isss 
NOTES ON THE OATTLEYAS OP THE AMAZON. 
During a rcsulcnoo ol' some uighi; 
Para and on t.lui Aina/.on we Inive reeeived 
many letters asking inronnal ion as to Anvi- 
zoinan Oreliids. The notes given in Orelii,] 
manuals l.liat a, certain Ondiid oonies I'roni 
Brazil, lead many to sup|)ose that it comes 
from the Amazon, whereas tlie Amazonian 
region, vast in extent as it is, comprises 
only a small portion of the immense empire 
of Brazil. Tlie two genera of Orchids con¬ 
cerning which there is the most inquiry (and 
well ilo they merit the attention) are Cattle 
ya and Lcrlia. Now there is not a Lfdia 
of any species in the Amazonian valley, nor 
as far as our knowledge extends, have any 
ever been found on any of the Amazonian 
tributaries. To the. north Laelias are fonnd 
ill Mexico and Gautemala, but the Brazilian 
Loilias are natives of the southern in-ovinees 
generally in the region of Baida or ]Bo de 
.Taueii-o, and thence toward central Bi'azil. 
The large genus of Cattleya is also spar¬ 
ingly represented in the Amazon valley, the 
great proportion of the Brazilian Cattleyas 
being natives of the same regions as the 
Loilias. But as compensation for the lack 
of number the Amazonian Cattleyas are jirc- 
eininent for their beauty. 
To one who now has only to wire them on 
to the trees or on to blocks which hang on 
the fences, to have them establish them¬ 
selves at once and bloom profusely, the gen¬ 
eral complaint that they do not thrive in 
cuitivatioii would augur waut of proper 
care, did not his experience in times past in 
theii’ culture iu the Orchid-house lead Idni to 
believe that they are not easily grown. A 
few notes as to the conditions under which 
they naturally grow may furnish some sug¬ 
gestions as to their culture. 
The Cattleyas of the Amazon are Cattleya 
superba and its varieties, M Dorado and its 
varieties, luteola Wallisii and the almost 
unknown species, if species they be called, 
lichoerderl and Leeana. 
None of these are found on tlie Amazon 
this side ol Manaos, which city is situated on 
the river Negro just above its junction with 
the Amazon, about one tliousaud miles from 
Para, and, as far as our knowledge goes, no 
Cattleyas have been found above Tabatiuga, 
the frontier fortress on the Amazon between 
Pnizil and Peru. They are also, except 
('Uttleya luteola (and perhaps superba ), 
eonflned wholly to the northern bank of the 
Amazon. 
The Cattleya region thus seems to com- 
Piise a tract of about eight hundred miles 
ou the northerly bank of the Amazon, ex- 
lendhig northerly to Guiana, Venezuela and 
Colombia. The whole of this region for 
many miles north of the Amazon is ol the 
Same general character; varzea or land 
ovei flowed in the annual rise of the rivers, 
'tdth stretches or isolated portions ol higher 
mid known as tewa pretfl. There are innu¬ 
merable lakes, many of great size, countless 
and parana-meris or water courses 
" mil connect the various rivers, but never 
''•Oy high liiiis or great elevations until far 
“Orth near the boundaries of Brazil. The 
■Steaterpartof the soil is aUuvial, though 
arc sandy plains and rocky fornia- 
No road or path of any kind exists 
•ole of this immense extent of terri- 
o'dy eonimunication is by 
there 
tioiis. 
in tlie 
••ei'y and tlie 
>J.V way of tlie water. 
"O lds tlie air is generally surehaiwd witli 
oomture. The rainy seal begiil; In Dc! 
(h u rVdl the rain at 
I ICS ( llmg contiimonsly in a deluge. 
, ' ot C.c year there is 
Imt little rain, hut the air at niglit is alwavs 
damp from the great condensation. The 
Zr '"orcury often rising to 
80 Ol JO m the .shade, and tlie nights cool, 
often cold, tlie tliormometer sometimes fall¬ 
ing to u5°. Tlie annual rise of the rivers, as 
sliown by marks on the trees, is from 
twenty to thirty feet. 
It is under tliese conditions of tcnipeia- 
turc that the Amazonian Cattleyas grow. 
It must be remembered th.at Cattleyas are 
never found in the close, dark woods and 
never in pestilential localities. Orchids like 
a free circulation of pure air, and the Cattle¬ 
yas often grow ou the topmost branches of 
the immense trees in tlie full sunligiit. 
Thej- also never seek to cover or bury their 
roots, wliich run up and down the branches 
often to the length of fifteen feet, but al- 
wa 3 ’^s on the surface clinging close to the 
bark, but in large clumps the roots often 
wind round and round tlie dead roots and 
pseudo-bulbs of past years and make large 
masses, but these inner roots are all dead 
and these masses become the habitation of 
fire ants, a fact which does not add to the 
pleasures of Orchid collecting. 
