LIST OP COOL ORCHIDS. 61 



Barkeria. 



Deciduous epiphytes, from Central America or Mexico, 

 having slender pseudo-bulbs from six to twelve inches high. 

 Like all other Orchids, if grown well they bloom freely. They 

 grow vigorously in a cool, airy temperature, suspended 111 

 pans or small baskets close beneath the. glass, and slightly 

 shaded with tiffany or other light fabric. I have grown these 

 plants in pans filled with oak sticks and living sphagnum, 

 dipping them in tepid water three or four times daily when 

 growing. Under this regime they succeeded admirably and 

 flowered profusely. 



B. elegans (Guatemala). A beautiful, slender-growing 

 species ; spikes slender, two feet long ; sepals and petals rosy 

 lilac ; lip white or lilac, blotched with reddish crimson. It is 

 one of the finest of all the Barkerias, and varies slightly, there 

 being two or three varieties in cultivation. 



B. Lindleyana (Batem. 1840). A free-flowering species, 

 native of Costa Eica ; racemes two feet long, very slender, 

 bearing from five to seven flowers near its apex ; sepals and 

 petals rosy purple ; lip white, with a deep purple blotch at its 

 apex. It flowers in September o? October, and lasts a consider- 

 able time in beauty. 



B. melanocaulon (Costa Eica). A species but rarely met 

 with. Flowers on an erect spike in August and September, 

 lasting a long time in beauty ; sepals and petals rosy lilac ; 

 lip pink or reddish purple, having a blotch of green in the 

 centre. It is a very desirable species, and grows well treated 

 like its congeners. 



B. SJcinneri (Guatemala). This is a very vigorous species, 

 and is valuable as a winter blooming plant. Spikes produced 

 from the apices of the ripened growth from six to nine inches 

 long, often branched, forming a dense mass of deep purple 

 blossoms. If kept dry it lasts from eight to ten weeks. 



