56o 



Garden and Forest 



[NOVEjMBER 20, 1889. 



easily procured (with the exception of Livisionia Ciiinensis) of 

 the dwarf growers are found among- the Cham?erops, a genus 

 widely distributed. Probably the best known of them are C. 

 Fortuneii and C. liuinilis, the latter being a native of southern 

 Europe ; and although it has been known to reach a height of 

 twenty feet, yet it may be considered a dwarf plant, from 

 the fact tiiat it takes a number of years before it forms any 

 trunk, and its growth is always slow. 



Another handsome plant well suited to our purpose is Liv- 

 istonia australis, formerly known as Corypha australis, a 

 sturdy g^rower, and capable of bearing great changes of atmo- 

 sphere without much injury. This also belongs to the Fan- 

 leaved section, and, though of slow growth, it is highly orna- 

 mental, and will tiourish in a temperature of fifty degrees,- 

 and is useful as an out-door plant in the summer. 



Where a stove temperature can be afforded them, some of 

 the Calamus will be found a welcome addition to the collec- 

 tion, being very graceful in habit and comparatively rapid in 

 growth. They are mostly natives of the East hidies, and are 

 of slender form, bearing long, light green, pinnate leaves, 

 the foot-stalks of which are all more or less clothed with long 

 brown or black spines. Among the most beautiful varieties 

 of this genus are C. palei)ibaniciis, C. adspersiis and C. Jiystrix, 

 and a compost of two-thirds sandy loam to one of peat will be 

 found a good one for them. Calamus should be given an 

 abundant supply of water and a moist atmosphere, as when 

 allowed to become too dry they are liable to an attack of red 

 spider. 



The Chamaedoreas are another useful class of small grow- 

 ing Palms, some varieties of which are very well known, being 

 easy to grow and not very particular as to their surroundings, 

 provided they receive plenty of water and a reasonable degree 

 of heat. They have been mostly introduced from Mexico and 

 Central America, and have pinnate, or occasionally entire leaves, 

 light green in color. An interesting feature of most of the varie- 

 ties of this species are the tiower-spikes, which are freely pro- 

 duced from the axils of the leaves even in small plants, the in- 

 florescence being usually either orange or red. Probably the 

 best known variety of the Chamaedoreas is C. elegans, with its 

 graceful pinnate leaves from two to four feet long. C. Ernesti- 

 Augusti is one of the best representatives of the entire-leaved 

 section of these plants. It has handsome foliage about two to 

 three feet in length, deeply cut at the apex into two sharp 

 pointed lobes. Other notably good varieties of this genus are 

 C. graminifolius, C. Sartorii and C. Wendlandii. 



Of course, such a general favorite as Areca lictescens is indis- 

 pensable in any collection of Palms, and is too well known to 

 need further reference in this connection. 



In this brief enumeration of Palms suitable for small estab- 

 lishments, no attempt lias been made to offer explicit direc- 

 tions in regard to treatment ; but it may be said that no Palm 

 should be allowed to become very dry at the root at any period 

 of its growth, and with reasonable care in ventilating, heating 

 and shading in summer any of the sorts mentioned may be 

 kept in fair condition. 



Holmesbuig, Pa. W. H. Tapllll. 



Orchid Notes. 



Odontoglossum grande. — Dr. Lindley, when he described tliis 

 fine Odontoglossum, for the first time, in the Botanical Regis- 

 ter, would probably have found it difticult to find a more ap- 

 propriate specific name than " grande " for it — a name to 

 which it does full justice by the great size and conspicuous 

 beauty of its flowers, wliich mark it as one of the very finest 

 species of the group to w^hich it belongs. Nowadays good 

 specimens may be obtained at a very modest price, which ap- 

 pears a mere trifie when compared with the enormous sums 

 which were willingly paid for this plant several yeai's ago, 

 when the culture of Orchids was a rage with the most wealthy 

 only. 



O. grande may be said to celebrate its jubilee of cultivation 

 this year, for it was just fifty years ago that it was first intro- 

 duced by Mr. George Ure Skinner from the shady ravines of 

 Guatemala. It seems to be confined to this region, notwith- 

 standing the fact that the traveler, Warscewicz, sent a speci- 

 men to Professor Reichenbach labeled as having been found 

 in Costa Rica. 



