March 10, 1894. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
435 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
Chysis Chelsoni. 
In this hybrid, the characters of C. bractescens and 
C. laevis are united, the ivory white flowers of the 
former being modified by the tawny brown and 
)-ellow of the latter. The hybrid was raised in the 
nursery of Messrs, J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, where 
it is now flowering finely ; it was first described as 
long ago as 1874. The flowers are similar in size to 
those of C. bractescens, and have oblong sepals, 
the latter ones of which are falcate, and spathulate 
petals, all of which are orange-brown towards the 
top and pale yellow in the lower portion, or the 
petals may fade to creamy white on the lower half. 
The lateral lobes of the lip are yellow and striped 
crimson, while the terminal lobe is striped, or spotted 
and slightly netted with crimson-red. Like all the 
other kinds in cultivation, the drooping or arching 
raceme of flowers comes from the side of the young 
growths. 
Dendrobium Schniderianum. 
Amongst several hybrid Dendrobiums flowering at 
the present time, none of them have the bold 
appearance of that under notice. The seed parent 
was D. Findleyanum and the pollen bearer D. 
aureum. The stems are conspicuously jointed like 
those of the former, and present the same shining, 
bright yellow lustre, which adds to the beauty of the 
flowers by contrast. The latter are of large size with 
oblong sepals, and lanceolate petals, all of which are 
white with broad lilac-purple tips. The widely 
expanded lip is convolute over the column at the 
base only; the greater portion is oringe-yellow 
deepening to a maroon radiating blotch at the bise ; 
above the middle it is white with a purple tip like 
the other segments. A fine piece of it with three 
flowering stems and two old ones may be seen in 
the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
It is evidently of vigorous and free growth. 
Brassavola glauca. 
Although this species lacks the bold and curiously 
fringed lip -of B. Digbyana, yet the flowers are 
sufficiently conspicuous to merit a place in collec¬ 
tions, especially seeing that it flowers in winter and 
early spring. The sepals and petals are of a pale 
creamy hue, possibly slightly tinted with green. 
The lip is very large and expanded, but convolute 
into a sort of tube at the base, and wholly pure 
white or having a dark purple blotch at the base of 
the tube. In some cases the individuals with the 
blotch have their sepals and petals faintly tinted 
with rose, as occurred in a plant that flowered 
recently in the nursery of Messrs. Hugh Low & Co., 
Clapton. The form without the blotch to the lip 
may also be seen there. 
Saccolabium violaceum Harrisoni. 
White forms or varieties are by no means common 
in the group to which that under notice belongs. 
The typical S. violaceum has white sepals and 
petals spotted with purple, and an amethyst-purple 
lip of peculiar shape, that is, when we compare it 
with other species of the same genus. It is oblong, 
shortly trifid at the tip, concave in the centre, and 
possessed of three ridges towards its base. The 
variety under notice, also named Harrison’s variety, 
has all the segments pure white; the column is 
greenish and the anther cap pale yellow, but they 
are too small to have much effect upon the general 
appearance of the flowers. The latter are deliciously 
fragrant, and coming as they do in winter and early 
spring adds much to their value. This pure white 
form is anything but common, but has been flower¬ 
ing for some time past with Messrs. Hugh Low 
& Co. 
Trichopilia sanguineolen'a. 
There would seem to have been a recent importa¬ 
tion of this Orchid, for it is at present more common 
than it used to be, for it practically had got very 
rare in cultivation. A piece of it flowered recently 
in the cool division of the Orchid house at Kew. 
The whole plant is smaller than T. suavis and others 
of that group, but the flowers are pretty and 
interesting. The oblong sepals are pale, dusky 
yellow, and irregularly blotched or marbled all over 
the surface with soft red, the blotches being 
variously run together. The petals are smaller and 
darker in colour, the blotches having more or less 
of an eyed appearance. The three-lobed lip has small 
yellow lobes clasping the column and spotted with 
crimson ; the terminal lobe is by far the largest and 
most conspicuous organ of the flower, being white, 
striped with crimson, particularly towards the sides, 
and considerably crisped or undulated. Helcia 
sanguineolenta is the name by which it is generally 
known in private collections. 
