108 
August  11,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  ' 
L^lio-Cattleya  Ingram;  gigantea. 
Amongst  the  many  bigeneric  hybrid  Orchids  Laflio-Lattleya 
Ingrami  is  justly  popular,  for  it  is  of  great  beauty.  At  the  Drill 
Hall  on  July  26th  Messrs.  J.  Veitch  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  Chelsea,  sent  L.-C. 
Ingrami  gigantea,  which  is  depicted  in  the  woodcut  (fig.  20).  It  is 
a  magnificent  variety,  and  shows  its  flowers  to  the  greatest  advan¬ 
tage.  °  All  the  organs  are  of  much  substance,  while  the  form  is 
practically  perfect.’  The  colour  of  the  sepals  and  petals  is  purplish 
rose,  and  the  superb  lip  is  rich  velvety  crimson  with  yellow  lines  in 
the ’throat.  From  tip  to  tip  of  the  petals  the  flower  measures 
inches,  and  its  depth,  measuring  from  the  upper  sepal  to  lip,  is 
Tj  inches.  The  petals  are  2|  broad. 
Cypripedium  hybridum  Watsonianum. 
Mb.  J.  Coles,  gardener  to  R.  H.  Measures,  Esq.,  The  Woodlands, 
Streatham,  has  sent  us  a  flower  of  this  handsome  hybrid,  which 
resulted  from  a  cross  between  Harrisianum  nigium  and  concolor. 
The  substance  of  the  petals  and  the  dorsal  sepal  is  remarkable, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  flower  would  stand  a 
very  long  time  after  being  cut.  The  lorip  of  the  flower  is  bold  and 
striking, °and  the  colour  of  the  pouch  a  deep  claret.  The  broad  petals 
are  pale  claret  with  deeper  veins,  and  the  edges  are  very  hairy.  The 
broad  dorsal  sepal  is  purple  with  a  suffusion  of  green  at  the  base', 
the  outer  margin  being  almost  white.  The  flower  has  the  appearance 
of  having  been  varnished,  and  is  produced  on  a  footstalk  16  inches  in 
height. 
LyCASTE  AROMAT1CA. 
As  the  specific  name  implies,  this  plant  bears  strongly  scented 
flowers,  and  it  is  so  free  flowering  that  a  few  specimens  in  a  house  fill 
it  with  the  rich  perfume.  On  small  plants  even  dozens  of  flowers  are 
produced,  quite  hiding  the  foliage,  and  their  bright  golden  yellow  tint 
is  very  attractive.  Its  culture  is  very  easy,  and  consists  of  only  the 
usual  routine  of  cool  house  Orchids  generally.  Being  of  good  constitu¬ 
tion  it  goes  on  getting  stronger  year  after  year,  never  failing  annually 
to  flower,  and  on  this  account  may  [be  recommended  to  amateurs 
generally. 
Anguloa  uniflora. 
The  blossoms  of  this  species  are  rather  variable  in  colour,  some 
having  the  segments  nearly  pure  white,  while  in  others  they  are  some¬ 
what  heavily  tinged  with  rose,  as  in  the  variety  Turneri.  But  all  are 
very  pretty,  and  make  a  pleasing  change  from  the  usual  description  of 
Orchids  now  in  flower.  The  culture  is  not  difficult,  the  plant  liking  a 
substantial  compost  of  peat  fibre,  loam,  and  sphagnum  moss  in  about 
equal  proportions.  The  plants  must  be  as  strongly  grown  as  possible 
during  the  summer  after  flowering,  ripened  by  exposure  to  the  open 
air,  and  kept  on  the  dry  side  during  the  winter. 
Oncidium  longipes. 
Though  a  small  and  not  very  showy  species  this  little  Oncidium  is 
not  without  interest.  The  flower  spikes  are  short,  and  appear  in  summer 
in  the  centre  of  the  young  growths.  The  flowers  are  an  inch  or  so 
across,  bright  yellow  with  chestnut  brown  markings.  Not  being  a 
vigorous  plant  large  pots  are  unnecessary,  and  the  compost  may  con¬ 
sist  of  equal  parts  of  peat  fibre  and  moss  over  good  drainage.  The 
principal  point  to  be  noted  in  its  culture  is  not  to  allow  the  centre  of 
the  compost  to  become  sour  or  close,  as  it  will  do  sometimes  owing  to 
the  tiny  roots  seeking  the  outside  of  the  pot  rather  than  the  centre. 
