PL. CCXCII. 
CATTLEYA BICOLOR lindl. 
THE TWO-COLOURED CATTLEYA. 
CATTLEYA. Vide Lindenia, engl. ed., vol. I, p. 7. 
Cattleya bicolor Lindl. Bot. Reg., XXII (1836), sub. t. 1919. — Id., Sert. Orch., t. 5, fig. 1. — Id., Bot. 
Reg., XXIV, Mise. p. 80. — Id., XXX, sub. t. 5. — Bot. Mag., t. 4909. — Warn. <& Will. Orchid Album, 
VII, t. 318. 
Epidendrum bicolor Rchb. F. in Walp. Ann. VI, p. 34. 
attleya bicolor was originally described by Lindley, in 1836, in the 
pages of the Botanical Register , from a drawing made by Descourtilz. 
From the Sertum Orchidacearum , where this drawing was reproduced, 
we learn that it was found by Descourtilz, on the trunks and branches of the 
largest trees, in the neighbourhood of Bom Jésus de Bananal, in the province 
of Minas Geraes. In 1837 living plants were introduced to England by Messrs 
Loddiges, of Hackney, in whose nursery it flowered during the following year. 
It also flowered in the nursery of M r Pontey of Plymouth, in the same year, as 
Lindley afterwards recorded ; and our colleague M r Rolfe informs us that this 
specimen is preserved in Lindley’s Herbarium at Kew. We hâve thus evidence of 
its cultivation in Europe for a period of over half a century. The species is also 
known to grow in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, and it may hâve been 
from this habitat that these original plants were introduced. 
The spécifie name given to this species applies equally well to several 
others, yet it expresses clearly the impression produced at a fîrst glance, for its 
flowers show such distinct colours, having the segments clear brown, and the 
lip of a bright amethyst violet. These colours harmonise perfectly with that of 
the foliage, and the species being very floriferous, like the majority of others 
of this section, and producing its flowers in groups of three to eight and even 
ten together, we may rank it among the most valuable species for décorative 
purposes. 
We should also add that its flowers are produced in the autumn, which 
still further increases its value. 
Cattleya bicolor has the pseudobulbs slender, cylindrical, about eighteen 
inches high, and bearing a pair of oblong leaves at the apex. It resembles 
C. guttata , much in habit, but its pseudobulbs are smaller. As regards culture 
it appears not to difler from this species, nor yet from the great majority of 
Cattleyas. A well lighted and ventilated house suits them perfectly ; the moisture 
