200 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[August, igi6. 



CATTLEYA MOSSI/E 

 McMORLANDIl. 



THE cultivation of Cattleya Mossiae has 

 always been a matter of some diffi- 

 culty, for notwithstanding every care 

 and attention it is a rare event indeed 

 to see plants of this beautiful species growing 

 with the same vigour as its near relations, C. 

 Trianae and C. Mendelii. In days gone by, 

 when the nature of Orchids was much less 

 understood than it is at present, frequent 

 importations were the only means whereby a 

 healthy stock of C. Mossiae could be main- 

 tained, hence of the many varieties that have 

 been described very few now exist to remind 

 us of the past. 



For this reason the exhibiting of C. Mossioe 

 McMorlandii by Messrs. Flory and Black at 

 the Royal Horticultural Society, June 6th, 

 igi6, was a noteworthy event, for the history 

 of this plant dates back to the year 1862, 

 when B. S. Williams described it in the 

 second edition of his " Orchid Manual," and 

 when Mr. E. McMorland possessed a fine 

 collection at Haverstock Hill. 



When, m 1881, Robert Warner published 

 his "Third .Series of Select Orchidaceous 

 Plants" he selected C. Mossiae McMorlandii, 

 along with two others, as the subject for Plate 

 XVL, and in the accompanying description we 

 find : " The three varieties we now figure, 

 which are amongst the finest we have seen, 

 were grown and flowered in the Broomfield 

 (R. Warner's) collection many years ago, in 

 1864, and their portraits were then secured. 

 At that time there were six hundred blooms 

 to be seen m one house. C. Mossiae McMor- 

 landii has beautiful light rose sepals and 

 petals, and the upper part of the lip is of a 

 rich golden-yellow, paler in the central 

 portion, yellowish and finely fringed at the 

 front and margin. It was exhibited at the 

 Regent's Park Exhibition many years ago by 

 Mr. McMorland." 



C. Mossiae McMorlandii, or a portion of it, 

 passed into the possession of Messrs. Veitch 

 and .Sons at an early date, and was exhibited 

 by them at the Royal Horticultural Society, 

 June loth, 1879, when it received a First- 

 class Certificate. When the plant flowered in 



the year 1902 the Orchid Committee decided 

 to have a painting made for inclusion m the 

 Society's collection, and to bear the record : 

 " Flower supplied by Messrs. Veitch from 

 part of the original plant." 



The entire stock of Orchids cultivated by 

 Messrs. Veitch and Sons has been purchased 

 by Messrs. Flory and Black, who availed 

 themselves of the first opportunity to exhibit 

 this historic plant when it flowered in June of 

 the present year. A comparison of the flower 

 with the painting executed in 1864 proves 

 how correctly the artist accomplished his 

 work. 



VUYLSTEKEARA COLMANII. 



THIS very interesting trigeneric hybrid 

 was exhibited at the Holland House 

 .Show by Sir Jeremiah Colman, Bart., 

 m whose collection at Gatton Park it has 

 been raised by Mr. J. Collier. It comprises 

 the three genera Cochlioda, Miltonia and 

 Odontoglossum, and thus comes under the 

 section Vuylstekeara, of which the only 

 two previously recorded examples are V. 

 Flyeana (Cochlioda Noetzliana x Odontonia 

 Lairesseae), flowered by M. Jules Hye in 

 igi2, and V. insignis (Miltonia Bleuana x 

 Odontioda Charlesworthii) exhibited by Mr. 

 F. Lambeau m 1914. 



The parents of V. Colmanii are Miltonia 

 Warscewiczii and Odontioda Bradshawis (C. 

 Noetzliana x O. crispum), these, curiously 

 enough, including the same three species 

 used m the making of V. Hyeana, this being 

 Cochlioda Noetzliana x Odontonia Lairesseae 

 (M. Warscewiczii X O. crispum). 



V. Colmanii carried a branched spike of 

 22 flowers, the sepals and petals, which 

 extend backwards towards the ovary, are of 

 light rose-red colour, while the comparatively 

 large labellum bears the characteristic 

 shining blotch of M. Warscewiczii and carries 

 an orange-coloured crest. 



The hybridist is mainly responsible for the 

 pleasing novelties exhibited at the R.H.S. 

 meetings, and in the above plant an inter- 

 esting as well as a decorative hybrid has been 

 produced. 



