EASILY CULTIVATED ORCHIDS— II. 



LYCASTES. 



AMONGST the ornamental orchids that re- times by only one 

 quire cool or intermediate temperatures, the 

 lycastes have always been regarded as the 

 most easily grown. For beginners in this 

 branch of gardening, there are certainly none more 

 suitable. Not 



only are they 

 kept in good 

 health with little 

 trouble, but their 

 flowers are borne 

 in great abun- 

 dance, and as the 

 o 1 d foliage re- 

 mains until the 

 new growths are 

 completed, they 

 always present a 

 handsome and 

 leafy appearance 

 — a quality 

 which many or- 

 chids, unfortu- 

 nately, d o not 

 possess. It must 

 be confessed that 

 elegance is not a 

 strong point in 

 the flowers of ly- 

 castes, the chief 

 charac t e r i s t i c 

 being rather a 

 stiff, prim kind 

 of beauty ; but, 

 judging by the 

 enormous num- 

 ber grown, it is 

 a style which 

 pleases very 

 many. The ge- 

 nus is exclusively 

 a tropical Ameri- 

 can one, its nat- 

 ural range ex- 

 t ending from 

 Brazil as far 



north only as the southern part of Mexico, 



They are epiphytes with large pseudo-bulbs, sur- 

 mounted, as a rule, by two or three leaves, but some- 



Lycaste Harrison'i.e, var. eburnea 



The leaves are always plaited, and 

 usually broad and pointed. The flowers push from the 

 base of the matured pseudo-bulb, often along with and 

 clustered around the new growth. They are borne sin- 

 gly, or rarely in pairs, on erect scapes. The chief botan- 



i c a 1 distinction 

 consists in the 

 large, transverse 

 appendage which 

 lies across the cen- 

 ter of the lip. Ex- 

 cept in one small 

 section of the ge- 

 nus, the sepals are 

 larger than t h e 

 petals, the lip be- 

 ing smaller than 

 either. 



Culture. — A 1 - 

 though there is a 

 considerable range 

 between the low- 

 est and the highest 

 temperatures i n 

 which lycastes will 

 grow, the one in 

 which the genus as 

 a whole succeeds 

 the best, is that of 

 a warm green- 

 house ; i n other 

 words, where the 

 thermometer does 

 not fall below 48° 

 Fahr. o n winter 

 nights. At the 

 same time any 

 one with a green- 

 house which does 

 not long remain 

 below 45°, or on 

 the other hand, 

 never falls below 

 55°, may success- 

 fully grow them. 

 In this respect, 

 they are most ac- 

 com m o d a t i n g . 

 Both in the air 

 and at the roots 



these plants delight in abundant moisture, and from 

 April up to September, provided the drainage is perfect, 

 there is little danger of giving them too much. In the 



