JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
276 
[ April , 1882. 
being very well marked form a ready means of popularly classi¬ 
fying the species in two sections, which can be easily distinguished, 
though they are very unequal as regards the number of species 
they include, the former being far the larger. Botanically the 
species have been arranged under a number of sections, but the 
characters adopted are generally too technical to possess much 
value for gardeners, who chiefly require a simple mode of group¬ 
ing. The flowers vary in colour from purple of many shades to 
rich golden yellow, while in many these are combined, the sepals 
and petals being purple-tipped and the lip yellow ; in others, too, 
rich crimson or maroon blotches on the lip produce a beautiful 
effect, while a few have pure white or slightly tinted flowers. A 
quality possessed in a varying degree by some Dendrobes, and 
one which is very highly appreciated, is the agreeable fragrance 
distinguishing the flowers of several species, such as D. nobile, 
D. primulinum, and D. aureum. The odours of Violets and Prim¬ 
roses are reproduced, while others possess a peculiar fragrance 
quite their own and indescribable—to some persons pleasant, and 
to others disagreeable. These perfumes also strangely vary at 
different periods of the day, and gradually become less powerful 
as the flowers become older. A similar range is observed in the 
duration of the blooms. A day or two is the extreme period in 
which they continue in beauty in a few species, but the majority 
are very lasting, and some continue fresh when cut and placed in 
water for a month or more. This only refers to individual flowers, 
as some species can be had in bloom for several months if suffi¬ 
cient plants are grown to form a succession, as in the case of 
D. nobile, which can be hastened or retarded, thus greatly extend¬ 
ing its period of usefulness and beauty. 
Continuing the description of the most attractive species com¬ 
menced in last issue, the next one deserving notice is 
D. lituiflorum. —In the colour and form of the flowers this 
beautiful species is suggestive of D. nobile, but the stems are pen¬ 
dulous, and the blooms generally somewhat smaller. It is con¬ 
siderably scarcer than D. nobile, and some orchidists find it rather 
difficult to grow satisfactorily, though its chief requirement appears 
to be a well-marked season of rest, when the supply of water must 
be greatly diminished, but not sufficiently to injure the plants, as 
they can be very readily if the pseudo-bulbs are allowed to shrivel 
too much. The pendent habit especially suits it for a basket, when 
sphagnum alone or with a little peat should be employed ; it also 
succeeds well in a shallow pan or pot suspended from the roof of 
the East Indian or Dendrobe house, and when growth is being 
made liberal supplies of water are required. The flowers are pro¬ 
duced in pairs from the nodes of the pseudo-bulbs, and when these 
are a foot or 18 inches in length and clothed with flowers they 
have a very beautiful appearance. The sepals and petals are of a 
pleasing purple hue, the lip being white, with a rich purple central 
blotch, and margined with a similar tint. The base of the lip is 
infolded, so as to resemble a funnel, or more correctly an open- 
mouthed trumpet, such as was used by the Romans, from which 
the specific name is derived. 
Several variations in the size and depth of colouring of the flowers 
are included in collections of Orchids, but the most remarkable 
and handsome of all is the variety candidum, which has pure 
white flowers, the lip blotched with pale yellow. An excellent 
specimen of this is grown at Burford Lodge, and for a considerable 
time this has been flowering well, forming one of the many attrac¬ 
tions in that superb collection. 
D. Falconeri. —When well grown this is unquestionably one 
of the most handsome forms of the genus, but unfortunately in 
some gardens it has been given up in despair as impossible to 
obtain in satisfactory condition, though in others no difficulty 
whatever is experienced in both growing and flowering it. 
Strangely, too, equal success seems to be attained under very 
different systems of culture. For instance, one orchidist winters 
his plants in a cool position, withholding water for two or three 
months, and another supplies water constantly all the year 
through, though in lessened quantities at the period of rest. The 
chief point needing attention is to encourage vigorous growth, 
which must be well matured by exposure to light and sun in the 
autumn, as upon this the success of the following year greatly 
depends. A block is most suitable for it, and preferably where 
obtainable portions of thick Tree Fern stems, upon which the 
plant thrives admirably in many establishments. Some very 
good specimens are grown at The Firs, Sydenham ; and Mr. 
Coningsby finds the best plan is to rest the plants in a late 
vinery from Christmas to March, withholding water completely. 
They are then removed to a warm fernery, where they are sus¬ 
pended from the roof and occasionally well syringed, though at 
present this is not much needed, as the moisture in the house is 
sufficient. They are allowed a good season of growth in the Den- 
drobium house when water is abundantly supplied, and as the 
results of this treatment they are as healthy and vigorous as 
could be desired, flowering freely every year. 
