592 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Slay 16, 1891. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
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The Orchid-Growers’ Calendar. 
An increased amount of moisture is now required in all 
sections, so as to follow out the principle of “growing” 
the plants during the season when most light and sun 
heat is obtainable, and therefore damping down should 
he resorted to with sufficient frequency to keep the 
atmosphere humid, while the plants growing on bare 
rafts or in baskets will now require dipping daily, if 
not more often. No hard and fast rule can possibly be 
made for the watering of plants in pots, since it is well 
known that some houses even at the same temperatures 
are more drying than others ; but when the cultivator 
is in a difficulty to know whether to water a plant or 
not, on account of its being neither wet nor dry, he may 
remember it is now the growing season, and if the 
growth of the plant be well advanced he may go towards 
the wet side in summer, and lean towards the dry side 
in winter. 
Nearly all the plants in the East Indian section are 
now in active growth, and the temperatures should 
range from 70° at night to 80° or even higher by sun 
heat during the day. Intermediate or Cattleya house 
Vandas, such as V. suavis, V. tricolor, and V. ccerulea, 
all growing more actively than before, want plenty of 
water, air, and light, without strong sunshine ; the 
two former species being now well forward with strong 
llower spikes. Mexican Lcelias enjoy a good drenching 
with the syringe, rose water-pot, or garden-engine in 
the early morning, and also about four in the afternoon 
if grown in a house running east and west and placed 
on the sunny (south) side, with very slight shade during 
the brightest five or six houis of the day. 
Cool-house plants are now all the less likely to suffer 
from the attacks of thrips and green-fiy, since the 
necessity for fire heat has ceased, but it is not safe to 
let the ventilators remain open very wide at night 
just yet, for a minimum night temperature of 50° is 
quite low enough, especially if the house contains plants 
of the more tender Odontoglossums and Miltonia 
vexillaria. 
The gradual hardening of any plants intended for 
grouping at forthcoming shows is a well-known 
necessity to old hands, but some of your readers who 
may be intending to enrich their local or other 
shows with some of their treasures for a couple of days, 
who have not previously had any expeiience of taking 
plants to shows, will be glad of a word of counsel, which 
is : Send your good things by all means, they will be 
seen and fully appreciated ; but, remember, a tent is 
not like a hot-house at night, atfd therefore any plants 
growing in the stove should be transferred to a cooler 
house for a week or so to harden them, and thereby 
prevent any risk of a check such as would be possible 
if taken right out of a hot moist atmosphere.— JF. F. 
Mormodes Lawrenceanum. 
Some of the species of Mormodes, like many of the 
allied genus Catasetum, are anything but showy plants. 
That under notice is exceptional, however, in this 
respect, judging from a coloured figure of it in the 
Lind.mii, pi. 273. The dowers are produced in long, 
semi-erect racemes from the axils of the leaves. The 
sepals are lanceolate-linear, reflexed, brownish yellow, 
and marked with five longitudinal deep brown lines 
inclined to break up into spots ; the petals are incurved, 
with seven lines, but similar in every other respect 
to the sepals. The lip is rather a curious-looking 
organ, reniform-cordate, sharply reflexed at the edges, 
with the triangular apex reflexed. It is also obliquely 
incurved, and turns up against the column with its 
apex ; the ground colour is clear ochre-yellow, spotted 
with brown, and as if to complete the strangeness 
of the flower, the column is almost white, spotted with 
purple. The species was introduced from New Grenada 
by Messrs. Linden, Parc Leopold, Brussels, and 
flowered for the first time in Europe in January last. 
Odontoglossum Hallii leucoglossum. 
A finely coloured piece of this bearing 12 flowers on a 
raceme a yard long was shown by Mr. H. J. Chapman, 
gardener to G. Le Deuse, Esq., Langton House, 
Molesley, at the Drill Hall on Tuesday last, and 
received an Award of Merit. The sepals were lanceolate, 
revolute at the yellow tip, but the rest of the surface 
was of a deep chocolate-brown. The petals were 
broader, suddenly narrowed to a long point, and yellow 
heavily blotched on the lower half with deep chocolate- 
brown. The obovate lip was suddenly involute at the 
tip, and white with two large chocolate blotches in 
front of the yellow and white crest, and a few on either 
side of it. The column was yellow at the base and 
white upwards. 
Phal/enopsis speciosa Imperatrix. 
