i8 



THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[October, 1913. 



house this method cannot be arranged so 

 nicely, nor can the atmosphere be varied 

 very much when several kinds of Orchids 

 are grown. The best plan is to watch 

 carefully for all plants that have completed 

 their bulbs, and to suspend such from the 

 roof of the house. In this position they will 

 receive plenty of light and air, and are not 

 so liable to be over-watered, which often 

 happens when they are kept intermixed with 

 other plants. The result of over-watering is 

 often the production of a second growth 

 which scarcely ever has time to finish before 

 the dull weather ; consequently an unsightly 

 plant is produced. One must also remember 

 that too much water rots the roots, and the 

 general health of the plant suffers greath- by 

 such bad treatment. 



At this time of the year many Cattleyas 

 and Laelias, more especially the late flowering 

 hybrids, are best kept suspended from the 

 roof, or in some equally safe place, until 

 the flowers open. Only those who have 

 experienced the damage done by slugs and 

 other pests know the disappointment caused 

 when the flower spikes are discovered 

 severely damaged, generally beyond hope of 

 recovery. Prevention is better than cure is 

 an old saying worthy of being remembered. 



CATTLEYA WARSCEWICZII 

 ALBA, " MUESSER'S VAR." 



THIS very rare albino form of the 

 species was collected by M. Arthur 

 Muesser, Orchid importer and grower, 

 Brussels, and brought home with a fine lot of 

 C. Warscewiczii and C. aurea. The plant 

 was nearly dead when it arrived, and had to 

 be carefully nursed, but being a robust 

 grower it soon recovered, and produced a 

 spike of two flowers on one of its strong 

 leading growths. The flowers are seven 

 inches across, of good substance, and pure 

 white with the exception of a faint pearl 

 blush on the front lobe of the lip. The 

 labellum is much crimped, and rather 

 narrower than the average form. The two 

 yellow discs, typical of the species, are in 



their usual position on the inner part of the 

 side lobes ; although albino flowers are 

 formed by the elimination of the purple tints, 

 the yellow usually remains. This rarity forms 

 a companion to the beautiful C. Warscewiczii 

 alba " Firmin Lambeau;" the first albino of 

 the species to be recorded, and one of the 

 very few Orchids to which the Gold Medal 

 of the Royal liorticultural Society has been 

 awarded. 



The discovery of new varieties, more 

 especially those equal in importance to the 

 above, gives fresh material for the hybridist 

 to work ujion, and allows him the chance of 

 producing many of the older hybrids in albino 

 form, although no one can yet say with an)- 

 amount of certainty whether the results will 

 be equal to their expectations, of course, so 

 far as whiteness is concerned. 



Consider, for example, Cattleya Carmen, a 

 hybrid between W'arscewiczii and Luedde- 

 nianniana raised by Messrs. Veitch in 1905. 

 There is now the possibility of obtaining both 

 these parental species in the albino form, the 

 latter in the elegant albino variety known as 

 Empress. Also C. amabilis, an uncommon 

 hybrid between Warscewiczii and labiata, 

 which should certainly make a useful autumn 

 flowering hybrid when in the albino form. 

 Many others can be mentioned, including C. 

 Mendelii alba and C. Dusseldorfei Undine. 



It is doubtful whether much would be 

 gained by using either of the two albino 

 forms of C. Warscewiczii in conjunction with 

 flowers having purple or crimson coloured 

 lips, as, for instance, C. aurea and hybrids 

 containing this species in their parentage. 

 The more plentiful variety of C. Warscewiczii 

 known as Frau Melanie Beyrodt, with white 

 sepals and petals, but a coloured hp, appears 

 more suitable for this purpose, and will in 

 most cases be better, for the ambition of 

 hybridists is to produce flov/ers of well- 

 defined coloration. Ordinary light mauve 

 and muddy-looking blooms do not appeal to 

 the Orchidist. If a flower with white sepals 

 and petals has any colour in the labellum, 

 then the darker this colour is so much the 

 more meritorious may the variety be 

 considered. 



