April 9, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
505 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
All potting that can possibly be done should be 
completed this month ; the exceptions are amongst 
others, Cattleya gigas, C. Mendell, etc., which are 
pushing up spikes, and the repotting of which will 
be deferred until they pass out of bloom. The 
occupants of the warmest house that require fresh 
material, if not already done, should be seen to at 
once. Sphagnum moss is the chief thing used for 
Aerides, Angraecums, Vandas, Saccolabiums and 
Phalasnopsis. The moss should be washed and 
allowed to get moderately dry before using it for 
these plants. Pay careful attention to the shading of 
this house, as Phalaenopsis do not like the direct rays 
of the sun to shine on them. A good plan is to so 
arrange them that they might be shaded by temporarily 
fixing up a curtain inside the house early in the 
morning, before the other things growing in the 
same house require shading by means of the blinds 
fixed outside. The same may be done in the after¬ 
noon when the blinds are rolled up. Syringe 
morning and afternoon between the pots and on very 
bright days a damp down at mid-day may be 
required. 
Odontoglossum Citrosmum is now pushing 
spikes, and as slugs are very fond of these a sharp 
look out must be kept, or a season's work will be 
lost. We lost some of ours, the culprit being the 
little shell snail. The spikes as they advance should 
be tied neatly to stakes ; we tie ours up as far as the 
bottom bloom, allowing the part carrying the flowers 
to arch over the foliage. If done early the blooms 
will come all right, but if left till they are nearly ex¬ 
panded they have no time to right themselves, and 
are consequently upside down. I am always anxious 
after growing a plant well to show it in the best 
possible form, hence the above hint. 
Cymbidium Lowi as it goes out of bloom should be 
repotted, using good peat loam and sphagnum moss 
in equal parts to which may be added bits of broken 
potsherds and silver sand. This is truly a splendid 
Orchid, lasting well and of easy culture. The only 
thing against it is that it makes a specimen too 
quickly for amateurs that have not much room ; still 
they can always be exchanged for smaller plants. 
We grow ours in the Cattleya house. It is a 
moisture-loving plant, therefore, after they have got 
well hold of the new compost, they must have liberal 
supplies of water. 
Dendrobium Wardianum. —As the plants of these 
go out of flower they should be seen to, Sphagnum 
moss, peat, and a little sand will grow these well ; the 
chief thingis to place them where they can have plenty 
of heat and moisture when making their growth. This 
applies to nearly all Dendrobiums. I have grown 
Wardianum well in the Cattleya house by placing 
them in the warmest corner, and keeping plenty of 
moisture about them. Vanda Kimballiana also does 
well with us in this house ; it seems to enjoy a light 
airy position. 
Cool House. —Cattleya Citrina does well with us 
grown at the warmest end of the cool house. We 
have about fifty plants showing flower, several of 
which are twin-flowered ; they are all grown on 
blocks of charred deal, to which they root splendidly. 
No moss or anything else is used, but they receive 
manure water about twice a week. It is said they 
will not do for any length of time, but we have one 
plant that is ten years old. Of course, grown on 
bare boards like this they require watering every 
day from now onwards. 
Temperature.- —East India house, 65° with a 
rise of 10" to 13 0 by sun heat. Cattleya house, 6o° 
at night, 75” by day with sun heat. Cool house, 
50° at night, with a rise of io° with the sun shining, 
keeping plenty of moisture about the houses, and 
giving plenty of air through the bottom ventilators, 
unless there be cold east winds.— C. 
Odontoglossum crispum var. 
A fine variety of O. crispum has reached us from 
Mr. D. Wilson, Westmount, Kelvinside, Glasgow. 
The sepals were lanceolate, white, and heavily 
blotched with dull purple. The petals were slightly 
broader, suddenly narrowed towards the base, 
slightly toothed on the edge, and furnished with 
smaller and more numerous blotches than in the 
case of the sepals. The blotches however are in¬ 
clined to run together in masses forming large ones. 
