1878.] 



A ND HOR TIC OX TURIS T. 



105 



0. tigrinum. I received this from Mexico. 

 It has smooth bulbs, but ^ looks much like 

 Barkeri. Mine bloomed in the Fall. Sepals 

 and petals light orange yellow ; lip quite light 

 3'ellow. 



0. crispum. From Rio de Janeiro. Has short 

 dark bulbs, and dark green foliage. Flower 

 stems two to three feet long. The flowers are ; 

 from 2 to 2^ inches diameter; coppery red color, 

 witli bright yellow markings on the center of 

 the lip. There are several varieties of this 

 beautiful Oncid. Blooms with me in the fall. 



O. divaricatum. I have received from Rio de 

 Janeiro several very diflierent plants under this 

 name. I have one in bloom now, with long 

 flexible flower stems about two feet long. 

 Flowers over an inch long ; yellow and brown. 

 I have several other plants identical nearly in 

 growth and flowers, but they always bloom in 

 the Summer. 



O. jiexuosum. A very common Orchid from 

 Brazil. Bulbs smooth and green, about "It. inches 

 long. It is a very free bloomer, covering 

 itself with sprays of small delicate yellow flowers 

 in the Spring. 



O. phymatochilum. Brazil. A rare Orchid, 

 with round dark bulbs, and one stiff" reddish 

 green leaf. Blooms in the Spring, and has 

 flowers on a long slender stem. Yellow and 

 reddish brown in the sepals and petals ; lip 

 white. If kfpt in a dry place, will remain in 

 bloom six weeks. 



0. roseum^ or O. He.nchmanni. A remarkably 

 beautiful an'^1 distinct variety from Honduras 

 and the warm parts of Central American coast. 

 It is in growth like a small O. luridum. The 

 flowers are rosy white, spotted dark rose and 

 crimson, and are borne on long flexuose stems. 

 Blooms in Summer. There are several varieties. 



0. aurosum. Peru. Blooms in the Spring. 

 Has a growth like O. sphacelatum. The flower 

 spike is long and branching ; flowers very pro- 

 fusely ; rich yellow, blotched with cinnamon 

 brown on the sepals and petals. Cool culture. 



0. sarcodes. One of the handsomest Oncids 

 grown, when true. I have sent to Belgium and 

 Brazil for this, but have never been able to get 

 it true. I have O. araictum, with dark green 

 bulbs about 5 inches long, and beautiful large 

 yellow and brown flowers. It is a near r^'lation 

 to O. sarcodes. There are several Oncids from 

 Brazil, of inferior bloom, that resemble sarcodes 

 in growth. Mr. Buchanan told me that he 

 sometimes thought that O. sarcodes was either 



remarkably scarce, or there was no such plant. 

 He had made importations very often from 

 Brazil direct, but had never yet got the true 

 plant. 



These are only a few of the many varieties of 

 Oncids. Lately some elegant additions have been 

 made: 0. macranthum, O. Rogersii, O. splen- 

 didum, O. phahenopsis, and O. seriatum. These 

 are yet comparatively scarce and costly, and I 

 have not seen them in bloom. 



CULTIVATION OF THE VERBENA. 



BY JAMES H. MARKEY,JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS,X. T. 



I much doubt if there Ls another plant in culti. 

 vation so widely spoken of as the Verbena, yet 

 there are but few who thoroughly understand the 

 nature of this plant. Some gardeners attempt to 

 grow it at a temperature ranging from 40° to 45°, 

 which is entirely too cold ; others think they can 

 grow the same plant in the greenhouse where 

 there are Dracaena, Palms, Crotons, &c., at a 

 temperature ranging from 70° to 75°, which is 

 entirely too warm. My experience with the 

 Verbena for the past fifteen years induces me 

 to write as follows : I would make the starting 

 point the first of March, at that date taking cut- 

 tings from clean, healthy plants; see that they 

 are in a proper condition. If the stock plants 

 were growing in a temperature ranging from 

 55° to 60°, which in my opinion is the 

 proper temperature to grow the Verbena, cut- 

 ting of such plants would be just the style 

 required by cutting them otf at or below the third 

 i joint. They would root in eight or ten days 

 sufllciently to be potted off in two and a half inch 

 pots, and will make fine, healthy plants by the 

 I first of April. At that date they require to be 

 transferred into three-inch pots, at the same time 

 pinching the tops of each plant ; it will cause 

 them to strike out with greater vigor, and enable 

 them to become fine, thrifty plants to be set out 

 m the open ground by the first of May. By the 

 middle of August they will have spread to a dis- 

 I tance of three feet ; at that date they are covered 

 with flowers and seed pods. This profuse flower- 

 ing and seeding somewhat lessens the vitality 

 I of the plants and puts them in a weak condition: 

 and should they be left in this exhausted state 

 they would very soon receive the disease which 

 I so aflects this plant, known as black rust ; and 

 now there must be something done to prevent 

 I this disease from putting in an appearance, and 

 regain the vitality of the plants. I know of no 