To  obviate  this  a  large  lump  of  charcoal  in  the  centre  may  be  allowed, 
and  this  allowing  the  air  to  enter  freely  has  the  effect  of  drawing  the 
roots  to  it. 
The  plants  like  light,  but  will  not  stand  direct  sunshine,  this 
injuring  the  foliage.  Keep  it  in  an  intermediate  temperature,  or  one 
rather  higher  than  usually  advised  for  Odontoglossums.  Stage  the 
plants  so  that  they  reap  the  benefit  of  all  the  air  currents,  and 
keep  the  temperature  and  atmospheric  conditions  as  regular  as 
^possible,  these  small-growing  kinds  being  easily  incommoded  by 
sudden  changes.  It  is  a  native  of  Brazil,  and  was  introduced  about 
1850.— H.  R.  R. 
Bedding  Lobelia. — Some  of  the  surplus  blue  and  white  Lobelia 
plants  left  over  after  bedding  may  be  potted  into  4^-inch  pots  or  placed 
in  boxes,  the  flowers  cut  off,  and  bushy  growth  encouraged.  These 
will  winter  well  in  a  cool  house  or  frame  safe  from  frost.  In  spring 
divide  for  increasing  stock. — E.  S. 
HARMFUL  and  HARMLESS  GARDEN  MOTHS— 24. 
A  well-trimmed  garden  lawn,  kept  free  from  weeds,  does  not 
offer  much  attraction  to  the  species  called  grass  moths,  a  family  of 
the  smuts,  whose  habit  it  is  to  fly  in  the  sunshine,  and  which  are 
generally  abundant  between  June  and  September.  Their  preference 
is  for  fields  or  marshes,  where  the  grass  grows  dank  and  long ;  also  we 
find  that  some  species  are  p-artial  to  woodland  openings.  It  is  not  an 
unusual  thing,  however,  to  see  stragglers  about  our  gardens,  and  it  is 
curious  to  observe  the  way  in  which  one  of  these  moths,  conspicuous 
while  in  flight  as  the  wings  are  large,  can  suddenly  vanish  from 
view.  Settling  on  a  stem  or  twig  the  insect  clings  to  it,  and  folds  the 
wings  round  the  body  in  an  almost  tubular  form.  Perhaps  by  this 
performance  it  escapes  the  notice  of  birds. 
Grasses  and  Sedges  furnish  food  to  the  caterpillars  of  these  moths, 
the  Crambi ;  nor  are  they  at  all  injurious,  the  species  they  chiefly 
attack  not  being  of  a  valuable  nature.  Most  of  them  are  dull  brown 
or  grey  when  moths ;  a  few  are  showy,  such  as  C.  hameltus,  some¬ 
times  noticed  in  shrubberies,  which  has  dark  brown  wings,  barred 
with  white  and  yellow.  These  numerous  moths  of  small  size,  which 
fly  both  by  day  and  night,  doubtless  furnish  food  to  many  birds,  to 
predatory  insects,  and  spiders. 
Many  gardens  have  their  bee  hives,  and  there  is  a  moth  of  this 
family,  which  may  occur  amongst  flowers,  and  is  very  like  its 
brethren,  yet  one  that  is  not  a  desirable  visitor  to  the  apiary,  the  food 
of  the  caterpillar  being  honeycomb.  How  the  moth  manages  ^o 
deposit  eggs  without  exciting  the  suspicion  of  the  bees  we  do  not 
know;  probably  the  males,  having  no  business  to  perform  at  the 
hives,  keep  away  from  them  after  they  have  emerged  from  the 
chrysalis.  Of  course  it  is  at  night  the  females  visit  the  hives;  during 
the  day  they  hide  or  fly  elsewhere.  This  species,  Galleria  cerella, 
has  brown  wings,  touched  with  grey,  and  scooped  out  at  the  tips ;  its 
caterpillar  is  dull  white,  bristled  and  spotted;  it  feeds  through 
autumn;  the  eggs  are  laid  in  July  or  August.  The  food  is  not  the 
honey,  but  the  wax,  and  to  protect  itself  from  the  armed  tenants  of 
the  hives  the  caterpillar  forms  long  tubes  of  silk,  which  are  very 
strong  — the  pressure  of  them  is  said,  in  fact,  sometimes  to  kill  part  of 
the  young  brood.  In  these  tubes  are  openings  at  different  points,  out 
of  which  the  caterpillar  thrusts  its  head,  and  the  next  two  segments, 
which  are  smooth  and  horny,  hence  impervious  to  a  bee’s  sting. 
