January IJ. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
279 
OHCHTDS BEARING COOL TREATMENT. 
{Oontiiiiicd from page 200.) 
Df.ndrobtuji DENSTEI.ORUJI.— Wlien I. Allcavd, Esq,, 
resided at Stratford-le-Bow he had a very fine collection 
! of Orchids. It was there I first observed the above 
! fine Uendrobe treated as a greenhouse plant. It was a 
fine specimen, perfectly healthy, with leaves as green as 
i a leek, and had very prominent flower-buds. In conse- 
({uence, I can confidently recommend it as one that will 
bear and thrive well with a cool treatment. It is a 
native of the hills of Nepaul, and has large, dense spikes of 
yellow flowers. It does not flower, however, till it has 
made strong pseudo-bulbs, at least a foot long, and pro- 
portionably stout. In its native place it inhabits shady, 
moist woods, therefore a similar position in the cool 
house will be necessary. Further, to recommend it to 
cultivators, it forms a handsome jflant even when out of 
flower, and is evergreen. It requires to be grown in a 
pot well drained, and in light, very fibrous peat. 
D. DISCOLOR, sgn. UNDur.ATUJr (Wavy).—As this curious 
species is a native of New Holland, it necessarily follows 
that it will bear a cool treatment, especially when at rest. 
It has a most singular appearance, with very stout, erect 
stems, four feet high, and much swollen in the middle. 
The flowers are produced at the ends of the pseudo¬ 
bulbs, in racemes, each containing upwards of a dozen 
large, yellowish-brown flowers. The lip or labellum is 
of the same colour, with five deep wavy plates, of a 
light violet-colour. It should be grown in a pot, in open 
turfy-peat, and kept moist when growing, both at the 
root and over the foliage. 
D. MONiLiFORME (Bracelet-formed).—This beautiful 
species has been, hitherto, by all writers, including my¬ 
self, described as requiring great heat. I am now con¬ 
vinced that treatment is quite wrong. In a cool house 
it grows, it is true, more dwarf; but, nevertheless, it 
thrives there and flowers more abundantly, with its 
colour much heightened, which colour, in a cool house, 
is a deep rose with a pure white centre. It requires a 
compost of chopped sphagnum and fibry-peat, well 
mixed with choppings of wood and small pieces of char¬ 
coal. As it is a native of the warmer parts of China, it 
should have, when growing, the warmest part of the 
cool house, and plenty of water overhead. 
D. NORiLE (Noble).—This well-known fine species 
needs no description. I have proved it to be sufficiently 
hardy for a cool house, providing it has, like the pre¬ 
ceding, a warm corner in summer, to perfect its growth. 
It then makes stout, flowering pseudo-bulbs, whereas, in 
too great heat they are long and lanky, and flower very 
middling indeed. It requires the same compost as 1). 
vioniliforme. 
1). SECUNDUM var. (Side-flowering).—A variety from 
Cliina. The species is from the Malaccas, and is much 
more tender. A very handsome variety, with deep, rosy- 
purple flowers, densely placed on one side of the top of 
the 2 )seudo-bulb. It should be grown in a pot in fibry- 
peat, well drained. 
D. sPEciosu.M (Handsome).—A very strong-growing 
species from New South Wales. Mr. Backhouse, of 
York, saw it growing on the inaccessible side of a lofty 
rock, not far from Sidney, where it flowers freely. In 
this country it has not bloomed well for many years, 
but now that its culture is better understood, it flowers 
every year, at various places, more especially the large 
: plant in the gardens, or, rather, I should say, that was 
in the gardens at Chiswick. The plants grew freely 
enough everywhere, but did not flower, because they 
were cultivated in a too high uniform temperature. In 
a greenhouse, freely watered when growing, and kept 
quite dry when at rest, it will flower as regularly as any 
other species. The flowers are pi’oduced at the top of 
j the pseudo-bulbs, in dense racemes, from twelve to 
eighteen inches long; they are of a pale-yellow-colour, 
spotted with pinkish-red. 