In the form of the pseudo-bulbs D. Falconeri is very distinct 
from its allies, being very slender, with swollen internodes, and 
bearing linear grass-like leaves, which impart a very graceful 
appearance to the pflants. The sepals are rosy and the petals 
white, both broad and tipped with rich purple, the lip being large 
and open with a fine deep crimson-purple central blotch, orange 
and white crescents, and a purple tip—a striking combination of 
colours. The species is a native of Bootan. where it was origi¬ 
nally found at considerable elevations, in some instances slightly 
above 4000 feet. It was introduced about 1S56, the first plants 
being sold by auction and purchased by a gentleman in Somerset¬ 
shire, from one of whose specimens an excellent coloured plate 
was subsequently prepared for the “ Botanical Magazine.” The 
flower shown in the woodcut (fig. 58, page 275) is a very good 
variety, but Messrs. Veitch of Chelsea obtained a certificate at the 
recent Spring Show, Regent’s Tark, for a superb form named D. 
Falconeri giganteum, which has much larger flowers, the colours 
being richer and brighter. 
Many others of equal beauty deserve notice in this section, espe¬ 
cially the superb D. Wardianum, of which an excellent variety was 
described and figured in this Journal, page 317, vol. ii. This is 
now a great favourite, and deservedly, for even the poorest varie¬ 
ties are handsome, and forms are now in cultivation which in the 
size and delicacy of their white, rich crimson-tipped flowers are not 
excelled by any other members of the genus. D. primulinum is 
another beautiful Orchid, especially the variety giganteum, which 
has enormous flowers, somewhat suggestive of an extremely fine 
D. Pierardi ; it is also deliciously fragrant, and though the flowers 
are not so durable as some of the others it continues in good con¬ 
dition for several days. D. macrophyllum, with its huge purple 
flowers, though possessing an odour which some have compared to 
druggists’ rhubarb, is well worth a place in any collection, and 
the rose-tinted D. M’Carthiae is a similarly attractive species. The 
pretty D. tortile, with its several varieties, is a favourite with all 
growers, and when flowering freely it adds considerably to the 
beauty of the Orchid house in the early spring months, when so 
many Dendrobes are in their best condition. D. Findlayanum 
with creamy white sepals and petals, and orange yellow lip; 
D. amoenum with neat white purple-tipped flowers, and innumer¬ 
able others, have all more or less attractions. 
The Racemose Section. —The numerous species of Dendro- 
bium which produce their flowers in racemes constitute an im¬ 
portant and distinct section from a cultivator’s point of view, as 
a good proportion of them are characterised by an upright habit of 
grow’th, which renders them better adapted for pots than baskets 
as regards appearance, though some can only be grown satisfac¬ 
torily under the latter system. It is somewhat curious, too, that 
yellow and white flowers predominate in this section, whilst in 
the preceding shades of purple and rose with white are the most 
abundant tints. 
Three pretty species, to some extent alike yet easily distin¬ 
guishable, are D. formosum, D. infundibulum, and D. Jamesianum, 
each bearing flowers with broad white sepals and petals, the lip 
being also white blotched with yellow or orange of various shades. 
They differ somewhat in general outline, size, and substance ; 
D. Jamesianum in particular having a peculiar paper-like appear¬ 
ance, while the others are more glossy and waxlike. The two 
latter—namely, D. Jamesianum and D. infundibulum, are the only 
two species of the genus which appear to thrive under cool treat¬ 
ment. Many of the others will endure a comparatively moderate 
temperature when at rest or when in flower ; and in the last- 
named case their beauty is considerably prolonged in a cooler 
house, but few can be. safely trusted to cool quarters entirely. 
These two, however, succeed very well in the Odontoglossum house 
in many establishments ; and though in some they are grown 
with the ordinary stock, they do not, with few exceptions, give 
such satisfactory results. They should be grown in pots, employ¬ 
ing a compost of peat and sphagnum with abundance of drainage. 
D. chrysotis has brightly coloured flowers suggestive of D. 
fimbriatum, though the lip is scarcely so much fringed. The 
colour of the sepals and petals is a rich shining yellow, the lip 
being of a similar tint, but relieved by two deep crimson blotches 
near the base. The general form and markings of the flower are 
well indicated in the woodcut (fig. 54, page 277). The flowers are 
borne in rather loose few-flowered racemes, which are produced 
near the apex of the stems. D. demiflorum and D. thyrsiflorum are 
also handsome species, with large dense racemes of bright yellow 
flowers, and to these may be added the tall-growing D. Dalhous- 
ianum. with large buff flowers, of which the maroon-blotched lip 
is so striking. The superb D. Hookerianum, with its handsome 
rich orange-coloured flowers, having a finely fringed lip like 
