CATTLEYA SORORIA 



[Plate 307.] 



J^ative of Brazil. 



Epiphytal. Pseudohulhs stem-like, slender, terete, jointed at distant intervals, 

 slightly furrowed, and partially clothed with numerous somewhat lanceolate-acute 

 membraneous sheaths, from nine inches to a foot in height, diphyllous. Leaves 

 oblong-acute, from three to five inches long, and about an inch broad, alternate, 

 coriaceous in texture, and deep green. Scape terminal, rising from between a small 

 oblong, ancipitous spathe, bearing three or more flowers, each of which is upwards 

 of three inches in diameter. Sepals oblong-acute, the lateral ones slightly falcate ; 

 petals oblong-obtuse, undulate on the edges, and, like the sepals, of a' uniform 

 pale magenta ; lip three-lobed, lateral lobes small, erect, projecting into a short 

 stalk, not enclosing the column, of a pale delicate rose colour, anterior lobe 

 triangular retuse, emarginate, serrated and undulate at the edge, bearing on the disc 

 a quantity of little asperities, light purple, streaked with lines of deep magenta, 

 stained in the throat with yellow. Column stout, white, streaked in front with 

 purple lines, and stained at the base with yellow. 



Cattleya soroeia, Heichenhach fil. ; in Gardeners' Chronicle, Third Series, 1887, 

 i., p. 40. 



This new Cattleya is a distinct and delicate plant, and is one that will be 

 sure to find favour among those who can appreciate quiet colours, and also as a 

 contrast to the numerous kinds of a showy and larger type. The subject of our 

 present plate comes into bloom when the majority of Cattleyas are past, and at a 

 season when there is usually a scarcity of flowers among Orchids. It was imported 

 by us from Brazil, with other Cattleyas of similar growth, such as C. hicolor, 

 C vehitina^ etc., etc. It appears to be a rare plant, as the specimen here figured 

 is . the only one we have seen, and which flowered in the Victoria and Paradise 

 Nurseries, in the month of July of last year, and again in the early part of 

 the present year, upon which occasion it was named by Professor Reichenbach, and 

 described by him in the Gardeners^ Chronicle. In all probabiHty there will be 

 many new forms found in the locality from whence C sororia was obtained, as 

 several species are found in the same district, thus affording an opportunity for 

 various members of the insect world to cross-fertilise them, and thus originate new 



varieties. 



Cattleya sororia is an evergreen plant; its slender bulbs are about twelve 



inches high, bearing two leaves, which are about three inches in length, and 



dark green. The sheath from which the flowers issue is small, and the spike is 



