolate acute, spreading, the petals rather more narrowed at the base, deep bright cinnabar; ip adnate to the column, and projected forwards with it fully half an inch, keeled, the limb roundish in outline, deeply three-lobed, with a pair of calli at the base, the lateral lobes acinaciform, sharply toothed, the anterior lobe cuneate, deeply biparted, the segments with a fringe of long sharp teeth, entire at the sides, of a deep orange-scarlet, with a few bright crimson spots on the disk. Column terete, broader upwards. : EpmenpruM Rapicans, Pavon MSS.; Lindley, Genera and Species of Orchi- daceous Plants, 104; Id. Folia Orchidacea, art. Epidendrum, 220; Reichenbach Sil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Sytematice, vi., 300; Paaton, Magazine of Botany, xu, 145, with coloured plate. | EPIDENDRUM RHIZOPHORUM, Bateman, in Botanical Register, 1838, mise. 10. We follow our great Orchidological authorities, Lindley and Reichenbach, in adopting for this plant the name of Epidendrum radicans instead of that of E. rhizophorum, given to it by Bateman, and by which it is more familiarly known in gardens. It offers one of those cases in which, at the first, a name already bestowed has not been looked up, or has escaped recognition, an oversight which has to be corrected as soon as it is discovered. Dr. Lindley, it would appear, had seen, in Lambert’s Herbarium, an authentic specimen of Pavon's, and when the living plant came before him he recognised its identity therewith, and made the necessary emendation. Our present subject is one of the most distinct members of a very extensive genus, and one that is well worth cultivating for its ornamental qualities. There are few Orchids which yield the orange-scarlet colour found in this plant, and this makes it all the more welcome. The species is of scandent habit, and often attains the height of ten feet or more, the stems being generally trained around ‘sticks, or on F ‘ : a balloon-shaped trellis of wire. The late Mr. Woolley, when gardener.to H. Bellenden Ker, Esq., used to exhibit it trained in this way at the London shows, and bearing a number of its richly coloured flower spikes; in this case the growth was carried above the wires, so that it did not assume such a formal character as this kind of training sometimes takes on, a state of things which does not look well when applied to Orchids, but by judicious arrangement Mr. Ker’s specimen was made to look attractive, the colour being very brilliant. It is an old plant, but now we seldom see it in collections. It is not always free-blooming, but we find it flowers well when looked after, and the growths are strong. It generally yields its flower spikes every year if it receives the treatment required. Our drawing was taken from a plant in the fine collection of Baron Schroeder, The Dell, Staines, where, under the care of Mr. Ballantyne, it blooms freely. ; Epidendrum radicans is an evergreen scandent Orchid, producing long roots from the stems, and having light green foliage; it produces its flower-spikes from the apex of its growths, and the spikes continue to bloom for several months, until the last buds are developed; the blossoms are brilliant scarlet, with the lip orange- scarlet, and are produced during the spring and summer months. This plant is best grown in a pot, as it is then more easy to train, but since it throws roots out all up the stems, it does not require a large pot, as it roots very freely in the moist atmosphere of the house. The material for growing it in should be rough fibrous peat or sphagnum, with good drainage, as it requires a great deal of water during the growing season. A daily syringing during warm weather will help it, as its roots are almost all out of the pots, and even m winter it requires to be kept somewhat moist. The East Indian. house will suit it, as it can there receive plenty of light and heat to induce it to grow vigorously and flower freely. » The plants begin to show flower during winter. Orchid growers generally keep this plant too dry ; this, however, is a mistake, for if allowed to shrivel it will lose its leaves, which will disfigure it. Should the plant get too tall, cut it down, and grow it on again ; if there are roots up the stems it will break again, providing some foliage is left on the bottom where the growth is cut off. It requires but little shade during the hot part of the day in summer. We have seen it thriving well trained close to the roof of the house. It will grow in any ordinary stove where there is light and heat, with abundant moisture, and we have seen it grown well in’ the Cattleya house. ON a as > pT SANE TE LTR. we = ie yeas Se eT ES ices te MRE or Pane ed at Sh Pe Sr Pr =e ree Ne ets I Fie ee CE Ss 3 Ls a et Seat es a, See eee | J Nugent bebe ANGRECU UNA JIM BILOBY : aEURUM RIRKET Ds B. 5 Walhams pal ANGRAZCUM BILOBUM KIRKII. [PuaTE 162. ] Native of the East Coast of Tropical Africa: Zanzibar. Epiphytal. Stems short, erect, rooting below, and bearing a few spreading leaves, which are distichous and evergreen. Leaves ligulate, broadest upwards so as to become subcuneate, equitant, furrowed, shorter than the racemes, deeply and often unequally bilobed with the lobes divergent. Scape bearing a few flowered raceme, radical, drooping. Flowers spreading, stellate, about two inches across; sepals lanceolate, attenuately-acuminate, an inch long, pure white, channelled; petals lanceolate acute, shorter than the sepals which are attenuately elongated, also pure white; lip about the same in size as the sepals and petals, oblong-lanceolate, more equal in width, that is more oblong than the other parts, and, like the sepals, drawn out to a fine point. Spur slender, terete, curved, two and a half to three inches long, pale reddish brown. Column short, white. . __ANGRaCUM BiLtopuM Kirk, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., xvill., 488; Walliams, Catalogue 1883, p. 24. Several new species have been added to this genus, and we are very glad to welcome them as they are such interesting objects, and so peculiar in the shape of their flowers, most of them having long tails or spurs hanging from the basal part of the lip. The flowers are usually of a waxy white, some of them being of large size, and the plants themselves are of handsome appearance, as, . for example, A. eburneum and A. sesquipedale, which are of majestic habit, with stately evergreen foliage as well as fine spikes of flowers. Our present subject is one of the smaller-growing and pretty kinds, of which there are several of considerable rarity being brought to our stoves. We are very glad to find that there are many growers taking to these smaller kinds, as well as to the larger ones; for the former take up but little space in the Orchid houses, and in themselves are very lovely. This gem was flowered at the Victoria Nurseries, having been sent to us from Zanzibar by Sir John Kirk, who has introduced several other new species, and in whose honour it was named by Professor Reichenbach. Angrecum bilobum Kirkii is a compact-growing evergreen plant with dark green foliage, nearly four inches long, and flower-spikes which are produced from the side of the stem, and are of drooping habit. The flowers are pure white, and they have tails nearly three inches in length. The present variety blooms in September, and lasts for some time in beauty. This plant is best grown in a small pan or basket, suspended near the light, but shaded from the burning sun. The material we use is sphagnum moss, with good drainage. It will also do on blocks of wood, but when grown on these more water is required. These plants always like a little moisture about them, as they have no thick fleshy pseudobulbs to support them. ‘They do well in the East Indian — house. These small plants should be kept free from insects. The black thrips some- times attacks them, so that they require to be watched, and from time to time cleansed. ‘ Rare Orcuips at StREATHAM.—When visiting the collection of Orchids belonging to R. H. Measures, Esq., Woodlands, Streatham, we were much pleased to see in flower a few floral gems which it does not often fall to one’s lot to admire. Foremost among these was the beautiful little Saccolabiwm Hendersoni, and a very fine form it was, growing most luxuriantly on a block of wood plunged in a pot. Muiltoma candida grandiflora was also blooming profusely, as well as the rare M. Regnellu purpurea, which was a fitting companion for it. The new Dendrobium cruentwm was also in flower; this is a very distinct species, belonging to the nigro-hirsute section; the sepals and petals are yellowish green, reticulated with a darker green, and the lip is yellowish green, margined distinctly with bright crimson-scarlet, and having the crests and side lobes of the lip marked with the same colour. Mr. Measures, although only commencing Orchid culture, has evidently hit upon a right plan—one which, were others to follow it, we should hear of fewer disappointments. His method is to make notes of good species and varieties that he sees or reads of, and to procure good healthy plants of these only, for, he says, and rightly too, that good things take up no more room than inferior or bad ones, and, although they cost more in the first outlay, they yield the greatest pleasure in the end.—H. W. : CaTTLEYA -BRYMERIANA.—W, E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., Dorchester, has favoured us with a grand spike of this new Cattleya; it bears six flowers, and 1s both distinct and beautiful. The sepals and petals are pale rose colour, the lip square at the apex and flat, bright magenta, the ‘upper portion surrounding the column folded closely over in the same way as that of Lelia elegans; throat bright orang’ We should be inclined to take it to be a natural hybrid between Lelia elegans and Cattleya Eldorado.—B. 8. W. ad ‘ ODONTOGLOSSUM WILLIAMSIANUM. [PLaTE 163. | Native of Costa Rica. