supplementary to Encyc. of Plants and Hort. Brit. l^% 



Cattleyo.. — This is one of the most beautiful of the Orchi- 

 daceae. A superb specimen of C. crispa flowered in the Or- 

 chidese house at Chats worth in the summer of 1837, and is 

 figured in Paxton's Magazine of Botany for February, 1838. 

 From the unusual number of flowers produced, Mr. Paxton ob- 

 serves, " it may be regarded as a striking illustration of the high 

 degree of perfection to which orchideous plants may, and will 

 eventually, be brought, when their habits, and the treatment they 

 require in cultivation, become understood among the admirers of 

 this, the most beautiful, and by far the most interesting, family 

 of plants known in the vegetable world. When seen with three 

 or four flowers on a stem, the usual number produced, it is a 

 splendid object ; but when, as in this instance, with seven, it is 

 much moi*e so. The fan-like arrangement of the flowers upon 

 the stalk, the depth of richness in the velvety purple of the lip, 

 and the snowy whiteness of the undulated petals and sepals con- 

 trasted with the deep green of the leaves, produce a display of 

 beauty rarely seen in the Orchidese house. It is a native of 

 Rio Janeiro, whence it was sent, in 1826, to the London Hor- 

 ticultural Society, by Sir Harry Chamberlayne, Bart. Since 

 that time, many plants have been introduced ; and now, although 

 not common, it may be found in most of the leading collections, 

 and will, ere long, doubtlessly be in the possession of every 

 zealous cultivator in the kingdom. The genus Cattley« is less 

 difficult of cultivation than most growers imagine. The majority 

 err in keeping the plants in an atmosphere too hot and humid : 

 others, equally in the wrong, give too much water to the roots 

 in winter, when the plant is, or ought to be, dormant. By the 

 practice of the first, the plants grow delicate and weakly, and 

 are unable to push flowers ; while the result of the second is, 

 rotten, or greatly injured, roots, so that the plant cannot make a 

 good growth the succeeding season, for want of good roots. 

 Now, as the cattleyas thrive best in a degree of heat below that 

 required for the major part of orchideous plants, and as they are 

 too few in number to have a house appropriated to themselves, 

 the best place is to set them at the coolest end of the house in 

 which they are grown, when they will thrive and flower much 

 finer than before. At Chatsworth, the degree of heat given to 

 cattleyas, as near as we can tell, varies, in the growing season 

 from 70° to 75°, and, in winter, from 60° to Q5°. During the 

 growing season, the roots are liberally supplied with water, and 

 the whole plant is, say once a week in fine weather, sprinkled 

 over in the evening with a syringe or fine rose. In the winter, 

 the roots are kept nearly dry, and the top of the plant is not 

 watered at all. It is customary, towards 3 or 4 o'clock during 

 summer, to throw a little water on the path and flue, which 

 renders the atmosphere moderately humid, and greatly refreshes 



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