132 



CASSELL'S POPULAB GARDENING. 



but the large and brilliantly coloured flowers of some 

 of the later discoveries are the most conspicuous 

 objects in the plant-house. Sophronitis should be 

 planted in equal parts of peat and sphagnum moss, 

 and suspended in an earthenware basket. They 

 enjoy a liberal supply of water all the year round. 

 Peruvian House. 



S. cernua. — This plant is dwarf, bearing a single 

 oblong-oval leaf, and a few-flowered raceme of small 

 flowers, which are 

 red, with a yellow 

 Hp. Winter months. 

 Neighbourhood of 

 Rio Janeiro. 



8. grandlfiora. — A 

 superb plant, which 

 seldom exceeds six 

 inches in height ; 

 pseudo-bulbs tufted, 

 short, and bearing 

 a single oblong leaf. 

 Peduncles long and 

 slender, bearing a 

 large solitary flower, 

 upwards of three 

 inches across in good 

 varieties. Sepals and 

 petals thick and 

 fleshy, the latter very 

 much the larger, all 

 of a uniform rich 

 scarlet or crimson. 

 Lip yellow, the nar- 

 row - pointed front 

 lobe scarlet. In the 

 variety coccinea the 

 pseudo - bulbs are 

 more oblong, and 

 the flowers intense 

 scarlet. In var. rosea 

 the pseudo-bulbs are 

 very short and obtuse, and the whole flower, in- 

 cluding the lip, is a delicate soft rose. It blooms 

 throughout the winter months. It is found on 

 trees on the mountains, where rime frost is seen 

 in the morning, near Rio, and in different parts of 

 Brazil. 



S. violaeea. — Pseudo-bulbs small and slender, 

 bearing a long, narrow, sharp-pointed leaf. Flowers 

 small but very pretty, delicate soft violet in colour. 

 Winter months. Organ Mountains, Brazil. 



Stanhopea. — A large genus of handsome-flowered 

 epiphytes, named in honour of Earl Stanhope. They 

 are robust-growing plants, with stout and large 

 ribbed pseudo -bulbs, which bear a single large, dark 



green, plaited leaf, thick and coriaceous in texture, 

 and very persistent. The flower-spike springs from 

 the base of the pseudo-bulb, and grows straight 

 dow T nwards, and bears a number of large flowers of 

 a most extraordinary shape, nearly all the species 

 being more or less powerfully fragrant. The flowers, 

 however, are somewhat short-lived. The extra- 

 ordinary shape of the flowers necessitates fresh 

 definitions for the peculiarly formed lip, which is 

 divided into three parts — the hypochil or lower cavit} T , 

 the mesochil or middle part, from which the horns 

 proceed, and the epichil or front movable lobe. 



Stanhopeas should be grown in hanging baskets, 

 with the bottom full of large perforations, in order 

 to allow the flower- spikes to get down ; planted in 

 peat and sphagnum, and allowed to become tho- 

 roughly root-bound, 

 as in this state they 

 flower far more 

 freely. An abundant 

 supply of water is 

 necessary during the 

 growing season, but 

 not a drop should be 

 given during the 

 winter, unless they 

 show signs of ex- 

 haustion. Brazilian 

 House when grow- 

 ing ; when at rest, 

 Peruvian House. 



S. Bucephalus. — 

 Raceme three to six- 

 flowered. Flowers 

 very large, and rich 

 tawny - orange, pro- 

 fusely spotted with 

 blood - red ; power- 

 fully aromatic. Summer and early autumn. The 

 mountains of Ecuador, at 6,000 feet elevation. 



S. guttulata. — Flowers large, ground-colour a 

 pale nankeen, very thickly spotted and dotted with 

 purple. Lip with a narrow truncate hypochil, meso- 

 chil somewhat ovate, nearly flat, bearing three small 

 teeth. It is a beautiful flower, somewhat resem- 

 bling S. oculata, but destitute of the eye-like spots. 

 Summer and early autumn months. Brazil. 



S. insignis. — Raceme three to seven-flowered. 

 Flowers large and fragrant. Sepals and petals a 

 pale creamy-yellow, profusely and regularly spotted 

 with reddish-purple. Lip white, and dotted with 

 purple, the hypochil bearing a pair of large violet- 

 purple spots. Early autumn months. Brazil. 



S. Martiana. — Raceme about three-flowered, and 

 these are very large and massive. Sepals and 

 petals not reflexed as in most of the species ; the 



Grandifloka. 