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs oval, compressed, tufted, usually diphyllous, Leaves ligulate oblong acute, ribbed, channelled, especially near the base. Sca proceeding from the base of the pseudobulb, with sheathing scales below, and bearing large showy flowers in a dense oblong twelve-flowered raceme. Flowers four and a half inches across, and about the same in depth, yellow and chestnut-brown; a lanceolate. acuminate, wavy, greenish yellow, transversely barred and blotched from base to apex with deep chestnut-brown ; petals distinctly clawed, suddenly widening into an oblong, slightly wavy, blunt-ended blade, fully two inches long, the claw and basal half of the blade covered by a blotch of light brown traversed by darker veins, and lobed at the anterior edge, the anterior half bright yellow; lip half the size of the petals, roundish, rather broader than long, with an apiculus, the base narrowed suddenly into a short claw, the colour a pale primrose-yellow, marked at the base with three or four concentric bands of very pale brown; claw deep red-brown, with a very prominent crest, yellow spotted with red. Colwmn projecting, yellow. _ OvontosLossum Witiamstanum, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, %.8., XVL, 134, Of this beautiful and comprehensive genus, which now includes so many charming new species, our persevering and energetic collectors are chiefly introducing those of the Alexandre, Halli, and Pescatorei types, which are all very beautiful, and truly welcome to our Orchid houses. There are, however, none so showy as those of the Odontoglossum grande section, which are quite distinct in character, and generally bloom in August and September. The one we now figure, which belongs to this group, flowers in J uly. At first sight this plant somewhat resembles O. grande, but upon closer examination it will be seen that it differs considerably from that Species, the shape and markings of the petals, as well as the colour and crests of the lip, being perfectly distinct. In fact, the outline of the flower takes more after 0, Schliperianum, and the colouring more after O. grande. It was . exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society's meeting, where it was awarded a First Class Certificate, The plant then shown bore a noble spike with twelve flowers, which 's more than O. grande produces; the spike also stands up and shows itself off better, and the flowers are more compactly arranged on the spike. No doubt as the Plant gets stronger it will produce more blossoms. We have flowered it two years im succession at the Victoria Nursery, and it was finer this year than last, the Pseudobulbs being stronger, Odontoglossum Williamsianum is an evergreen species, with pseudobulbs about three inches high, bearing at the top a pair of leaves about ten inches in height; the spike proceeds from the side of the bulbs, and bears as many as twelve flowers, The sepals and petals are of a greenish yellow, with distinct brown transverse bars; the petals are yellow, having a large pale brown anteriorly-lobed blotch at the base; and the lip is pale lemon-yellow, with a few pale dull reddish brown spots at the base. It continues in bloom for about four weeks. : This plant is now in the possession of the Comte de Germiny, Gonville, — France. It is the only plant we have seen. Professor Reichenbach thinks it is a 7 natural hybrid between the two fine species referred to above, namely, Odontoglossum | grande and O. Schlieperranwn. 4 This is a free-growing, as well as a free-blooming, plant. We grew it ma 7 pot, with rough fibrous peat and good drainage, in the cool Odontoglossum _ house, a on a shelf near the glass, where it received plenty of light, but was quite shaded from the burning sun. It must also be kept moderately moist, but not so moist as Odontoglossum Alexandre. The same general treatment as suits O. grande is applicable to this fine novelty. . | Se saad Ss ces ig eee a. Taz Navioyat Inpusteiat axp Horricunrura, Exurerrron at Roven.—We had great pleasure in paying a visit to this exhibition in August last. It was one of great interest throughout, though our chief object was to see the floral part of it. The “7 grounds were tastefully laid out, and well planted with ornamental trees and shrubs, including Palms and other foliage plants; also many beds of flowering plants, the - whole surface well diversified and undulated, intersected with broad walks, and set of with grass lawns. There was a grand piece of water with many interesting aquatic plants in full bloom, and having a well-arranged fountain in the centre - The building all around contained a magnificent exhibition, in which were all kinds of machinery and various products manufactured in France and her Colonies. Our — object is to deseribe a grand lot of Orchids exhibited by the Comte de Germiny, Chateau de Gouville, near Rouen, France. This collection was placed in a Spar roofed house 70 feet long, and 20 wide, which was kept filled with foliage plants, = Orchids, and other flowering plants, the whole time the exhibition was opel, all maintained at the Comte’s own expense, which was a oreat undertaking for one gentleman to keep going for so long a time. When we were there in the month of August it was a grand sight, there being many wonderful specimen Orchids, een of the best of which we will describe. An enormous specimen of Cattleya rn four feet in diameter, bearing 125 flowers, a gorgeous sight. Sobralia aantholewct, — a most rare and remarkable specimen, with many flowers of a creamy JY ellow, 3 the lip lemon-yellow, and the throat orange colour, a most distinct spect “4 Epidendrum prismatocarpum with twelve fine spikes. On either side of the path 2 were two magnificent plants of Cattleya gigas, with their large showy flow : i C. labiata pallida had over twenty spikes of flowers and buds; it was in _ [For continuation, see under Plate 164.] J.Nugent Fitch del.et lith . MILTONIA SPECTABILIS RADIANS. MILTONIA SPECTABILIS RADIANS. [Puate 164. ] Native of Brazil. Epiphytal. Pseuwdobulbs produced on a progressive scaly rhizome, short, oblong, com- pressed, with accessory subleafy sheaths or bracts investing their bas ves two, lorate, obtuse, emarginate, keeled behind, of a pale green colour. Scape ancipitous, each bearing a solitary blossom, produced from the base of the pseudobulb in the axil of the accessory leafy bract, and sheathed with yellowish lanceolate appressed spathaceous bracts. Flowers about three inches in diameter and over four inches in depth, distinctly marked on the disk; sepals oblong acute, spreading trianglewise, an inch and three-quarters long, creamy white; petals similar in all respects except that they are rather shorter; dip free, roundish flabelliform, or pandurately-obovate, retuse, slightly wavy at the edge, and conspicuously marked by about three pairs of longitudinal veins, pure white with a distinct crest of three yellow linear lamelle, rather thickened and blunt in front; on the discal portion is a conspicuous blotch of about six club-shaped slightly curved bars three-quarters of an inch long of magenta- purple, radiating from the base, two thin lines running back through the trilamellate yellow crest, and the thin ends of the others continued backwards parallel with the erest as far as its base. ‘ Column white, bordered with magenta near the top. MILTONIA sPECTABILIS RADIANS, Reichenbach fil., Xenia Orchidacea, i, p. 130; Id., Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 759. There are several fine species of Miltonia in cultivation, M. spectabilis and its varieties being amongst the most beautiful. The variety which we now bring under the notice of our readers-is a most chaste-looking plant, and being one of the best of the spectabilis section, it should be more extensively grown. ‘The cultivation of this species has been very much neglected of late years. In former times we were m the habit of seeing fine specimens of M. spectabilis and also of its variety Moreliana, especially the former, each bearing a hundred or more flowers, and coming at a dull time of year, when few Orchids are in bloom—that is, during August, September, October, and November. This should be a sufficient inducement to gam them a prominent place in our Orchid houses. We ourselves having flowered the ae lant we now figure, were anxious to bring so charming a subject before the public, 'n order that it and its congeners may become more generally cultivated than they are at present, and in such a manner as to secure good specimens for flowering during the autumn season. ee i Miltonia spectabilis radians is an evergreen plant, and grows about eight inches : height, with short thin pseudobulbs of a light green colour. The foliage is also pale green, and the flowers are produced each on a scape about six inches high springing - from the side of the pseudobulb. The sepals and petals are of a creamy white, and the lip is pure white with seven or eight radiating blotches of crimson-purple at the base. It blooms during July and August, and lasts four or five weeks in beauty. We find this plant does well grown in pots or baskets, and will also thrive on blocks of wood, but we prefer the two former modes. The compost should consist of rough fibrous peat or live sphagnum moss. These plants have a sort. of creeping ' stem or rhizome, and, of course, require more pot room for the plant to ramble over; but they require very little material to grow in. The pot should be nearly filled with drainage, and moss or peat placed on the top of it, being raised to about two inches above the rim of the pots; then set the plant on the top, and peg it down securely, when it will quickly root into the fresh compost. A few lumps of charcoal should be put between the roots. The plants require a good supply of water when they are in vigorous growth; but after that is completed less will suffice. The pseudobulbs should always be kept plump, and the roots never allowed to get dry, as the bulbs are then apt to shrivel, which is injurious to them, We find the shadiest part of the East Indian house to suit them best; im this position the foliage keeps of a better colour. We often hear people complain of them turning a sickly yellow-green, but we attribute this to giving them too much sun. These plants are best potted when they are starting into growth. [Concluded from Plate 163.] health, and is a most showy and useful variety. C. Harrisoniana violacea was of a most brilliant mauve colour. Lelia Turneri, was in fine form and bright m colour. Oncidiwm macranthum was finely in bloom, its bright yellow and bronze- coloured flowers being very attractive. Of Cypripedium superbiens there was a fine plant in bloom. By the side of this were some fine plants of Cattleya Dowana well flowered; also C. Leopoldii with its singular spotted flowers, and Oncidium Lanceanum. : ‘eg are larger-flowered than others, and some