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22 



The Florists^ Review 



April 1, 1920 



also have good, representative collec- 

 tions. 



Arthur Cooley, of Pittsfleld, Mass., 

 has a choice collection, especially in 

 varieties of cattleyas, Iselias and their 

 hybrids. Several other Massachusetts 

 families, the Whitins, of Whitinsville, 

 and the Thayers, of South Lancaster, 

 have good collections of orchids. E. O. 

 Moore, of Hackensack, N. J., specializes 

 in cattleyas, Iselias and their hybrids 

 and is noted as a grower of choice hy- 

 brids. George Schlegell, of Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., has an extensive general collec- 

 tion of orchids, which has been his 

 hobby for over thirty-five years. Mrs. 

 Hicks Arnold still keeps intact the col- 

 lection grown by her late husband in 

 New York city. Miss De Lamar, of Glen 

 Cove, N. Y., has a collection of orchids 

 among her large variety of horticul- 

 tural treasures. 



In Pennsylvania there are numerous 

 collections, such as that of Louis Burk, 

 Joseph E. Widener, Mrs. Dickson, who 

 purchased the entire collection of the 

 late Mr, Roebling, of Trenton, N. J.; 

 John Wanamaker and numerous other 

 patrons of horticulture. 



All the botanical gardens and public 

 parks in America have a fair collection 

 of orchids in their greenhouses that in- 

 terest the visiting public.' 



Beginning of Hybridization. 



Orchid hybridization began about 

 1885 and the first hybrid orchid of 



American origin, Cypripedium Arnold- 

 ianum, from Cypripedium concolor and 

 Cypripedium superbiens, was exhibited 

 by Pitcher & Manda before the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society in 1890, 

 followed by other hybrids. 



The cultural method has changed 

 from the mystery in which orchid cul- 

 ture was shrouded in the early stages of 

 orchid culture in this country, as well as 

 in Europe. By liberal methods the cul- 

 ture was simplified and it was found 

 that there was no necessity of building 

 special orchid houses and that the 

 orchids delighted in plenty of light, air 

 and sunshine. 



The orchid material, especially peat, 

 was all imported from Europe, while 

 now thousands of barrels are exported 

 to England, France and Belgium. In 

 the early days of orchid culture the 

 American growers depended on Europe, 

 especially England, for their supply of 

 plants, but since the eighties direct im- 

 portations were made to the United 

 States from different parts of the 

 tropics in such quantities that at times 

 orchids were exported to Europe. 



Several orchid collectors left the 

 United States for the tropics and have 

 successfully shipped large quantities of 

 orchids into the United States. John E. 

 Lager, Livingston, De Buck, Saehse, 

 Massmann, Carrillo and others are 

 pioneers in that line, which has now 

 been brought to a standstill on account 

 of the unreasonable Quarantine No. 37. 



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GEOQRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



Of Orchid Varieties. 



In their struggle to obtain the light 

 and air necessary for their existence, 

 plants adopt various and curious de- 

 vices. Leaving aside the familiar trees, 

 bushes and herbs which are the types 

 common in northern lands, we find there 

 also a group of plants which, by means 

 of specialized organs of their own and 

 by the aid of other plants, climb or 

 scramble until they get well above their 

 neighbors. In polar regions there are 

 no climbers, but, as the warmer regions 

 are reached, they increase rapidly in 

 number until within the tropics almost 

 every tree and bush is burdened with 

 these plants. In the equatorial regions, 

 where the atmosphere is saturated with 

 moisture and the heat is intense, vegeta- 

 tion is thickest and every bit of avail- 

 able land is covered with a jungle 

 growth. Here we find vast numbers of 

 plants growing upon others, especially 

 upon trees. These plants, known as 

 epiphytes, obtain their food from the 

 atmosphere and from the humus which 

 collects in and about them on the 

 branches and trunks of trees. In other 

 words, the trees afford them a home, 

 but do not supply them with food. 



Many Types. 



The great family of orchids, in a 

 measure, is represented by many differ- 



The address of E. H. Wilson, of the Arnold 

 Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., at the confer- 

 ence of orchid growers at Boston, March 25, on 

 "Orchids and Their Qeographical Distribution." 



ent types of vegetation; that is to say, 

 there are orchids which have their roots 

 in the ground; there are others which 

 climb trees; there are others, and these 

 by far the greater number, which live 

 upon the branches of trees. The terres- 

 tial orchids — that is, those which have 

 their roots in the ground — are usually 

 found in northern latitudes and, with 

 few exceptions, such as the moccasin 

 flower, have inconspicuous blooms. 



