35 
PL. CCCLXXVI. 
CATTLEYA MOSSIAE norr. var. MENDELI t. LIND. 
CATTLEYA. Vide Lindenia, Engl. ed., vol. I, p. 7. 
Cattleya Mossiae. Vide Lindenia, IV, p. 85. 
Var. Mendeli. Varietas florum et praecipue petalorum sepalorumque colore Cattleyae Mossiae similis. 
n the same manner as in former volumes of this publication, in the 
| case of Cypripedium, and of different varieties of Cattleya Trianae, 
4 | we to day devote an entire number of the Lindenia to four Cattleyas and 
Laelias. The reader will no doubt be able to realise the difficulty of finding 
models more worthy tc represent these elite genera than those which we have 
the good fortune to be able to present them with to-day. 
The plant figured on the opposite page flowered among Cattleya Mossiae 
from an importation made by L’Horticutture INTERNATIONALE, of Brussels. In 
general aspect it shows no difference from other plants of the same species. 
However in its inflorescence it approaches nearer to the characters of C. Mendeli, 
by the form of its flowers, the breadth of the segments, and their pale 
colour. The lip appears about intermediate between the two species, and so 
variable are they in this organ (especially C. Mossiae) that it is difficult on 
inspection to say to which of them it belongs. 
Our personal opinion is that this curious and remarkably beautiful plant may 
be a natural hybrid between C. Mossiae and C. Mendeli. Although the respective 
habitats of these two species are so remote, the thing is not impossible. In any 
case, as C. Mossiae and C. Mendeli are considered from a botanical point of 
view as varieties of C. labiata we may admit that the purely horticultural 
classification the classification of their forms is a purely horticultural and not 
very important matter; we propose therefore to designate it by the above 
name, to recall its particularly intermediate character. 
Cattleya Mossiae and C. Mendeli present but little difference as regards their 
requirements in cultivation, and the treatment they receive will also suit the new 
variety now under consideration. We know that many Cattleyas flower imme- 
diately after they have completed their new growths, before resting, as C. aurea, 
Gaskelliana and Warneri, and a still larger number after a season of rest, 
from the bulbs of the preceding year, and, lastly, that C. labiata flowers some 
time after having completed its growth, during its resting period. Cattleya 
Mossiae and C. Mendel belong to the second category. About the middle of 
September their growth is generally completed, and at that time the waterings 
should be gradually diminished, and at the same time the temperature of the 
Us 