The Cattleyas thus experience a season of 
six mouths of constant moisture followed 
by six months of intense heat bj' da}', during 
which tliey become very dry, but are 
every night refreshed by tlie copious con¬ 
densation ; the maximum and minimum of 
temperature iu the shade being about 80°, 
rising to 120° in the sun, and about 55° at 
night. The nearer we approach these con¬ 
ditions in cultivation the nearer we sliall be 
8q 
to success. 
CATTLEVA SUPERBA. 
This species has the most extensive dis¬ 
tribution of any Amazonian Cattleya. It 
first occurs ou the Amazon in the vicinity 
of Serpa a few miles below ManaOs, and 
we have plants from many localities 
nearly to the Peruvian boundary of Brazil. 
Northerly it extends into Guiana- and coun¬ 
tries bounding ou tlie Spanish Main. 
In habit the plants vary much, the pseudo¬ 
bulbs of some being short and club-shaped, 
of others very long .and thin, much reseui- 
liling those of Cattleya amHhystitia. The 
foliage also varies greatly from thick, dark, 
almost roiuid, coriaceous leaves, to long, 
thiu and light-green. The pseudo-bulbs 
bear two, rarely three, leaves, but the third 
leaf is at the expense of the flower, for such 
plants only bloom when they are very 
strong, but we have noticed that the flowers 
of all°such are exceptionally dark in color. 
The flowers vary greatly in size and depth 
of coior,but all are good. They gener.ally 
ineasm-e four to five inches in diameter; the 
sepals and petals are of equal size, varying 
much hi intensity of the deep rose-color, 
tlie lip varies from crimson to pm-ple and is 
more or less marked %vith yellow vems, the 
base being white. The number of flowers 
on the siiike is i-2-.8-5-7-or 0. In thousands 
of plants we never but once found four on a 
sjiikc, and never six or eight. 
Tlie liome of this species is in the trees of 
the varzea or flooded land, on the margins of 
the many laices where there is constant 
moisture in tlie air, and generally wlierc the 
lilants have plenty of air, and free exposure 
to liglit and sun. It blooms from the young 
growth and requires very little rest, the new 
growth pusliing us soon as the roots of the 
old growtii are mature, and every gi-owth 
gives a spike of liloom. Witli us it flowers 
every tliree mouths, and there is not a day in 
tlie year when we have not Cattleya superba 
in bloom. Tlie chief bloom, however, is from 
December to ^fay. Tlie flowers last from 
two to tliree weeks in perfection and are de¬ 
liciously fragrant. 
If tile pseudo-bulbs of tliis .species are 
allowed to shrivel they j-arely recover, and it 
takes years to re-cstalilish the jilants. It is 
not an easy sjiecies to tran.sport, as it loses 
its leaves iu tlie cases and the plants are tlius 
much weakened. 
Formerly tills species was very plenty in 
the immediate vicinity of JIauaos. On the 
varzea laud opposite tlie city between the 
Rio Negro and the Amazon, there is a lake 
where, a few years ago, the trees in the sea¬ 
son of its bloom were a mass of rich purple 
from the abundance of this plant; now 
hardly a plant can be found there, owing to 
the rapacity of collectors. We have seen in 
Manaos ox-carts full of Cattleya superba 
begging a purchaser at any price, but now 
very few are found near the city. From the 
immense extent of territory over which this 
species is distributed there is no danger of 
its becoming extinct, but every year it is 
more difflcult to procure, and will command 
a higher price. 
CATTLEYA SUPERBA SPLEXDEXS. 
This variety is one of the most magnifi¬ 
cent of Cattleyas. In general appearance 
the pl.aiits do not difter from the species, 
except that we have never seen one with a 
very long pseudo-buib or thin leaf. Its 
habitat, mode of growth and time of flower¬ 
ing are all the same as those of the species. 
The difierence lies wholly iu the flowers. 
These are of great substance, very large, 
four to six inches iu diameter; tlie petals 
and sepals are very deep rose, sometimes 
approaching purple, and expand perfectly 
flat; the lip is larger than hi the species and 
of richer color; the yellow veins are very 
broad and bright and sometimes extend to 
the edge of the lip. The fragrance is far 
richer than in the species and the flowers 
last longer in perfection. We have never 
seen more than five flowers ou a spike. The 
true variety is very rare; one may receive a 
hundred of the species and not find more 
than one or two of this variety. As far as 
our observation has extended, and we have 
given iiiiich attention to this subject, there 
is no locality where it abounds, but here and 
there plants are found over the whole hab¬ 
itat of the species. 
CATTLEYA SCHOEUDERI AND CATTLEYA 
LEEiVNUM. 
Of these two, so-called species, we can 
give little positive information. They are 
said to be natural hybrids between Cattleyas 
superba and Dl Dorado^ the former partak- 
