Juae 30, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
489 
Indian Orchids. 
(^Continued from ]}age 4A0A 
The great genus Dendrobium first claims attention. More 
than 150 species out of an aggregate of 350 known to science have 
been at one time or other in cultivation, and except in such a 
representative collection as that of Sir Trevor Lawrence at Burford 
Lodge the probability is very great that ten amateur collections 
are not to be found in which fifty distinct Indo-Malayan Dendrobes 
are now cultivated. The great decrease in the number of culti¬ 
vated Dendrobes must be assigned to more causes than one. Thus, 
the almost general mistake of growing Australian Dendrobis under 
the same conditions as the Indo-Malayan species has led to the 
almost complete extinction of the former in the gardens of Great 
Britain, the wide difference in the climatic conditions of Australia 
and the Indian monsoon region not admitting of the general 
application of the same treatment even to species of the same 
genus. Many other Dendrobes, especially Malayan, that have been 
introduced, either casually or purposely, possess so little attraction 
for the amateur that their disappearance is, perhaps, not much to 
be regretted. There are also others whose constitution appears to 
be so delicate that it is difficult to keep them alive for any length 
of time under the altered conditions to which they are transferred 
in the glass houses of Great Britain. Still, the margin left is a 
wide one, and for the sake of greater clearness I will mention some 
of the finest Dendrobes we do not see so often as desirable under 
their sectional headings, a distinction that should not be disregarded 
by cultivators, as the sectional characters have a practical bearing 
on the cultural treatment of the groups of species distributed into 
sections. 
To begin with the Fasciculate Dendrobes, or those that 
produce their flowers along the stems chiefly in twos and threes, 
but sometimes solitary, in some species from the bare stem, 
in others while the leaves are still fresh. To this category 
belongs the ever to be admired nobile, the gprinceps if not ihe facile 
princeps of the genus, the gardener’s Orchid par excellence. This 
grand old plant will hold its own indefinitely, and we need not now 
linger over it longer than to pay the homage due to it, but rather • 
let us turn to two or three other species of the same section that 
produce their flowers while the leaves are fresh. D. Linawianum 
is an old favourite, and if not so often seen as it should be, we 
must ascribe it to the curious fact that its habitat is practically 
unknown, nor is it known to have been imported since its first 
appearance nearly seventy years ago. Not so, however, with 
D. ochreatum (Cambridgeanum), which is still plentiful in the 
neighbourhood of Chittagong, and is unquestionably one of the 
finest of yellow Dendrobes, not taking up too much room. And 
so is D. Chrysanthum. Who has ever looked upon the grand 
specimen at Burford Lodge in full bloom without a thrill of 
admiration, and perhaps asked. Where can we find another ? 
Those Dendrobes that produce their flowers along the stems 
after the leaves have fallen are in most cases unquestionably 
inelegant plants. They are often crooked, knobby, dirty looking, 
and such like ; ugly names have been applied to them by 
unfriendly critics. But this so-called ugliness is tolerated in 
D. Wardianum, D. crassinode, D. Bensonias, D. superbum, and 
others that have acquired favour. And should not the long, lithe, 
pendulous stems of D. Devonianum, D. crystallinum, D. lituiflorum, 
D. MacCarthiae, D. primulinum, D. Pierardi, D. transparens and 
others, when festooned with lovely flowers from almost their base, 
be also tolerated or ratber welcomed ? Nor should we forget to 
mention the rare D. arachnites, a true scarlet Dendrobe, of which 
only one plant has been known in cultivation ; the dwarf, bright 
yellow D. capillipes ; the richly coloured D. Falconer!; the delicate 
wax-like blossoms of D. crepidatum ; and the pretty trailing 
D. Loddigesi. 
The list is far from being exhausted, but I must pass on to those 
gorgeous species of the section of which D. chrysotoxum, D. thyrsi- 
florum, and D. Farmer! are well known types. Several of the most 
popular of this section have rather short stems with three or four ever¬ 
green I eaves at their summit, but there are other grand species incl uded 
with elongated stems having many leaves, but all bear long lateral 
clusters of flowers of bright and even gorgeous hue. Of the short¬ 
stemmed species D. chrvsotoxum, with itg variety suavissimum, 
D. densitlorum, D. thyrsiflorum, and D. Farmeri still hold a promi¬ 
nent place, and among the longer-stemmed forms D. Brymerianum, 
with its curiously fimbriated lip, is generally cultivated. But 
can we say _the^ same of the grand old D. fimbriatum, D. 
moscba,tum, with its variety Calceolaria, D. Hookeriauum, the rare 
D. Griffithianum, and the light flowered D. barbatum and D. 
Palpbra? ? Then we come to the formosum group, with delicate 
white or light flowers. D. formosum itself is the delight of 
amateurs, and scarcely less so is D. Infundibulum and its variety 
Jaraesianum ; but how rarely do we see good healthy specimens of 
D. carimferum, D. Draconis, D. Lowi, D. longicornu, and D. 
scabrilingue. 
