December  14,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
515 
But  it  is  a  remarkable  species  all  the  same,  and  I  recently  noted 
a  plant  that  had  been  in  flower  over  two  years.  The  individual 
blossoms  are  decidedly  attractive,  but  too  well  known  to  need 
describing.  Its  culture  is  not  difficult  when  strong,  well-established 
plants  are  in  question.  This  and  the  closely  allied  C.  Victoria-Marke 
like  ample  warmth  and  a  compost  of  equal  parts  of  peat,  loam,  and 
chopped  sphagnum.  The  last-named  is  an  inferior  species  to  the 
above,  growing  larger,  with  very  much  looser  flower  spikes. 
Cattleya  Maggie  Raphael. 
ANGR^CUM  VIRENS. 
Almost  every  meeting  that  is  held  in  the  Drill  Hall  brings  with  it 
one  or  more  Cattleyas,  which  are  sufficiently  meritorious  to  call  forth 
honourable  recognition  from  the  Orchid  Committee  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society.  This  was  the  case  on  December  5th,  when 
Mr.  Hislop,  gardener  to  H.  S.  Leon,  Esq.,  Bletchley  Park,  Bletchley, 
exhibited  Cattleya  Maggie  Raphael  (fig.  91),  which  is  said  to  be  a 
hybrid  resulting  from  a  cross  between  C.  Trianae  and  C.  aurea.  It 
is  a  peculiarly  attractive  flower,  and  was  much  admired  by  the 
Committee,  who  recommended  a  first-class 
certificate,  and  by  the  several  visitors  to 
the  Hall.  The  sepals  are  yellow,  with  a 
slight  flush  of  purple  towards  the  edges  ; 
the  much  broader  petals  are  rather  deeper 
yellow,  and  are  chastely  veined  and 
suffused  with  orange  crimson.  The  mag¬ 
nificent  lip  is  velvety  crimson  purple, 
becoming  lighter  on  the  front  lobe  and  at 
the  margins. 
SOPHRONITIS  CERNUUS 
This  is  not  so  large-growing  or  showy  as  the  nearly  related 
A.  eburneum,  but  it  is  a  very  handsome  plant,  the  greenish  and 
white  blossoms  being  singularly  attractive.  A.  eburneum  requires 
large  receptacles  and  much  compost,  but  A.  virens  does  very 
well  suspended  from  the  roof  of  a  hot,  moist  house,  in  an  ordinary 
sized  basket.  Sphagnum  moss  and  a  few  large  lumps  of  char¬ 
coal  form  the  best  compost,  and  the  baskets  or  pots  should  be 
thoroughly  drained.  The  roots  must  never  be  really  dried,  but  less 
'  m 
I  %  m 
However  inapplicable  the  generic  name 
of  this  Orchid  may  appear  to  some  species, 
it  fitly  describes  this  one,  which  is  a  very 
modest  little  flower  indeed.  The  pseudo¬ 
bulbs  are  very  tiny,  and  squeezed  into  a 
cushion-like  mass,  from  which  the  flower 
spikes  issue  rather  freely.  The  blossoms 
are  very  bright  red,  with  a  yellow  centre. 
In  a  very  small  pan  or  pot  this  is  easily 
grown  and  happy,  but  planted  in  the  centre 
of  a  large  one  it  never  reaches  the  outside, 
and  consequently  is  not  so  well.  Good 
peat  and  moss  suit  it  best  for  compost, 
and  it  should  be  suspended  close  to  the 
roof  in  a  cool  house.  S.  cernuus  is  the 
type  species  of  the  genus,  and  is  a  native 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
Cattleya  labiata  and  C.  Gaskelliana 
At  the  time  of  its  latest  or  re-intro¬ 
duction  there  were  those  who  said  that 
C.  labiata  as  then  sent  was  simply  a  local 
form  of  C.  Gaskelliana.  The  flowers  are, 
of  course,  a  good  deal  alike,  both  in  size 
and  colour,  but  they  are  abundantly  dis¬ 
tinct  as  kinds.  C.  Gaskelliana  is  as  distinct 
from  C.  labiata  as  it  is  from  C.  Mossise, 
but  of  course  a  family  likeness  runs  through 
them  all.  C.  Warneri,  again,  has  been 
called  the  spring-flowering  labiata,  but  it 
may  with  equal  truth  be  designated  the 
spring-flowering  Gaskelliana. 
