﻿October, 1904.] 



THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



Warming at Lagoa Santa, in the Province of Minas Geraes, North-West of 

 Sahara. 



Two forms of the species are depicted in Mr. Day's Collection of 

 Drawings. The first was drawn in August, 1877 (Coll. Draw., xxii., t. 35), 

 and Mr. Day remarks : — " I picked up this very pretty Oncidium in bloom 

 at Messrs. Low & Co.'s a few days since. I had not seen or possessed 

 a plant of it before. It is pretty, but inferior to O. curtum and O. 

 Forbesii, to the former of which it bears a general resemblance, but the 

 column wings and crest are more like those of O. crispum, and so are the 

 bulbs and leaves. The spike was two feet long, and the bulbs rough, 

 and pale green, turning to olive brown in age, like those of O. crispum," 

 The second form was figured a month later (I.e., t. 36), and was bought 

 at Stevens' in flower. Mr. Day adds—" I sent flowers of this to Professor 

 Reichenbach, who writes thus: — 'There is no doubt of your Oncidium 

 being what I call prsetextum. I cannot pretend to say whether it will 

 prove a valid species or a subspecies.' " 



Curiously enough, one of the plants included by Reichenbach is now 

 considered identical with O. flabelliferum, Paxt., and simply a form of 

 O. Gardneri— itself suspected to be a natural hybrid— namely O. praetextum 

 of the Belgique Horticole, cited above. On the other hand a plant originally 

 described as distinct seems to be scarcely more than a form of O. prsetextum, 

 namely O. Gravesianum (Rolfe in Gard. Citron.. 1892, ii., p. 651, fig. 94). 

 This was introduced from Pernambuco, by Messrs. Sander, together with 

 Cattleya labiata. If all the preceding are correctly referred to a single 

 species, it is evident that O. praetextum is both common and widely 

 diffused— Messrs. Veitch's plants, it may be added, came from Rio de 

 Janeiro — and it would be interesting to know more about its exact distri- 

 bution and the allied species with which it grows. It appears to be rather 

 rare in cultivation of late years, and the probability is that few plants 

 of the original importations now exist. All the species of the O. Forbesii 

 group require similar treatment. 



R. A. Rolfe. 



Barkerias. — The species of Barkeria, as B. elegans, Lindleyana, and 

 cyclotella, are not often seen in very flourishing condition, but are well 

 worthy of attention, their pretty spikes presenting a gay appearance during 

 the dull season. They thrive well when fastened to teak rafts, upon which 

 is placed some living sphagnum moss, and suspended close to the roof of 

 the Intermediate house, where they will get plenty of light, but not actual 

 sunshine. Barkerias, like many other Orchids, are very sensible as to their 

 likes and dislikes ; and when once a suitable position has been found for 

 them, there they should remain.— Journal of Horticulture. 



