284 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



January, 1908 



Cattleya Mantini (hybrid of labiata, var. Warscewiczii 

 and c Bowringiana) gets its more numerous flowers 

 from the latter parent 



described as a smaller winter-flowering Mos- 

 siae, so far as its form and general bearing 

 goes; but the flower is, as a rule, darker and 

 richer in color. It is, amongcattleyas, thenear- 

 est approach to a crimson, although it is well 

 within the limits of the rose-purple — and 

 the throat is lined with crimson and yellow. 

 Beginning to flower by November and con- 

 tinuing throughout the holidays until Feb- 

 ruary perhaps, when the Mossises and 

 Mendellis begin to bloom, the most popular, 

 or at all events the most commonly known, 

 of all this family is the variety Triancei. I 

 would not like to say positively how many 



sub-varieties of this beautiful orchid have 

 been put into print; let us say fifty on a 

 chance. I have a list of over thirty before 

 me, and that was prepared some years ago. 

 Triansei combines a great many of the good 

 qualities of both Mossiae and the true labiata: 

 it has a wavy lip fringed with a lighter color 

 than the body, and it approaches the beauty 

 of Mendelli in its very wide petals, which 

 are also (normally) beautifully waved, 

 giving to the flower a texture that is inde- 

 cribable but that seems to recall the delicacy 

 so some beautifully woven fabric. Delicate 

 shadings seem to line the surface of the 

 petals as a result of this waving of the sub- 

 stance, so that they, together with the lip, 

 combine to make a trio of delicately poised 

 feathers. The whole flower is usually of 

 a bluish tone, the throat has a distinct zone 

 of yellow and the expanded portion of the 

 lip is bright, intense rose-purple. The lip 

 as a whole is very conspicuous and in com- 

 parison with the other large-lipped varie- 

 ties, is lighter. 



A FLOWER FOR EASTER 



A form of the preceding which is after all 

 a beautiful albino variety — the pale Triansei 

 — is known in the trade as C. Schroedera. 

 It has all the gracefulness and beauty of 

 the best forms of the variety combined with 

 an almost entire absence of color. It is 

 distinguished from the regular Trianaei in 

 form by a much greater crisping or waving 

 of both petals and lip ; in the very palest forms 

 the lip is devoid of color except in the throat, 

 where the presence of the beautiful light yel- 

 low is just sufficient to give character to 

 the flower. 



THE CONNECTING LINK 



The last of these well-marked varieties 

 is Luddemanniana (or speciosissima of the 

 florist). Flowering in autumn, it completes 



the cycle of the year, filling in the gap between 

 the season of Warscewiczii (Gigas) and the 

 type labiata. It overlaps the seasons of 

 both. It differs from the former in being 

 less showy, having a less gorgeous lip, and 

 from the latter in being more showy. The 

 lip is waved and deeply divided at the apex; 

 the deep crimson color is carried back into 

 the throat in streaks; and the points of the 

 lateral lobes of the lip, which enclose the 

 column, are tipped with white. 



WHITE VARIETIES OF ALL 



It should be remarked that the foregoing 

 colors given above are not absolute. They are, 

 however, sufficiently dominant to be taken 

 as guides, and in conjunction with the details 

 of form and flowering season, should suffice 

 to distinguish the varieties. There are 

 white, or practically white, sub-varieties 

 of nearly every variety described above, 

 and every degree of shading, too, in most 

 of them. There are differences of form, 

 also, and a combination of both these differ- 

 ences is illustrated in the portrait of C. labiata 

 var. Trianai Mrs. C. Moore on page 281. 



There are slight differences of habit of 

 growth among these cattleyas; by which 

 the entire group can be divided into two 

 distinct sections. The Trianaei, Mossiae, 

 Mendelli, and Percivaliana varieties make 

 a growth or sheath, and, resting a short time 

 then resume growth, and develop their 

 flowers. In all the others, the growth is 

 continuous — that is, the flowers appear 

 simultaneously with the maximum develop- 

 ment of the growth. In the type labiata, 

 there is a slight, almost imperceptible rest. 



Of the other members of the cattleya 

 family some are grown more for their 

 curiosity and interest than for their beauty. 

 C. amethystoglossa, C. guttata and so forth 

 have flowers of greenish brown variously 

 spotted with purple or yellow; C. bicolor 

 has petals and sepals of green and a lip of 

 violet. The most interesting as a cut flower 

 outside of the labiata group is probably 

 C. Boivringiana; its rosy purple flower blos- 

 soms during October and November and it 

 is chiefly notable for the quantity of flowers it 

 will bear — ten to a dozen on a stalk being 

 the average. It has been used together with 

 Warscewiczii in the production of Cattleya 

 Mantini, which has the eyes of the latter 

 and the more numerously flowered growth 

 of the other parent. A key to these varieties 

 is given on page 308. 



Flowering Chart for the Labiata Cattleyas 



Cattleyas are as easily grown as ger&niums if given a temperature of not less than sixty degrees at night. 

 They demand plenty of light and air, not a heated, moist atmosphere 



Variety 



Jan. 

 Feb. 

 Mar. 

 April 

 May 

 June 

 July 

 Aug. 

 Sept. 

 Oct. 

 Nov. 

 Dec. 



C. labiata {type) 



.... 



var. Dowiana 





" Percivaliana 



_ __ 



" Trianai 





" Schroedera 





" Mossia 





" Mendelli 



^^^^^ 



" Gaskelliana 





" Warneri 



^.^ ..... 



"■ Warscewiczii 



.___. 



" Luddemanniana 





" Eldorado 



— — • • 



