570 OECHID-GEOWEIi's MANUAL. 



SCHOMBUEGKIA, Lindley. 

 {Tribe Epidendrese, svbtribe Laeliese.) 



Of this epiphytal genus but few of the species are desirable 

 for cultivation where space is at all limited, for though the 

 blossoms of many of them are individually very attractive, 

 they are too shy in flowering, and as a rule they produce long 

 spikes with but very few blossoms on them. In growth they 

 resemble Cattleija or Lalia, except that they are less com- 

 pact. The stems are erect, fusiform, twelve inches or more 

 in length, with generally from one to three leaves on the 

 top ; and the flower scapes proceed from their apex, and 

 are from three to five feet long. The flowers are large, with 

 spreading sepals and petals, which are more or less undu- 

 lated, and the lip is erect, shortly connate with the base of 

 the column, which is loosely enfolded by its side lobes, the 

 central lobe being roundish or bluntly two lobed, flat, or 

 sometimes wavy. About a dozen species natives of Tropical 

 America are known. Those mentioned below may be recom- 

 mended for cultivation. 



Culture. — They succeed in the Cattleya house on blocks, 

 or in baskets suspended from the roof, in moss or moss and 

 peat mixed together, or they may be grown in pots equally 

 well if that system is preferred. A liberal supply of water is 

 necessary during the growing season ; but after they have 

 completed their growth, water should be withheld until they 

 begin to show flower. Propagation is effected by parting the 

 stems. 



S. crispa, Lindley. — A pretty species, with fusiform stems 

 a foot high, bearing at the top two or three large oblong- 

 lanceolate leathery leaves, and from the base of the upper 

 leaf a bracteated peduncle from three to five feet long, at the 



