April  23,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER , 
367 
usually  occur  on  single-flowered  scapes  from  the  base  of  the  last 
matured  pseudo-bulbs,  and  as  a  rule  they  last  a  long  time  in  perfect 
condition,  if  not  wetted  or  bruised. 
Propagation  of  the  various  kinds  is  effected  by  cutting  through 
the  rhizome  between  the  pseudo- bulbs,  this  being  better  done  some 
time  in  advance  of  separating  the  pieces,  though  not  absolutely 
necessary.  They  like  a  fairly  substantial  root  hold,  and  will  do 
well  in  equal  parts  of  peat  fibre,  light  fibrous  loam,  ard  chopped 
sphagnum  moss.  Plenty  of  hard  materia),  such  as  charcoal  or 
crocks,  must  be  mixed  as  potting  proceeds  with  the  above  ingre¬ 
dients,  and  many  growers  use  partly  decayed  leaf  soil  in  place  of 
peat  for  the  stronger  growers,  such  as  L.  Skmneri.  Thfy  do  best 
in  all  cases  in  pots,  the  drainage  requiring  careful  attentiou  and  the 
surface  of  the  compost  finishing  below  the  rims,  not  elevating  the 
plants  as  in  the  usual  run  of  epiphytal  Orchids.  If  the  old  com¬ 
post  when  repotting  is  in  good  order  there  is  no  need  of  disturbing 
the  plants  much  at  the  roots,  simply  removing  a  little  of  the 
surface  soil  and  cutting  out  dead  or  far-gone  roots  that  are  no 
further  use  to  them.  Fill  up  with  the  new  material  and  press  this 
firmly  with  a  blunt  dibber  into  place,  allowing  the  base  of  the  bulbs 
to  rest  on  the  surface. 
Newly  imported  plants  are  easily  established  in  the  usual  way, 
and  if  in  good  condition  may  be  potted  at  once,  only  using  a 
thinner  layer  of  compost  than  usual  and  mixing  in  plenty  of  crocks 
and  charcoal.  If  on  the  other  hand  they  are  much  shrivelled 
they  will  be  better  potted  in  clean  crocks  with  a  thin  surfacing  of 
sphagnum  moss,  adding  the  compost  directly  they  are  well  plumped 
up  and  before  new  roots  are  emitted.  AH  imported  plants  are 
benefited  by  a  slightly  higher  temperature  than  usually  advised 
for  well  established  ones,  at  least  for  the  first  year.  The  foliage 
of  Lycastes  though  of  an  enduring  nature  is  easily  injured  by 
either  bright  sunlight  or  insects,  brown  scale  and  red  spider  being 
the  most  frequent  to  attack  it.  They  should  not  be  allowed  to 
make  headway,  but  as  soon  as  any  suspicions  of  them  are  seen 
each  plant  must  be  separately  and  carefully  sponged  with  soapy 
water  for  scab  and  red  spider,  or  tobacco  water  for  thrips. 
They  are  among  the  best  of  Orchids  for  room  decoration,  the 
flowers  lasting  well,  and  unless  their  stay  is  unduly  prolonged 
the  plants  take  but  little  harm.  The  golden-yellow 
L.  aromatica  is  a  capital  plant  for  the  above  purpose, 
the  individual  blossoms  being  small  but  very  freely  pro¬ 
duced.  and  as  the  specific  name  implies,  pleasantly  scented. 
L.  costata  is  another  fine  species  of  a  distinct  and  novel 
character.  It  is  not  so  well  known  as  it  deserves  to  be, 
and  is  an  excellent  plant  for  flowering  early  in  the  season.  The 
blossoms  appear  in  January,  and  are  produced  singly  on  the  scapes, 
the  sepals  and  petals  being  creamy  white,  the  lip  pure  white  with  a, 
deeply  fringed  margin.  L.  cruenta  closely  resembles  the  first 
named,  but  is  larger  in  all  its  parts,  and  not  quite  so  deep  in  colour. 
L.  Deppei  is  an  older  kind,  still  worth  growing  on  account  of 
its  distinct  colouring  and  free  flowering  propensities.  It  is  not  a 
large  grower,  resembling  cruenta  somewhat,  and  bears  flowers 
about  4  inches  across,  the  sepals  creamy  white  in  ground  colour 
with  markings  of  purple,  the  petals  pure  white.  The  lip  is  clear 
yellow  dotted  with  crimson.  The  variety  punctatissima,  as  its 
name  implies,  is  covered  with  minute  dots  of  crimson  purple, 
doubtless  a  geographical  form,  being  found  in  Guatemala,  the  type 
coming  from  Mexico. 
