4o8 



EASILY CULTIVATED ORCHIDS—II. 



colder portion of the year the supply must be reduced, 

 but it is necessary to always keep them fairly moist, es- 

 pecially those species that flower in winter. They 

 should be grown in pots, which, to secure suitable drain- 

 age, should be half filled with pot sherds. The compost 

 should consist of fibrous peat, from which a large pro- 

 portion of the earthy particles have been removed, clean 

 sphagnum moss chopped into lengths of an inch, pure 

 loam fiber in the proportion of one-fourth, and a small 

 amount of coarse silver sand. For weak plants, or 

 newly imported ones, the loam and sand should be omit- 

 ted. When potting, the plants should be set high enough 

 to allow the base of the pseudo-bulb to be half an inch 

 or an inch above the rim of the pot, making the compost 

 into a slight mound. It has been found of great benefit 

 to the roots to distribute in the soil, as potting proceeds, 

 lumps of charcoal, soft brick or porous sandstone, about 

 the size of a pigeon's egg. Lycastes are amongst the 

 orchids that may be safely treated with manure, either 

 in the form of weak liquid, or by sprinkling fish guano 

 on the surface. It must be done in moderation, and 

 only during most active growth. 



In the Genera Plantarum of Bentham and Hooker, the 

 old genera of paphinia and colax are included under ly- 

 caste. Doubtless the floral structure is sufficiently sim- 

 ilar to justify this arrangement, but in general appear- 

 ance, both as regards habit and flower, they are widely 

 different, and this difference is equally marked in their 

 behavior under cultivation. Both paphinias and colaxes 

 require considerably warmer conditions, and are certain- 

 ly not amongst the most easily cultivated orchids. The 

 preceding remarks, therefore, must be understood to ap- 

 ply only to lycastes proper. 



In any selection of species, L Slanncrii will always 

 occupy the most prominent place. It is par excellence 

 the orchid for beginners, and is the one oftenest recom- 

 mended to them by experienced growers. As an orchid 

 for room decoration it is unrivaled, standing the dry 

 atmosphere better and remaining longer in bloom than 

 any other. This applies in a lesser degree to all lycastes, 

 although, of course, it is only during the time they are 

 in flower that they can be used in rooms. Skiiuierii 

 is remarkable for the amount of bloom a single pseudo- 

 bulb will produce. I have myself grown plants with as 

 many as sixteen flowers clustered round one growth, and 

 when it is remembered that each of these is from five to 



six inches across, all the parts being of fleshy texture, it 

 will be seen that there are few orchids to equal it in 

 flower production. Another noteworthy character is its 

 extreme variability in color, it sometimes happening that 

 in a whole importation scarcely two plants will turn out 

 alike. The palest and most valuable variety is alba, 

 which is entirely snow-white, with the exception of a 

 faint patch of yellow on the lip. The darkest variety is 

 nigra-rubra, the prevailing hues of which are dark pur- 

 ple and mauve. 



Other species that may be selected as amongst the 

 most desirable in this genus are : L. ai-oinatica, notable 

 alike for the abundance and pleasant aromatic fragrance 

 of its golden yellow flowers ; L. Barringto7ii<x, a strong- 

 growing species lately re-introduced in considerable 

 quantity by Sander, of St. Albans, with large flowers of 

 a rich, creamy yellow ; L. cruenta, with greenish-yellow 

 sepals and deep orange-colored petals and lip, the latter 

 blotched with crimson ; Z. Deppei, a common, but very 

 handsome lycaste, the sepals being thickly blotched with 

 brown-purple, whilst the petals are pure white ; its va- 

 riety, punctatissima, is one of the rarest and most beau- 

 tiful of lycastes ; L. plana, similar in habit to L. Bar- 

 ringionicr, but with sepals of a madder-red color, the 

 petals and lip being white, spotted with crimson ; Z. 

 tricolor, an uncommon species of an unusual color, the 

 sepals being pale brown and the petals and lip deep rose. 



Z. Harrisonix belongs to a section of the genus differ- 

 ing in several respects from that to which the previously 

 mentioned species belong. It has tapering, four-angled 

 pseudo-bulbs, bearing only one leaf, and the flowers dif- 

 fer in having the petals and lip about the same size as 

 the sepals. It has been placed by botanists in both 

 maxillaria and bifrenaria, but is generally regarded as 

 a lycaste. The illustration represents the finest variety 

 of it that is known ; it is named ebiirnea. The flowers 

 are three inches across, with the oblong sepals, and pet- 

 als ivory-white and waxy in texture ; the lip is large, the 

 side lobes being erect, and the color primrose-yellow 

 and white. Z. teiragona, a remarkably colored species, 

 belongs to the same section. The sepals and petals are 

 green, blotched and striped with chestnut, whilst the lip 

 is white, spotted with crimson on the outside, and pur- 

 ple within. Both these species require to be kept drier 

 in winter than Z. Skinuerii and others of the same group. 



Ke-v. W. J. Bean. 



