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CATTLEYA (HYBRIDA) VICTORIA-REGINA ob™. 



Pseudobulbis subelongatis subclavatis paullo compressis monophyllis v. diphyllis, foliis oblongis v. elliptico-oblongis obtusis coriaceis rigidis patenti- 

 bus v. suberectis, spatha lineari-oblonga subobtusa, racemis 2 — 3-floris v. ultra, bracteis ovato-oblongis subobtusis, floribus magnis speciosis, sepalis lanceolato- 

 oblongis obtusis lateralibus subfalcatis, petalis elliptico-oblongis paullo undulatis, labello trilobo, lobis lateralibus semioblongis apice obtusis, intermedio 

 suborticulari obtuso paullo undulato, disco laevi, columna clavata. 



Cattleya x Victoria-Regina, O'Brien in Gard. Chron., 1892, i., pp. 586, 808, 809 (partim), fig. 115 (non fig. 116); Journ. of Hort, 1892, L, p. 349, 

 fig. 60 ; Orchid Review, I., pp. 9, 13 ; id., II., p. 7. 



This is undoubtedly a very handsome Cattleya, but, unfortunately, owing to circumstances which could scarcely have been foreseen, its history is 

 very much confused, and must now be to a very great extent re-written. In the autumn of 1891, Messrs. Sander's collector, then at Pernambuco, met with 

 flowers of a new Cattleya, and sent home plants, which were thought to be all alike. In May of the following year one of the plants flowered and 

 received a First-class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society. It was also described in the Gardeners Chronicle as a new species, the leaf 

 characters being taken from other plants, as the particular one which flowered had lost its leaves. The flowers were described as "resembling those 

 of a good form of Laelia elegans Turneri, but with a more wax-like texture and a more flat arrangement of all the segments." In the following autumn 

 a considerable number of plants flowered, but proved to be forms of Cattleya Leopoldi with a few C. granulosa. It was now evident that there was a 

 mixture of some kind, as very few of the plants proved true. A very fine variety has flowered in the collection of Hamar Bass, Esq., Byrkley, Burton-on- 

 Trent, and Mr. Hamilton, the gardener, observed that it had much longer leaves than the plants supposed to be the same. Another is in the collection of 

 W. Thompson, Esq., Walton Grange, Stone, Staffordshire, and after a careful examination of this plant I am fully convinced that it is a natural hybrid 

 between Cattleya Leopoldi pernambucensis and C. labiata, which are known to grow together. It is quite intermediate in habit, two of the bulbs being 

 diphyllous, as in the former, and two monophyllous, as in the latter, the shape being somewhat modified in each case. In other respects C. X Victoria- 

 Regina combines well the characters of the two species in question. The flowers are large and bright rose, in which respect they approach C. labiata, but the 

 lip is strongly three-lobed, and a greater or lesser number of small, darker purple spots are found on the sepals and petals, both of which show the influence 

 of the other parent. Thus the resemblance to Laelio-Cattleya x elegans is easily explained, as both hybrids are derived from forms of Cattleya Leopoldi on 

 the one hand, though in the present case Laelia purpurata is replaced by Cattleya labiata as the second parent. The pollen is naturally that of Cattleya, as 

 both parents belong to this genus. It is a very beautiful plant, and though not as common as was at first supposed, it is still more interesting as an addition 

 to the now extensive list of natural hybrids. R, A. Ro/fe. 



Icones analytical Labell 



The Pernambuco Cattleyas are known to be among the easiest to grow, and the freest to flower of any of the genus, and 

 that is a good reason why, apart from its great beauty, this fine Cattleya has been so much sought after. The probable 

 fact of its being a natural hybrid may have precluded the possibility of an importation of it being made in which the 

 whole of the plants were true, as was at first hoped, but a great consolation for the defect has been found in the many 

 superbly beautiful varieties of Cattleya Leopoldii which were imported with it, and which to distinguish them from 

 the type are known as C. Leopoldii pernambucensis, and many of which are close rivals to C. Victoria-Regina in point 

 of beauty. 



In the matter of culture C. Victoria-Regina, and the other species imported with it, require to be grown in a 

 warm, sunny Cattleya house, in common with the various forms of C. Leopoldii, C. guttata, C. granulosa, and others 

 of the slender-stemmed species. These and other Brazilian Cattleyas and Lamias, although coming from districts 

 widely separated, are linked for the purposes of cultivation by the fact that they, each in its district, inhabit breezy, 

 upland ranges, which are more similar in their climatic peculiarities than are the lowlands of such districts relatively 

 to each other. In a house likely to grow these Cattleyas and Laelias well, the main essentials are a pure and not too 

 moist atmosphere, a bright light, even to the admission of a fair amount of sunlight in spring and autumn, and in the 

 morning and evening all the year round ; careful watering so that the plants should not get either too wet or too dry, for 

 even when actively rooting they make a far greater quantity of healthy roots when kept rather dry. For this reason 

 syringing should be avoided, as one of the many evils consequent on its use, unless for special work, is that some of the 

 plants in a house in which the syringe is used get too wet, while others are only moist on the surface of the pots. The 

 most invigorating item in the culture of Cattleyas and Laelias is to ensure for them a rather dry atmosphere, in an airy, 

 well-ventilated house, for that period between the perfecting of the last made pseudo-bulbs and the starting into new 

 growth ; during the incipient stage of the latter the house must be kept very moist. For repotting those which require it, 

 shortly after the flowering season of each class is over is the best time, so far as a rule can be given. 



Last year (1893) we crossed C. labiata with C. Leopoldii pernambucensis, and may soon prove the theory of 

 C. Victoria-Regina being a natural hybrid or not. We cannot agree with the idea at present, as according to our views 

 there is nothing either in flower, bulb, leaf, growth, or season of blooming to show us that our new Cattleya is a hybrid. 



Our plate was taken from a plant in the collection of Hamar Bass, Esq., Byrkley, Burton-on-Trent. 