The flowers of this variety are of a rich dark violet- 
purple, the petals only being slightly paler. The 
sepals are oblong-ovate, the lateral ones being the 
broadest, and the petals are elliptic. The oblong lip 
is strongly ridged along the centre and covered on the 
thickened front part with a beard of white hairs, its 
lateral lobes are erect, emarginate, and white with a 
yellow blotch about the middle. A plant shown by 
Mr. W. H. Young, gardener to F. Wigan, Esq., Clare 
Lawn, East Sheen, at the Drill Hall on Tuesday last, 
bore eight flowers on a scape. The specimen was in 
excellent health, and had large, obovate, bright, shining 
green leaves. An Award of Merit was accorded it. 
Cattleya Mossi/e gigantea. 
A plant named as above was shown at the Drill Hall, 
on the 12th inst., by Mr. D. Cullimore, gardener to S. 
Cooke, Esq., Kingston Hill, and received an Award of 
Merit. The flowers were of large size, with rosy lilac, 
oblong sepals, large wavy petals some shades darker, 
and a huge and showy lip, much undulated and crisped 
at the margin and richly variegated with deep purple 
on a lilac or pale mauve ground, and having a large 
orange blotch in the throat. 
Odontoglossum crispum Wrigleianum. 
Twelve flowers were borne on a scape of this beautiful 
variety when shown by Mr. George Beddoes, gardener 
to E. G. Wrigley, Esq., Howick House, Preston, at the 
Drill Hall, last Tuesday. The broadly lanceolate 
sepals were much suffused with rose, and had a pale 
brown blotch on the centre of each. The petals were 
somewhat rhomboid, tapering to a long point, jagged 
on the margins and similar in colour to the sepals. 
The cordate lip was fringed at the margin, and white, 
with a yellow disc, some brown blotches on and around 
it, as well as a large one in front. An Award of Merit 
was granted it. 
Cattleya Schroderfe Leyswoodi. 
The sepals of this variety are of the palest blush, 
almost white, while the broadly ovate, spreading, 
undulate petals are several shades darker. The greatest 
feature of attraction is centred in the large lip, which 
has a broad sub-orbicular lamina of a delicate pink, 
much undulated and crisped at the margin ; the usual 
large, orange blotch in the throat was also present. A 
plant of it was exhibited at the Drill Hall on the 12th 
inst. by Mr. E. Bristow, gardener to J. W. Temple, 
Esq., Leyswood, Groombridge, when it received an 
Award of Merit. 
Ophrys Speculum. 
Looking-glass is a very appropriate vernacular name to 
apply to this species of Bee Orchis, for the lip is both 
attractive and very suggestive, owing to the peculiarity 
of its colouring. It is quadrangular in outline, three- 
lobed, and of a peculiar steel-blue, surrounded by a 
yellow line, and margined as well as fringed with deep 
maroon. The base of the lip is deep brownish black, 
and the steel-blue portion is an unusually large 
development of a disc or peculiar spot or patch which 
is present in all, or mostly all, of the species of this 
genus. The other parts of the flower are small, and by 
no means conspicuous ; the upper sepal is greenish 
tinted with brown, and the lateral ones have two deep 
brownish black lines traversing them longitudinally. 
The plant varies from 6 ins. to 12 ins. in height, 
according to vigour, and is both attractive and 
extremely interesting to those who take a delight in 
hardy plants. The species was originally introduced 
from South Europe, and has no doubt been lost and re¬ 
introduced several times. 
New Method of Ventilating Orchid Houses- 
The necessity for the maintenance of a humid atmo¬ 
sphere in Orchid houses, but particularly during the 
growing season, is recognised by every good cultivator. 
Ventilation removes this moisture at a more rapid rate 
than is beneficial to the plants, particularly when the 
atmosphere outside is hot and arid. To counteract 
this, M. Em. Pierret hit upon the following plan, 
which he relates in Le Journal des Orehidies :—Through 
the foundation of the greenhouse I made rectangular 
holes, twenty inches wide by fourteen inches high ; 
then I put in a layer of bottle glass, broken into pieces 
about the size of peas. The thickness of this layer 
depends upon the thickness of the walls. Upon this 
bed I placed a metallic screen, made of galvanised iron 
wire, the meshes being rather fine. This screen had 
been folded upon itself several times at the ends, so 
that when put in place there was a space of almost 
half an inch between it and the glass. Then came a 
second layer of glass and a second screen, and so on 
until the hole was entirely tilled. After water was 
thrown upon this filling, a current of very moist air 
entered the house, for the air had to pass over a large 
surface of wet bodies ; and since the latter were not 
capable of decay, it remained perfectly pure. He also 
noticed that the air entering the house had been consi¬ 
derably cooled, and this he considered a favourable 
circumstance, especially for alpine plants, which 
languish in the heat of our summers. 
Oncidium Leopoldianum. 
