﻿October, 1904.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



water. Repotting or topdressing, as required, should be done during March. 



Miltonia vexillaria is one of the most beautiful species suitable for this 

 department, and thrives well under proper treatment, though less easily 

 managed than some others. It should be grown in pots at the warm end of 

 the house, well up to the light, but where it gets properly shaded from bright 

 sunshine, and very careful watering is necessary at all times, but especially 

 during the winter. It is specially liable to the attacks of yellow thrips, 

 which if neglected soon work havoc with the plants, and the moment their 

 presence is detected a little tobacco powder should be dusted down the axils 

 of the leaves. If the leaves begin to decay at the tips the decayed portions 

 should be cut away to prevent its spread, but as this is generally a symptom 

 of too cool a situation or too much wet at the root, the cause should be 

 ascertained if possible and of course remedied. 



Odontoglossum citrosmum should be grown in pans or baskets in this 

 department, and few Orchids are more beautiful when well grown. It 

 requires somewhat special treatment. Pans or baskets should be used, and 

 the compost should consist of about two-thirds fibrous peat, as it is rather 

 impatient of removal, and need not be repotted more than once in three or 

 four years if this is properly done. After its growth is completed, about the 

 end of October, the supply of water should be gradually reduced for about 

 a month, after which very little water should be given until March. The 

 compost should not be allowed to get dust dry, but a slight shrivelling of 

 the pseudobulbs is not injurious, and a complete rest is necessary to induce 

 free flowering. In March or April the spikes begin to show in the new 

 growths, when a little cotton wool should be placed round the latter, to 

 ward off the attacks of slugs or woodlice. The amount of water should also 

 be gradually increased, and after flowering the plants should be encouraged 

 to make good growth. The cool end of the house should be selected for it. 



SOBRALIA VIOLACEA ALBA. 



A charming white Sobralia with a deep yellow throat has just flowered 

 with Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Bush Hill Park, which I take to be 

 a white form of S. violacea. The sepals and petals recurve very grace- 

 fully in the upper part, the former measuring 2$ inches long by ten lines 

 broad, and the latter 2^ inches by eleven lines, these also being 

 more obtuse, and prettily undulate in the upper half. The front lobe 

 of the lip measures inches across (without being artificially expanded) 

 and is strongly crisped-undulate, and the throat and disc are orange-buff 

 in colour, recalling Thunia Marshalliana in this respect. About seven 

 prominent smooth keels extend throughout the disc, the remainder of 

 the flower being pure white. 



