EPIDENDRUMS. 99 



flowers during the summer and winter months : its blossoms 

 continuing three or four weeks in perfection. 



EPIDENDRUMS. 



Many of this large class of plants are scarcely worth culti- 

 vating, excepting for botanical purposes. Some, however, 

 are sweet-scented. More growers of Orchids have been 

 deceived in buying Epidendrums, than any other class of 

 Orchids : the bulbs of so many kinds are so nearly alike, that 

 it is difficult to tell what they really are till they flower. 

 They may often be kept several years before they flower, and 

 then, instead of something good, they produce frequently 

 only dingy green flowers, about the same colour as the leaves. 

 Some of these are very fragrant, and will perfume the whole 

 house in which they are grown. There are, however, some 

 beautiful species among this class, the flowers of which are 

 very distinct in colour. The following comprise all the best 

 sorts that I know. They are all evergreen, and compact in 

 their habit, except cinnabarinum, crassifolium and rhizophorum, 

 which are tall-growing, with long slender bulbs, and small 

 leaves from top to bottom : the other sorts have short, round 

 bulbs, with long narrow leaves, except aurantiacum, bicornu- 

 tum, and Stamfordianum. These grow more in the way of 

 the Cattleya, with upright bulbs, having two or three short 

 leaves on the top. They all produce their flowers from the 

 top of the bulb, except Stamfordianum, in which they rise 

 from the bottom. 



These plants will all do in the Mexican house, and may be 

 grown on blocks of wood ; but the pot-and-peat culture is 

 the best. They require a season of rest, with the same treat- 

 ment as the Cattleyas, excepting less heat : they are propa- 

 gated by dividing the plants, as described in the remarks on 

 propagation (p. 27). 



Epidendrum alatum majus. A pretty species from Mexico : 



H 2 



