JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
364 
[May 3,1883. 
on Certainties and Uncertainties ; Samuel Hape, Esq., Atlanta, 
Georgia, on the Effect of the Evening Sun on Fruit Trees ; Byron 
D. Halsted, D.Sc., Editor of the American Agriculturist , on 
Fungi ; Josiah Hoopes, Esq., Ex-President of Fruit-Growers’ 
Society of Pennsylvania, on Peach Culture in Pennsylvania; Prof. 
W. R. Lazenby, Ohio State University, on Dichogomy in Culti¬ 
vated Plants— i.e., noting examples where the stamens of a flower 
mature before the stigmas, or the stigmas before the stamens; Hon. 
T. T. Lyon, President Michigan State Horticultural Society, on 
How can we best maintain a high standard of quality in fruits, 
as against the tendencies of commercial pomology ; J. C. Plumb, 
Esq., Milton, Wisconsin ; Prof. C. V. Riley, U.S. Entomologist, 
on Recent Advances in Horticultural Entomology ; Dr. E. Lewis 
Sturtevant, Director of the New York Experiment Station, on 
Some Things the Station can do for Horticulture ; Prof. S. M. 
Tracy, Missouri University, Secretary of the Mississippi Valley 
Horticultural Society. 
STANDARD ACACIA LOPHANTHA. 
Seedling plants of this Acacia, so easily raised annually, have 
long been highly valued for decorative purposes both indoor and 
out. As a seedling it is singularly elegant, the straight erect stem 
bearing large green pinnate foliage, handsome as the fronds of a 
Maidenhair Fern, curving gracefully and gently downwards, not 
at all crowded, but far enough apart to impart lightness with 
fulness and to show the full beauty of each leaf. Seen under this 
guise they are very attractive as a miniature forest springing out 
of a carpet of rich colour in a summer flower bed, placed singly 
in vases for sitting-rooms or the dinner table, or mingled with 
other plants in groups or window boxes. 
Some plants raised last year kept fresh and useful in 5-inch 
pots throughout summer, autumn, and winter, but they continued 
growing, and by the approach of spring had become somewhat 
ungainly in height; but instead of discarding all of them a few 
of the best were shifted into 7-inch pots, and they were pruned 
to a uniform height of 4 feet in view of converting them into 
handsome standards with round compact heads. Lateral growth 
followed so quickly that our object will soon be attained. In 
point of fact lateral growth comes naturally with the second 
year’s growth, and I am not at all sure that some plants left 
unpruned will not eventually prove the most handsome in the 
graceful freedom of the less formal unchecked growth.— Edward 
Luckhurst. 
EPIDENDRUMS 
In the admirable review of the family Orchidacere by Mr. G. 
Bentham, published in the Transactions of the Linnrean Society, 
1881, it is stated that nearly 400 species of Epidendrum are 
known ; but scarcely a fourth of these are in cultivation, except 
in botanic gardens. Twenty years previously Reichenbach 
enumerated 385 species in Walpers’ “ Annales,” but these in¬ 
cluded many that are usually referred to other genera—many 
plants described by Lindley under Cattleya and others. Previous 
to the present century very few Epidendrums were known ; for 
instance, in the second edition of Aiton’s “ Hortus Kewensis,” 
published in 1813, nine species only are mentioned—namely, 
E. cochleatum, E. fragrans, E. secundum, E. fuscatum, E. elonga- 
tum, E. umbellatum, E. nutans, E. conopseum, and E. ciliare. All 
these were introduced in the last fifteen years of the eighteenth 
century, the earliest being E. conopseum, which was found in 
Florida by Mr. William Bartram, and introduced to England by 
Dr. John Fothergill in 1775. In contrast with this it may be 
mentioned that the Kew collection now comprises fifty-nine well- 
marked species, probably the largest number now grown in one 
garden, at least in England. 
Though so numerous, however, the genus Epidendrum includes 
comparatively few really useful and handsome garden species, 
and in this respect it is unlike the Denbrobiums, Odontoglossums, 
Oncidiums, and other large genera. The majority of forms have 
greenish, yellow, or brownish flowers, small or insignificant in 
appearance, but to counterbalance they possess a great variety 
of powerful and agreeable odours. A glance at the specific names 
will sufficiently indicate this. For instance, there is E. fragrans, 
E. cinnamomeum, E. inosmum (Violet-scented), E. piperimum 
(Pepper-like), E. primulinum (Primrose-scented), and E. melios- 
mum (honey-scented). Many besides also have very distinct 
odours, but they have obtained their names from characters of 
form, colour, or other qualities. This generally diffused fragrance 
has rendered some of the least beautiful forms favourites with 
Orchid-growers, but in addition there are at least a dozen species 
of remarkable cultural value, and it is only necessary to mention 
one as an example—viz., E. vitellinum, which has become 
almost indispensable wherever Orchids are grown for decorative 
purposes. 
