42 



OKCHIDS. 



feet long, and lasting in perfection six weeks ; it flowers in 

 June, July, and August, and is a good plant for exhibitions. 



Cat. masiica, — A scarce, but magnificent, and free-flow- 

 ering Orchid from India, producing its flowers on a spike 

 two feet long ; sepals and petals deep violet colour, with a 

 rich purple lip ; it blooms in June, July, and August, and 

 lasts six weeks in perfection. This is a charming plant 

 for exhibition, the colour being very distinct. We had a 

 specimen of this, with eight spikes of its beautifully-coloured 

 flowers, at the Chiswick show in 1851. 



Cal. veratrifolia, — A noble species from India; its 

 spikes of flowers, which are of a delicate white, frequently 

 attain the height of two or three feet ; it blooms freely from 

 May to July, and will continue blooming for two months. 

 The flowers should be kept free from damp ; if they get wet 

 they are apt to become spotted. This also makes one of 

 the finest exhibition plants we have ; it is a very old plant, 

 but no collection ought to be without it. 



Cal. vestita. — A charming free-flowering Orchid from 

 Moulmein, deciduous, and producing from October to Fe- 

 bruary its long drooping flower-spikes, which have a white, 

 downy covering, and rise from the base of its finely-formed 

 and silvery-green bulbs when the latter are destitute of 

 leaves. The sepals and petals of the flower are of a de- 

 licate white ; the lip is the same, with a blotch of rich 

 crimson in the centre. There is a variety of this with a 

 blotch of yellow in the centre of the lip ; the flowers of 

 the latter are nearly equal to the former, and are produced 

 in the same way. No collection ought to be without both 

 varieties. They are fine plants for winter blooming, the 

 flowers being two inches across. We have a plant of this 

 fine species with four spikes, which frequently produces 

 from twenty to thirty flowers on each spike, and continues 

 in perfection for three months. 



