October 13, 1888.] 



n HE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



411 



expect some valuable results in course of time. F. 

 Ashton. 



Phaios bicolor. 



Flowering, as this species does, from July to 

 October — a time of year when Orchid flowers are 

 least plentiful — and possessing all the good qualities 

 of P. grandifolius, both as to easiness in culture and 

 freedom of flowering, it is strange that it does not 

 become more widely cultivated than it is. It was 

 figured in 1844 in the Botanical Magazine, and plants 

 have flowered annually at Kew for many years. It 

 is similar to P. grandifoliuB in habit, the leaves being 

 more lanceolate, and of somewhat stiffer texture. 

 The flowers also are similar in character, being pro- 

 duced on long erect spikes, and measuring 4 inches 

 across. In colour, however, they are quite distinct ; 

 the sepals and petals are of a bright reddish-brown 

 colour; the side-lobes of the lip are rose-coloured 

 and folded over the column, and the broad front 

 lobe is yellowish-white, flushed with rose. 



This Orchid comes from Ceylon, whence it was 

 introduced in 1837 ; it requires intermediate tem- 

 perature, and, being terrestrial, should be grown in 

 pots in a compost of fibry loam, leaf-mould, and 

 charcoal. During active growth it may be watered 

 once a week with manure-water, this treatment con- 

 ducing greatly to strength, both in foliage and flower. 

 Through the winter months it should be kept rather 

 dry at the roots. 



L.ELIA PURPURATA. 



An important item in the cultivation of Lailia 

 purpurata is abundance of light, in order to enable 

 the plant to produce robust and well-matured bulbs, 

 without which it will not flower freely. When the 

 growing season is over, the season of growth of this 

 species commences, and if the plants are not care- 

 fully attended to failure will creep in. This is the 

 best time to re-pot should it be required, but do not 

 over-pot, as this is dangerous unless the plants are 

 carefully watered, tending to cause a greater quan- 

 tity of wet soil to lie about them. The plant should 

 be well elevated above the pot in order to allow the 

 roots to spread. The great secret of success in the 

 management of this species is to induce the plant to 

 produce strong roots outside as well as inside the 

 pot. A slight syringing over the roots in the 

 summer months in the afternoon, just as the house 

 is closed, will be found highly beneficial. Slight 

 shade is necessary during the hottest part of the 

 •day, but this should not be allowed to cover them at 

 any time when the sun is not shining; indeed, the 

 plants should be subjected to the influence of the 

 sun's rays at all times when not powerful enough to 

 injure the leaves. Thorough drainage is essential 

 to these plants, and the best potting material is good 

 fibrous peat from which all the fine particles have 

 been well shaken ; to this add some living sphag- 

 num moss. B. S. W., in " Orchid Album," September. 



Odontoglosscm vexillarium roseum. 



We have frequently pointed out the fact that this 

 species of Odontoglossum requires somewhat different 

 treatment from the majority of the other kinds. It 

 is free in growth, but requires to be constantly 

 watched, in order to prevent the thrips gaining a 

 lodgment in the sheathing portion of the leaves, or 

 these insects speedily cause the leaves to become 

 spotted, or turn black, which by no means improves 

 the appearance of the plants. This species will 

 amply repay any extra care bestowed upon it, as 

 the stronger the growths the greater the amount of 

 blossom ; and when the plants are vigorous, they 

 not only produce flowers of larger size and deeper 

 colour, but they remain in perfection a greater length 

 of time. Mr. Vincent grows them in a temperature 

 slightly lower than is given to the Cattleyas ; we 

 grow them on one side of the house in which our 

 Cattleyas and other flowering Orchids are arranged. 

 The Odontoglossums are placed on one side by them- 

 selves, so that as much water as they require can be 

 readily given. These plants should be kept moist at 

 the roots at all seasons, as they require little or no 

 rest, and should never be allowed to get dry ; but, as 



a matter of course, very much less water is ne- 

 cessary during the dull months of winter. This 

 species requires to be shaded from the strongest 

 sun in summer ; but it should be fairly exposed to 

 the light, and, therefore, succeeds best when grown 

 near the glass. Pot cultivation suits it well if the 

 pots are well drained, and the potting material 

 should be good fibrous peat and sphagnum moss. 

 Care must be taken to maintain the soil in perfect 

 order, as we find the plants rapidly melt away if any 

 stagnant material is left about them. The repotting 

 should be done immediately after the flowering 

 season, which will be just as they begin to make new 

 growth, bearing in mind to keep the bulbs well above 

 the soil. " Orchid Album" September. 



Oncidium intermedium 

 is a distinct and beautiful evergreen plant, com- 

 pact in growth, producing light green, fleshy leaves, 

 a foot or more in height ; the spike is erect, and 

 attains to about 18 inches in length, and bears a 

 much-branched raceme of showy flowers, which are 

 very numerous. The sepals and petals are yellow, 

 distinctly spotted and barred with chestnut-brown. 

 It blooms during the months of May and June, and 

 continues in full beauty for several weeks. 



This species requires the heat of the Cattleya- 

 house, and thrives best when placed in a position to 

 obtain all the sun and light possible, just giving it 

 sufficient shade to prevent its leaves burning. 

 Treated in this manner it will be found to grow and 

 flower most freely, and doubtless many other 

 Oncidiums would thrive better under the same con- 

 ditions than they do at present, as many species grow 

 naturally in exposed situations. 