have more freely branched ay : We have, indeed, gained some few new forms during the last two years, Voip emticent additions they are, especially that named Odontoglossum Pe emg 68), 5% a splendid variety, already figured in the Orchid Album (vol. oc a 3 other of similar character called O. Pescatorei Schriderianum, of oe —_ Sive an illustration at some future time. _* drawing of the typical Odontoglossum Pescatorei was taken from a a | Ro 2 va Well-grown collection of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, at mit oe ag Highness is a great admirer of Orchids and other good . plants, Mr. Penny, the able gardener, is one of our best cultivators, as is proved by his having taken the leading prizes at our London shows in former years when he was a resident in the metropolis, and a frequent exhibitor. Odontoglossum Pescatorei is an evergreen species, with dark green pseudobulbs, and strap-shaped leaves, about ten inches in height. The inflorescence, which is generally of branching habit, that is paniculate, produces an abundance of flowers, of which the sepals and petals are white, the former tinged with pale rosy purple along the centre; and the lip is white, with a little yellow on the disk. It blooms at different times of the year, according to the period of the completion of its growth, coming into flower when the growth is finished, and continuing for six weeks in beauty. This species requires the same treatment as Odontoglossum Alexandre. A cool house is suitable for it, and by having a number of plants they can be brought into blossom at different times—in fact, with judicious management, the flowers may be had all the year round. These two plants, Odontoglossum Pescatorei and O. Alexandre, are the most useful and beautiful Orchids we have for decorative purposes. Moreover, when cut, the flowers last a considerable time in a room, if fresh water be frequently given them, orif a small piece of charcoal be placed in the water to keep it sweet. It is also a good plan to cut a small piece off the end of the stem after it has been some time in water, as this seems to put new vigour into the flowers, by reopening the channels through which they draw a supply of the nourishing fluid. ORCHIDS Grown By H. Suaw, Ese., Buxton.—In November last we paid a visit to Mr. Shaw’s residence, which is a very pretty place, most charmingly situated he the side of a_ hill overlooking Buxton, and the surrounding. parts of Derby shire. The collection of Orchids, of which family Mr. Shaw has been a patron for many years, contains some fine specimens, which we have seen and noticed from time t time when visiting Buxton. We will mention a few fine examples which we SW m bloom, and others that were then showing flower spikes :—A grand plant of Cypripedium Harrisianuwm, about three feet in diameter, and bearing forty or more fully expanded blossoms, which were well coloured, some of the scapes bearing se: flowers. A grand plant of Epidendrum vitellinum majus, which was producing several long spikes of its brilliant orange-scarlet flowers. A fine variety of Cypr- pedium hirsutissimum grandiflorum. The rare Dendrobium. album in bloom—a@ very useful species. There were also some good examples of Phalaenopsis, and other a Indian Orchids; besides a very fine variety of Zygopetalum Mackayt, good Orchid, valuable for winter blooming. In the cool Odontoglossum house there SS some good plants of Odontoglossum Alexandre, with fine branching spikes, and others of O. Pescatorei, their graceful panicles decorated with many flowers. Amongst rd other good Odontoglots was a remarkable plant of O. nevium majus, with many > and growths, (Concluded under Plate 176.) s EEE ae ea cee A Cre ey pie SUD 9 and we must say that, as we saw it in this collection, we were very haracter they maintain and resembles the type in its Lelia Perrinii nivea is an evergreen variety, heath and blooms from a sheat ' Of growth; it is furnished with dark green foliage, L after the growth is completed ; the sepals and petals are white, and the hp pale rosy lilac. The flowers are produced during October and November, and continue in beauty for two or three weeks. The treatment we find suitable for the well-being of this plant is to grow it in the Cattleya house, with the same material as is used for Lelia Perrinii. Mr. Measures’ plant is grown by his gardener, Mr. Howe, in a pot, with rough fibrous peat and good drainage, and kept as near the light as possible, so that it can ripen its bulbs thoroughly. It then flowers freely, as this plant has done, and the others we have seen under similar conditions have also bloomed very profusely. OrcHID CoNFERENCE.—It is highly gratifying to find that the Royal Horticul- tural Society has decided on holding a Conference on Orchids, in May next. We hope that both Amateur and Trade Growers will make a great effort to render the meeting a success, not only by sending plants of interest, but also by taking part in the discussions on the various papers which will be read. The Conference is to last two days, and particulars will be found below. The popularity of Orchids has been rapidly extending of late years, owing partly to the singular beauty and variety to be found in the many novelties im- ported, and partly to the very successful hybridisation of these plants, by which many charming and beautiful varieties have been originated. It is intended to give to the Conference a thoroughly representative character, and hence it is to embrace plants in flower and in seed, as well as cut flowers, while the various modes of growth and methods of cultivation, together with the appliances used, are to be brought under notice. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., will preside. It may be well to add, that the Conference is to last two days, the Orchids being staged in the Conservatory, where the atmosphere will be especially attended to, so as to ensure the safety and well being of the plants; on Tuesday, May 12th, there will be ample opportunity for a general examination of the various subjects presented ; and on the following day, May 13th, the Conference will meet in the Conservatory for the Reading of Papers and Discussion, the Chair being taken by the President at 10.30 a.m. precisely. We notice that the Trustees of the Veitch Memorial F und, have placed Three Medals, with accompanying Prizes of £5, at the disposal of the Conference, to be awarded to the most deserving subjects exhibited.—B. 6. W. Pa 162, f . : b PHALAINOPSIS VIOLACEA. [Pate 182.] Native of Singapore. Epiphytal. Stems short or none, a tuft of thick fleshy roots issuing from the crown. Leaves few, large, “ gorgeous,” fleshy, deflexed, broadly oblong, five to six inches long and about three inches wide, bright green with the surface striate. Peduncle reaching to a foot in length, and bearing six or seven flowers (in our specimen two-flowered), furnished with green bracts, issuing from between the bases of the leaves, and only just elevating the flowers above them. Flowers medium- sized, two inches broad, and about three inches long, peculiar in the arrangement of their colours ; sepals (dorsal) obovate-oblong acute, an inch long, plane, white or very pale creamy yellow, with a greenish tinge, and purplish-tinted towards the base, the lateral sepals deflexed, oblong acute subfalcate, somewhat twisted, the outer half pale creamy yellow like the dorsal sepal, the inner half deep purple, the colours (lisposed longitudinally ; petals about the same size, but more ovate, similar in colour to the dorsal sepal; lip clawed, three-lobed, the lateral lobes small bifid, yellow tipped with red, and with a golden yellow callus, the front lobe clawed, obovate-oblong apiculate, intense purple-magenta, convex, the margin inflexed at the base, the whole of the front portion bent forwards. Column deep purple, projected over the lip. E PHALENOPSIS VIOLACEA, Teiysman and Binnendjik, Plante Nove, in Horto Bogo- rensi culte,—f. Rehb.; Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S., X., 234; Floral Magazine, n.s., t. 342. This, if not a showy plant, is a most compact-growing and pretty species of Phalenopsis, one that will be very much admired for its beautiful glossy green foliage, which Reichenbach designates as “ gorgeous,” while the interesting flowers which overhang it, give to it a very charming appearance. The various large-flowered species that have been introduced during the last few years are no doubt very beautiful, but these smaller-growing kinds are the means of introducing greater Variety into our orchid collections, and that now before us, for example, with its richly-coloured lip, is one to which this remark eminently applies. Our artist has taken his drawing from a well-grown plant in the fine collection of R. Warner, Esq., Broomfield, near Chelmsford, but it has been represented in the Floral — with a seven-flowered spike, and Professor Reichenbach speaks of it as a having branched racemes a foot long. We ourselves have never seen & plant produce More than two or three flowers on a spike at a time. Phalenopsis violacea is a compact evergreen species, with bright es ae striated foliage, which grows about ten inches in length, and is ot A Groups character. The flowers proceed from the axils of the leaves, in racemes growing on short scapes, the racemes continuing to produce fresh flowers until the spike js exhausted. The sepals and petals are of a creamy white, the lower half of the sepals being of a light mauve colour; the lip is of a bright mauve, with yellow crests. It blooms during the autumn months, and continues flowering for a long time. This Phalenopsis requires the same treatment as others of its class, The heat of the East India house suits it, and it grows well in sphagnum moss and charcoal mixed together, requiring but little moss. We find the plan of cultivating them in baskets very suitable, as they like to throw their roots out into the moist atmos- phere of the house, which is. their natural habit. The moss used should always be kept sweet and in a growing condition, as these plants are very susceptible of having sour or bad material about them. They must be carefully shaded from the burning sun, but they like a light place, in order that. their foliage may acquire stoutness and firmness, and not grow sappy, as we often see it, which causes the failures in cultivation so prevalent in this genus. We frequently see the plants succeed for a time and then fail. Our opinion is, that they are grown too freely and sappy. The best cultivated plants we have observed, were seen, some years ago at Broomfield, in Mr. R. Warner's collection ; they were in a house 40 feet in length, and 20 feet in width, and produced both fine foliage and flower spikes, some—such as P. Schilleriana, with a hundred or more flowers upon it, P. grandi- Jlora, with very noble spikes, also large spikes of P. amabilis and P. Portei. We ourselves have exhibited P. grandiflora with as many as seventy flowers on a plant; this specimen was exhibited for several years at Chiswick and Regent’s Park Shows, and was grown in a house 50 feet long and 24 feet wide, with a mixed collection of Orchids. P. amabilis was cultivated by the side of it. We did not then have the chance that Orchid growers of the present day possess, and thought ourselves fortunate in having one good plant of each kind, which had to be made use of for several shows every year. We mention this to show Orchid growers that these plants can be grown mixed with other Orchids. The great thing is to choose young sturdy healthy plants to begin with. We bought a P. Schilleriana, last year, that had been grown with a mixed collection of Ferns, Palms, and Orchids, where it took its chance with the rest, and we must say that it is most healthy looking, the foliage of good substance and perfect ; it is now showing its branching spikes, and blooms well every year, Stig ale ce ie ONCIDIUM JONESIANUM. [PLate 183. ] Native of Paraguay. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs very small, densely clustered, oblong-ovate, monophyllous, Leaves slender, elongate, subulate, tapermg to a long acute point, channelled on the upper surface, dull green. Peduncles radical, slender, drooping, green, hi with purple, supporting a long pendent raceme of a dozen or more flowers. Flowers very distinct and elegant in character, about an inch and three-quarters .across ; sepals wavy, the dorsal obovate cuneate acute, the lateral more oblong, pale greenish straw colour, with numerous sometimes confluent dark sepia-brown spots; petals oblong, narrowed to the base, closely resembling the lateral sepals, of the same colour and marking, finely undulated; lip with a broad transversely reniform bilobed blade, pure white, and conspicuously undulated, narrowed behind into a claw-like isthmus, having on each side a roundish yellow auricle, spotted with red; on the disk is a prominent crest, whitish, dotted with red in front, consisting of a blunt- edged erect plate, truncate in front, and with two lateral projections, behind it divides into two blunt lobes, in front of which are several papille. Column white, with purple spots, and having a very deep stigmatic cavity, and in front a blunt- edged pouch, while right and left of the hollow are a pair of quadrate recurved purple-tipped lobes. Oncipium Jonxstanum, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., Xx., 781. The Oncidiums are among the most popular of Orchids, and form a most useful group, there being so much variety of colour among them, they are, moreover, valued on account of their lasting qualities and the graceful character of their inflorescence. The subject of the present illustration is very distinct as regards the character of its foliage, as well as in the colouration and spotting of its Howers. We have, indeed, other Oncids with the peculiar quill-like foliage, but they are different —m the colouring of their flowers from Oncidiuwm Jonesianun, which is new and beautiful, and has only been introduced a short time since from Paraguay by Mr. Horsman. It was flowered in the well-known collection of W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, and from this source our artist made his very satisfactory sketch. : Oncidium Jonesianum is an evergreen plant, with subulate tapering foliage, ‘ tepresented in our figure ; it : produces a drooping raceme of flowers, in oe ~ Sepals and petals are of a pale yellowish green colour, spotted with brown, — ei ip is large and white, with crests of a reddish brown colour. It blooms during September and October, and lasts for some time in beauty. ; is is one of the species which takes but little room, and will succee = en a block of wood suspended from the roof, which situation it fully enjoys, b d well grown in this way it requires a rather frequent supply of moisture at the roots, Mr. Woolford, the gardener at Downside, grows it in a pot with rough fibrous peat and good drainage, in the same heat as recommended for Cattleyas. In potting the plant should be well elevated above the rim of the pot, so that the roots may have free scope to work among the potting material; a few pieces of charcoal introduced into the compost enables them to work about more freely, and the water, moreover, passes away all the more readily, and without getting stagnant. ‘This species does not require much water at the roots, only just sufficient to keep the bulbs and foliage in a plump condition. Lycaste SkINNERI.—We have received two splendid varieties of Lycaste Skinneri from Mr. Moore, gardener to W. Pickersgill, Esq., Blendon Hall, Bexley. The flowers are as large as any we remember to have seen. Mr. Moore informs us that on one of the plants from which the specimens were taken, are as many as twelve flowers on the same pseudobulb, a large number considering the enormous size of the individual blossoms. The two varieties are as follows :-— Lycaste Skinneri vestalis. This variety is quite new to us, and is the purest white variety we have seen saving L. Skinnevt alba, which is pure white. The flower measures seven inches across the sepals, which are one and three-quarters of an inch wide, pure white; the petals are also white, with a faint venation of pale rose on the inner surface; the lip is pure white, with very faint markings of pale rose. Lycaste Skinneri gloriosa. This variety also measures fully seven inches across ; the sepals are large and broad, of a pale pink colour; the petals rich rose colour, more especially on the inner surface, and the lip large, white, marked faintly with rose. It is a very handsome variety—B. S. W. — i, CATTLEYA BRYMERIANA. [PLaTe 184.] | Native of Brazil. _ Epiphytal. Stems clavate, stoutish, diphyllous. Leaves oblong obtuse, broadish, ‘coriaceous, of a full green. Scape four to five-flowered, green, spotted with red, issuing from a purplish-tinted compressed oblong acute sheath. Flowers full medium size, about five inches in expansion, very distinct in character, showy; sepals lanceolate oblong, the lateral ones slightly curved downwards, plane, with a short hard tip or apiculus, bright purplish rose; petals broadly oval, an inch and a half wide, narrowed to the base, bluntish, of a rather deeper purplish rose than the sepals, very slightly undulated; Up narrow, slightly deflexed, two and a half inches long, the tubular portion being nearly two inches long, with the side lobes closely folded over the column, the under side of the tube yellowish, the upper side pale lilac in the basal half, dark magenta-purple at the truncate front, from the base of the throat to the mouth is clear orange-yellow, beyond which a broad line, expanding into a semicircular form, extends over the base of the front lobe; the latter is transversely oblong, deeply emarginate, rich purple-magenta, this colour breaking off suddenly near the mouth of the tube—the lip, therefore, has the front lobe broader than long, and is remarkable for the transverse disposition both of its form and colouring. Column white, about an inch long, semiterete, slightly winged, the cap pale magenta. CATTLEYA BryMErIana, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., xx., 492. . We consider this one of the most beautiful species of Cattleya yet introduced, the colours being brilliant, and the plants producing a goodly number of flowers. {t is similar in its manner of growth to a short-bulbed Lelia elegans, and seems to us to be, not improbably, a natural hybrid. This fine novelty was introduced by Messrs. Low & Co., and has been named in honour of W. E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., Usington House, Dorchester. We have to thank Mr. Brymer for the material from Which our drawing was taken, the product of a well-grown plant, which bloomed in September of last year under the care of Mr. Powell. ae Cattleya Brymeriana is a compact-growing evergreen plant, similar in growth to Lelia elegans. The flowers are of medium size, the sepals and petals of ~ a rosy purple, the lip narrow, with a closely folded tubular base, nearly two a long, yellowish below, pale lilac above. the front part veined with magenta-purp rth and showing a clear yellow throat, cut off abruptly in front. It blooms ‘uring September, and lasts some time in beauty. | This wi be a most useful species, as it blossoms at a time when Orchid flowers } ( j 1 of “are getting scarce. Our new Cattleyas are becoming very accommodating, several 0 the more recently introduced species flowering at the same time as our present subject, which makes them more especially valuable, as we already had so many Cattleyas blooming during the spring and early summer months. In fact, we are now, thanks to these acquisitions, seldom without Cattleyas in flower. The energetic collectors who obtain them deserve our warmest thanks and the fullest encouragement for what they have done. We can scarcely doubt but that many more prizes will yet be found for them to introduce to the enrichment of our Orchid houses. Cattleya Brymeriana requires the temperature of the Cattleya house, and should be kept at the warmest end, and grown in a basket or pot with rough fibrous peat, and good drainage. It should be placed as near the glass as possible, for we find these plants require all the light we can secure to them, in order to ripen their pseudobulbs, Our sunny periods are so short, that much vigilance is required to make the most of every available agency to keep them in vigorous health, and no time or opportunity should therefore be lost in securing for them all the light they require. Good sweet material must be kept about their roots, and sufficient moisture to keep them in a plump state must always be applied. The roots must not be injured in potting, which operation should be effected just as they are starting to make their new buds. Insects should always be kept under, and never allowed to predominate, as they injure the plants and spoil their appearance. Bad or disfigured foliage takes a large percentage off the value of any specimen. oo MASDEVALLIA Carima@rA AND M. Rogziit rusrum.