November 6, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



447 



and the Star-leaved Gum. There are, at least, two other 

 species of Liquidambar besides the American tree ; one of 

 these in Asia Minor, L. orientahs, furnishes the liquid 

 storax of commerce ; another one, L. Formosana, in south- 

 ern and eastern China, and the island of Formosa, is 

 the tree whose wood is largely used in making the chests 

 in which tea is exported. 



Acer cissifolium. — The autumn foliage of this Japanese 

 Negundo is hardly excelled in beauty by that of any other 

 exotic tree. The leaves at the ends of the branches turn 

 first to a bright scarlet while the others are orange-yellow, 

 and the contrast makes an effect which is interesting, and 

 almost unique. The tree is perfectly hardy ; it grows com- 

 pactly into a round-headed form, with clean slender leaves 

 of a light pleasing color, and since the young shoots con- 

 tinue to grow long after most trees have iinished their 

 growth for the year, the delicate color of the foliage at the 

 extremity of the branches gives it a fresh and distinct ap- 

 pearance at midsummer. It grows rapidly, too, and does 

 not seem to have the constitutional weakness from which 

 many of the Japanese Maples suffer here, so that it is alto- 

 gether one of the most satisfactory of the Japanese trees 

 which have been tried in our climate. It ought to be more 

 common, for it has been fruiting in this country for many 

 years, and it can be used to advantage wherever com- 

 paratively small trees are desirable. Its rather formal 

 habit commends it especially as a single specimen on a 

 small lawn. 



Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Plumbago Larpent/e). — 

 Covering the ground like an intensely blue carpet, this fine 

 Chinese Leadvvort is a beautiful object during the late 

 autumn months. In habit it is almost creeping, but bushy 

 and leafy, growing to a height of six or eight inches, and 

 producing in dense terminal heads flowers of as deep a 

 blue as can be found anywhere in the vegetable kingdom. 

 The leaves are obovate, tapering to the base, sessile, with 

 a hairy edge, and at this season they turn to bright crimson 

 and orange. The plant is very floriferous and an admira- 

 ble one for dry and sunny positions in rockeries and bor- 

 ders, and, although it starts late, it is useful for covering 

 dry banks in places where grass will not thrive. It is 

 easily propagated by seeds sown in a frame early in spring, 

 or by means of division or layering of the half-woody 

 branches, which, if covered with soil, root near the 

 base. 



V 



Cultural Department. 



Cattleya labiata. 



ERY few Orchids in cultivation have come so near fulfill- 

 ing all the claims made for them by introducers as this 



one, the type plant on which the genus was founded by Lind- 

 ley soon after its first introduction in 1818. Its sul>sequent 

 history, too, has added much to the interest it originally ex- 

 cited. Its total disappearance from the original districts from 

 which it was introduced, the casual arrival of a few plants at 

 various times from obscure sources, the futile efforts so long 

 made to reintroduce it, and lastly its reappearance under the 

 name of Cattleya Warocqueana from a province nearly five 

 hundred miles distant from Rio, where it was first seen, all 

 seem more like products of imagination than like reality. The 

 supply of plants seems almost inexhaustible, judging from the 

 number that have already found their way into cultivation 

 from Pernambuco during the last four or five years. The 

 benefits to horticulture are scarcely to be calculated, as this 

 Cattleya flowers at a time when so few other plants are in 

 bloom. The Orchid-houses now are transformed into a mass 

 of gorgeous coloring that is not excelled by the display in early 

 spring, when the otlier forms of C. labiata are at their best. 



To the cultivator, perhaps, the most pleasing fact connected 

 with this Cattleya is the ease with which it can be grown. Many 

 other Catlleyas are of easy culture, but the best cultural skill 

 has failed to keep them in collections for an extended period. 

 C. labiata seems to furnish an exception to this rule. At the 

 time of its reintroduction there were plants in gardens (hat 

 had been cultivated for twenty-five years, according to the 

 record, and possibly some of the first plants introduced are 

 still living. They had no storehouse in the way of back bulbs 



made in their native country to draw upon for their supply of 

 vigor, but were growing and Howering freely under the system 

 of treatment that is now adopted by the best growers. We 

 have thus the assurance that C. labiata is not only a free 

 grower, but has the crowning merit of longevity. It may now 

 be bought as cheaply as any other Cattleya, while five years 

 ago it was worth its weight in gold and the supply was meagre. 