Epidendrums have a wide range over the northern hemisphere, 
the East and West Indies, Tropical South America, Mexico, and 
the Southern States of North America having their characteristic 
species. Nearly all are epiphytal in habit, as the generic title 
indicates, but a few are terrestrial; and though some appear to 
evince a partiality for blocks or baskets in cultivation, they can 
mostly be satisfactorily grown in pots or pans. If a house is 
specially devoted to Mexican Orchids the temperature provided 
for them will suit the majority of Epidendrums ; but in any house 
where a night temperature of 60° and a day temperature ranging 
between G5° and 75° can be secured good results can be insured 
with comparatively little trouble, except in the case of a few 
rather fastidious species. When grown in pots drainage must be 
carefully attended to, a compost of good fibrous peat and sphagnum 
moss being provided ; and the same is suitable for either pans or 
baskets, while those grown on blocks can be secured with wire 
and a little fresh moss. 
It would be unnecessary to enumerate even half the species of 
this genus, but some of the most interesting, useful, or beautiful 
may briefly be noted. 
E. conopseum , referred to above, though not of remarkable 
beauty, is interesting from the fact that it is reputedly the most 
northern epiphyte known. In Walpers’ “ Annales ” it is said to be 
“ wild in the southern States of North America, having been found 
on evergreen trees on the seacoasts of Carolina and Georgia, and has 
been found as far north as Edings Island. It is more common in 
the south, and is found on species of Oak and other trees.” Sir 
Joseph Hooker has stated that “When Drummond gathered it in 
Apalachiola ice formed so thickly in one night’s time as to bear 
the weight of a man.” The plant is a few inches high, with 
yellowish or green flowers, and can therefore only be considered 
as a curiosity. 
E. bicornutum .—This is more generally known as an Epidendrum, 
though this has been separated with the species bidentatum, 
bilamellatum, and bigibberosum under the name Diacrium, dis¬ 
tinguished by the horn-like projections on the lip. Whatever it 
be termed it is undoubtedly a charming Orchid ; and it is regret- 
able that growers have found such difficulty with its culture that 
it has obtained a rather bad reputation. This, however, is 
undeserved, for in the Royal Gardens, Kew, for several years past 
plants have been most successfully grown and freely flowered. 
At the present time several good specimens are flowering in the 
Orchid house there, proving that the treatment required is well 
understood. Mr. George Walters, who for some time had charge 
of the above collection, was particularly successful with the plant, 
and he so well described its requirements that it may be reprinted 
here with advantage. 
“ The best way to grow it is in baskets suspended from the roof 
or on pieces of Tree Fern stem. I have grown and flowered it 
under both systems, and if grown in baskets a compost of very 
fibry peat, moss, and charcoal should be employed. The plant 
roots freely in its natural habitat, but is rather shy-rooting under 
cultivation. Having a friend living in Trinidad, I wrote him for 
particulars with regard to where it was found and under what 
conditions, and in reply he writes, * With regard to your questions 
respecting E. bicornutum, if I tell you how I collected it no doubt 
that will suffice. I went out one day last week, hired a boat to 
carry me to the Five Islands, a group of irregular size, standing 
at no great height out of the water, in one bend or basin of our 
harbour, which may be called rocks left after the severance of 
that part from the mainland by the encroaching influence of the 
sea. Round these islands one can sail and soon load his boat by 
pulling the tufts off the ledges of the rocks or any cavity. It 
is subject to drenchings of water by the action of the waves, is 
generally fully exposed to the.sun, and as it is surrounded by 
water the plant must be subject to heavy dews owing to the great 
variation in temperature of the land at night. I soon collected a 
load, though I am afraid they are too much advanced in growth 
for travelling.’ By these remarks it is easily perceived that the 
three most essential requirements of E. bicornutum are heat, ex¬ 
posure to sun, moisture, and a moderately low night temperature, 
and if these be carefully attended to it should make satisfactory 
progress.” 
The plant is a native of Trinidad and some other West Indian 
islands, and was first introduced by Messrs. Shepherd of Liverpool 
about fifty years ago. The flowers are of moderate size, lj to 
