CATTLEYAS 
Cattleyas take first rank among garden Orchids, and they 
owe this position to their usually large and richly-coloured 
flowers, not one of the many species and varieties known 
being unattractive. By far the handsomest of them are all 
those which constitute the Labiata section, of which that shown 
in the plate is a type. In this section there are varieties with 
pure white, rose-tinted, purple, or nankeen-yellow flowers, 
the lip in every case being blotched or veined with some more 
pronounced colour. They vary in their season of flowering, 
the true Labiata , often called Vera, flowering in autumn. 
The variety Mossice, forms of which have flowers eight 
inches across, beautifully coloured, blooms in May or June. 
The species have been intercrossed freely by breeders, and 
there are now many beautiful hybrids which, judged by their 
commercial value, are greatly superior to their parents. There 
are also many hybrids between Cattleyas and the closely- 
related Laelias. 