Orchid Growers’ Calendar. 
East India House.— Phalaenopsis as they go out 
of flower will claim the attention of the man in 
charge. Where the baskets or cylinders, as the case 
may be, are much decayed, the plants should be 
afforded new ones, the roots that are clinging to the 
teak wood should be carefully detached with a knife, 
cutting away all injured and decayed parts. Elevate 
the plants as much as practicable and do not allow 
the moss to reach up to the bottom leaves. Those 
plants which do not require new baskets should have 
all the old material removed, and as many of the 
crocks as possible, without interfering with the roots. 
This being done thoroughly, wash away all de¬ 
caying matter from the roots and allow the plants to 
dry before filling in with clean crocks and live 
sphagnum moss, which must be previously prepared 
by having all the rubbish picked out. If very dirty 
it should be washed, taking care to let it get 
moderately dry again before using it; also that it is 
of the same temperature as the plants or they would 
receive a severe check. Some growers use a little 
sharp silver sand mixed with the moss, but a better 
plan, I think, is to use crocks broken up very fine; 
the idea is to keep the material sweet, which it does 
effectually. Water sparingly for a few days, but keep 
the atmosphere moist by frequent syringings. 
Cattleya House.— The plants of Miltonia 
spectabilis that are forward enough should now be 
repotted or rebasketed as the case may be. If caught 
just at the right time, i.e., just as the young growths 
are pushing new roots, they go away and do well, 
but if left until the roots have attained a length of 2 
or three inches the work becomes tedious and the 
plants invariably suffer. The best possible peat and 
fresh moss should be selected for them, which must 
be pressed firmly about the plants, for like all fine- 
rooted subjects they require something firm to root 
into. Keep the plants shaded and on the dry side 
until the roots get hold of the new compost; this will 
apply to all newly-potted plants. 
Miltonia vexillaria, the growths of which are 
well advanced, will soon be pushing spikes, and as 
thrips are very partial to them a sharp look-out 
must be observed or the plants will suffer and the 
spikes and flowers be crippled. We keep ours clean 
by dipping them in weak tobacco water once a week. 
We used to think the best time to pot this, the finest 
of the genus, was after the plants had gone out of 
flower, and acted accordingly, but after trial I shall 
in future recommend that the potting be done in 
early spring when the growths are about 6 in. high 
and are emitting new roots. These new roots 
readily take hold of the new compost, and hardly 
any check ensues, and by the time the plant is in 
bloom it is again thoroughly established and well 
able to stand the strain of a crop of massive flowers. 
Temperature.— East India house, night 65°, 
day 70°; Cattleya house, night 58° to 60?, day 65° ; 
cool house, night 50°, day 55°.—C. 
--t*- 
(glpnings fuont PinlD 
tif Sticncii. 
Climbing Plants.— A lecture on the climbing 
habits of plants and animals was delivered by 
Professor C. Stewart, at the Royal Institution on the 
27th ult. It was evidently designed to be purely a 
popular one. The facts communicated, as far as can 
be gathered from the various reports of it, have long 
been matters of history, and in the case of plants 
particularly revealed nothing new. Moreover, we 
should have liked the lecturer to have been more 
explicit on certain points. For instance, in speaking 
of the species of Calamus or Palms from which the 
Malacca and other canes are obtained, it was said 
that the leaves springing from the sides of the stems 
are armed with a series of great stout hooks which 
anchor the slender stem to the adjoining foliage. 
Now the word hook admits of various meanings and 
translations, but it might have been stated that the 
hooks so called of the species of Calamus are merely 
the segments of the pinnate leaves reduced in size, 
directed backwards, but otherwise quite straight and 
usually hardened at the tips in the manner of spines. 
