LyELIA AUTUMNALIS Undi. 



VAR. ALBA Hart. 



L^LIA autumnalis, Lindl. ; pseudobulbis ovato-fusiformibus teretibus demum costatis di-triphyllis, foliis lineari-oblongis acutis, pedunculis 

 elongatis paucifloris bracteis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis, sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis patentibus, petalis rhomboideo-lanceolatis acutis undulatis, labello 

 trilobo, lobis lateralibus erectis rotundatis truncatis, intermedio elliptico-lanceolato v. oblongo acuto apice reflexo, disco bilamellato, columna clavata. 



L^lia autumnalis, Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch., p. 115 ; Id. Bot. Reg., XXV., t. 27 ; Paxt. Mag. Bot, VI., p. 121, cum ic; Bot. Mag., t. 3817 I Batem. 

 Orch. Mex. et Guat, t. 9 ; Hook. Cent. Orch., t. 26 ; Gard. Chron., 1872, p. 1009, fig. 237 ; 111. Hort, I., t 17 \ Veitch Man. Orch., II., p. 61, cum xyl. 



Bletia autumnalis, Llav. et Lex Nov. Veg. Descr., II., Orch. Opusc, p. 19 ; Rchb. f. in Walp. Ann., VI, p. 427. 



var. ALBA, Hort; Gard. Chron, 1889, ii, p. 420 ; id, 1890, ii, p. 655 ; floribus albis. % 



Albinos of L*lia autumnalis are extremely rare, as although this fine autumn-flowering species has been in cultivation since 1836, the earliest record 

 of a white variety that I have succeeded in finding occurs in 1889. On October 8 of that year a plant was exhibited at a Meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, and was awarded a First-class Certificate. It is described in the Report of the meeting as a decided 

 ith pure white flowers, without any trace of the rosy colour of the type. The spike bore three flowers. The following year a s 



acquisitu 



is recorded as bearing thirteen spikes and twen 



group exhibited by Messrs. F. Sander & Co, St. 



was greatly admired. 



generally the case wit! 



11 batch of it 



...„ny plants are now in cultivation I am unable to say, but one was included in a 



ig of the Royal Horticultural Society, held at the Drill Hall on December 12, 1893, and 



which is represented in the accompanying plate. It agrees with the type in every other respect but colour, as is 



chaste and very beautiful variety. R - A - Rol f e - 



Icones analytical Columna. Pollinia fronte 



Orchid growing has already gone through many stages, each succeeding stage showing some section of this adaptable 

 tribe in a new and unexpected light. Among evolutions yet in store is the taking up of the culture of Mexican orchids, 

 such as Lselia autumnalis, L. anceps alba, L. anceps, and its numerous varieties, both white and coloured ; L. albida, 

 L. furfuracea, L. majalis, &c, by a class of growers who, possessing only a conservatory, greenhouse or orchard house, 

 still have a wish to grow orchids. Such structures, as a rule, are not fitted with shading, and the atmosphere in them is 

 drier than in orchid houses, and hence this class of plants may not only be grown satisfactorily in them, but with careful 

 attention to regulating the supply of water given to them, according to their stage of growth, in the growing and resting 

 season, and in some few other details, they may be flowered much better than they are in many places where they are 

 grown in orchid houses with other classes of orchids. Suspending baskets of teak-wood are the best for these Laelias, 

 and in them the plants, when grown in a conservatory, are highly ornamental and well fill up the space over head, which 

 in so many fine conservatories is unoccupied, but which their owners would like to furnish in the manner suggested, but 

 are often deterred by supposing that orchids must have a specially built house. 



Where it is intended to grow a collection of orchids, it is advisable to arrange a set of houses for their accommo- 

 dation, but it is a comfort to know that the possessor of any artificially heated plant house of any description may 

 successfully grow some class of orchids if the class is properly selected to suit the accommodation. The rather dry air 

 and bright light of the ordinary conservatory and greenhouse suits the Mexican Laelias, and the chief cultural item to be 

 observed in order to secure success is to give the plants a most liberal supply of rain water at the roots while making 

 new growths and until such growths are matured, and to place them in a cool and airy situation and give them scarcely 

 any water afterwards until the growing season comes round again. 



Laelia autumnalis alba was discovered in 1887 by Mr. F. Pechacek, a nephew of Roezl, formerly one of our 

 collectors, and now a resident in Mexico. In 1888 Mr. Pechacek forwarded a few plants to the United States, and in 

 the year following two consignments were dispatched to England from the same source — one to Messrs. Protheroe & 

 Morris for disposal by auction — the other to us, and our illustration was taken from a plant then imported, and now in 

 the possession of Matthew Wells, Esq., Broomfield, Sale. The variety differs much in size and in the colouring of the 

 labellum. All have snow white sepals and petals, but the lip in some instances is pure white, while in others it is tinted 

 rose. 