L.  Harrisonise,  perhaps  better  known  as  a  Maxillaria,  is  a 
beautiful  plant  that  deserves  much  better  treatment  than  is  usually 
accorded  it.  It  has  rough  green  pseudo-bulbs  tapering  towards  the 
top,  and,  unlike  most  other  members  of  the  genus,  frequently  pro¬ 
duces  twin-flowered  scapes.  The  blossoms  are  thick  in  texture, 
very  lasting,  and  agreeably  scented.  The  sepals  and  petals  are 
creamy  white,  changing  with  age  to  yellow,  and  the  lip  yellow 
at  the  base,  purple  in  the  front,  and  lined  all  through  with  reddish 
purple.  Another  and  more  popular  species  is  L.  plana,  a  native  of 
Bolivia.  It  is  an  interesting  and  rather  showy  flowered  kind,  the 
sepals  being  white  blotched  with  crimson,  the  petals  dull  red.  The 
lip  varies  considerably  in  colour  in  the  different  forms,  that  of  the 
typical  form  being  white  freckled  with  crimson. 
The  well-known  L.  Skinneri  is  at  once  one  of  the  most  useful, 
easily  grown,  and  freest  flowering  of  Orchids,  thriving  well  under 
the  most  ordinary  cultural  conditions,  yet  well  repaying  careful 
attention.  It  is  perhaps  the  cheapest  kind  in  existence,  conse¬ 
quently  amateurs  may  purchase  freely  on  the  chance  of  obtaining 
good  forms.  In  the  type  the  blossoms  are  some  5  inches  or  more 
across  and  produced  singly  on  the  scapes,  as  many  as  a  dozen  being 
sometimes  produced  from  a  single  bulb.  The  sepals  and  petals  are 
rosy  white,  the  lips  similar  in  ground  colour,  and  plentifully 
spotted  with  rich  crimson.  Varieties  almost  without  end  are 
recorded,  ranging  in  colour  from  pure  white  in  var.  alba  to  the 
deepest  crimson  rose,  and  rack  and  every  one  of  them  are  first-rate 
garden  Orchids, — H.  R.  R. 
Orchids  at  Clare  Lawn. 
Visitors  to  the  meetings  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  at 
the  Drill  Hall  will  be  familiar  with  the  name  of  Sir  F.  Wigan, 
Clare  Lawn,  East  Sheen,  and  with  that  of  the  Orchid  grower,  Mr. 
W.  H .  Young,  as  rarely  an  occasion  passes  without  something  worthy 
of  note  being  exhibited  from  Clare  Lawn.  Such  being  the  case  it 
was  with  pleasure  that  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  plants  at  hoir  e 
was  seized  because  it  was  hoped  and  expected  that  something  gor  d 
wou'd  be  found.  Two  ‘‘something  goods”  were  seen — namely, 
good  flowers  and  good  culture,  proving  that  the  grower  is  co  iversant 
with  the  many  cultural  details.  Not  that  all  thrive  equally  well, 
but  there  are  really  very  few  to  which  one  could  take  ex<  e  tion. 
The  collection,  which  requires  nine' houses  for  its  accommoda¬ 
tion,  is  of  fair  size  and  finely  diversified,  all  the  leading  kinds  being 
FIG.  62. — DENDROBIDM  CLIO,  TYNTESFIELD  VARIETY. 
represented  in  larger  or  smaller  numbers,  according  to  their  favour 
with  the  owner.  Fresh  plants  are  constantly  being  added  to  the 
stock,  and  these  are  procured  through  all  the  recognised  channels, 
consequently  it  may  be  expected  that  at  some  future  time,  if  all  is 
well,  the  Clare  Lawn  Orchids  will  be  even  more  widely  known 
than  they  are  at  present,  and  that  they  will  become  amongst  the 
most  noted  in  the  metropolitan  area.  Given  a  maintenance  of  the 
gentleman’s  love  and  appreciation  of  the  flowers,  and  a  continuance 
of  the  grower’s  ability  in  their  management,  no  legitimate  reasons 
can  be  found  why  the  surmises  in  the  previous  sentence  should 
not  prove  realities  in  coming  years. 
Entering  one  of  the  structures  we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of 
the  Masdevallias,  all  in  excellent  health,  but  of  course  only  a  few 
in  flower  ;  but  they  are  in  that  condition  that  tells  what  has  been, 
and  which  holds  such  promises  of  what  will  be.  Of  those  in  flower 
M.  Shuttleworthi  and  its  distinct  variety  xanthocorys  were 
charming.  In  the  next  house,  divided  from  the  first  by  a  glass 
partition  only,  are  a  few  plants  of  Odontoglossum  crispum,  some  in 
and  others  out  of  flower,  and  several  little  specimens  of  Odonto¬ 
glossum  CErstedi  majus,  having  a  considerably  larger  number  of 
the  white  fragrant  flowers  than  leaves.  These  are  much  more 
flourishing  than  the  erispums,  which  have  not  yet  beep  found  a 
perfectly  copgenial  position. 