—W. Vanner, Esq., of Chisle- hurst, has been kind enough to forward to us, for figuring, splendid examples of the flowers of the above distinct Masdevallias. The flower of M. Chimera was very large, extending seventeen inches from tip to tip; the ground colour was pale butt- yellow, heavily spotted with purplish brown, the tails were deep purplish brown, and the lip a dull reddish brown, the whole surface of the flower being covered with prominent yellow hairs. M. Roezlii rubrum is a species of great beauty, and is very rare; it belongs to the Chimera section, but the flowers are more trian- gular in shape; in this the tails were thirteen inches long from tip to tip; the ground colour of the flower was creamy yellow, heavily marked with reddish purple, the whole surface being covered with hairs of the same reddish purple hue.—B. S. Fe m, Sita tata ie Given ~ a ae ig tae, iugent BATEMANNIA WALLISIT MAJOR. [PLare 185.] Native of Costa Rica. - ete ett nner.” furnished with acaulescent fascicles of foliage, from ie é = p tion a which roots are emitted. Leaves ligulate acute, somewhat oo mid distichous, equitant, folded at the base, eight to ten inches long. eS ... =o ings stoutish, with an ovate bract shortly sheathing at the base, a is i y a smaller linear one. Flowers fully five-and-a-half inches from ao a orsal to tip of lateral sepal ; dorsal sepal ovate lanceolate, drawn out en ecrnate apex, two-and-a-half inches long, fleshy, the apex. hardened, rich ce. be chestnut-brown, white at the base where covered by the lateral sepals, the rong ates tessellated from the presence of veins, the dateral ones similar in Dias... a ightly oblique, and united at the lower base; petals spreading and rey ae the sepals, and of the same form, the edges wavy or revolute, re a in front, white passing to yellow ‘across the base, and having on the oT. on each side the column a central dark purple spot, through which at, “% - run two or three reddish veins, the whole forming a conspicuous . we e flower ; lip one-and-a-half inch long, stalked, ovate acuminate or trowel- aL “ appearing of a darker brown tint than the petals, owing to the numérous dark brown reticulations, the claw about one-fourth of an inch long, having in front an erect crest of numerous (40) white filamentous processes, with a narrow emarginate rm on the isthmus in front of the crest. Column very large and promient, - ineurved, with a large roundish wing-like process on each margin below the fimbriated hood. BareMANNIA Watutstr MAJor, Reichenba ch fil.; Roezl, Orchidophile, January, 1883, 477; Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., xix., 119. not so much cultivated as it The treatment they require is not This small genus of curious-flowered Orchids is should be, for it consists of extremely interesting plants. mn order to keep them in a_ healthy condition for any length of time well understood, which is to be regretted, as they have nice evergreen foliage, and are free-blooming plants. They are, however, very tender as regards their foliage, and have no thick fleshy bulbs to support them, but the successive growths are formed of leaves, of which there is a kind of tuft or’ distichous fascicle from the lower part of which their roots proceed. We have them thriving well on blocks When grown in this way the water does no % great advantage, as too much moisture would cause They like to be kept moist at the roots, which may be done by M of wood suspended from the roof. + collect about their hearts, which is the tender parts to decay. keeping live sphagnum moss about them, the plants being placed in a warm house, but where they can be carefully shaded from the hot sun. Their foliage, being thin of texture, would get injured if too much exposed to direct sunshine. The atmosphere of the Kast India house we find suits the requirements of the plants in the way of climate. We have seen them thrive well in pots for a certain time, but baskets undoubtedly suit them better, provided they are grown in charcoal and a little rough fibrous peat on sphagnum moss; they must, however, be well elevated, in order that the water may pass away without becoming stagnant about them, for if stagnant moisture is allowed to accumulate about them. it invites failure in this particular class of plants—the Orchids—as well as in many others. They will require all the care that can be bestowed upon them. The specimen froma which our illustration was sketched was taken from a well- grown plant in the fine collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., of Burford Lodge, Dorking. The plant is of evergreen habit, and has lively green foliage ; the flower scapes, which proceed from the axils of the leaves on opposite sides, and bear enormous flowers, have the sepals and petals of a rich chestnut-brown, white at the base, the surface taking on a tesselated appearance from the peculiar nature of the venation; and the lip is trowel-shaped, of a dark chestnut-brown, reticulated with blackish purple. The blossoms last a long time in perfection. It is a native of Costa Rica, where the temperature is high at some parts of the year, and also very moist. These plants are propagated by dividing them just as they start to grow. Two stems or fascicles should be left at the back of the young growth. Insects should be well looked after, for if left too long on the plants serious damage will follow. Pl. 186. ODONTOGLOSSUM CORDATUM. - ODONTOGLOSSUM CORDATUM.— [PLaTe 186.] Native of Aexico. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs oblong obtuse, compressed. Leaves broadly oblong, acute, shorter than the scape, channelled, six to seven inches long. Scape issuing from the axil of accessory leaves, bearing a distichous raceme of numerous flowers, each having a navicular acuminate bract much shorter than the ovary. Flowers stellately expanded, three inches and a half deep, and two-and-a-half inches across ; sepals lanceolate, caudate-acuminate, the lateral ones longest, yellow,. the surface almost wholly covered by transverse oblong bars of bright chestnut-brown, the extreme apex being yellow; petals lanceolate, shorter than the sepals, and somewhat broader near the base, caudate-acuminate at the apex, yellow, marked almost throughout with roundish blotches of bright chestnut-brown, the apex entirely brown, the spots smaller near the base; lip cordate, very much acuminated, entire, the median line from base to apex marked with more or less confluent spots of brown, and the apex entirely brown, the claw having a fleshy appendage or crest, which is bilobed in front, and at the base furnished with a tooth on each side. Column pale green, clavate, somewhat winged, pubescent. OpontoeLossuM corDATuM, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1838, misc. 90; Knowles and Westcott, Floral Cabinet, t. 100; Pescatorea, t. 26; Paxton, Magazine of Botany, xiii., 147, with tab.; Botanical Magazine, t. 4878 (as maculatum); Bateman, 2nd Century of Orchidaceous Plants, t. 167; Id., Monograph of Odontoglossum, t. 25; Gurtenflora, t. 356. We here introduce to our readers one of the oldest of Odontoglots, but it is one of a very distinct character, which should find a home in every collection, its curiously spotted flowers, and its cordate lip, being pleasing in character. There are several varieties of this species known in cultivation, but that which we have before us is a really good form, being a free grower, and being also free in producing its long -Tacemes of flowers, which afford a good contrast when grown amongst our more Showy kinds. Our illustration was. taken from a plant in the collection of A. Sillem, Esq., Lawrie Park, Sydenham, to whom we owe our obligations for the opportunity of making the drawing, and in whose collection we have seen some fine and rare Orchids in bloom at different times under the care of Mr. Billiard, Who is Mr. Sillem’s gardener. ae The Odontoglossum cordatum we have figured is a compact-habited evergreen _ Plant, which grows about ten inches in height, and which has light green foliage. The floral racemes are produced very freely, and the flowers are gaily coloured, the sepals and petals being of a pale yellow, heavily spotted and barred with chestnut- brown, while the acutely heart-shaped lip is white, blotched with the same chestnut- brown colour. It blooms during the spring months, and continues in beauty for about six weeks. It is one of the Mexican species, and requires cool treatment, such as is given to Odontoglossum crispum (Alexandre), and other cool house Orchids. It is very easily cultivated, which makes it a boon to cultivators. It is also a cheap plant, and can be bought for a few shillings. In its growth it much resembles Odontoglossum maculatum, which is often taken for it at certain periods of ts growth, but which, when in flower, has a very different appearance. GRAND EXxutpirion oF OrcuHIpDs, &c., AT Hottoway.