THE MOST USEFUL ORCHIDS 103 



flowers, like broad, flattened Epidendrums, each with a prominent 

 yellow blotch on the lip. It grows with the utmost freedom at 

 the cool end of the intermediate house, and can be propagated by 

 division with great ease. The parents are Sophronitis grand'iflora 

 and Epidendrum radicans. The second hybrid is Epiphronitis 

 Orpeti, of American origin, and derived from Epidendrum 

 W Brien'ianum and Sophronitis violacea. 



LtELIA 



The Lxlias are a fairly large family of, for the most part, 

 very eff^ective, beautiful, and useful Orchids. In some instances it 

 is difficult to distinguish a Lxlia from a Cattleya in outward appear- 

 ance, but as a rule the Lselias have not such large flowers as 

 Cattleyas, and the flowers have narrower segments. Botanically 

 the diff^erence is also very slight, and consists in the Laelias having 

 eight pollinia instead of four as in Cattleya. Lfelias intercross 

 readily with Cattleyas, and the hybrids, known as Lcelio-Cattleyas, 

 form a splendid group of very beautiful plants. The two families 

 are found in Brazil, Mexico, and Guatemala, and with the excep- 

 tion of the Mexican group the Laslias thrive under the conditions 

 found most suitable for the majority of Cattleyas. 



The Mexican Lxlias form a group difl^ering in habit and 

 requirements from the rest of the family. Most of these have 

 thick, short, compressed pseudo-bulbs, and long, slender spikes 

 bearing the flowers near the apex. 



Best Species 



L. ANCEPS is a beautiful winter-flowering Mexican species 

 first introduced in 1835 by the Messrs Loddiges of Hackney. It 

 is very variable in the colour of its flowers, but in every case the 