The flowers of this new species are of large size and 
handsome colour, reminding us of what occurs amongst 
some of the Miltonias rather than the Oncidiums as a 
rule. The sepals and petals are broad, imbricated, and 
white with a large rosy purple blotch in the centre of 
each. As it belongs to the section Microchila, the lip 
is small and pointed, dark violet-purple with the excep¬ 
tion of the crest which is bright yellow. The flower scape 
is climbing, branched, attaining a height of several 
yards, and is said to bear as many as 300 flowers. 
Should it succeed under cultivation, and flower in any¬ 
thing like the above proportions, it would certainly be 
a grand object and a desirable acquisition. A plant 
with 100 blooms upon it would certainly excite feelings 
of envy amongst the Orchid-loving public. The habit 
being similar to that of O. macranthum, similar treat¬ 
ment would probably meet its requirements. There is 
a fine coloured illustration of it in the English edition 
of the Lindenia, pi. 274. 
-- 
lOu/ wXaj X X JjiUi 
Royal Horticultural, May 12th. — Hardy spring 
flowers are still in fine condition, and they appeared at 
the Drill Hall in considerable numbers on Tuesday last. 
Numerous small exhibits of Orchids were also staged 
from different sources, and a large collection of hybrid 
Rhododendrons was brought up from Wales. 
Sir Charles Strickland, Bart., Hildenly, Malton, 
exhibited a quantity of Cattleya citrina grown on blocks, 
rafts, pieces of wood and Scotch Fir bark. The plants 
were healthy, and bore from one to four flowers each. 
A Cultural Commendation was awarded for the exhibit. 
A similar award w’as made to Mr. Wm. Murray, The 
Gardens, Oakwood, Wylam-on-Tyne, for a fine piece of 
Cypripedium Rothschildianum with three magnificent 
flowers. A small group of Orchids was shown by Mr. 
H. J. Chapman, gardener to G. C. Deux, Esq., 
Langton House, Molesley, including Trichopilia suavis, 
T. tortilis major, Odontoglossum nebulosum excellens, 
O. cirrhosum grandiflorum, and O. Hallii leucoglossum. 
A collection of cut blooms of Cattleya Mendelii of 
great size and in many forms, and some of Lielia 
purpurata, were shown by Mr. J. Brown, gardener to 
R. B. White, Esq., Arddarroch, Garelochead, Dum¬ 
bartonshire. Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans, staged 
Cypripedium viridiflorum. An interesting collection 
was shown by Mr. W. H. Young, grower to F. Wigan, 
Esq, Clare Lawn, East Sheen. Amongst others were 
Cymbidium tigrinum, Phalienopsis speciosa var., with 
purple-blotched and white petals on the same scape ; P. 
speciosa Imperatrix (certificated), and Ladia majalis, for 
which a Cultural Commendation was awarded. Cattleya 
Mendelii coeleste was shown by Mr. R. Johnson, 
gardener to T. Statter, Esq., Stand Hall, Whitefield, 
Manchester. Mr. George Beddoes, gardener to E. G. 
Wrigley, Esq., Howick House, Preston, showed a 
splendid Odontoglossum, named O. crispum Wrigleiana 
(certificated). Mr. E. Bristow, gardener to J. W. 
Temple, Esq , Leyswood, Groombridge, exhibited 
Cattleya Schoderse, Temple’s var., and C. S. Leyswoodi 
(certificated). Mr. B. Phillips, gardener to F. H. 
Bevan, Esq., Ludgrove, New Barnet, showed Sobralia 
maerantlia delicata, Dendrobium Goldiei, and an 
Amaryllis named Mrs. Bevan. Cattleya Mossiae 
gigantea was shown by Mr. D. Cullimore, gardener to 
M. S. Cooke, Esq., Kingston Hill, and certificated. A 
small group, including L*lia purpurata, Cypripedium 
arietinum, and others, was brought up by Messrs. Seeger 
& Tropp, East Dulwich. A plant of Dendrobium 
densiflorum was shown by Mr. Martin Standing, 
Patching, Worthing. 
A Silver Gilt Flora Medal was awarded to Mr. P. 
Perry, gardener to J. C. Tasker, Esq., Middleton Hall, 
Brentwood, for a group of Roses in pots, including well- 
flowered plants of La France, Souvenir d’un Ami, and 
others. A Silver Banksian Medal was awarded to 
Messrs. Barr & Son, Long Ditton, for a collection of 
Daffodils intermixed with Tulips, Anemones and 
Palms. Queen of Spain, King of the Netherlands, and 
N. poeticus poetarum were conspicuous. A similar 
award was made to Sir J. T. D. Llewelyn, Bart., 
