176 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 427. 



their best four and a half or more inches across and very 

 full. The color is an even shade of cerise-red, with a deli- 

 cate tint of lemon at the base of the petals, which makes 

 an exceedingly brilliant combination under artificial light, 

 while it is pleasing at all times. The petals are broad and 

 heavy, and they last a long time on the plants, and when 

 cut. To give an idea of their keeping qualities, Mr. John 

 N. May, of Summit, New Jersey, with whom this plant 

 originated, cites the fact that a dozen of these roses were 

 cut with long stems on the 26th of December, 1894, and 

 sent to England. They were kept until the 15th of January, 

 when they were exhibited at the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety of England, and, although they had then been cut 

 twenty days, the judges found them in sufficiently good 

 order to deserve an award of merit. Cut roses of this 

 variety have been repeatedly shipped by express from New 

 Jersey to Omaha, Denver and other remote western cities, 

 where they arrived in perfect condition. 



Cultural Department. 

 Orchid Notes. 



CALANTHE REGNIERI is a useful terrestrial Orchid. Just 

 as C. vestita and its varieties and C. Veitchii are going 

 out of bloom, the Howers on this plant begin to open and con- 

 tinue until near the end of April. It is a deciduous plant, 

 losing its leaves just before the Howers open, and it is, there- 

 fore, destitute of leaves while the plants are blossomine. If the 

 plants are arranged among the handsome-leaved Cypripe- 

 diums the deficiency of foliage is not observed, and the 

 racemes show to good advantage. The pseudo-bulbs are four 

 inches long or more, flask-shaped and jointed, and the flowers 

 are in racemes on long stems, which attain a height of two 

 and a half to three feet. The flower-stem grows straight for 

 about eighteen inches high and the remainder bends over 

 gracefully. The flowers are of pleasing colors, the sepals and 

 petals white, and the lip rosy-pink. This Calanihe, like all 

 the deciduous ones, needs a thorough rest. After the plants 

 are done blossoming they should be put in a dry warm place 

 and water entirely withheld. As soon as they begin to grow, 

 the plants should be turned out of the pots, all the exhausted 

 soil removed and the old roots shortened back within about an 

 inch of the pseudo-bulb. They should then be planted singly 

 into four or five inch pots, according to the size and strength 

 of the pseudo-bulb. Fibrous loam, with a small quantity of 

 lumpy dried cow-manure, makes a good compost. After the 

 plants are potted but little water is needed until the roots have 

 taken hold of the fresh soil. When the pots are well filled 

 with roots a weak solution made from fresh cow-manure 

 should be given once or twice, as the plants may need it. 

 Little water is needed when the pseudo-bulbs have attained 

 their full size, and when the plants are in bloom they need just 

 enough water to keep the flowers from drooping. • 



One of the handsomest Cypripediums in bloom now is 

 C. hirsutissimum. The flowers are very pleasing, the dif- 

 ferent shades blending admirably; they measure five or six 

 inches in diameter and are produced singly from the young 

 growth on large scapes which measure nine to twelve inches. 

 The dorsal sepal is large, of a reddish purple color, with a mar- 

 gin of clear green. The lower sepal is rather small and also 

 of a reddish purple color. The petals are large, spathulate, 

 twisted, hairy along the margins and narrowed down to the 

 base. The lip is deep green, tinged with lighter green. The 

 flowers of this plant, like many others belonging to the genus, 

 if properly looked after, will last for many weeks. The leaves 

 are dark green, strap-shaped and nearly a foot long. C. hir- 

 sutissimum likes heat and moisture and grows well here in the 

 stove. 



Another good Cypripedium, and one that flowers freely 

 and is also easy to grow, is C. Boxallii. It is a stemless 

 plant and has thick, dark green strap-shaped leaves, which 

 measure nearly a foot in length. The large showy flowers on 

 our plants are produced singly on erect scapes. The dorsal 

 sepal is of a greenish color and the edges are white, with 

 numerous purple spots. The petals and the lip are of a green- 

 ish yellow, tinged with purple. The flowers are distinct and 

 have a shining appearance. It is of easy cultivation, and 

 although often recommended for an intermediate house, it 

 does well here in a stove temperature and produces large 

 flowers freely. The flowers have exceptional lasting qualities, 

 and some have been on the plants for more than two months. 