The lip had a large blotch in front of the crest and 
numerous small ones around the latter. There are 
now very numerous, and some very fine blotched varie¬ 
ties of O. crispum, and we should have ranked that 
under notice as one of the finest, if the sepals and 
petals had been broader. As it is the markings are 
both numerous and fine, so that a well-grown plant 
with a good spike or two of bloom would be a hand¬ 
some object. 
Laelia Cattleya Pallas. 
The parentage of this fine bigeneric hybrid was 
Laelia crispa crossed with Cattleya Dowiana. The 
pseudo-bulbs are fusiform and quite moderate in 
size. The sepals are blush coloured, as are the 
petals, which are several times broader, folded 
longitudinally as we see in Laelia crispa, and beauti¬ 
fully undulated and crisped at the margin. The lip 
is the boldest and most conspicuous organ of the 
flower, with a rich purple lamina fading to lilac at 
the much crisped and undulated margin. The 
throat is coloured with a mixture of purple and 
yellow, and this, as well as the conformation of the 
lip, point to Cattleya aurea, while the revolute petals 
afford evidence of the influence of Laelia crispa. The 
hybrid is therefore both distinct and beautiful, and 
may be seen in the Cattleya house of Messrs. J. 
Veitch & Son, Chelsea. 
Cattleya Trianae Schroderee. 
Taking all the individual plants to be found under 
the above name, the variety may be reckoned a very 
variable one. The sepals and petals are usually of 
a blush hue, but sometimes they are of a beautiful 
shade of rose. The large and strongly crisped or 
undulated lip is generally of a soft or pale purple, 
but occasionally it varies to rose as in the case of 
the sepals and petals. More constant perhaps is 
the large orange blotch in the throat of the lip and 
which is always bold and well defined. A few 
plants of this in a collection of early flowering 
Cattleyas would add much to the interest of a 
collection. There are numerous specimens of it in 
the Cattleya house of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea. 
Dendrobium Crassinodi-Wardianum. 
This is believed to be a natural hybrid between the 
two species indicated in the name. The stems are 
more distinctly thickened at the nodes than those of 
D. Wardianum, but not so much as in the case of the 
other species, and they are more slender. The 
flowers conform in size to those of D. crassinode, or 
nearly so, and the white sepals and petals are tipped 
with purple similarly to those of the latter. The lip is 
blunter than that of D. Wardianum and has a maroon- 
crimson blotch on each side of the base, and which 
is much smaller than those occurring in D. Wardia¬ 
num. Specimens of this supposed natural hybrid 
frequently turn up in importations of D. Wardianum, 
and we noted some of them recently in the collection 
of Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Clapton, who import 
both of the parent species in large numbers. 
Dendrobium amethystoglossum. 
The stems of this species are fusiform, about 18 in. 
long, and flower in the second year, that is after the 
leaves have dropped. The latter are oblong and of 
a deep rich green. The flowers are produced in 
lateral, short, horizontal or slightly drooping racemes, 
and although not large individually yet they become 
more conspicuous in the aggregate. The sepals are 
lanceolate and white or tinted with pink, and the 
lateral ones are drawn out into a long, swollen, blunt 
spur. The petals are similar in shape and colour 
but smaller. The lip is oblong, erect, and concave 
or somewhat boat-shaped, blunt and white with a 
broad purple band extending from the apex down 
the centre. Several racemes are produced from each 
stem. A good sized plant in bloom was exhibited 
by Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., Clapton, at the Drill- 
Hall on the 8th ult., when a Botanical Certificate 
was awarded it. 
Sobralia violacea. 
This beautiful Sobralia was originally described by 
Lindley in 1846, and even then two varieties were 
recognised, one with pale violet and another with 
white flowers having a yellow crest. They were 
stated to be abundant in the high regions of the 
province of Merida. Another collector met with it 
in the mountains of Maracaybo, and stated that the 
flowers were fragrant and of various colours such as 
white, crimson, and purple. Neither of the forms 
have ever become common in this country There 
is a figure of the type in the March number of 
Lindenia, PI. 320. The oblong petals are revolute 
at the tips and represented as of a warm violet hue. 
