20 
THE ORCHID WORLD. 
[October, 1912. 
CATTLEYA BICOLOR. 
DR. LINDLEY Vv^as the original 
describer of this Brazihan species. 
In 1836 it was figured in the 
Botanical Register, and in 1837 some plants 
were received by Messrs. Loddig'es, of Hack- 
ney, in whose collection they flowered the 
following year. This species is found grow- 
ing on the branches and trunks of large trees 
in the province of Minas Geraes, and more 
especially on the mountains near Rio de 
Janeiro. The specific name is derived from 
the fact that the flower has tv/o principal 
colours : the bronze-yellow sepals and petals, 
and the bright amethyst-purple labellum. 
Cattleya bicolor belongs to the long-bulbed 
section of Cattleya which includes such well- 
known species as intermedia, Harrisoniana, 
superba, guttata, and granulosa. In the early 
days of hybridisation much was expected 
from this section of the Cattleya genus, the 
comparatively free-flowering nature and 
rapidity of growth making the plants 
favourite subjects for carrying seed-pods. 
Taken on the whole, the section has given 
disappoijitment, the chief cause being the 
poor shape, or starry nature of the flowers, 
and the dominating influence which they have 
over those of the shorter-bulbed species. 
The subject of this note, Cattleya bicolor, 
has, however, proved itself of immense value 
in a few prominent instances. In Cattleya 
Iris, a hybrid between Cattleya bicolor and 
Cattleya aurea, and almost too well known to 
need further comment, a beautiful result has 
been obtained, yet much as this plant is 
appreciated, there is, in the opinion of many, 
a still finer flower to be seen in Cattleya 
Venus, this the result of crossing Cattleya 
Iris with Cattleya aurea, one of its parents. 
The stiff, erect petals of Cattleya bicolor 
impart an improvement to those of Cattleya 
aurea, which in every case have a tendency to 
hang down or fall away from the dorsal sepal. 
Around the apex of the amethyst-purple 
labellum of Cattleya bicolor is a narrow white 
margin, the width of which varies in different 
plants, hybridisers classing them as bad 
varieties when a large amount of v/hite is 
shown and good forms when the margin is 
almost eliminated by the purple pigment ex- 
tending to the extreme edge. It is rarely that 
one finds a variety without some slight margin 
of white. Cattleya aurea possesses a labellum 
richly marked with crimson-purple at its 
apex ; this excessive amount of pigment, when 
the species is used as a parent, effectually 
prevents the white margin of Cattleya bicolor 
from being visible in the resultirig hybrid. 
Another elegant hybrid is Cattleya Adula, 
obtained by crossing Cattleya bicolor with 
Cattleya Hardyana, the latter parent a natural 
as well as an artificial hybrid between Cattleya 
aurea and Cattleya Warscewiczii (gigas). 
The colour of the sepals and petals is more 
inclined to be a purple-bronze, due to the 
strong influence of Cattleya Warscewiczii, and 
a somewhat larger flower is frequently pro- 
duced. This hybrid has a more robust con- 
stitution than Cattleya Iris, and on that 
account is more often grown by amateurs. 
The apex of the hp of Cattleya Wars- 
cewiczii is somewhat similarly coloured to 
that of Cattleya bicolor, or, in other words, 
the purple pigment does not often extend to 
the extreme edge, but leaves a more or less 
varying white margin which is frequently 
divided in the centre by a larger area of 
white. This fact will account for the greater 
difficulty experienced in obtaining a variety 
of Cattleya Adula with a lip completely 
saturated with crimson, or amethyst-purple 
pigment, than an equally good variety of 
Cattleya Iris. 
Cattleya Clarkije, the result of crossing 
Cattleya bicolor with Cattleya labiata, is an 
autumn-flowering hybrid of considerable 
utility. The flowers are of bright purple-bronze 
colour, and of sufficiently thick substance to 
ensure freshness for three or four weeks. 
Altogether, Cattleya bicolor has taken part 
in the formation of some thirty different 
hybrids, but few, if any, equal in beauty or 
merit those mentioned in this note. Further 
success will be somewhat slow. 
