7-2 



OECHIDS. 



are among our finest Orchids for winter blooming. 

 Some are best gimTL on blocks of wood with moss ; others 

 thrive well in pots with peat and good drainage. 



Lcelia cvmaharina, L. flava, L. Perrinii, are best grown 

 in pots, without much water at the roots at any time, and 

 requu^e the same treatment as the Cattleyas. Those on 

 blocks require more water. All are best grown in the 

 Mexican house, except Perrinii, which requires a little 

 more heat to grow it to perfection. They are propagated 

 in the same way as the Cattleyas. 



LcB. acuminata. — A pretty, delicate-flowering, and com- 

 pact-growing plant from Mexico ; sepals and petals white ; 

 lip white, with a dark blotch on the upper part. It blooms 

 in December and January, and lasts two or three weeks in 

 beauty. There is another variety of this plant with violet- 

 coloured flowers. 



L(E. albida superha. — A lovely compact-growing variety 

 fromOaxaca; sepals and petals white; lip pink, with stripes 

 of yellow down the centre. It blossoms in December and 

 January, lasting a good time in beauty. There are two 

 varieties of this plant. The best is called superha. In su- 

 perha the flowers are much larger than in alhida. I never 

 saw this vaiiety until December 1851, when I met with 

 several plants in bloom at Stratford, Essex, in the nurseiy 

 of Mr. Bunny, one of our most successful growers of Orchids. 



Lee. anceps. — A remarkably handsome Orchid from 

 Mexico ; sepals and petals rose lilac ; the lip of a ^beautiful 

 deep pm'ple. It blooms in December and January. The 

 flowers are three or four inches across, and last a month 

 in perfection, if kept in a cool dry house. 



L(E. autumnalis. — A lovely and showy Orcliid from 

 Mexico. It produces its blossoms on a spike twelve 

 inches or more high, and often as many as nine flowers on 

 a single spike. We have bloomed it with that number. 



