ORCHIDS FOR THE SITTING ROOM. 41 



ORCHIDS FOR THE SITTING ROOM. 



Orchids are not as yet very f^enerally used for the decoration 

 of apartments — a use for which many of these beautiful 

 plants seem pre-eminently adapted. That they are used for 

 the decoration of the dinner table occasionally we know, but 

 it is a rarity to see any Orchid used in drawing-rooms ; and 

 yet we have many species that will make a vigorous growth 

 out of doors during the summer if placed in a sheltered 

 position ; and species have been grown in Ward's close cases 

 for many months together. Some Orchids bloom after their 

 growth is matured, and finish flowering before they again 

 commence growing ; and these are the best to employ for the 

 sitting-room, as they can be again transferred to the Orchid 

 house before they commence their growth, and there is com- 

 paratively no danger of their being injured. To these last 

 belong some of the cool Odontoglossums and Oncidiums, 

 Coologyne cristata, Lycaste Skinneri, besides many of the 

 glorious Cattleyas and Laelias. Coelogyne cristata is one of 

 the finest of all Orchids for indoor decoration, and during 

 one very severe winter we repeatedly used a fine plant, with 

 thirty or forty spikes, for the especial decoration of the 

 dining room, and occasionally for the front hall. Under gas- 

 light this is one of the loveliest objects imaginable, the white 

 colour of the flowers being dazzling in its purity under 

 artificial light. The temperature of the Orchid house in 

 which this plant was placed last winter frequently descended 

 to 38^, or only 6^ above freezing point, and yet this plant is 

 uninjured. Another Indian Orchid — Aerides odoratum — 

 we had last winter in an ordinary lean-to, the temperature 

 of which descended frequently to 40^ and probably lower. 

 Crotons succumbed to this treatment, but t^o small plants 



