CYPRUIRE DIUM and AULIED GENERA 
This is one of the most important of the orchid genera, and one of the most popular 
among orchid growers, though of late years the Cattleya group has ousted the 
‘slippers’ somewhat from the pride of place. This is quite understandable for 
Cattleyes are actually among the easiest of the orchids to cultivate, whereas the 
Cypripediums present certain difficulties which cause quite a lot of disappoint- 
ments to Australian growers. Some of these difficulties are due to a failure to 
realise that the Cypripedium takes some time to become acclimatised, and 
that it is actually rather a slow grower under the best conditions. Hence a 
grower may have a Cypripedium for two or three years without it showing any 
sign of flowering, even though it has apparently made good growth during that 
period. This delayed flowering has caused many growers to lose interest in the 
genus. Besides this inherent slowness of maturing and flowering, there are few 
orchids more susceptible to unsuitable conditions than the Cypripediums, and as 
too few of us are able to provide suitably varied houses for the many varieties of 
orchids we grow, it often happens that our Cypripediums are simply fitted in 
wherever there is a space—sometimes with the Caftleyas—at others with the Den- 
drobiums, in fact, any old where at all. Again the species of the genus come 
from widely differing natural habitats, and unless their source of origin has been 
ascertained, together with some idea of the climatic conditions of those areas, 
growers are hard put to decide exactly how to treat their respective plants. In 
these notes I hope to remove this disability, at least to some extent. 
The species of the genus are numerous and vary very considerably in the form and 
colouring of their blooms as well as in the manner of their growth. They differ 
widely in structure from all other forms of orchids, and botanically they are 
looked upon as the most primitive of all the orchid family. For systematic classi- 
fication botanists have divided the Cypripediums into several sub-tribes such as 
Paphiopedilums, Phragmopedilums, etc., but, for the purpose of this table, such 
classifications will be disregarded. Many of the species are so rare that they are 
unlikely to be met with in Australia or obtained from abroad. Others again are 
not considered worthy of inclusion in orchid collections. All such species will 
be omitted, but I will endeavour to deal fully with all the better species and their 
varieties, the conditions under which they grow naturally, and the best means, in 
my opinion, of cultivating them successfully. I would again emphasise that no 
arbitrary rules can be set out for growing any orchid—only suggestions as to their 
ideal requirements based upon their natural conditions can be made, and growers 
must adapt these suggestions to their own available conditions in the best way pos- 
sible. If you find that you are successfully growing a plant, and my suggestions 
differ from your method, you should, of course, adhere to your own treatment un- 
til, if ever, you find that your plant has ceased to make progress, or after it has 
failed to flower in spite of some years of careful attention. If, on the other hand, 
your Cypripediums, or any of them, are not making the progress they should, I 
am sure that the suggestions I offer will assist you. 
D3) 