A large plant of Arpophyllum giganteum has blossomed sat- 

 isfactorily here. It is grown in a large square basket which 

 is suspended near the roof-glass, and has produced fine, large 

 spikes of rosy-purple flowers. It is a strong-growing plant, 

 with drooping, strap-shaped leaves twelve to fifteen inches 

 long; when first developed they are of a bronzy color, but 

 later they take on a deep green. The inflorescence is a dense 

 spike made up of numerous small rosy-purple flowers pro- 

 duced on stout stems. This Arpophyllum grows vigorously 

 planted in a deep basket in fern-root mixed with sphagnum- 

 moss. While growing it needs plenty of water and abundance 

 of light. The temperature of the house where it grows ranges 

 from fifty to fifty-five degrees, Fahrenheit. It is a native of 

 Mexico and Guatemala, and was introduced from there to 

 England in 1839. 



Botanic Garden, Harvard University. 



Robert Cameron. 



The Cultivation of Nepenthes. 

 TSJ EPENTHES need close attention at this time of year when 

 ■'■ ' they are just beginning the period of most active growth. 

 It depends altogether on their treatment for the next month 

 or two whether the pitchers will be abundant. These last for 

 the better part of a year on the plants, andonsome kinds even 

 longer. Without these curious adornments the plants, like 

 some Orchids without their flowers, are anything but attrac- 

 tive to the ordinary observer. 



Old plants of Nepenthes, as a rule, do not give as abundant 

 crops of pitchers as plants one and two years old, but they are 

 usually larger than those on young plants. 



All the sorts are interesting, but they are not all easy to grow. 

 The cultivation of some species is but little understood, and, 

 indeed, the conditions under which some grow naturally can- 

 not be imitated in a greenhouse. For instance, Bui bidge, in 

 his Gardens of the Sun, says in Borneo some species thrive 

 luxuriantly on the summit of a hill on which, during daytime, 

 the heat to a European is almost unbearable, while in the early 

 morning the temperature is so low that a heavy winter over- 

 coat is needed by the traveler. Those forms and hybrids 

 which have originated in gardens are much to be preferred to 

 the species on account of the ease with which they can be 

 grown. The hybrid called Mastersiana is one of the very 

 best, as witli ordinary care a good-sized and very prettily col- 

 ored pitcher at the end of each leaf may be counted upon. It 

 is also one of the easiest to root from cuttings. The pitchers 

 average six inches in length and two and one-half inches in 

 diameter, and the color is dark red. Nepenthes Dominiana is 

 an old garden hybrid, very free-growing, and lias the further 

 merit of succeeding in a lower temperature than most of the 

 others. The color is yellowish-green spotted with brown. 



Quite a number of American hybrids have been raised in 

 recent years, and these include some specially beautiful sorts. 

 One, named Nepenthes Morgania?, is almost rose color, and 

 forms a very symmetrical plant if kept dwarf. N. Amesiana, 

 N. Siebrechtii and N. Dormanniana are closely related to each 

 other, evidently springing from the same parentage. Ttie 

 pitchers are very large and more nearly round in outline than 

 the first three named. N. Claytonii has long, narrow, dark- 

 colored pitchers. 



A very essential point in the cultivation of Nepenthes is the 

 frequent use of the knife. It is a mistake to allow young plants 

 to grow tall. If they do not show signs of forming pitchers 

 they should be cut back to within three or four leaves of the 

 root, and even when they do form pitchers after a sufficient 

 number of leaves show, the growing point should be nipped 

 out. This will cause the pitchers which are developing to 

 become much larger than if the shoot is allowed to grow. 



The material in which to grow these plants should consist of 

 rough fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum-moss in equal 

 parts, and a third part made up of rough sand, charcoal and 

 broken pots, all thoroughly mixed together. The plants thrive 

 best in wooden baskets suspended from the roof of the green- 

 house. They should be protected from strong sunshine and 

 from currents of air. They delight in a hot moist atmosphere 

 and need an abundance of water when in active growth, most 

 of it to be supplied by frequent syringings. When the material 

 in which they grow becomes decomposed it should be care- 

 fully washed from the roots and renewed, an operation to be 

 performed only when the plants are not in active growth. 



Propagation is effected most readily from cuttings of the 

 ripe growths. If the ends of the cuttings be pushed through 

 the holes of inverted three-inch pots and plunged in sphagnum- 

 moss in a close frame they will send out strong roots in a few 

 weeks. The plants should then be potted off singly in small 

 pots, care being taken to bruise the roots as little as possible. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. W. O. 