—lIt is our intention to hold, during the months of May and June, in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, a large Exhibition of Orchids, as well as a General Exhibition of choice Stove and Greenhouse Flowering and Foliage Plants, to which all persons interested in Horti- culture are respectfully invited. The Exhibition will be opened to the public on the 11th of May, and will be on view daily until June 30th, from 9 A.M. till dusk. A large Show House, 100 feet long by 22 feet wide, and an Odontoglossum House, 80 feet long, will be specially devoted to the Orchid Exhibition, and visitors may rely upon seeing these beautiful plants with the greatest degree of comfort, the ventilation and means of ingress and egress, as well as the great width of the paths, being all that can be desired. The other Show Houses will be gay with our large collections of Stove and Greenhouse Flowering and Foliage Plants, which have figured at the leading Shows, both at home and abroad, for many years with uninterrupted success. In addition, the large Winter Garden, 100 feet long by 40 feet wide, will be filled with a fine show of Foliage and Flowering Plants, and will form an agreeable lounge to those wishing to avail themselves of this cool retreat. : pe Oe ete A a 4 Ay an) = 7 om | DENDROBIUM PHAL& et hth sip ag AGCDL Oleg. - v xt vO DENDROBIUM PHALANOPSIS. [PLatEe 187. ] Native of North Australia. Epiphytal. Stems erect, slender, terete contracted below, one-and-a-half to two feet long. Leaves five inches long, chiefly produced near the apex of the stem, dis- tichous, lanceolate, the apex obliquely acute, the base sheathing. Peduwncles terminal, erect, ten inches long, supporting a raceme of about fifteen blossoms. Flowers large, two-and-a-half to three inches across, brilliantly coloured; dorsal sepal oblong mucronulate from a wide base, magenta at the edges, whitish down the centr é: lateral sepals ovate pointed, broad and laterally produced at the base, so as to form a short stout chin, and having also a spur nearly half an inch long, mottley magenta and white, the chin and spur deep purple, otherwise the exterior of sepals almost white; petals well displayed and very effective, roundish ovate, cuneate at the base, one- -and-a-half inch long, one-and-a-quarter inch broad, deep magenta, paler half way up the centre; lip “flexed from the chin, so as to sit close in between the petals, three- lobed, the basal lobes large, erect, roundish, overarching the column, deep rosy purple, the front lobe deflexed, half an inch broad, -magenta with deeper veins of rosy purple, flushed with maroon over the whole surface, the throat rich maroon crimson, the veins thickened and covered with dark papille, and there being a pair of rounded ridges inside the chin. Column short, rosy, keeled at the back and broadly winged at the sides; anther-case white. Denpropium PHALanopsis, Pitzgerald, Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.8., xiv., 38. We are delighted to be able to place in our Album a figure of one of the most beautiful of Dendrobes, belonging to the bigibbum section, and which we consider to be one of the best introductions of late years. It is a very rare plant, of which we have only seen two examples in blossom, one of which is the original of our present illustration, the drawing for which was taken from a specimen in the — fine collection -of W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, where it bloomed in the autumn of last year, under the care of Mr. Woolford. This Dendrobium Phalenopsis is partly evergreen. The flowers are similar in form to those of D. bigibbum, although much larger, as will be seen by a com- parison of our present figure with that of D. bigibbum in our first volume (Plate 28). It produces numerous flowers in an upright terminal raceme, the flowers being bold in character, the sepals of a pale magenta, with a whitish centre, the petals of a warm magenta-purple, and the lip rich rosy purple, with maroon-crimson veins. Tt flowers during the spring months, and remains some time in beauty. The North Australian species, including Dendrobium superbiens, D. Goldiei, and D. bigibbum, all approve of the same treatment. We find them all to do best in a warm house, with all the light possible, very little shade to be given excepting during the hottest part of the day, when they must be kept free from scorchin heat. Ample directions as to their growth and treatment will be found in our first volume under Plate 28, where we have given full particulars of the treatment of this class of Dendrobes. We are still of the opinion then expressed, to the effect, that although some growers pronounce them difficult of cultivation, we do not find them to be so, as, with us, every small piece makes a good plant, that will bloom freely under the treatment there recommended. They are propagated by producing young plants on the old growths, which can be taken off when they are matured, and put on blocks, or in small pans or baskets, where they soon grow on into flowering plants. o f=) Orcuip CoNFERENCE.—We have received the Programme of the Orchid Exhibition and Conference, to be held at South Kensington on May 12th and 13th, and repro- duce it for the benefit of those of our subscribers who may think of' exhibiting. The Exhibition, open to Fellows at Noon May 12th, and 10 a.m. May 13th. Class I.—Collections of Orchids in flower. With a view to economy of space, Exhibitors are requested to show as few duplicates as possible. Class II.—Species and varieties of the following genera :— 1. Cattleya and Lelia. 2. Odontoglossum. tm OO 5 2 5 Cypripedium. 4 Class IIl.—Species and varieties of the following genera :— 1. Oneidium. 2. Epidendium. 3. Dendrobium. 4 4. Vanda, Saccolabium, Aérides, and Stanhopea, Class 1V.—Single plants of any Orchid. Class V.—Hybrid Orchids, 7c, those raised by cross fertilisation. It is hoped that the parents will be shown, if possible, with the hybrid. Class NWVI.—Orchids in fruit. Class VII.— 1. Orchids indigenous to Great Britain. 2. Hardy Orchids from any other countries. 3. Cut flowers of Orchids. In o ensure uniformity requested that the plants exhibited bear the labels Ww r. Pollett, the Society is prepared to provide the i Exhibitors are requested to apply for these at the Society’s Office on or before the Ist May, giving the exact name of the plants which they intend to exhibit on the accompanying Form. Class VIII.—Materials, such as sphagnum and other mosses, a er soils, baskets, rafts, pots, pans, labels, &., &c., used in the culti- vation of Orchids. Three Veitch Memorial Medals will be awarded at the Conference. [For continuation, see under Plate 188. | pit * BS.Wilhams Pu ODONTOGLOSSUM JOSEPHINE. [Pirate 188. | Native of New Grenada. Kpiphytal. Pseudobulbs clustered, oblong, compressed, pale green, diphyllous. Leaves broadly ligulate-oblong, acute. Scape radical, springing from the axil of ‘accessory leaves, tinged with reddish brown, and supporting a nodding distichous raceme of numerous flowers. Flowers distinct and showy, the perianth stellately spreading, about three inches in depth, and nearly as much in breadth, white suffused slightly with rose in the centre, marked with bright chocolate-red spots ; sepals lanceolate acuminate, slightly wavy at the edge, white, with a few large oblong spots of chocolate-red in the lower half, the upper part unspotted; petals rather broader and shorter and also more undulated than the sepals, white, spotted with somewhat smaller and more numerous- crowded spots of chocolate-red about half way up, the base marked by three parallel blunt linear-clavate bars of the same colour; fp with the front portion deflexed, oblong, with a cordate base, an undulated margin, and a recurved apiculate apex; the side or basal lobes are erect, longitudinally striped with chestnut-red on a whitish ground; the disk is yellow, with a crest of five or seven radiating lamelle, with bright chestnut-red lines between, the two outer on each side flattened, obtuse and shorter, the centre one also shorter, whitish, with a club-shaped termination, the next on each side larger and deeper, forming a hollow or cavern between, bilobed vertically with four prominent points, the two upper ones rather thickened, with a smooth ridge along the top of the lamellae, the two lower ones ending in a blunt bifurcation; the white surface of the front or principal lobe of the lip is marked with about three reddish brown spots, just in front of the crests. Column with two deeply toothed wings at the upper end, prominently margined with two rounded wings below, striped and blotched with reddish brown, the anther-bed brown bordered with white. OpontToGLossum JosEPHINe, Williams, Orchid Album, iv., t. 174, in note. This already extensive genus of Orchids is steadily increasing in numbers, and mong the additions being made to it many lovely new species and varieties are continually coming under our notice. We are pleased to find that our persevering collectors .are looking after these gems to enrich our collections, and they are deserving of every encouragement for doing so, as the plants are of easy cultivation, and amateurs with small houses may cultivate them at a trifling expense, as it takes but little space to grow them on into good plants. Among these novel importations valuable species and varieties are often found, many of them no doubt having originated through the natural hybridisation effected by the various insects which frequent the flowers, and carry the pollen of one to the stigma of the other. Thus we may always be expecting to find new forms. The one we now depict is a most beautiful plant, which it may be supposed was originated in this way. We are indebted to R. H. Measures, Esq., Woodlands, Streatham, for being enabled to figure this fine Odontoglossum, which is named in honour of Mr. Measures youngest daughter, as already mentioned under Plate 174 of our present volume. It produces fine nodding plumes of lovely spotted flowers. Odontoglossum Pideghince is an evergreen plant, compact in its growth, forming light green pseudobulbs and foliage, and producing its fine curving racemes after the bulbs have completed their growth. The sepals and petals are blush white, beautifully spotted with reddish chocolate colour. It flowers during the winter months, and lasts six weeks in beauty. It was imported from New Grenada, and requires the same treatment as O. crispum (Alexandre). Myr. Howe, the gardener, grows it in a pot, the same as other Odontoglots, with rough fibrous peat and moss. The drainage must be good, and the material at the roots kept damp, a condition which most of these cool Orchids seem to enjoy. OrcHID CONFERENCE. [Concluded from Plate 167. | PROGRAMME OF THE CONFERENCE, Wednesday, May 13th, at 10.30 a.m. Introductory Remarks by the Presrpent. 1. Communication from Pror. RetcaENBace. 2. Discussion on the Hybridization of Orchids. Paper by Mr. Harry James Vertca, F.LS. 3. Discussion on the Cultivation of Orchids. Paper by Mr. Jawns O’Brren. 