6 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[October, 1914. 



less when resting during the wniter months. 

 Watering during this latter period should be 

 carried out with extreme care, only sufficient 

 being given to keep the bulbs from unduly 

 shrivelling. The young growths are likely 

 to be severely damaged by an excess of water 

 given in the early period of their existence, 

 and it is not until they have grown to the 

 height of about six inches that a point of 

 safety is reached. 



The lance-shaped sepals and petals are of 

 a darkish-purple with green margins ; the 

 large lip is white, thickly striped and pencilled 

 with purple ; the disc bearing four lamellae, 

 and the spur at the base being green and 

 recurved. There does not appear to be any 

 definite season of flowering. 



EPIDENDRUM 

 ARACHNOGLOSSUM. 



THERE are several species of Epiden- 

 drum worthy of cultivation, amongst 

 tliem being E. arachnoglossum, which 

 was originally discovered by M. Edouard 

 Andre, in 1876, on the volcano of Purace, in 

 southern New Grenada, at an elevation 

 of 6,000 feet, growing in company with 

 E. paniculatum. This successful traveller 

 published an account and coloured plate 

 of the species in the Revue Horticole, 

 December i6th, 1882, and was also the first 

 to flower the plant in Europe. 



In habit it resembles the well-known E. 

 radicans type, but is of much stronger 

 constitution. The nodding raceme bears 

 many flowers of bright magenta-crimson, with 

 the fleshy disc of the lip orange-yellow. The 

 labellum is three-lobed, each lobe spreading 

 and much fimbriated, the middle one with a 

 deep cleft in the anterior margin. The 

 specific name, literally spider's tongue, is 

 derived from this quaint formation of the 

 labellum. Like several other Epidendrums, 

 the raceme continues to elongate and produce 

 flowers for a considerable period, six months 

 being quite usual, while instances have 

 occurred of the plant being an almost 

 continuous bloomer. 



A plant of this species was discovered by 



Mr. Kromer when collecting Orchids for the 

 late Mr. H. A. Tracy, and sent home along 

 with the rare Oncidium Leopoldianum. 

 These plants were acquired by Mr. H. S. 

 Goodson, of Fairlawn, Putney, who has 

 recently had the pleasure of seeing them both 

 in flower at the same time. The Oncidium 

 created no small amount of attention, for it is 

 many years since this species flowered in 

 Europe, while the Epidendrum proved to be 

 a pure white variety of a little-known species. 

 To prove the decorative value of this latter 

 rarity Mr. Geo. Day kindly sends us the 

 many-flowered raceme. 



The albino form was recorded by Reichen- 

 bach in 1886 {Gard. Chron., XXV., p. 362), 

 who, after describing the normal type, wrote : 

 — " I am now very agreeably surprised at the 

 receipt of a fine variety, having white flowers, 

 and only the lateral calli orange. It is 

 likewise a discovery of M. Andre, and was 

 forwarded to me by M. Godefroy Lebeuf, 

 who is well known as a most enthusiastic 

 Orchidist." Reichenbach named this variety 

 E. arachnoglossum candidum. 



" The Orchid Review." — The September 

 issue of this journal contains an article on 

 Cattleya Sybil and its varieties, accompanied 

 by an illustration showing seven different 

 results. C. Sybil is a hybrid between aurea 

 and iridescens, and was raised by Messrs. 

 Hassall and Co., the first plant flowering 

 during the past summer. Details are given 

 concerning the reproduction of species, and 

 the formation of hybrids, the latter being- 

 effected either by blended inheritance or else 

 by mosaic inheritance. Illustrations are 

 also given of Cycnoches densiflorum and 

 Grammangis ElKsii. In a note on several 

 interesting rarities that have recently flowered 

 at Kew we read that " Catasetum Darwin- 

 ianum has again bloomed well, all the flowers 

 being males, as has also been the case with 

 several other species that have bloomed. The 

 proportion of female flowers on cultivated 

 plants hardly reaches five per cent., but it 

 may be greater in their native homes, where 

 the plants are probably more vigorous." 