 It was formerly used to a necessarily limited extent for hybrid- 

 izing purposes, but wherever it was so used its influence was 

 potent for good. Some of the best crosses ever made have 

 this plant for one of the parents. All who wish can now have a 

 plentiful supply and make a free use of it, and the result will 

 surely be for the common good. 



We now have more of these Cattleyas than of any other sort. 

 Their journey from their native place was a severe ordeal, 

 since they traveled from Brazil to London, and thence to New 

 York to the salesrooms. Many looked almost hopeless, but 

 heat and a genial moisture works wonders under our clear skies, 

 and pieces, with not more than two bulbs when they came, are 

 now flowering, in many cases giving four flowers from the 

 one bulb. Established plants frequently produce five flowers 

 on one stem, and I have seen, in one instance, six flowers on 

 the stem, all of good size and high color. 



There is as much variation among plants of this variety as 

 among any other, in that no two are alike, and each flower has 

 its distinctive characters. As yet there is a very small per- 

 centage of white forms, and they are evidently not so numerous 

 as we were led at first to believe they would be. Neither is 

 there such radical variation as among plants of Cattleya Trianag 

 and other kinds, but there is a mucii smaller number of infe- 

 rior varieties than in any other Cattleya, and 1 have yet to see 

 one variety that has not some merit. 



This Cattleya belongs to the section that flowers directly on 

 the completion of the current year's growth. There is no 

 apparent rest before flowering, and but a slight cessation after, 

 for we find that the most active rooting season is just after the 

 strain of flowering. The plants at once recuperate themselves, 

 so it would be folly to dry them at the roots at this time. In 

 newly established pieces there is always a tendency to make a 

 growth out of season. We have many now that are doing so, 

 but after a year or two this tendency disappears, and they get 

 into a regular habit and adapt themselves to our seasons, 

 which are different from their own in Brazil. There no rain 

 falls for six months, but the night dews must be heavy, or the 

 plants would not be found there. The cultivation of this Cat- 

 tleya is similar to that required by other members of the same 

 group. After repeated trials we have given up using moss 

 with the fern-root for potting material. There is no advantage 

 from its use, and it too often brings in snails and slugs. It 

 causes the other portion of the compost to sour and hastens 

 its decay, and finally causes the decay of the roots of the plant. 

 If good fibrous Osmunda-roots are used as soon as possible 

 after they are gathered, this potting material should keep in 

 sound condition four or five years. The roots will remain 

 healthy if perforated pots or pans are used. We have given, 

 up the use of baskets for Cattleyas. In the first place they are 

 costly if made of cedar-wood ; and to take out a plant that is 

 well and firmly fixed in a wooden basket causes so serious a 

 check that it often takes a season or two for the plant to re- 

 cover. Perforated pans can be easily obtained, and cost about 

 as many cents as the plants are worth dollars. They are 

 readily broken when it is necessary to give a plant a shift 

 without any material damage to the roots if the plant is well 

 watered a day or two before. If shifted at the proper time, 

 when root-action is commencing, there will be no shrinkage 

 of the bulbs whatever. For the small-growing Cattleyas 

 and Lcelias, such as C. Walkeriana, L. pr;estans and L. 

 Dayana, we take a square block of fern-root as it is sawn 

 off'and peg the small pieces on, suspending this in the usual 

 way. It is amazing how they thrive. C. Walkeriana has 

 made bulbs that far exceed in size any made in its native 

 country, and is now showing for flower freely. To the close 

 observer there is much to be learned in matters of detail ; 

 while these are often small in themselves, they go to make up 

 the difference behveen failure and success. There is an all- 

 absorbing interest in the purchase of dried-up pieces as they 

 come from their native w^oods and in watching them expand 

 as heat and moisture are supplied. But the greatest interest is 

 at flowering time, when the Inids are eagerly watched as they 

 develop. They are oftentimes white until after the first day of 

 opening:, when the tinge of pink is almost sure to appear, for 

 true white ones are very rare. Some of these rare white flow- 

 ers are described as being so beautiful that the possibility of 

 securing flowers of this color is all the more fascinating. 



South Lancaster, Mass. ■^* ^' C'/'/'tV. 