'I he petals are about three times as broad, and 
lightly suffused with purple or pale violet on a white 
ground. The lamina of the lip is somewhat darker than 
the latter and has dark markings towards the margin, 
while there is a large orange scarlet blotch in the 
throat merging into yellow round its periphery The 
spathe gives rise to numerous flowers in succession, 
as is usual with the Sobralias. The oval, elongated 
and pointed leaves are ribbed and of a rich dark 
green. The flowers appear to equal those of S. 
xantholeuca in size. 
Odontoglossum sp 
Under the above name a plant was exhibited at the 
Drill Hall, on the 22nd ult., by R. J Measures, Esq. 
(gardener Mr. H. Simkins), Cambridge Lodge, Cam¬ 
berwell, when an Award of Merit was accorded it 
The pseudo-bulbs were ovoid, two-edged, and pale 
green. The leaves were lanceolate, channelled, and 
moderate in size. The flowers are produced on the 
young growths. The flowers in general appearance 
resemble those of Burlingtonia decora, but are twice 
as large. The sepals are lanceolate, channelled, and 
white with a purple blotch at the base ; the petals 
on the contrary are flat but otherwise similar. The 
lip is by far the largest organ of the flower, and is 
roundly triangular, emarginate, white, and furnished 
all over with purple spots as in Burlingtonia decora 
picta. On the whole it may be described as compact 
in habit and pretty. 
Stauropsis Warocqueana. 
There are something like seven species of Stauropis 
known to science, five of which are now or have been 
in cultivation. That under notice differs from its 
congeners in the denser panicle of smaller flowers 
and in some minor particulars. The leaves are ligu- 
late, obliquely bifid at the apex, and similar to those 
of Vanda to which the genus is allied. The stem 
also gives off aerial roots to some extent. The inflo¬ 
rescence consists of branching racemes of densely 
arranged flowers that are not devoid of ornamental 
value, judging from the illustration in the Lindenia, 
PI. 219. The flowers are buff yellow closely marked 
with small reddish-brown spots that are more evi¬ 
dently of a purple h ue towards the base of the obovate, 
spreading sepals and petals. The three-lobed lip is 
white with a few rosy spots on each of the lobes, the 
middle one of which is infolded at the sides. It was 
introduced by the Messrs. Linden, Parc Leopold, 
Brussels, from New Guinea, and evidently requires a 
stove temperature like Vandas, Aerides, and Saccola¬ 
biums. 
Lycaste gigantea. 
The great size and the peculiar colours of the 
flowers of this Orchid give it more than ordinary 
interest in a collection. They are by no means 
showy, but bold, well defined, and telling. The 
ascending sepals and petals are pale green, more or 
less suffused with fuscous brown on the inner face, 
particularly the sepals, of great substance, and 3 in. 
to 4 in. long. The three-lobed lip has small, rounded, 
erect side lobes, a broad, blunt, grooved tongue, and 
a large ovate, blunt, serrated lamina. The latter is 
said to be sometimes of a deep purple with a rich 
orange margin, but a specimen now flowering in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, has 
the whole of the lip of a peculiar deep, rusty red. 
The species comes from central America, and in this 
country flowers at various times during the spring 
and summer months. 
Angraeaum fastuosum 
The beautiful pure white flowers of this dwarf and 
compact-habited species are deliciously scented. 
The leaves are oblong-oval and unequally emarginate 
at the apex as in A. bilobum and several others, but 
only a few inches in length. The sepals and petals 
are lanceolate, while the lip is obovate with a slightly 
elevated ridge along the centre. The spur is 3 in to 
4 in. long, but is scarcely so pure white as the other 
parts of the flower. The species is a native of Mada¬ 
gascar, and requires warm treatment, as most things 
do which come from that warm country. Owing to 
its small size it is useful for basket culture so that it 
may be suspended near the glass and on a level with 
the e}'e. Large numbers of plants of this size can 
be accommodated even in a small house. V e noted 
a piece of it in the nursery of Messrs J. Veitch & 
Sons, at Chelsea. 
