SEPTEMBER, 1922.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 273 
CATTLEYA CITRINA. 
OTWITHSTANDING all the skill and attention that has beer 
bestowed upon this plant for many years past, there is still much to 
be learnt regarding its cultural requirements. Now and again we hear of 
success being attained, but only in regard to a single, or at the most, a 
couple of plants. It is within the power of the majority of long-experienced 
cultivators to recall houses entirely filled with hundreds of Cattleya 
Mossiz, of C. labiata, as well asof many other popular species, and of the 
immense quantities of flower that in due season were produced. But can 
anyone imagine a house full of Cattleya citrina flowering profusely and 
filling the air with its delicious perfume. It would indeed be a sight worth 
many a mile of travelling. So far as amateurs are concerned, the growing 
of numerous imported plants in order to discover choice varieties has long 
since gone, and even the florist who grows certain species in quantity for 
their bloom is not likely to select C. citrina as a suitable subject. 
But have all possible methods been tried to cultivate this refractory 
plant. It may be that its very generic name leads us astray. Without 
second thought, an amateur would place Cattleya citrina along with others 
of the same genus in the Cattleya house, and if it failed to succeed then its 
constitution is blamed. If this plant had an entirely different generic name, 
then its treatment would be just as likely to differ accordingly. It would, 
therefore, be well to forget all about its Cattleya associations, and reason 
out a method of treating it on other lines. 
One of the points which appear to be worthy of primary consideration is 
the altitude at which this species is found growing in Mexico. Some 
authorities give elevations ranging from 6,000 to 7,500 feet, while others 
State even higher figures. Concerning the altitudinal distribution of 
Orchids in Mexico, Mr. W. B. Hemsley has stated (Biol. Centrali-A mericana, 
P- 305) that “ Odontoglossum nebulosum and Cattleya citrina live on the 
tall oaks of the Cerro de Capulapam and the peak of San Andres at 
altitudes exceeding 10,500 feet, and they are doubtless the only epiphytal 
species that ascend to so great an elevation in Mexico.” Here we have 
important evidence of the buoyant and keen mountainous atmosphere in 
which this species dwells, No such hot and stuffy atmosphere as is often 
to be found in the Cattleya house during the summer months. Even an 
Odontoglossum house might lack sufficient movement of the atmosphere to 
suit Cattleya citrina. No range of glass house is identical in construction 
with another, nor are the atmospheric conditions exactly similar in any two 
houses put to the same use. Perhaps the corridor, where one exists, in a 
fange of glass would prove to bea suitable place, for really we seem at a 
total loss as to whether Cattleya citrina requires a low temperature 