Although  I  for  one  would  never  bo  sure  of  picking  out  the 
various  sub-species  included  under  the  labiata  class,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  in  quite  a  number  of  instances  they  may  be  guessed 
with  fair  accuracy,  and  anyone  who  has  handled  a  large  number 
of  plants  will,  I  think,  bear  me  out  in  this.  C.  Gaskelliana  and 
C.  labiata  are  both  flowering  here  now,  and  though  I  defy  anyone 
to  take  a  single  flower  cut  off  at  the  ovary  and  say  for  an  absolute 
certainty  which  is  which,  anyone  acquainted  with  Cattleyas  could 
pick  out  the  Gaskelliana  plants.  And,  again,  the  double  sheath 
so  common  in  C.  labiata  I  have  never  observed  in  C.  Gaskelliana. 
Has  any  other  Journal  reader  ? 
Cypripedium  Chamberlainianum. 
To  attain  any  measure  of  popularity  at  the  present  time  a  new 
Cypripedium  must  possess  some  remarkable  and  distinct  characteristics, 
and  although  this  species  cannot  be  described  as  new  it  serves  to 
illustrate  my  meaning.  Nothing  at  all  like  it  had  ever  previously  been 
seen,  and  it  jumped  into  popularity  as  soon  as  plants  were  forthcoming. 
The  fact  that  between  thirty  and  forty  old  flower  seats  (bracts)  had 
been  seen  on  wild  specimens  on  a  single  stem  made  orchidists  anxious 
to  see  it  in  flower,  but  in  this  we  were  of  course  doomed  to  disap¬ 
pointment  in  a  measure,  as  it  was  soon  apparent  that  only  a  very  few 
were  open  at  the  same  time. 
Fig.  91. — Cattleya  Maggie  Raphael. 
moisture  is  needed  in  winter  than  when  the  weather  is  hot  and 
the  compost  dries  rapidly. 
Cattleya  Schofieldiana. 
The  flowers  of  this  species  are  very  beautiful,  but  the  scent  is 
distinctly  unpleasant.  The  Up  is  a  pretty  combination  of  white  and 
purple,  the  sepals  and  petals  yellow.  To  grow  it  satisfactorily  the 
plants  should  be  fairly  excited  in  spring  and  grown  right  on  until 
after  the  flowers  are  past,  when  they  are  better  for  taking  a  rest. 
Like  other  Cattleyas  of  the  guttata  section  C.  Schofieldiana  has  rather 
I  large  roots,  and  this  makes  a  rough  and  very  open  compost  necessary. 
Oncidium  Forbesi. 
The  finest  growths  I  ever  saw  on  0.  Forbesi  were  produced  in  an 
amateur’s  collection  near  Salisbury,  in  quite  a  cool  house,  and  now  I 
am  in  receipt  of  a  very  fine  spike  of  flowers  from  the  same  cultivator. 
As  it  is  nearly  five  years  since  I  saw  the  plants,  and  they  have  gone 
on  flourishing,  I  think  that  we  may  conclude  that  the  cool  house 
is  the  place  for  it.  Yet  how  often  one  sees  plants  of  it  dwindle  away 
in  such  structures,  showing  plainly  enough  that  temperature  is  not 
everything.  I  am  more  and  more  drifting  to  the  opinion  that  if  one 
can  keep  Orchids  in  their  proper  season  of  growth  and  rest  exact 
temperatures  are  not  very  important. — H.  R.  R. 