When botanists speak of hooks in connection with 
plants, they imply that the organs are curved, which 
is not the case with the numerous species of Calamus 
we have seen in cultivation. Thus the prickles of 
a Rose bush may be hooked or not, both kinds 
occurring upon the same plant in some species, 
while in other cases the prickles or thorns are quite 
straight and therefore not hooked. Moreover, some 
of the canes do not climb at all, but trail upon the 
ground, sometimes to great distances. Their climb¬ 
ing, when such is the case, would better be described 
as scrambling up amongst other vegetation, and 
trusting to chance for occasional support, rather 
than the more certain methods of climbing, by which 
twining plants or those with specialised tendrils or 
suckers support themselves. 
Seeds With Hooks. —Here again we have a loose 
and far-fetched misapplication of terms. Surely it 
is as easy to speak correctly as incorrectly concerning 
things about which there need be no mystery what¬ 
ever in the present stage of botanical science. 
Nevertheless although the word " seeds ” is used, 
the term fruit is applied to an instance given as if the 
fruit and seed were synonymous terms. We would 
be generous enough to regard this as the fault of 
reporting rather than to the lecturer. The tropical 
fruits causing great torture to animals incautiously 
chewing them must refer to Uncaria procumbens, a 
native of the Cape, concerning which Dr. Living¬ 
stone wrote so many years ago. Notwithstanding 
this, another part of the lecture referred to some 
plants of the Uncaria tribe, and which are really 
members of the genus Nauclea, natives of South 
America and India. Another instance of hooked 
seeds given was that of the common Burdock 
(Arctium Lappa). Now the hooks in this case really 
belong to the small leaves or bracts surrounding the 
heads of flowers and fruits. Many instances might 
be given of fruits that are dispersed by means of 
hooks, but the latter are always attached to the 
fruit, to the calyx, the bracts surrounding them or 
some other modified portion, but not to seeds them¬ 
selves. These distinctions may seem small, but they 
are not the less real and important. The British 
public can surely grasp the difference between fruit 
and seed, as well as recognise the conspicuous parts of 
plants that are neither. 
Climbing by TendrilsandTwining. —The phe¬ 
nomenon of twining was explained with sufficient 
accuracy ; but then it was stated that “climbing by 
means of tendrils is another process altogether.’’ 
We fail to see that it is. The process and the 
mechanism is the same in both cases, and the 
difference is only that of the organ which performs 
it. Twining plants swing the growing parts of their 
stems and branches slowly round until they come in 
contact with some object round which they can 
twine or grow in a spiral direction. This is done by 
the natural and spontaneous process of nutation. It 
is a phenomenon of the unequal rate of growth in 
different parts of the stem, and this wave, so to 
speak, proceeds round the stem in such a manner 
that it pushes the stem out of the perpendicular, 
and this occurs on all sides of it in succession. 
Tendrils are stems in the case of vines, and several 
other plants, but in a greater number of instances 
perhaps they are modified leaves or parts of leaves. 
Now, both stems and leaves are subject to the pro¬ 
cesses of nutation, even when modified into tendrils. 
Twining stems are sensitive to contact with an object, 
causing their growth to become modified in such a 
manner that they coil round supporting objects. 
Tendrils are much more sensitive to contact while 
still growing and nutating, and the mechanism by 
which they cling to a supporting object is the same 
as in the case of stems. They only differ in being 
the modified parts of plants with a greater degree of 
irritability in most cases. It is also stated that the 
little tendrils that fail to find a supporting object 
rapidly die off. This is very wide of the truth, for 
in many cases they are equally as durable as those 
which succeed in attaching themselves to some 
object. 
Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs, by 
A. D. Webster. A valuable guide to planters of beautiful 
trees and shrnbs for the adornment of parks and gardens. 
Price, 3s.; post free, 3s. 3d. Publisher, Gardening World, 
I, Clement’s Inn, Strand, London, W.C. 
