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DENDROBIUM LEECHIANUM Rehb. f. 
: ot A hybrid between Dendrobium aureum Lindl. and D. nobile Lindl. the last being the seed parent. It is well compared by Mr. Swan, who succeeded 
In raising it, with Dendrobium splendidissimum, but it deserves a name of its own on account of its peculiarities. The petals are narrower, more acute, very 
wavy. The lip is lobed, and this reminds one of Dendrobium aureum. The flower bears the finest white of the best varieties of Dendrobium nobile Lindl. 
The tips of the sepals, petals, and lip are of a rich rose-purple. Both sepals and petals are almost totally rose coloured outside. The anterior disc of the lip 
is occupied by a very large-toothed, dark purple blotch. Towards the base runs a broad callous line with fine purple stripes, and there are on each side 
radiating purple lines Tunning outside. The column is quite green, with purple longitudinal stripes, not with an ochre foot as is seen in Dendrobium 
splendidissimum, It is inscribed to Mr. W. Leech, Fallowfield. 
DENDROBIUM LEECHTANUM Rebb. f. in Gard. Chron., Feb. 25, 1882, p. 256, xyl. 35! H. G. Rehb. f. 
Icones analytica. Flos typicus originarius Leechianus. Labellum expansum. Columna + 
Ir has been said that in the future we shall have to depend more upon the hybridist than upon the botanical traveller 
for novelties in cultivated plants, more particularly in orchids. Though the time may perhaps be far distant when we 
shall cease to obtain new plants from foreign lands, seeing that vast regions are yet comparatively unexplored, still it is 
evident that in recent years new productions of the hybridist keep pace in numbers with those that come to us from 
Nature’s own garden. It is not many years since men of learning told us that we should always have to depend upon 
the botanical explorer for new orchids because, said they, orchids can never be hybridised like other plants, nor be raised 
from seed in this country. Nappily, such assertions have been refuted, and during the past ten years the production of a 
hybrid orchid has ceased to be a rare occurrence. We have now hybrids in several of the important genera of cultivated 
orchids, and the hybridist is encouraged to continue working in the wide field that lies before him. 
Among the most valuable hybrid orchids raised in recent years are the three that have resulted by intercrossing 
the old Dendrobium nobile with the duller tinted but deliciously fragrant D. aureum (D. heterocarpum). These are 
D. Ainsworthi, D. splendidissimum and D. Leechianum. Prof. Reichenbach fully appreciates the importance of 
minutely defining the characters of garden hybrids, and he has, with good reason, regarded these hybrids as distinct 
types. D. Ainsworthi was the first of the trio, and there is a distinct dark coloured variety of it named roseum. After 
this came D. splendidissimum, and later D. Leechianum, the subject of our present plate. This last was raised by Mr. 
Swan, gardener to W. Leech, Esq., Fallowfield, Manchester, and was first flowered in 188r. D. nobile was the seed 
parent, and a splendid variety of the Ceylon form of D. aureum the male parent. The seed was sown in 1875, and the 
seedlings were first seen in February the following year, so that five years elapsed before the seedlings flowered. When 
Mr. Leech left his residence in 1884 we purchased, in conjunction with Messrs. W. Thomson and Sons, of Clovenfords, 
Galashiels, N. B., his collection of orchids, including the entire stock of Dendrobium Leechianum. The flowers of this 
fine variety are remarkable for their undulated sepals and petals, and for their large size (we have had some flowers five 
and a-half inches across), while the rich claret purple of the labellum is intensified by the purity of the white margin. It 
is very floriferous, stems but a few inches high bearing numerous flowers. It is the most vigorous growing of hybrid 
Dendrobes, and is of the easiest possible culture. 
The culture is similar to that of its parents. It is best grown in baskets, as then the plants can be hung close 
under the roof in order to ripen the growths. During summer, when the plants are developing new growths, they should 
be grown in a temperature ranging between 70 deg. and 80 deg F. from sunheat, with abundance of atmospheric 
moisture. As soon as the growths have fully developed the plants should be removed to a cool and airy house, such as a 
vinery, where they may enjoy all the light possible. During the ripening period, which extends over two or three 
months, the plants must be sparingly watered. In autumn they should be gradually inured to a closer and warmer 
atmosphere otherwise they will, if suddenly placed in a high temperature develop weakly growths. If flowering plants are 
required early, say at Christmas, they must be subjected to still more heat, so as to force the flower buds on ; but if they 
are not unduly forced, they will flower naturally in March, April, and May, and will remain in beauty several weeks in a 
greenhouse temperature. 
From a plant in the collection of Messrs. W. Thomson & Sons, Clovenfords, Galashiels, N. B. 