1). TETRAGONUM (Four-augled).—A species from More- 
ton Bay, in Australia, consequently, a fit inhabitant for 
a cool house. It is a rather handsome species, with 
square pseudo-bulbs, thin at the base and thicker to¬ 
wards the extremities. The flowers are produced to- ' 
wards the top, and the petals and sepals are yellowish- , 
green, margined with brownish-red; the labellum is ' 
pale yellow, streaked with crimson. 
There are several more small species from New 
Holland, all of which will grow in a cool house, but 
they are scarce in collections, and even in sale nurseries. 
Messrs. Loddiges, some years ago, had a considerable 
number of them, but where they are now (echo says, ' 
where ?) it is difficult to tell. ; 
I am inclined to think there are several other species 
of Dendrobium that would thrive and flower well with a j 
cool treatment, especially D. carulescens, Oibsonii, j 
and Paxtonii but as I have never tried them, I fear i 
to recommend them. If any cultivator has a spare 
plant of any of these he might try it for one season, at 
leakt. 
Epidendrum aurantiacum (Orange).—A species from 
Guatemala, with rich orange-coloured sepals and petals; 
the lip is^ the same colour, with a few delicate streaks of 
crimson. There is no doubt but this is a moderately 
hardy species; for Mr. Skinner, its discoverer, says, 
“ That it is subject to great extremes of heat and cold.” 
E. RHizoPHORUM (Root-beariug). — A tall-growing 
species from Guatemala, something like, both in habit 
and flower, E. cimaharinum. It is, however, much 
hardier than that species, and will not flower in too 
much heat. The best-managed plant I ever saw was 
under the care of my friend Mr. Bassett, gardener to ' 
R. S. Holford, Esq., at Weston Birt, near Tutbury, in 
Gloucestershire. He cultivates it in an empty flat I 
basket, bending the shoots backwards and forwards till j 
the basket is thickly covered with stems and roots, j 
only allowing the extremities of the shoots to point up¬ 
wards. The plants are grown in the coolest house, kept 
no warmer than an ordinary greenhouse, and much 
drier than one in winter, and, perhaps, a shade more 
moist in summer. So managed, his plants flower pro¬ 
fusely, and the plants are kept within bounds. The 
flowers are produced in terminal umbels, and are of a 
rich, brick-red colour, lasting a long time in bloom. 
E. Skinneri (Mr. Skinner’s) sgn. Barkeria Skinneri. — 
A very elegant species from Guatemala. This is a very 
pretty and interesting species, almost always spoilt by 
being grown in too much heat. Flowers pink, continu¬ 
ing a long time in flower. It is best cultivated in a 
basket filled with sphagnum, and suspended from the 
roof, where it will have plenty of light and air. If ex¬ 
cited to grow in winter the shoots are almost sure to 
perish. 
E. viTELLTNUJi (Yolk of Egg).—One of the most 
splendid of Orchids, native of Mexico. I saw a plant 
of it in flower, at Mr. E. Wheeler’s nursery, last month, 
in as fine perfection as possible, and that plant has been 
constantly growing in a cool house. Most cultivators i 
complain that this is a delicate difficult-to-grow plant. ' 
I have not the least doubt this delicacy of constitution 
may be fairly ascribed to its being grown in too mucli , 
heat. There are two varieties, the lesser and the major, j 
both beautiful, but the latter has the largest flower. ; 
The flowers are of a most clear, brilliant, scarlet-orange i 
colour, and are produced in spikes from the top of the 
current year’s growth. It should be grown on a block, • 
and that block set among and half buried in broken I 
potsherds in a pot. Tliese, when they are growing, 
should be kept constantly moist; they then send up j 
around the plant a constant moist atmosphere, which j 
helps the plant to grow amazingly. 
