October 17.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
37 
petals, and lip of a pale greenish yellow, striped with 
reddish purple. The lip is the largest part of the flower, 
and is of a triangular shape. It grows freely, and 
flowers readily every year. 31s 6d. 
0. urophyllum (Tail-leaved 0.); Brazil and Jamaica. 
Blowers clear yellow on the upper surface, and white on 
the lower. There are a few crimson spots on the upper 
side near the centre. The flowers are produced on long 
drooping panicles. 21s. 
O. unijlorum (One-flowered 0.); Brazil. Sepals and 
petals pale brown, thinly spotted with reddish purple; 
lip clear yellow, blotched and spotted round the crest of 
the lip. The flowers are produced on short stems singly, 
of a good size, and very pretty. Very rare. 84s. 
Culture. —The above five orchids are exceedingly 
interesting plants, forming a small section of this large 
family, but somewhat difficult to cultivate ; yet from 
their not taking up much room, and being so very 
pretty—especially O. pulchellum, O. tricolor, and O. tri¬ 
quetrum —they are worthy of a little extra trouble. 
Place them on blocks without bark, with a very little 
moss just under the plants, but not actually in contact. 
Syringe only when there is likely to be sunshine, and 
in the morning; keep them in a warm moist bouse, for 
they are natives of a warm climate, and require more 
heat and moisture than the Mexican house. As they have 
no pseudo-bulbs, they must be syringed frequently 
during proper weather all the year—the only care neces¬ 
sary being to let them become dry towards the afternoon 
and during tire night. They should be hung up within 
eighteen inches of the glass, so as to receive a great 
amount of light, which enables them to resist, even 
when young, the influence of damp. If kept too wet 
constantly whilst the young shoots are growing, they 
are apt to damp off; but with the above precautions and 
care they will thrive and flower satisfactorily. The rest 
of the Oncids that require blocks, described in a former 
number, do not require such very particular care. 
0. crispum is very easy to grow—all that it requires is 
to be fastened to the block with a little moss, and kept 
moist during the growing season. Every collection 
ought to have this fine handsome species in it; its 
splendid flowers are very attractive. 
0. Forbesii, also, is very fine, but rather more difficult 
to grow. It is nearly lost to the country ; but we trust 
it will shortly be more plentiful, as there is a collector 
in its native district, we are informed, who knows of 
quantities of it growing wild ; and there is no doubt he 
will, sooner or later, send over a good batch of this desi¬ 
rable plant. 
Plialccnopsis amabilis (The lovely moth-like flower) ; 
Manilla. This has been rightly named “ The Queen of 
Orchids,” and a most lovely queen it is! Every one 
that has seen it will agree with us, that it is impossible 
by any description to do justice to its delicacy and 
beauty. Perhaps the finest plant in cultivation is in 
the London Horticultural Society’s garden at Chiswick. 
Mr. Fortune, when in China on his first expedition, 
took a voyage from Shanghae to the Manillas, on pur¬ 
pose to collect a quautity of this plant, and was emi¬ 
nently successful, both in procuring the plants and 
sending them home in fine condition. The particular 
plant alluded to above was one for which Mr. Fortune 
offered a prize to the natives. The prize (two dollars, 
we believe) was to be given.to the native who brought 
him the largest plant, and the one in question was the 
prize plant. It is truly a noble specimen, having fre¬ 
quently between twenty and thirty spikes in full flower 
at once. The flowers are produced on long stems, which 
in the first instance are terminal, but afterwards are 
often branched. The weight of the flower causes the 
stem to droop gracefully; and the flowers are arranged 
alternately in two rows, sometimes as many as twelve 
on each stem (in one instance we saw eighteen on one 
stem). Sepals and petals pure white, and the lip of the 
same colour, very curiously formed, something like a 
sharp-pointed boat; the inside is beautifully streaked 
with rosy pink. Each flower often measures three inches I 
across. The whole flower has much the appearance of 
a large moth with its wings fully expanded—hence its 
name. Small plants, 133 3s; large-flowering do., A5 5s. 
P. grandijloriis (Large-flowered P.) ; Java. There is 
not much difference between this and the preceding j 
species. They may be distinguished by tho following j 
marks :—The leaves of the latter are longer and narrower; : 
the sepals and petals are of greater substance, and larger 
and more compact; the markings on the lip are more 
vivid in colour, yet with all this it requires au observant 
eye to distinguish them from each other. Prices the 
same as the last. 
Culture. —The culture of these fine plants is very I 
simple. Being natives of the hottest parts of the globe, 
they require to be kept constantly in the warmest part j 
of the Indian house. They should be fastened to a log : 
of wood of the least perishable kind, because their roots 
cling so closely to it, that they do not easily part from it, 
even with the greatest care. Hence they should not be 
often moved, but be placed at once upon a log likely to 
last for at least three years. In fact, rather than tear 
the roots from a log on which they are firmly fixed we 
place two smaller ones, one on each side, and so allow 
the fresh young roots to fix themselves upon them. By 
so doing the old roots are preserved, and the young ones 
have an opportunity of obtaining fresh support from the 
new branches. No moss is required for them. The fine 
plant at Chiswick, growing on its native log, has no 
moss near it. The only care requisite, is to give them 
abundance of moisture, especially during the summer 
months. When in flower it will not be desirable to 
syringe the whole plant, as every drop of water upon 
the flower causes a spot of dark colour, and greatly 
detracts from its beauty, by defacing that pure white 
which is its greatest charm. As the plant, even when 
in flower, requires abundance of moisture, it may be 
given to it by taking the plant off the hook on which it 
is suspended, and dipping the log and roots just up to 
the plant in the tepid water of the cistern. From March 
to September this operation may be done with the 
greatest good effect every day, and in the hottest days 
of summer even twice a day will be beneficial. By this 
liberal treatment the plants will send forth line bold 
dark green flowers, and strong flower stems, with 
numerous large flowers. We cannot close our remarks 
upon these beautiful plants without mentioning another 
good property they possess; namely, lasting a long time 
in bloom. We alluded to a specimen that had eighteen 
flowers open at one time on one stem. This plant was 
P. grandijlorus, and was exhibited at the three ex¬ 
hibitions at Chiswick, by Mr. Kinghorn, gardener to the 
Earl Kilmorey, at Orleans Blouse, Twickenham, in fine 
condition at each show. This proves its great value as 
a flower of long continuance; and this is not all, for if 
the flower spike be cut off close to the place where the 
first flower made its appearance, the same shoot will 
break out and flower again in six weeks or two months, 
thus giving forth its splendid beauty for eight or nine 
months in the year. Have we not written enough to 
recommend this queen of orchids to our readers! But 
we think we hear them say, it is so dear ! Now, really, 
we do not think so. We say to them, as we say to many 
a customer, save your money, and instead of buying ten 
species of common orchids for five pounds, lay it out in 
purchasing one that will always delight you, either by 
being in flower in regal beauty, or showing buds in 
progress, and thus giving that pleasing excitement of ex¬ 
pectation to see its beauties which is often nearly as 
much pleasure as the actual fruition of your hopes. 
Perhaps some may ask, which of the species are we to 