Climbing orchids are not numerous 

 and are found only in the tropics. Epi- 

 phytic orchids, and it is these that are 

 usually understood when we speak of 

 orchids, atte a feature of the equatorial 

 and subeqnatorial regions of both hem- 

 ispheres. It is these tropical epiphytic 

 orchids which make the wondrous dis- 

 play which may be seen in the hall of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety. 



The epiphytic orchids of the tropical 

 regions of the old and the new world 

 are quite dissimilar, not one kind being 

 common to the two regions. Most spec- 

 tacularly beautiful are the cattleyas 

 and Iffilias of tropical America. These, 

 with their highly colored blooms, with 

 pink or rose-colored floral segments and 

 highly colored red or crimson lip, more 

 or less mottled with other colors, are 

 the princes of orchidom. They grow not 

 only upon trees, but also upon rocks 

 fully exposed to the sun. Another group 

 of tropical American orchids is oncid- 

 iums, which have their variously 

 spotted, butterfly-like blooms arranged 

 in long racemes. On the mountains of 



tropical America grow the odontogloB- 

 sums, another group similar in general 

 aspect to the oncidium, but difficult to 

 cultivate in North America. Another 

 favorite tropical American group is 

 masdevallia, in which the blooms as- 

 sume most extraordinary shapes, often 

 imitating beetles, spiders and other 

 forms of small animals. 



Malaysia Boasts of Many. 



In the Philippines and parts of Ma- 

 laysia grow the lovely phalsenopsis, the 

 moth orchids. These, with their leath- 

 ery, strap-shaped, often mottled, leaves 

 and large, butterfly -like, white and rose- 

 colored blooms arranged on long, arch- 

 ing racemes, are the princesses of 

 orchidom. Somewhat similar to the 

 moth orchids are the serides and vandas, 

 also natives of Malaysia, which have 

 fleshy, curiously shaped, highly fra- 

 grant blooms. One of them, Yanda 

 coerulea, has blue blooms and is among 

 the wonders of the orchid world. Some 

 have narrow, flat, strap-shaped leaves; 

 others, like Vanda teres, have fleshy, cy- 

 lindrical leaves and, when not in bloom, 

 might be mistaken for the cactus. In 

 Malaysia grow other orchids, including 

 the dendrobiums, with their stick-like 

 branches and brilliantly colored blooms, 

 and cypripediums, the ladyslipper 

 orchids, of which the variety is great. 



A Few In Africa. 



In tropical Africa but a few showy 

 species of orchids are known, but in 

 Madagascar grows Angrsecum sesquipe- 

 dale, which has white, or greenish-white, 

 waxy flowers, each with an enormous 

 spur, some twelve to fourteen inches 

 long, at the bottom of which honey is 

 secreted. In orchids, generally, the 

 curious, often extraordinary shape of 

 the bloom is a device on the part of 

 nature to insure cross pollination. In 

 the case of this Madagascar orchid, with 

 its remarkable spur, there is a corre- 

 spondingly large moth with an enor- 

 mously long tongue capable of sucking 

 the honey from the spur and, on its de- 

 parture, carrying away the pollen masses 

 to another flower. This moth and orchid 

 afford an interesting example of mutual 

 adaptation. On Table mountain and 

 elsewhere in Africa grow the interest- 

 ing terrestrial orchids known as disa, 

 which have curiously hood-shaped 

 blooms, with a small lip and long spur at 

 the back. Within the tropics there are 

 many other groups of orchids, but the 

 foregoing, all of which are familiar 

 greenhouse plants, may serve as types 

 of the wonderful variety in form and 

 appearance among the members of 

 orchidom. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY. 



Rose Registration. 



The following rose has been accepted 

 by the rose registration committee of 

 the American Rose Society and unless 

 objections are received in the secre- 

 tary's office within three weeks of this 

 publication the registration will become 

 permanent. From the Jos. H. Hill Co., 

 Richmond, Ind.: 



Name, Red Columbia; class, hybrid tea; pa- 

 rentage, sport of Columbia. Description — Gen- 

 eral characteristics of this variety are identical 

 ■with Columbia, except that the color Is a bril- 

 liant scarlet and the petalage is not so full as Co- 

 lumbia. The color is similar to Hoosler Beauty. 



E. A. White, Sec'y. 