4. Discussion on the Nomenclature of Orchids. The Conference Committee have arranged for a Dinner in connection with the Conference, to take place at the ‘“ Albion,” Aldersgate Street, on Tuesday, May 12th, at 6.30 for 7 o'clock precisely. Gentlemen wishing to be present are requested to send their names to W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, on or before Friday, May 8th. z ee Sogn Y] e*@er. * fe, ie ‘iliams Pabl +h a) BS J. Nugent Fitch del.ectlith CATASETUM MACROCARP UM. — CATASETUM MACROCARPUM. [PLaTE 189. ] Native of Tropical South America. Epiphytal. Stems oblong, fusiform, three to four inches long, with a crown of leaves at the apex. Leaves broadly oblong-lanceolate, acute, nervose, narrowed into a stalk-like portion, and then dilated at the base so as to sheath the stem, on which they leave annular scars when they fall away. Scape radical, drooping, bearing a few showy blossoms of singular form. lowers of large size, stalked, fleshy in texture, at first sight suggestive of those of a Paphinia from the peculiar and well-marked spotting; sepals lanceolate acuminate, two and a half inches long, the lateral ones somewhat falcate and widely spreading, pale greenish yellow, almost entirely covered with chocolate-brown spots, the general arrangement of which is m transverse lines; petals oblong acuminate, nearly an inch broad, broader than the sepals, the ground colour pale greenish, spotted over like the sepals, but with rather larger spots of brown, more or less concave, turned back so as to lie parallel with the dorsal sepal; tip an inch and a half across, cucullate, ie, deeply hollowed into a bluntly cone-shaped form, three lobed, the lobes triangular, golden yellow inside, spotted with crimson, deep yellow, but more lightly spotted near the edge on the outer surface, the blunt apex of the cone green, and more or less spotted. Column ligulate, with a horn-like point, pale yellow, bearing a pair of cirrhi directed towards the lip, spotted with crimson on the outer surface. CaTaseTuM MacrocarpuM, Richard, in Kunth’s Synopsis, i., 331; Humboldt, | Bonpland, and Kunth, Nova Genera et Species Plantarum, vii., 631; Reichenbach Ju., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 564. CATASETUM TRIDENTATUM, Hooker, Exotic Flora, tt. 90, 91; Jd., Botanical Magazine, t. 3329; Sims, Botanical Magazine, t. 2259. Catasetum Cuiavertnem, Loddiges, Botanical Cabinet, t. 1344. The subject that we now propose to introduce to the pages of our Album is _ one belonging to a most peculiar genus—a genus, moreover, that is not much sought after by cultivators in general. We trust, however, that by bringing forward ‘the accompanying beautiful representation of one of these plants the attention of our readers will be attracted towards it, and that, as a consequence, the species may become more generally known and more widely cultivated, as they well deserve to be, by others besides those growers who take an interest in almost all classes of the Orchid family. Our plate was taken from a well-grown specimen in the possession of W. McDonald, Hsq., of Woodlands, Perth, whose fine collection is well known. Catasetum macrocarpum is a deciduous plant, losing its leaves when the growth _ W completed. It has broadish plaited light green foliage, which grows about a foot N high, its base sheathing the erect oblong fusiform stems. The flower scape proceeds from the base of the stems at the time the plant is making its growth, and bears several large and curiously formed flowers; the sepals and petals are of a pale greenish yellow, densely spotted with reddish purple, and the lip is orange spotted with brown, It blooms in June. The species of this genus will thrive either on blocks, in baskets, or in pots, whichever may best suit the convenience of the cultivator. In the case of basket and pot culture it is necessary to provide good drainage, and rough fibrous peat and sphagnum moss should be used as a compost. If grown on blocks some live sphagnum moss must be used about the roots. They will grow in any of the warmer houses where the heat is kept up during the year. In the growing season the atmosphere must be kept moderately moist, but when at rest merely sufficient moisture to keep the bulbs plump must be permitted. They require plenty of light, and should be grown near the glass, keeping the burning sun from their foliage. When at rest it will not hurt the plants to put them on a shelf near the light. They are propagated by dividing the stems just as the plants begin to renew their growth. CyrToPpopIUM PuUNcTATUM.—We have received from Mr. H. Knight, Director of the Royal Parks and Gardens belonging to His Majesty the King of the Belgians, in Brussels, two grand spikes of the old and beautiful Cyrtopodiwm punctatum, the finest we have seen for many a year. ‘This is a noble and much neglected plant, producing large panicles of yellow flowers, densely spotted with red, and, in addition to the flowers, the inflorescence is furnished at the base of each branch with large bracts, which are marked in the same way as the flowers. We hope to figure this plant in the Album at some future time. When we had the pleasure of visiting the gardens at the Royal Palace of Laeken, near Brussels, in March, we were much gratified to find that His Majesty has had erected a new range of glass, some of the houses of which are exclusively devoted to Orchids.—B. S. W. PL1SG. ee “i i ruta LA LIA ANCEPS W! ahs LALIA ANCEPS WILLIAMSIHI. [Puate 190. ] Native of Mexico. Epiphyte. Pseudobulbs ovate, compressed, angulately ribbed, monophyllous. Leaves oblong acute, about an inch and a half wide in the broadest central portion, channelled at the base, of a light green colour. Seapes terminal, about two-flowered, furnished with numerous sheathing bracts. Flowers large, four inches across, very chaste in their appearance, the lip alone being marked, and this only a the tube, which is yellow with red streaks; sepals lanceolate acute, spreading, ure white; petals ovate acute, about twice as broad as the sepals, pure white; a three- lobed, the lateral lobes rounded and spreading, otherwise folded over the column, their sides yellowish showing indications of veins, the throat clear yellow, with numerous veins of rich crimson, “of which three lie parallel on the disk,- whence the yellow hue is continued on to the basal part of the front lobe, which is roundish-oblong acuminate and wavy, somewhat recurved at the tip. Column enclosed. Lauria ANcers Wiiiiamsu, Sander MS.; Williams, Orchid Grower's Manual, 6 ed., 853. There is no question that certain of the Lelas rank amongst our finest Orchids. Many of them are remarkable and valuable from their bright colours, which vary in the different species from rosy crimson to pink and magenta, and now we have several white forms of Lela anceps, which are becoming prominent. Of these white forms we were a long: time with only the L. anceps Dawsom, and though our collectors have been searching for years to find similar plants, they have not yet succeeded in again finding the true L£. anceps Dawsoni. Other handsome varieties have indeed been found and flowered, and large importations have reached this country within the last few months, among which we have no doubt that there will be found many fine varieties, but nevertheless they have to be proved. The one we here figure is a very charming variety, quite distinct from ZL. anceps Dawson and L. anceps Hillii, both of which are chaste and very beautiful. Our drawing was taken from a specimen which blossomed in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway, and was exhibited before the Royal Horticultural Society, by whom it was awarded a First Class Certificate. It was imported by Messrs. Sander & Co., of St. Albans, from whom we bought the specimen, which was then the only plant that had flowered, so that it is very rare; indeed, a plant of this variety was recently sold by auction for 90 guineas. Lelia anceps Williamsii is a compact evergreen plant, with pseudobulbs and foliage ten inches high, of a light green colour. The flower scapes proceed from the centre or top of the bulb to the height of eighteen inches, after the growth is completed.. The flowers are pure white, with the throat and crest yellow, striped with reddish brown. It blooms during the winter months, and lasts two or three weeks in beauty. As in the case of the other varieties, the plant is a native of Mexico. ° It requires the same treatment as Lelia anceps, and should be grown in fibrous peat mixed with a few lumps of charcoal; it requires good drainage, and will do well either in a basket or pot, with a liberal supply of water in the growing season, enough being given when at rest to keep the pseudobulbs and foliage in a plump state. It should be grown as near the light as possible, with very little shade, just sufficient to keep the hottest sun from scorching the foliage. These plants must be kept free from insects; they are subject to attacks of the scale, but if well looked after the enemy will soon be dislodged, and success assured. -~ THe Orcutp Exuiprrion at THE VicTrorRIA AND ParapIsE NursERIES.—There is at the present time to be seen a grand exhibition of Orchids and Stove and Greenhouse Plants at the above establishment. This exhibition, which was opened to the public on May the 11th, the day before the Orchid Conference was held, will be kept open until the end of June, and has already been visited by a large company of the nobility and gentry interested in these popular plants. On entering by the large Winter Garden—which is said to be the largest of its kind in the neigh- bourhood of London—a grand display of Palms, Ferns, and other foliage plants is presented to view, and intermingled with these are some superb specimens of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, and other greenhouse plants in season, and the effect is most charming. ‘The next house is the Orchid Show house, a structure 100 feet by 22 feet, of lofty dimensions, which is well ventilated and shaded, so that visitors may inspect the plants with comfort, which is not very often the case in small stuffy houses. On entering a glorious sight is presented to view. Let the reader imagine two large banks of Palms, Ferns, and choice new and rare foliage plants, one four feet wide the other eight feet wide, intersected by a spacious pathway six feet wide, amongst which Orchids from every part of the world are tastefully arranged, with graceful Ferns and foliage plants as a foreground, and he will have some idea of the beauty of this Orchidic Paradise. Some wonderful specimens are to be found in this house, for instance :—Aérides Fieldingi, with six drooping racemes; Cattleya Mossie, with twenty scapes; Dendrobium moschatum cupreum, with twenty drooping racemes ; Odontoglossum vexillariwm, with twenty-four, and Saccolabium guttatum, with five scapes ; Cypripedium barbatum, with thirty flowers ; Dendrobium Jamesianum, with forty flowers; and Masdevallia Veitchiana, with twenty-two of its brilliant flowers. [For continuation, see under Plate 