We find O. intermedium thrives well in a basket 

 suspended from the roof, and near the glass ; the 

 baskets should be well drained, and the most suitable 

 potting material is a mixture of good peat fibre, 

 living sphagnum moss, and a considerable quantity 

 of nodules of charcoal, in different sizes, mixed with 

 it. This mixture will enable the roots to easily 

 penetrate it, and throw out their tender points to 

 absorb the moisture, with which the atmosphere 

 should be well charged in the growing season. When 

 growth is completed the plants must not be entirely 

 dried, as they have but very small bulbs to support 

 any great drought ; but the water supply should be 

 considerably diminished, and the plant kept in just 

 that happy medium which prevents shrivelling, but 

 does not force it into growth prematurely. " Orchid 

 Album," September. 



Brassia Keiliana tristis. 

 This Brassia will thrive equally well in either pot 

 or basket, and enjoys the temperature of the inter- 

 mediate house. It grows freely, and blooms pro- 

 fusely if properly attended to during its season of 

 active growth, and accorded a fair season of rest, 

 without being subjected to a too severe drying. The 

 pots should be well drained, and the potting material 

 should be good peat fibre with the addition of some 

 living sphagnum moss. The plant should be well 

 elevated above the rim of the pot, upon a cone-like 

 mound, for, as they enjoy copious waterings during 

 the growing season, this system causes the water to 

 pass away rapidly, and thus stagnation is avoided. 

 If grown in baskets the same material should be 

 used as before recommended, and the basket or 

 baskets suspended from the roof near the glass, in 

 order to afford the plants an abundance of light. 

 They require, however, to be shaded from the hottest 

 sun. These plants grow naturally in somewhat 

 shadv places, so that if fully exposed under glass 

 to the sun's influence, the foliage soon becomes 

 yellow and permanently disfigured. 



The best time for re-potting, if the plants require 

 it, is just as they begin to start into fresh growth, 

 using every care to avoid injuring the young roots, 

 and any roots which have been covered should net be 

 exposed, as the change often proves injurious. In 

 the resting season much less water will be necessary, 

 but never allow the bulbs to shrivel. 



If required, these plants may be increased by 



dividing the bnlbs at the time of re-potting; one or 

 two old bulbs should be left with each leading shoot, 

 these divisions being put into small pots at first, and 

 they should be kept in a somewhat cool place until 

 established. " Orchid Album," September. 



Plant Notes. 



PUYA LANUGINOSA. 



A large plant of this is now in flower in the Suc- 

 culent-house at Kew, and, according to Mr. Baker, 

 this is the first time this species has flowered in cul- 

 tivation. It has a stout stem and recurved, toothed, 

 silvery-green leaves, suggestive of P. chilensis, but 

 smaller. The flower-spike is stout, 1.} inch in 

 diameter and 3 feet high, the topmost foot being 

 clothed with flowers and buds, all literally packed 

 together. The calyx is roundish, about the size of 

 a Hazel-nut, and covered with a dense coat of brown 

 woolly hairs ; the corolla is 2 inches long, large, very 

 similar to that of P. Whytei both in form and colour, 

 except that the new one is a paler sea-green, exactly 

 the colour of Ixia viridiflora. The flowers open a 

 few at a time, and as there are a great many buds 

 the Kew plant will continue in bloom for some time. 

 P. chilensis is also in flower in the same house. 



Tree Tomato (Cyphomandra betacea). 

 A fine specimen of this in the Temperate-house at 

 Kew is now bearing a grand crop of egg-like fruits, 

 and in the house where the succulent plants are 

 grown another smaller specimen may be seen with a 

 few ripe fruits upon it. The merits of this plant are 

 recognised in many of our colonies, thanks to the 

 authorities at Kew, who made it the subject of a 

 notice in a number of the Kew Bulletin for last year. 

 The fruit is certainly very palatable even when raw, 

 much more so than many Tomatos. To my taste it 

 suggested a combination of Tomato and the fruit of 

 Passiflora edulis. If this plant were taken in hand 

 by growers of indoor fruits it would almost certainly 

 prove a really valuable addition to the food plants of 

 England, as it has already proved in the colonies. 



Angosanthos BREVIl-'LORUS. 

 This pretty bulbous plant from the Cape may now 

 be seen in flower in the Cape-house at Kew. It is 

 related to Chlidanthus fragrans and Sternbergia. 

 The bulb is like that of S. lutea, leaves strap- 

 shaped, 1 foot long, J inch broad, appearing 

 with the flowers. Scape erect, 9 inches long, 

 stout, bearing an umbel of nine flowers, which 

 are on erect stalks, tubular, 1 inch long, nearly 

 an inch across at the mouth, the segments united at 

 the base; colour bright yellow. This plant ought to 

 become popular as an autumn-flowering greenhouse 

 plant. Apparently it requires the same treatment 

 as Nerine. It is a native of Natal, Grahamstown, 

 &c, and is the Cyrtanthus lutescens of Mr. Adlam. 

 A figure of it has been prepared for the Botanical 

 Magazine. W. Watson. 



The Apiary. 



SMALL SECTIONS. 

 By the time this article is before the reader, he 

 will doubtless have covered up his bees for the 

 winter. This does not, or ought not, to mean that 

 therefore work is at an end. It is pleasant during 

 cold winter days and evenings to hear the sound of 

 the hammer and the saw, and the industrious 

 apiarist will no doubt use both. We read in Glean- 

 ings, which comes to us from America, that a Mr. 

 Harmer, of the United States, has made a small 

 2 oz. section. These are sold at grocers' shops and 

 sweet-shops in America, and children as well as 

 adults buy them, and eat them as children about 

 here buy sweetmeats. There is this difference only, 

 that honey is the most wholesome. We will endea- 

 vour, in our brief space, to explain how it is done. 



