MOTH ORCHIDS 531 
in panicles sometimes 3 feet long, containing as many as forty, sixty, or 
nearly a hundred blossoms, and lasting nearly two months; April to June. 
Philippines. 
P. SPECIOSA (showy). Flowers amethyst-purple, with pale margin ; 
lip club-shaped, rosy purple, with yellow spots on the side lobes. 
Introduced from the Andamans, 1883. 
P. STUARTIANA (Stuart Low’s). Habit and leaves like P. schilleriana. 
Flowers white or pale sulphur, with cinnamon blotches; in a many- 
flowered panicle. Introduced from Philippines, 1881. 
P. VIOLACEA (violet). Leaves obovate, 6 to 10 inches long, of a light 
green colour, without mottling. Scapes short, bearing from two to five 
flowers 2 inches across; white, faintly tinted with rose; the lower half 
of the dorsal sepals and the lip coloured intense violet-purple. Introduced 
from Malaya, 1861. The var. schrederiana has larger purple flowers. 
The best hybrids are:—P. intermedia (Aphrodite x rosea), 
F. L. Ames (amabilis x intermedia), Harriette (amabilis x violacea), 
John Seden (amabilis x luddemanniana), Rothschildiana (amabilis x 
schilleriana). ; 
Phalenopsids require a hot, moist atmosphere in the 
stove; and from March till October, which is the growing 
period, a day temperature not lower than 70° must be maintained. 
During the summer the addition of sun-heat in the middle of the day 
will probably bring this up to 80° or more, and in the night it may drop 
to 70°. In winter it should not be allowed to fall below 65° at any time. 
They should be grown either in teak-baskets or on blocks, according to 
size of specimens, the smaller ones being more suitable for block-culture. 
Living sphagnum, clean crocks, and charcoal must be used, and the moss 
should form only a thin layer at the top. The roots cling to the basket 
and crocks, so that great care must be taken when overhauling them and 
giving fresh sphagnum, which should be done in March. When in 
active growth the plants should be kept moist at the root, but they must 
never be wetted overhead. In winter only sufficient water should be 
given to keep the moss from perishing. A shaded position in the hottest 
and moistest part of the stove is essential. These plants tax the skill of 
the most expert cultivators, and many fail with them entirely. A well- 
grown plant of P. amabilis, P. schilleriana, or P. stwartiana, is a 
magnificent picture when in flower, and a source of pride to the grower. 
Description of Phalenopsis schilleriana. Fig. 1, entire plant, greatly 
Plate 243. reduced; 2, detached flower, about average size; 3 and 4, 
side and front views of the column (enlarged), showing the extended 
base ; 5, the pollen-masses and heart-shaped gland. 
Cultivation. 