Continuing our rapid review of the cultivated Dendrobes we 
next come to a group of magnificent species distinguished by rather 
long stems, producing near their summits longer or shorter racemes 
of showy flowers. Among the best Indian types of this section are 
D. Dalhouseianum and D. clavatum, with large flowers ; D, 
aduncum and D. Fytchianum with smaller light flowers. ’The 
most admired Malayan types are D. Phalsenopsis, D. Macfarlanei, 
and D. Dearei, while the curious D. stratiotes and D. strebloceras, 
also Malayan, are remarkable for the extraordinary persistence of 
their flowers, which have been observed to continue fresh for 
upwards of three months. 
A host of other Dendrobes might still be mentioned well worthy 
of the cultivator’s care, but I will only linger for a moment among 
the hybrids, and then pass on to other genera. The hybrids are 
now becoming a numerous group, and while among the earliest 
raised D. Ainsworth! will long be held in high repute, there is 
no denying the fact that some later acquisitions from like parentage 
have surpassed it, especially D, splendidissimum and its variety 
grandiflorum. Then from other crosses we have excellent results 
in D. chrysodiscus, raised by Sir T. Lawrence ; D. euosmum and 
D. micans, raised by Veitch ; D. Schneiderianum, raised by Holmes, 
and later by Seden ; Yenus by Mr. Norman Cookson ; and several 
others. 
Coelogyne is a noble genua including more than fifty species of 
which one-half have been at one time or other in cultivation. The 
grand old C. cristata like Dendrobium nobile is a gardeners’ plant, 
and not likely to fall into the rear like some of its less favoured con¬ 
geners. It is true that such a sturdy grower as 0. Massangeana 
will hold its ground for an indefinite time, and the still more 
beautiful C. Dayana with equally long pendulous racemes, is not 
likely to lose favour, especially if it becomes more plentiful in the 
Orchid houses of Europe than it is at present ; but can we affirm 
the same of C. barbatum, with its strange contrast of white sepals 
and petals and dusky lip, its near ally C. datum with cream white 
flowers, and the not less beautiful 0. corymbosa, C. Cumingi, 
C. fuscescens, O. graminifolia, C. speciosa, and others ? 
But while these beautiful forms are becoming strangers in our 
midst, it is certainly not so with the Pleiones, botanically Coelogynes, 
and which have, with a certain inappropriateness, obtained the 
name of “ Indian Crocuses.” To the Pleiones the horticulturist 
may turn with a feeling of pride, for in them has been achieved 
one of the greatest triumphs of horticultural skill of the present 
time Growing on moss-covered rocks high up on the Himalaya of 
Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhotan, at elevations from 2500 to 7000 feet 
(Hookeriana still higher) under climatic conditions and environ¬ 
ment that cannot be even approximately imitated in the glass 
houses of Europe, the Pleiones are now cultivated with a success 
that calls forth the admiration of all who see them. Should not 
this afford encouragement to the cultivation of other Coelogynes 
which have the reputation of “not doing well” and are con¬ 
sequently too often abandoned to their fate ? Who among us 
that saw the grand inflorescence of Coelogyne pandurata at one of 
the meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society was not agreeably 
surprised at the excellence of the culture from which it must 
have resulted ? and yet this most remarkable of all Coelogynes 
is generally characterised as “ a bad doer.”—V. 
(To be continued.) 
SIXTY YEARS OF HORTICULTURAL PROGRESS 
(1760—1820). 
(^Continued from page 312.') 
Little incidents in the history of the many nursery gardens 
by which London was belted round before the mania had deve 
loped itself for overcrowding the suburbs with buildings show us 
the change that has come over our life during the present century. 
One of these is, that the metropolitan nurseries, and no doubt some 
about other towns, were not only resorted to for the sake of pur¬ 
chasing plants and flowers, but also much visited by people who 
wanted to get hiiffs on methods or to inspect new and uncommon 
species. To some extent our modern establishments attract 
callers, who make what is often but a hasty inspection. Our 
