TREATMENT OF EPIPHYTAL ORCHIDS. 



21 



in their natural state they mark with the greatest regularity the 

 returning seasons, regardless of the state of the weather. 



In the following list I have omitted some very beautiful kinds, 

 such as Miltonia Karwinskii, Vanda Batemanni, Vanda Lowei, 

 and others, on account of their great rarity; also others on 

 account of the difficulty experienced in cultivating them ; of this 

 latter class is Epidendruni bicornutum. In conclusion I would 

 observe tliat all directions are vain unless they are rigidly at- 

 tended to. The great art in cultivating aerial plants consists 

 in guarding against all extremes, whether of heat, moisture, 

 dryness, or low temperature : for although one kind naturally 

 may stand cold and another heat, and a third drought, and a 

 fourth moisture in extremes, still tliese are bad precedents, and 

 he who wishes to excel in Orcliid culture will always choose the 

 happy medium. 



1. Phalcenopsis amahilis. — This Queen of Orchids comes 

 from Manilla, and produces its large round pure white flowers 

 in compound spikes nearly all the year round in succession. It 

 is best grown upon a bare block with a smooth surface, and 

 fully exposed to the light, in rather a warm and damp part of the 

 house, but where there is no stagnant moisture. 



2. Odontoglossum grande comes from Guatemala, and pro- 

 duces its very large flowers in an upright spike in September 

 and October. The flowers are mottled and striped with brown 

 and yellow like the back of a tiger ; tiie lip is wiiite, edged with 

 light purple. It is best grown in a well-drained pot or on a 

 rugged block surrounded with the fibre of fresh peat and half- 

 decayed leaves. It is impatient of stagnant moisture at all 

 times, and should be grown in a fully exposed cool part of the 

 house like the former. Its flowers remain long in perfection, 

 but are scentless. 



3. Cattleya Skinneri, a lovely Guatemala plant, produces 

 its large rosy-purple flowers in heads of six or eight together in 

 February and March. It is best grown in a pot in fibry peat 

 with a few half-decayed leaves, and should be placed at the 

 warmest end of the house ; it wants little shade or moisture ex- 

 cept in the growing season. The flowers remain two or three 

 weeks in perfection, but are without scent. It is the " Flor de 

 San Sebastian " of the Guatemalese. 



4. Cattleya 3Iossi(e, a magnificent plant, of which there arc 

 many varieties, has the largest flowers of all t]ie Cattleyas. Its 

 flowering time is from INIay to August, the blossoms being of 