191.] PLIST. J.Nuaent. Fitch del.etlith SACCOLABIUM AMPULLACEUM SACCOLABIUM AMPULLACEUM. [Pirate 191.] Native of Moulmein. Epiphytal. Stems short, erect, thickly furnished with distichous leaves, equitant at the base. Leaves short, linear-ligulate, channelled, obliquely truncate at the apex, pale green, dotted with purple. Peduncles short, axillary, green, bearing dense erect racemes three to four inches long, the pedicels and ovaries pale rose-coloured, hexagonal, with minute bracts at the base. lowers crowded, delicate magenta-rose, with white centre, three-fourths of an inch across, the perianth segments spreading and somewhat concave; sepals, the dorsal one obovate, incurved, entire, of a pleasant tint of magenta-rose, the lateral ones slightly oblique; petals similar to the sepals in size, form, and colour; lip with a pale rose-coloured blunt cylindrical spur as long as the petals, the mouth of which is white, and is produced on the front side into a linear bluntly acute lamina, which is rose-coloured like the rest of the flower; at the mouth of the tube in front are two little rounded protuberances, whilst at the back are two flatly conical erect processes; the side lobes are flat, bluntly conical, one placed on each side the tube; the spur is twice as long as the lip. Colwmn short, tinted with rose, cylindrical, the stigmatic hollow occupying the whole of one side; anther case brownish yellow. SAccoLABIUM AMPULLACEUM, Lindley, in Wallich’s. Catalogue, No. 7307; Id., Sertum Orchidaceum, t. 17. SaccoLaBium RuBRUM, Lindley, in Wallich’s Catalogue, No. 7310; Jd., Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 222; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 884. ; This small species of Saccolabium is one of the most distinct of its genus, and remarkable for the rich colour of its blossoms, it is also a_ free-blooming species, and when successfully grown will well repay the cultivator for all the trouble he has bestowed upon it. There are other small-growing species of Saccolabium, two of which we have already figured in the Orchid Album. Some of these are very beautiful, and they take up but little space, for they do well when suspended from the roof of the Orchid house; they are, indeed, such general favourites when in bloom that we are surprised not to see them more freely and more widely cultivated. | We are indebted to W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead, for the specimen represented in our drawing, which, it may be seen, represents a plant specially well bloomed for one of so small a size, and thus serves to illustrate its free- blooming qualities. Saccolabium ampullacewm is a dwarf evergreen plant, with dark green distichous foliage. The flowers are produced in racemes from the axils of the leaves, on opposite sides of the stem, and are of a bright rosy purple. The plant blooms in spring and summer, and lasts in beauty for three or four weeks. It requires the same treatment as that which has been recommended for Saccolabium ecurvifolium, at Plate 107 of our third volume. THE OrcHID EXHIBITION AT THE VICTORIA AND PARADISE NURSERIES. : [Concluded from Plate 190.| There were many fine specimens of Lelias, Cattleyas, Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, Dendrohiums, Trichopilias, Vandas, &c. Leaving this assemblage of gay flowers we next pass through the Fern House, where are some fine examples of cultivation. Then come the Cattleya houses, which are gay with flower, and contain many fine specimens bearing buds, which when expanded wili be transferred to the Show House. Following this are—a large Stove, in which are some noble examples of fine foliage plants from the South Sea Islands, New Grenada, &c.; the New Holland house, which is gay with small and large specimens of Frica, Genetyllis, Phenocoma, Aphelexis, &e.; and the Amaryllis house, in which, although it is late in the season, many hundreds of Amaryllis may be seen ;in blossom and bud. After this the visitor comes to a long range devoted to cool Orchids, in which there are some fine hybrids, as well as species and varieties of Odontoglossum in flower, intermixed with Ferns and Masdevallias, which latter, mingled with the white spikes of O. crispum and O. Pescatorei, have a charming effect—M. — CattLEYA Dow1ana.—We have had sent to us, from R. B. White, Esgq., Arddarroch, Garelochead, Dumbartonshire, a grand variety of this glorious Orchid. The lip was remarkably fine and well marked, but the peculiarity of the variety was manifested in the handsome way in which the petals as well as the sepals were marked between the veins with bright rosy purple, giving the flower a most unique appearance, and making it quite a distinct and novel form—H. W. PLESZ. B.S. Willams Pub J.Nugent Fitch del.et.bth. ONCIDIUM VARICOSUM. ONCIDIUM VARICOSUM. [PLATE 192. | Native of Brazil. Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovate-oblong subtetragonal, ribbed, diphyllous. Leaves ligulate-lanceolate, with a bluntish point, keeled behind, of firm texture. Scape radical, stout, glaucous, three feet long, bearing a large panicle of numerous long- stalked distant flowers—often from eighty to ninety together. Flowers large, showy, the broad flat expanded lip clear bright yellow; sepals small, oblong-acute, incurved, the lateral ones cuneate and. bilobed, and as well as_ the equally small reflexed obovate petals pallid dingy green, banded with dull brown; lip large, clawed, sub- rotund, or transversely reniform, obsoletely four-lobed, nearly an inch and a-half across, with two ovate lateral ears which are somewhat crenate in front, the disk bearing a crest which consists of two triple teeth, one before the other, and which has a little ring of varicose veins placed on each side of it. Column short, with oblong finely notched whole-coloured wings. OncipIum varicosum, Lindley, Botanical Register, note under t. 1920; Id., Journal of the Horticultural Society of London, v., 143; Id., Folia Orchidacea, Oncidium No. 79; Id., Pazxton’s Flower Garden, i. 106; Reichenbach fil, oe Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematice, vi., 738. “\ The Oncids form a very numerous family, many of the members of which bear remarkably showy flowers. The one of which we now treat is a very abundant blooming species, producing its branching graceful panicles of yellow flowers most freely, and these, when suspended from the roof, as we have seen them, have a splendid appearance especially if intermixed with other colours. There are several other species that are similar to this in habit and also in the flowers, and other desirable kinds which differ in the brightness of their colours. Our drawing was taken from a fine plant grown by Mr. R. Bullen, in the collection of the Botanic Gardens, Glasgow, where there is a fine range of glass houses. Mr. Bullen is known to be one of our best Orchid cultivators, and some years ago, before removing to Glasgow, he was the winner of some of the leading Orchid prizes: at our London shows. | Oncidium varicosum is an evergreen species, with ovate-oblong pseudobulbs and light green foliage. The flowers are -produced in panicles, and have a broad flat branching reniform lip of a bright golden yellow colour, and small sepals and petals of a pale green veined with brown. It blooms during autumn and winter, and lasts a considerable time in flower. The plant is a native of Brazil. This is a very remarkable species, on account of its free-blooming qualities, combined with the small size of its pseudobulbs. The quantity of flowers seems out of proportion to the vigour of the plant, and it sometimes happens that the develop- ment of this abundance of blossom has a tendency to exhaust the bulbs. As a consequence this species requires special attention by giving it more moisture after the flowering season is over; the bulbs must on no account be allowed to shrivel, which they are apt to do when weakened by over-flowering. No doubt many plants are lost through their requirements not being met, but this could easily be avoided by attention to a few facts that are of more importance than most growers imagine. We find this Oncid to do well in pans or in baskets suspended from the roof. The materials we use for compost are rough fibrous peat and sphagnum moss, over good drainage, and we mix charcoal with the other materials. The plants should have plenty of moisture at the roots when in vigorous growth; in fact, they should never be allowed to get dry, but moisture must always be kept about them. They thrive well in the Cattleya house, with plenty of light, so that the growths may be strong. Mr. Bullen gives them all the light possible, by suspending them near the glass. — Tae Orcuip Conrerence.—There was a large gathering of plants at this important meeting, and some very interesting species and varieties were shown, principally by the leading amateurs in the South of England. There was scarcely anything from the Midland Counties and the North of England and Scotland; the Trade, also, was not largely represented, but, considering that there were no prizes offered, it was a good show. ‘There were about seventeen good collections exhibited, the largest of which were those of Sir T. Lawrence, Bart., M.P.; W. Lee, Esq., Leatherhead; Baron Schréder, Staines; W. E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., Dorchester ; The Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth; CC. Neville Wyatt, Esq., Cheltenham ; 8. Courtauld, Esq., Braintree; Dr. Duke; Lewisham ; J. Southgate, Esy., Streatham ; J. T. Peacock, Esq., Hanmmnanith « and H. M. Pollett, Esq., Bickley. Amongst these were some rare and pobieoeting specimens. There was also a large number of plants entered for Certificates, and the following were considered by the Floral Committee to which they were submitted as worthy of that distinction :— For Liiddemannia Pescatorei, to Sir T. Lawrence, Bart., M.P, For Odontoglossum crispum Sanderiana and O. crispum Veitchianum, two finely marked varieties; O. excellens, a supposed natural hybrid between O. triwmphans and O. Pescatorei; Cypripedium Godefroye, and Mawillaria Sanderiana, to Baron Schroder. For Odontoglossum crispum Cooksoni, to N. Cookson, Esq. For Cypripedium Godefroye, to W. Lee, Esq. | For Masdevallia Harryana lateritia, to Mr. B. 8. Williams. For Cattleya Wagneri, C. Bluntii, C. speciosissima Schrideriana, and C. maxima _ Backhousiana, to Messrs. F. Sander & Co. q Bo Ws