344 
AMERICAN AG4UC U LT U RIST. 
[August, 
Phalaenopsis—An Orchid or Air Plant.— 
( Phalaina , a moth, apsis, resemblance.) 
BY DR. JAMES KNIGHT. 
The above figure is intended to represent Pha¬ 
laenopsis grandiflora, the specimen most com¬ 
monly found in collections of Orchids, and gen¬ 
erally admitted to be nearly equal in beauty to 
P. Amabilis (the first introduced); and a much 
more free growing variety, bearing a greater 
number of, and larger flowers. 
This most singular and very beautiful species 
of air-plant, was discovered by Ur. Blume, a 
noted Botanist, on the coast of Nusa Kambanga, 
India, where it was growing on thick low trees, 
covered with moss, coiling its rope-like roots 
round the branches, and hanging in entangled 
tufts, suspended in the air. Phalaenopsis Amabi¬ 
lis being the first variety discovered, was sent 
to England in 1836, and first flowered in the es¬ 
tablishment of Messrs. Iloliinson, of Tooting near 
London, and as we have been informed, the sum 
of fifty pounds sterling ($250) was asked fora 
single plant ! and we know of one recently im¬ 
ported to this country, that cost eight pounds 
sterling ($40) at London. The price of P. gran¬ 
diflora, rates at the present time, at from three to 
four pounds at the Messrs. H. Low & Co.’s 
Clapton nurseries near London, the largest im¬ 
porters of East India Orchids, in England. 
The flowers of P. grandiflora grow upon a 
scape or flower stem, arising from the root of the 
plant to about eighteen inches in length. It bears 
from eight to ten flowers, each flower measuring 
ahout three inches across, resembling a most 
beautiful white winged butterfly ; the body or 
center is shaded with a brilliant luster of golden 
yellow. These flowers are^ll in perfection and 
expanded at onetime. We had one about a year 
ago in bloom, that we exhibited to the Farmers’ 
Club at the American Institute, that remained in 
flower five weeks, in perfect form and color. J. 
Paulinere, Esq , of Jer¬ 
sey city,had one in bloom 
this Spring, even a great¬ 
er length of time ; having 
been kept under very fa¬ 
vorable circumstances, 
his Orchid House being 
very complete in all its 
parts. These good qual¬ 
ities, with its rarity and 
beauty, make it a very 
valuable plant, but we do 
not entertain the opinion, 
with many others, that 
it is the most beautiful 
orchid now under culti¬ 
vation. Messrs. Buchan- 
nan & Son, of J, I, the 
largest importers of 
West India Orchids in 
North America, have in 
their extensive collec¬ 
tion, a West India Or¬ 
chid, in my opinion, quite 
equal to Phalaenopsis 
grandiflora or Amabilis. 
Phalaenopsis grandiflora 
is most readily culti¬ 
vated, as it grows freely 
when fixed to a rough 
piece of wood or cork, 
with a little moss at¬ 
tached, and suspended 
in an Orchid house, in a 
temperature of about 70° 
when growing; and a few degrees less when at 
rest—giving plenty of moisture when growing. 
Hon. Mr. Van Vorst of Jersey City, who tias the 
largest collection of East India Orchids in this 
country, grows Phalaenopsis, and to great per¬ 
fection, in pots filled with Sphagnum and broken 
potsherds, and placed over large pans of water ; 
over which his other fine orchids are also grown, 
and are thus protected from insects, that are very 
annoying under ordinary modes of treatment. 
Ensuring Germination of Seeds. 
It is often desirable to secure plants from seeds 
that, by reason of improper packing, long keep¬ 
ing, or other unfavorable influences, have lost 
much of their vital power, and which can not be 
made to germinate under ordinary treatment. 
The following suggestions, which we extract from 
a foreign publication, are of practical value, es¬ 
pecially to those receiving new seeds from abroad: 
“ If seeds have become sickly or feeble, from 
age or other causes, some precautions become 
necessary, to which, under other circumstances, 
no attention requires to be paid. When the vital 
energies of a seed are diminished, it does not lose 
its power of absorbing water, but it is less capa¬ 
ble of decomposing it. The consequence of this 
is that the free water introduced into the system, 
collects in the cavities of the seed, and produces 
putrefaction ; the sign of which is the rotting of 
seeds in the ground. The remedy for this is to 
present water to the seed in such small quanti¬ 
ties at a time, and so gradually, that no more is 
absorbed than the languid powers of the seed can 
assimilate ; and to increase the quantity only as 
the dormant powers of vegetation are aroused. 
One of the best means of doing this is to sow seeds 
in warm soil tolerably dry ; to trust for some time 
to the moisture that exists in such earth and the at¬ 
mosphere for the supply required for germination ; 
and only to administer water when the signs of ger¬ 
mination have become visible; even then the supply 
should be exceedingly small. If this is attended 
to, carbonic acid is very slowly formed and liber¬ 
ated ; the chemical quality of the contents of the 
seed is thus insensibly altered, each act of respi¬ 
ration may be said to invigorate it, and by de¬ 
grees it will be brought to a condition favorable 
to the assimilation of food in larger quantities. 
Mr. Knight used to say that these effects were 
produced in no way so well as by enclosing seeds 
between two pieces of loamy turf, cut smooth, 
and applied to each other by the underground 
sides ; such a method is, however, scarcely ap¬ 
plicable to any except seeds of considerable size.” 
The London Gardener’s Chronicle states that, 
by the careful application of the rule above, 
printed in italics, raspberry seeds which had 
been buried 1600 years, were caused to grow. 
Cactuses, 
Few plants more quickly attract attention in a 
large collection, than the cactuses. Their curious 
habits of growth, grotesque forms, and brilliance 
of flower, place them among the'most desirable 
for indoor culture. They have also the advantage 
of enduring great neglect, being content with the 
poorest fare, asking only sufficient heat for their 
comfort. They are all natives of America, be¬ 
ing found in the tropical regions, and some of 
them occupying situations where scarcely any oth¬ 
er plant could endure. The most thin, arid, rocky 
soils, where rain fall is unknown for months, will 
still sustain the leathery, spiny cactus. The 
tough enveloping epidermis allows but slight 
evaporation of the sap, hence but little water suf¬ 
fices for their wants. The number of the differ¬ 
ent species is quite large. Recent explorers • of 
the proposed route for the Pacific Railroad, found 
many new cactuses, some of which were mar¬ 
vels of vegetation. They take various shapes, 
some being mere creeping stems, others having 
the form of large spiny melons deeply ribbed. The 
stems of one species resemble hideous green 
snakes or rather caterpillars ; others, again, as¬ 
cend with large angular trunks to 30 feet high. 
MAMILLARIA WELDII. 
The plant here illustrated belongs to the genus 
Mamillaria, of which there are some seventy 
species. This is known as Mamillaria Weldii. 
It is easily propagated. One of the tuberculous 
looking leaves introduced to a pot of soil com¬ 
posed of four parts loam, two of leaf mold, and 
one of sand, watered once a week during Sum¬ 
mer, will need no further attention. It will need 
the protection of the house and fire heat during 
Winter and will repay these little attentions by 
a very pretty show of bloom in the Spring. 
