May 5, 1906 



horticulture: 



583 



Thunias 



Thunias were repotted in March. After the flower- 

 ing season is over and the stems have matured their 

 growth these plants should have a thorough resting and 

 ripening of the stems. Therefore, since last fall they 

 had been resting on a shelf in the rose house. There 

 they had plenty "I' light and during the whole of the 

 winter they have nut received one drop of water. 

 If potted annually they give much better re- 

 sults and in fact this is the proper way to grow 

 them. Clean pets and thorough drainage are very 

 essential. Use a compost of fibrous loam, dried cow 

 manure and a dash of clean sand. Five or six inch 

 pots make a convenient size. Several stems, according 

 to size, may be put intc each pot and staked neatly. 

 The stakes keep the plants from moving until they get 

 hold of the fresh compost. 



Water must be given very sparingly until the plants 

 get established and the young growths well above the 

 compost. Afterwards, they require a liberal supply of 

 water and when they have made good roots occasional 

 waterings with liquid manure give good results. After 

 the flowering season, when the leaves begin to get yellow, 

 then water must be given more sparingly and should be 

 gradually lessened until the plants are finally at rest. 



After potting, as they are great lovers of moisture, 

 we place them in the store where they get good light, 

 plenty of heat and where they can be syringed regularly. 

 In such a position they will produce stout, stocky stems 

 which are sure to give a good supply of flowers. 



Thunias are natives of India and are found widely 

 distributed over the Himalayan mountains, Moulmein 

 and Lower Burmah, and it is said by collectors that they 

 are quite common in these regions. Several collectors 

 report that they found them growing on trees in the 

 damp forests at an elevation ranging from 2000 to 

 3000 feet. From this one would learn that thunias 

 are epiphytic orchids, as they are said to grow on trees. 

 Yet we have always grown them as terrestrial orchids, 

 and we have had good results. Here is another case 

 where it does not make much difference what the 

 potting material is if the man with the watering pot 

 just knows at what time, other conditions being right, to 

 give and withhold water and stimulants. It is the 

 same with nearly all orchids; there is so much humbug 

 written about their being grown in leaf mould and other 

 potting materials. The whole thing depends upon the 

 man that waters carefully and knows by experience just 

 the right time to supply the wants of each plant with 

 water and stimulants. 



A few years ago English growers recommended grow- 

 ing Dendrobium nobile entirely in sphagnum moss and 

 potting them annually. A few days ago Mr. Watt 

 from Wellesley College was visiting here and I made 



inquiries about the large specimens of Dendrobium 

 nobile which Mr. Butler used to grow and he told me 

 that a neighbor had a plant that was better in every 

 way than those Mr. Butler had grown and the strange 

 thing about this plant is that it was grown in fibrous 

 loam. So one can have them growing in peat, sphag- 

 num and loam and all doing well if other conditions 

 are right. 



When travelling about in the West Indies I tried to 

 learn as much as possible from orchids growing under 

 natural conditions. I never could find much leaf mould 

 about the plants and, in fact, many of them were a mass 

 of roots clinging most tenaciously to the trees they were 

 growing upon. There is no doubt there are many 

 things in a tropical atmosphere that we can't produce 

 in our greenhouses and I think there may be more 

 nourishment got from the tropical rains than from the 

 water which we supply our plants with. I think that 

 with our orchids we are too sparing with light. In the 

 forests where they grow naturally there are very few 

 orchids found on the lower branches but they are abund- 

 ant away at the tops of the trees where they can get 

 more air and light. 



Returning to our thunias, they begin to blossom 

 about the end of May, continuing right along to July. 

 The flowers are produced from the ends of the stems 

 in drooping racemes and are very pretty when the plants 

 are well grown. When the stems are full grown they 

 attain a height of about three feet. 



Thunia alba is a common kind and has been in culti- 

 vation since away back in 1836. The sepals and petals 

 are pure white and the lip is white, veined with purple 

 and yellow. 



T. Bensoniffi is the most richly colored in the genus. 

 It has flowers three inches to four inches in diameter, 

 of a beautiful bright magenta purple color. It was dis- 

 covered by Colonel Benson on the mountains of 

 Moulmein in I860. T. Marshalliana resembles very 

 much Thunia alba. It has white sepals and petals, and 

 the lip is white at the front, the other portions pale 

 yellow veined with bright orange. There are several 

 varieties of this species in cultivation. 



T. Veitchiana is a hybrid between Marshalliana and 

 Bensoniaa. The flowers are white, the tips of sepals 

 and petals shaded with mauve and purple markings. 



Thunias are probably the easiest to handle of all the 

 orchids and if given a fair chance they hardly ever fail 

 to produce their pleasing blossoms. 