The chief characteristics of this fine species are its ovoid, 

 compressed, dull green pseudo-bulbs, which, when young, are 

 encased in strong greenish sheaths. Generally two oblong- 

 lanceolate leaves, about six inches long, are borne on the sum- 

 mit of each pseudo-bulb. They are grayish green above, 

 paler beneath, often copiously spotted with brown and distinctly 

 traversed by curvilinear veins. The erect spikes, bearing 

 from five to eight flowers, which often measure seven inches 



across, are produced when the growth is about half over. The 

 oblong, acute sepals are bright yellow, transversely barred 

 with glossy cinnamon-brown, and the broader petals are of 

 deep, shiny cinnamon-brown, except at the tips and margins, 

 which are bright yellow. Tlie sub-orbicular lip is, as a rule, 

 whitish, and more or less densely covered with brownish red 

 blotches, while the bifurcated crest is rich orange-yellow, 

 blotched with cinnamon, and the bright yellow column is fur- 

 nished with a rather large pubescent wing on each side. Some 

 hundreds of plants have been in flower here since the begin- 

 ning of September, and now, in the first days of November, 

 there are still several in bloom. 



O. grande is not hard to grow. In its native country it in- 

 habits damp, shady places where the temperature ranges from 

 sixty to seventy degrees Fahr. during the summer and a min- 

 imum of about twenty degrees lower in the winter. The 

 plants should, therefore, be grown in a house whose summer 

 temperature conforms as near as possible to that of their nat- 

 ural condition. When growing, water may be freely given, 

 but when the plants have finished both growing and flower- 

 ing — that is, about November — the supply should be much de- 

 creased and the plants allowed to rest for about three months 

 with as little water as possible. The usual compost of rough 

 peat and sphagnum in conjunction with well drained pots 

 seem to be most suitable for this species. 

 St. Albans, England. John Weathers. 



Arachnanthes ( Vanda) Cathcartii. — This interesting Orchid 

 is very seldom seen in bloom, and is by no means plentiful. 

 The growth is peculiar, scrambling, with a slender, woody 

 stem, clothed with distichous, pale green, fleshy leaves, about 

 seven inches long and two broad. The pendent i-acemes 

 springing from the side of the steiri bear four or five flowers 

 about three inches across. In color these are white on the 

 outside, while the interior is yellow, banded with reddish 

 brown. The lip is divided into three lobes, the two lateral 

 ones being white, streaked with red at the base, and the mid- 

 dle lobe whitish, with a yellow, crenate, incurved border. A. 

 Cathcartii was introduced from the Himalayas in 1864, and 

 grows freely in the East India house with the usual Vanda 

 treatment, but should have a good exposure to sunlight with 

 accompanying dryness after growth is finished to induce it 

 to flower freely. 



Saccolabiiivi bigibhum, a rare and attractive little plant, is 

 now flowering freely here. Its greatest disadvantage is the 

 extreme shortness of its raceme, which seldoni exceeds two 

 inches, and, when more than a dozen fair sized flowers are 

 crowded in this short space, many of them remain hidden be- 

 tween the leaves. The flowers are very pretty, with yellow 

 sepals and petals, and a saccate, triangular white lip, with beau- 

 tifully fringed edges and a yellow centre. It is a compact 

 growing plant, with bright green leathery leaves about six 

 inches long, growing and flowering very freely when accorded 

 the usual warm-house treatment. It lasts a longtime in bloom, 

 and should be grown in a basket, to show its flowers to full 



advantage. c- /- /^ • 



Kenwood, N. Y. i' ■ CrOldrmg. 



Melothria punctata. — This is a delicate and graceful plant of 

 the Cucumber family, sometimes known as Bryonia punctata, 

 and in gardens more frequently as Pilogyne suavis. It was 

 discovered a century ago at the Cape of Good Hope, and is 

 now known to be widely distributed in Africa as far north as 

 Abyssinia. I saw it this year used with excellent effect cover- 

 ing the tubs of large standard plants in Herr Borsig's beautiful 

 city garden in Berlin ; and once I have seen it used to form 

 the delicate festoons of living green the Germans are so fond 

 of carrying along the borders of their garden walks. But it is 

 evidently much less used now in Germany than it was twenty 

 or thirty years ago, for a correspondent of The Gardeners'' 

 Chronicle, writing in 1861 about Pilogyne suavis, says : "It is 

 universally employed in Germany and Belgium for hiding the 

 bare stems of standard Roses and making little festoons 

 between them, and for any similar purpose. As it is a very 

 neat and pretty plant, not inclined to become a rampant 

 grower, it is particularly adapted for this purpose ; and it has- 

 become so great a favorite there that it is found in every 

 garden. 



"The treatment tliat Pilogyne requires is as simple as 

 could well be desired. In autunm a few cuttings are struck 

 and kept in store pots in a warm green-house through the 

 winter. In the spring they are potted off. If there is not a 

 sufficient number, a stock can soon be obtained, for they strike 

 as readily as Verbenas ; they are hardened off with the bed- 

 ding plants, and as soon as the weather permits planted wher- 

 ever they may be required. They need but little further 