Mr.  Wood  has  expressed  his  surprise  that  the  bees  are  not  more  on  the 
alert  against  this  enemy,  because  they  could,  without  much  difficulty, 
tear  up  the  silk  tunnels. 
Some  of  the  little  caterpillars  belonging  to  the  Tinea  group),  like 
the  Tortrices,  construct  an  abode  in  which  they  live  for  shelter  and 
security,  but  are  even  more  ingenious,  since  they  make  one  which  is 
portable  when  they  choose.  Occasionally  it  is  composed  of  fragments 
of  leaves,  bitten  off  and  joined  together  with  silk,  or  it  may  be  chiefly 
formed  of  silk,  a  few  particles  of  leaf  being  intermixed.  Some  of  these 
abodes,  or  movable  tents,  are  long  and  narrow,  rather  curved, 
resembling  horns  in  miniature.  It  is  no  wonder  that  these  caterpillar 
retreats  are  passed  by  frequently,  but  they  do  not  deceive  tiny  parasitic 
foes.  Small  as  are  their  dimensions,  the  moths  of  many  of  the  Tineae 
are  showy,  especially  if  the  object  on  which  they  are  at  rest  is 
illumed  by  the  sunshine.  They  are  remarkable  for  the  long  fringes 
which  adorn  the  under  wings,  and  the  upper  pair  are  often  beautifully 
banded  and  spotted  with  crimson,  gold,  or  silver. 
A  pretty  species  attached  to  the  Birch  has  been  called  the  flakelet 
(Coleophora  ibipennella)  from  its  resemblance  to  a  snowflake ;  the 
upper  wings  and  body  are  satiny  white,  the  under  pair  dark  grey, 
narrow,  and  pointed.  The  caterpillar  lives  in  a  case  that  is  pistol¬ 
shaped  and  black  ;  it  is  of  a  yellow  colour  with  black  spots.  Rather 
a  large  species  of  its  kind  is  C.  palliatella,  brown  with  lighter  markings. 
The  case  of  the  caterpillar  is  generally  found  on  Oak,  and  is  remark¬ 
able  because  it  is  made  entirely  of  silk,  and  has  an  inner  case  or 
lining.  In  form  it  is  narrow  at  the  mouth,  and  ends  in  a  bulb. 
Another  species,  C.  currucipent  11a,  has  received  the  odd  popular  name 
of  “  little  waggoner ;”  the  moth  is  brown  and  yellow,  and  the  case 
of  the  caterpillar  is  a  club  in  miniature,  dotted  over  with  little  pro¬ 
jections  ;  it  occurs  upon  various  garden  shrubs.  After  the  caterpillars 
have  vanished,  traces  of  many  belonging  to  this  genus  are  evident  by 
blotches  left  upon  leaves. 
Familiar  to  us  are  the  damages  done  to  Lilac  both  in  town  and 
country  by  the  caterpillar  of  the  confluent  barred  (Gracillaria 
syringella),  and  where  the  shrubs  grow  in  a  smoky  atmosphere  this 
insect  not  only  disfigures,  but  seriously  exhausts  its  food  plant.  The 
moth  is  greyish,  mottled  with  dark  brown ;  near  the  tip  of  each  wing 
is  a  black  spot  like  an  eye.  When  first  it  feeds  the  caterpillar  enters 
the  leaf  on  which  it  was  hatched,  and  eats  the  parenchyma  between 
the  surfaces.  After  a  short  time,  having  grown  too  large  to  mine 
leaves,  it  selects  one  of  suitable  size  and  rolls  this  from  tip  to  base, 
keeping  the  leaf  in  position  by  cords  of  silk.  Twice  in  the  year  we 
see  about  gardens  G.  auroguttella,  elegant  in  shape  and  gold  spotted. 
