The Weekly Florists' Review. 



OCTOBBB 1, 1908. 



flowers last a long time and one blossom 

 will perfume an entire greenhouse. 



USEFUL SUMMER CATTLEYAS. 



Gtttleya Gigas. 



Among summer cattleyas the largest 

 and most showy variety is C. gigas, which 

 is a native of New Granada, The usual 

 flowering period is from May to July, 

 although there is also an autumn flower- 

 ing form, which is useful in October and 

 November. C. gigas requires the warm 

 end of the cattleya house and, to insure 

 its blooming freely, the pots or pans in 

 which the plants are growing should be 

 hung well up to the light. Excellent 

 bulbs will be made, even if the recep- 

 tacles are a considerable distance from 

 the glass, but these will never flower sat- 

 isfactorily. The best specimens we have 

 seen are kept close to the ridge of the 

 house and grown in large baskets. 



For a potting medium Osmunda fiber 

 cannot be excelled. After blooming, the 

 plants should be overhauled and kept on 

 the dry side until growths start up again. 

 At this time they should also have the 

 coolest end of the house. 



As many as ten flowers have been pro- 

 duced on a single sheath of C. gigas by 

 William Duckham, of Madison, N. J., a 

 successful grower of this cattleya. Ed- 

 gar J. Knight, at Hackensack, N. J., 

 baa probably the finest lot of this species 

 in the country. He has grown nine flow- 

 ers to the sheath, and Clement Moore's 

 collection, of which he has charge, con- 

 tains some fine types of this cattleya. 

 While C. gigas has large and showy 

 flowers, they lack the texture of most 

 of the other cattleyas and, if not well 

 shaded when in bloom, are easily sun- 

 burnt. 



The plant represented in our illustra- 

 tion is flowering in the collection of 

 L. E. Peck, West Barrington, R. I., 

 where George Farquhar has charge. It 

 was one of a new importation received a 

 year ago from Carrillo & Baldwin and 

 carries twenty-seven flowers. Mr. Far- 

 quhar has flowered over 100 other C. 

 gigas, the flowers averaging nine inches 

 across. In one house he grows 1,600 

 cattleyas and Iselias. He also has oatches 

 of cypripediums, dendrobiums, coelogynes 

 and other orchids, which are in fine con- 

 dition and reflect great credit on the 

 grower. Mr. Peck is an enthusiastic or- 

 chid lover. 



Gtttleya Gaskelliana. 



The usual blooming period of C. Gas- 

 kelUana is August and September, a 

 period when cattleya are de<»idedly scarce, 

 the summer varieties, such as Mossise, 

 Mendellii, gigas and Warneri, being gone 

 and it being too early for labiata and 

 Bow^ngeana. The flowers resemble 

 those of the well-known C. labiata, but 

 are paler, as a rule, with somevhat nar- 

 rower sepals and petals. The variety suc- 

 ceeds well treated similarly to C, labiata, 



of which it is really a form. The plant 

 illustrated is one of a newly imported 

 batch flowered by George Farquhar, West 



Barrington, 

 basket. 



R. I. 



and is in 

 W. N. 



a 7-inch 

 Ceaig. 



CATTLEYA CITRINA« 



Cattleya citrina, which blooms during 

 May and June, is a most distinct cat- 

 tleya, commonly called the tulip orchid, 

 from the fact that its three petals which 

 form the outer envelope of the flowers, 

 and the two petals which form part of 

 the second series of three, never open 

 as fully as they do in the other cattleyas, 

 and in this way they resemble yellow 

 tulips. The flowers are lemon-yellow 

 and the crest of the lip is white. It has 

 a strong odor of citron, hence the speciflc 

 name. The whole plant has a pendent 

 habit and can never be raised any other 

 way. Its foliage and pseudo-bulbs are 

 glaucous. It is a native of the high alti- 

 tudes of Mexico, and it cannot be raised 

 with a high degree of success unless it 

 is given the shelter of a cool house. 



The price of this interesting orchid is 

 low, and one or two plants can be raised 

 in the coldest part of the cattleya house 

 during the winter, and hung under a 

 tree in a moist place during the sum- 

 mer. In this way it may be kept in 

 health for several years. The fleshy 



FERNS FOR NAME. 



Enclosed I hand you four varieties of 

 ferns and shall be glad to have you give 

 me the names by number. ,C. J. J. 



The specimens in question were not 

 easy to determine, from the fact that 

 they were not fully developed fronds, 

 most of them being without spores. 



No. 1 is an athyrium, or asplenium, 

 possibly one of the forms of A. Filix- 

 foemina. 



No. 2, Aspidium angulare. 



No. 3, an asplenium, but cannot de- 

 cide the 4pecies from this specimen. 



No. 4, one of the maidenhairs, prob- 

 ably Adiantum diaphanum. W. H. T. 



ENGLISH PRIMROSES. 



What is the botanical name of the. 

 English primrose, and its culture! 



♦ E. P. L. 



The botanical name of the English 

 primrose is Primula veris. Seeds should 

 be sown in January or February in a 

 greenhouse ; 50 degrees at night is suffi- 

 ciently warm. Prick off into shallow 

 boxes, gradually harden and plant out 

 in nursery rows about the first week in 

 May. By keeping the ground well culti- 

 vated, the seedlings will make strong 

 plants by fall. 



If wanted for indoor culture, the prim- 

 roses should be potted about the middle 

 of October into 5-inch or 6-inch pots or 

 pans and stood in a coldframe. After 

 Christmas bring them into a gentle heat 

 to send them along for spring flowering. 

 They do well planted in coldframes and 

 treated the same as violets. The plants 

 after flowering can be divided and plant- 

 ed outdoors as suggested for seedlings. 



For successful outdoor culture the 

 plants require shade from overhanging 

 trees. They are at their best if natural- 

 ized on moderately moist ground which 



Cattleya Gaskelliana Flowered by George Farquhar, West Barrington, R. L 



■^i-:--. 



