July  2. 1838.  JOURNAL  OF  liORTIGULTURF 
CAtTLEYA  MoSSLE  AkNOLDIANA,  I;0W’S  VARIETY. 
NtJMEROUS  as  were  the  Orchids  staged  at  the  Temple  show  of  i 
the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  none  attracted  more  attention  or 
elicited  more  expressions  of  approbation  than  Cattleya  Mossios  : 
Arnoldiana,  Low’s  variety,  of  which  a  flower  is  depicted  in  the 
AND  GOTTAGFj  gardener.  13f- 
plenteously  leaved,  and  the  leaves  firm  at  the  axils,  they  usually 
grow  all  right.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  leaves  are  few,  many 
of  them  dead  or  far  gone,  the  chances  are  greatly  against  the 
cultivator.  Experienced  collectors  sent  out  by  the  principal 
nurserymen  and  ethers  interested  in  Orchids  are  so  well  up  in  the 
modes  of  packing  that  the  greater  part  of  the  plants  arrive  safely. 
But  even  here  it  is  far  too  much  the  custom  to  cat  the  plants  up 
so  as  to  make  a  larger  number,  such,  for  instance,  as  the  popular 
and  beautiful  Vanda  Kimballiana  of  ten  reaching  us  with  only  about 
three  or  four  leaves.  Being  a  tolerably  easy  plant  to  establish  most  of 
them  grow,  but  it  takes  several  seasons  to  make  anything  like  good 
flowering  plants  of  them. 
But  wejdo  not  always  get  the  plants  from  the  class  of  collectors 
referred  to.  Employers  have  friends  in  various  parts  of  the  world 
Fio.  3.— CATTLEYA  MOSSLE  ARNOLDIANA,  LOW’S  VAR. 
woodcut,  fig.  3.  The  variety  is  a  magnificent  one,  and  an  undoubted 
improvement  on  the  type.  The  form  is  good,  the  shape  excellent, 
while  the  variations  of  colour  are  soft  and  pleasing.  The  sepals  are 
somewhat  narrow  and  clear  white,  while  the  petals  are  broad  and 
fimbriated.  The  colour  is  pure  white,  save  for  a  suffusion  of  rose 
through  the  centre.  The  beautiful,  heavily  fimbriated  lip  is  white 
veined  with  maroon,  while  the  throat  is  clear  yellow.  Messrs. 
Hugh  Low  &  Co.,  Upper  Clapton,  the  exhibitors,  were  accorded 
a  first-class  certificate  by  the  Orchid  Committee. 
Newly  Imrorted  Orchids. 
'As  briefly  noted  on  page  516  the  distichous-leaved  section  of  the 
Orchid  family  are  not  as  a  rule  so  easy  to  establish  as  those  of  the 
pseudo- bulbous  types.  Of  course  a  great  deal  depends  upon  the 
condition  in  which  the  plants  arrive  ;  if  fairly  healthy,  looking 
where  Orchids  grow  naturally,  and  these,  often  from  a  commend¬ 
able  desire  to  please  those  at  home,  go  in  for  a  little  amateur 
collecting,  the  resulting  plants  usually  arriving  in  the  opposite  of 
good  condition.  Again,  Orchids  may  be  purchased  in  flower  in 
‘  many  foreign  markets,  the  natives  gathering  them  at  the  worst  of 
!  seasons,  and  tying  them  on  logs  of  wood  for  sale.  In  nine  cases  out 
of  ten  these  plants,  when  they  eventually  reach  the  hand  of  the 
gardener  or  amateur  Orchid  grower,  are  not  worth  taking  the  least 
trouble  with,  and  the  best  thing  to  do  with  them  is  to  throw 
them  on  the  rubbish  heap  at  once.  I  have  often  received  that 
pretty  little  Orchid,  Camarotis  purpurea,  from  a  friend  who  visited 
the  market  at  Calcutta,  but  only  in  very  few  instances  were  the 
I  plants  any  good.  This  kind  of  importation,  then,  is  greatly  to  be 
'  deprecated  ;  it  destroys  hundreds  of  Orchids,  and  is  only  disappoint- 
!  ing  to  everyone  connected  with  them. 
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