THE MOST USEFUL ORCHIDS 159 



times blooms at five or six feet high, but as a general rule its long, 

 scandent habit puts it out of court as a popular Orchid. The 

 flowers have deep crimson, yellow-spotted petals and upper sepal, 

 and the large lower sepals are vermilion, the lip being red and 

 yellow. These brilliant blooms, three inches across, are borne in 

 large numbers on a large, branched raceme. R. Storeyi is like 

 R. coccinea in general habit and appearance, but the flowers are 

 crimson and orange, with yellow and white marks on the crimson 

 lip. By far the best species for general cultivation, and one that 

 has now placed the genus in a foremost horticultural position, is R. 

 Imschootiana. This Burmese species is from six inches to two 

 feet high, and its branching, graceful spikes carry (in good speci- 

 mens), a score or more of brilliant vermilion flowers. All the 

 species have Vanda-like leaves and growth, and need the same 

 treatment as the Vandas that are grown in the stove. 



SOBRALIA 



The tall, slender, reedy growths, and large handsome flowers 

 of the Sobralias are familiar to most horticulturists. The species 

 and hybrids are easily grown in an intermediate house or ordinary 

 plant stove, in pots, in a mixture of peat and fibrous loam, with 

 some sphagnum and sand added. Plenty of water, overhead 

 syringing, and liquid manure in the case of established specimens, 

 should be afforded when the plants are in full growth, but after- 

 wards much less water will suffice, although, as the plants are 

 evergreen, they must never be allowed to get quite dry at the 

 roots, or the leaves will fall and the plants be severely harmed. In 

 many instances the flowers are as large as those of the finest 

 Cattleyas, and equally attractive, but the Sobralias have one fault. 



