26 ORCHIDS. 
CATTLEYA.— For William Cattley. 
THIS very numerous genus in the second tribe of orchids, 
bears the name of an eminent English florist. And quite a 
number of varieties of this same species or genus, have received, 
in compliment, the names of other cultivators and patrons. It 
is an epiphyte, originating in Brazil and Mexico. One European 
collection is reported to contain six hundred different varieties of 
the Cattleya. 
“What the rose and lily are among garden flowers,” says 
Mr. Henderson, “the Cattleya is among orchids, — pre-eminently 
beautiful. Not a specimen but possesses strong claims on the 
florist’s attention, for its delicate loveliness, and the rich and 
vivid coloring of its large flowers. Being natives of the tem- 
perate parts of South America, their cultivation better succeeds 
in a lower temperature than is necessary for a majority of 
plants of the same order. They grow on billets of wood, in 
pots or baskets. They are increased by division of the roots. 
The flowers present all shades of rose, rosy-lilac, crimson, carmine, 
and ruby-purple.” 
The four varieties drawn from nature, on the next following 
pages, were from the greenhouse of Major Alexander H. Davis, 
of Syracuse, N. Y. 
