Orchid Culture for Amateurs 
a beautiful flow¬ 
er and a lovely 
decoration for 
this festival sea¬ 
son. In shape 
it resembles the 
Trianae; its color 
is white, some¬ 
times a delicate 
rose blush with a 
blotch of orange 
yellow in the 
throat. Every¬ 
one cultivating 
this plant will 
find great pleas¬ 
ure in its beauty 
and growth. 
Phal cenopsis 
Sch illeriana, a 
native of the 
Philippines, 
blooms during 
the winter months. Springing from the center of 
the plant is a slender, wiry stem that branches 
freely, each branch bearing numerous blossoms. It 
is a prolific bloomer, as many as 170 flowers having 
been produced on a single plant. It is one of the 
most desirable orchids, the flowers being lavender 
purple, while the foliage itself is quite decorative. 
The long oval leaves at¬ 
tain a length of eighteen 
inches with their upper 
surface a dark green, 
mottled with profuse 
and irregular spots of 
grayish green, while the 
under surface is a rich 
purplish hue. 
The 0 ncid lum Pa- 
pilio, called commonly 
the butterfly orchid, 
bears a striking resem¬ 
blance to an insect of 
that character. It 
blooms during all sea¬ 
sons of the year and is 
extremely curious and 
unique. Its flower 
spikes, which are long 
and slender, are pro¬ 
duced from the base of 
the pseudobulb and the 
flowers are at the apex, 
one following the other 
in succession for several 
years. 
During the spring 
season we have 
a variety of the 
Lcelia purpurata 
which resembles 
the Cattleya; the 
petals and sepals 
are white, some¬ 
times a rosy 
blush, the lips a 
very dark shade 
of purple with 
yellow veins, 
y This plant, 
though requiring 
a great deal of 
room on account 
of its height, is 
worthy of culti¬ 
vation. 
Cattleya War- 
nen and C. Mos- 
sice, flowering 
late in spring, 
are very beautiful with petals and sepals a rosy 
purple and gorgeously colored lips. Cattleya Men- 
deln, another flower of rare beauty, has petals and 
sepals of a light pink, sometimes pure white, with a 
dark purple lip. 
During the summer months we have the Cattleya 
Gaskelliana and the Cattleya gigas, both very hand¬ 
some. During the au¬ 
tumn months we have 
the Cattleya labiata, a 
free bloomer, the flow¬ 
ers area beautiful mauve 
with richly colored lips. 
The orchid is a native 
of the tropics, coming to 
us from East India, Aus¬ 
tralia, the Philippines, 
China, New Granada, 
Brazil, Peru, Hawaii, 
Central America and 
Mexico; and quite a 
number of this large 
family’s poor relations 
may be found growing 
wild in the United States. 
To insure success in 
the hothouse an effort 
must be made to secure 
the same conditions of 
heat and moisture that 
the plant has known in 
its native haunts. For 
this reason a large orchid 
house is divided into sev¬ 
eral compartments so 
CATTLEYA WARNERI 
CATTLEYA MOSSIiE 
99 
