1873.] WINTER-FLOWERING ORCHIDS. 15 



Guatemala in 1838. In habit this plant approaches L, autumnalis. 

 Flowers three to seven on a spike 15 to 18 inches long, produced in 

 great profusion on well-established plants. Sepals and petals of a semi- 

 translucent white colour. The lip has a bright lemon-yellow centre, 

 and is dotted with bright crimson near its base. It flowers during the 

 dullest winter months, and lasts three to four weeks in perfection. 

 Its flowers open rather greenish, but eventually change to white, and 

 are very useful for bouquets, or other floral ornaments. 



L. autumnalis. — This is one of the finest of winter-flowering Orchids, 

 bearing three to five flowers lightly poised on the apices of slender 

 spikes or scapes, which vary from 2 to 3 feet in length. Sepals and 

 petals of a glistening or crystalline appearance, and of a rosy violet col- 

 our, darkest towards the margin. Lip white, with a crimson-purple 

 apex, having a tri-lamellate crest. This plant flowers freely during De- 

 cember and January, lasting three to four weeks in beauty. A fine 

 specimen-plant of this species exists in the collection at Manley Hall, 

 near Manchester. This plant has been grown all the summer in a 

 lean-to vinery, and has thrown up twenty-three flower-spikes, some of 

 them being very strong. It is growing on a large block, and is a good 

 example of what may be done with winter-flowering Loelias when they 

 are well grown. 



L. purpuracea. — This is another fine old species, introduced from 

 Mexico about 1838. It is often confounded by cultivators with the 

 last-mentioned species, but is very distinct. It bears one or two flow- 

 ers only on the apex of a scape 10 to 12 inches high. The petals are 

 very much broader than the sepals, and the flower in general confor- 

 mation reminds one of a Phalsenopsis, or of the rosy -flowered Dendro- 

 bium bigibbum. The flowers are not so delicately perfumed as those 

 of L. autumnalis. It flowers in December, and lasts a fortnight or three 

 weeks. It is by no means a free-flowering species, but one worth 

 adding to any collection. 



LCELIAS IX POTS. 



L. anceps. — Introduced from ^lexico nearly forty years ago, this plant 

 remains a distinguished favourite in nearly all collections. It grows 

 freely in the Cattleya-house or in an ordinary plant-stove, and rarely 

 fails to reward the cultivator with a rich profusion of its crimson-pur- 

 ple flowers. It bears three to four blooms, each being 3 inches across, 

 on the apex of a slender two-edged scape 2 to 4 feet long. The lip has 

 a yellow streak down its centre, and the apex is of the richest velvety 

 crimson colour. This plant grows well in fibrous peat and living Sphag- 

 num, a few lumps of charcoal and crocks being interspersed to keep 



