August  27,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
197 
LaliO'Cattleya  Srymeriana  (J,  Powell).  —  A  bigeneric  hybrid 
between  Laslia  amanda  and  Cattleya  Waracewiczi.  The  colour  is  rosy 
purple,  deeper  on  the  lip  (first-class  certificate). 
Lobelia  Carmine  Qem  (VV.  Bain). — The  name  well  tells  the  colour  of 
this  perennial  Lobelia  (award  of  merit). 
Mi.ltonia  Candida  graruiifiora  (F.  J.  Thorne). — An  old  plant,  a 
description  of  which  would  be  superfluous  (award  of  merit). 
Pea  The  Gladstone  (W.  G.  Holmes). — This  Pea  produces  a  long,  full 
pod  of  large  well-flavoured  peas  (award  of  merit). 
Rose  Mrs.  Rumsey  (W.  Rumsey). — A  fragrant  Hybrid  Perpetual 
with  silvery  rose  coloured  flowers  (award  of  merit). 
Htanhopea  eburnea  (F.  J.  Thorne). — A  large  well-known  flower, 
almost  all  white  (award  of  merit). 
the  plants,  extremely  difficult  to  arrest,  and  though  apparently  they 
are  not  in  half  so  bad  a  state  as  they  appeared  when  newly  imported, 
they  will  not  again  take  with  such  good  will  to  the  altered  condi¬ 
tions.  If  they  are  placed  in  baskets  or  pots  in  the  first  instance, 
the  best  compost  for  them  is  about  three  parts  of  sphagnum  to  one 
of  peat,  and  a  very  liberal  allowance  of  crocks  and  charcoal  must 
be  given.  This  may  be  added  to  in  about  two  or  three  years'  time 
if  seen  to  be  required,  but  it  is  not  well  to  overburden  the  roots, 
and  if  a  few  of  them  ramble  about  over  the  top  of  the  compost,  no 
harm,  but  a  great  deal  of  good  will  accrue  to  the  plants  thereby. 
It  is  also  easy  by  their  appearance  to  form  a  pretty  correct  idea  as 
to  the  state  of  the  compost  as  regards  moisture,  an  important  point 
that  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  Blocks  are  suitable  for  the 
growth  of  this  Oncidium,  but  they  must  first  be  dressed  with  moss, 
and  the  plants  grown  thereon  must  be  very  carefully  attended  to 
at  the  roots,  they  quickly  running  dry  in  hot  weather  if  a  good 
circulation  of  air  is  kept  up  in  the  house. 
With  regard  to  temperature,  I  have  seen  good  plants  of 
O.  Lanceanum  grown  in  the  Cattleya  house,  but  had  I  a  warmer 
house  at  command  I  should  certainly  not  grow  them  so  coo).  What 
they  really  like  is  an  atmosphere  heavily  laden  with  moisture 
morning  and  evening,  and  rather  drier  conditions  during  the  middle 
of  the  day.  The  house  must  not  be  parched,  of  course,  but  it  may 
with  advantage  be  much  drier  for  a  couple  of  hours  than  is  usual 
with  Orchids.  There  are,  in  fact,  many  of  the  South  American 
PIG,  40.— L.®LIA  CBISPA  SUPEEBA. 
and  W^’est  Indian  Orchids  that  would  be  better  in  many  respects  for 
this  mode  of  treatment,  but  it  is  only,  of  course,  where  large 
collections  of  them  are  grown  that  this  can  be  managed.  Still,  it  is 
as  well  to  know  as  near  as  may  be  the  conditions  under  which  the 
plants  thrive  best,  for  often  by  a  little  judicious  arrangement 
many  of  these  small  difficulties  will  be  overcome.  Under  ordinary 
circumstances  the  best  position  for  the  plants  is  the  lightest  and 
sunniest  in  the  East  Indian  house,  hanging  the  baskets  or  blocks 
where  they  will  get  the  full  benefit  of  all  the  air  currents. 
It  commences  to  grow  early  in  the  new  year,  and  under  these 
conditions  progress  is  very  rapid,  so  that  the  new  leaf  will  be 
complete  by  the  present  month.  The  spikes  rise  from  the  base  of 
these,  and  contain  several  blossoms,  of  which  the  sepals  and  petals 
are  blotched  with  chocolate  on  a  greenish  yellow  ground.  The  lip 
is  of  various  tints  of  rose  and  violet,  and  is  narrowed  in  the  centre 
and  spreading  in  the  front  lohe.  These  last  a  very  long  time  in 
good  condition,  and  if  the  plants  are  placed  while  in  bloom  in  a 
rather  cooler  and  drier  house  it  will  induce  early  rest  and  a 
thorough  ripening  of  the  leaves.  The  roots  must  be  well  watered 
while  in  active  growth,  but  during  the  resting  season  not  much  is 
needed.  0.  Lanceanum  is  a  native  of  British  Guiana,  and  was  first 
introduced  to  this  country  in  1834. — H.  R,  R. 
L.<elia  crispa. 
Flowering  early  in  the  autumn  as  this  plant  does  it  is  always 
a  great  favourite  with  Orchid  growers,  as  it  helps  to  fill  up  a  kind 
of  gap  in  the  Orchid  year.  Laelia  crispa  has  a  history,  and 
is  consequently  interesting  on  that  score.  It  is  a  native  of 
Brazil,  and  was  introduced  in  1826  by  Sir  Henry  Chamberlain, 
who  sent  plants  to  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society’s  Gardens 
at  Chiswick.  In  1827  it  flowered  for  the  first  time  in  England, 
at  the  Chiswick  Gardens,  and  was  named  by  Dr.  Lindley 
Cattleya  crispa,  under  which  name  it  is  figured  in  the 
“Botanical  Register,”  1. 1172,  and  the  “Botanical  Magazine,” 
t.  3910,  This  charming  Laelia  grows  at  an  elevation  varying 
from  2000  feet  to  3500  feet.  The  pseudo-bulbs  are  8  to 
12  inches  high,  bearing  a  stout  solitary  leaf  nearly  a  foot  in 
length  ;  the  spikes,  carrying  four  to  six  flowers,  rise  from 
a  yellowish  green  sheath.  The  sepals  are  white  with  re¬ 
volute  margins.  The  petals  are  broader  than  the  sepals, 
white  tinged  with  purple  at  their  bases  ;  margins  wavy  and 
crisped.  The  lip  is  very  beautiful,  three-lobed,  the  side  lobes 
encircling  the  column,  white  marked  with  yellow  and  purple 
on  the  inside  ;  centre  lobe  longer  and  reflexed,  with  a  fine 
crisped  and  waved  margin,  deep  red  purple  with  dark  purple 
veinings.  The  whole  flower  is  about  5  inches  in  diameter. 
There  are  several  fine  varieties  of  L.  crispa,  of  which 
L.  c.  superba  (fig,  40)  is  one  of  the  best.  The  lip,  which 
was  velvety  purple  shading  to  mauve,  was  beautifully 
crisped  and  fimbriated. — K. 
Oncidium  Lanceanum. 
The  flowers  of  this  beautiful  Orchid  are  always  welcome, 
and  their  delicious  but  not  strong  fragrance  is  easily  detected 
from  that  of  most  other  Orchids.  It  belongs  to  the  bulbless 
section  of  the  genus,  and  has  large  healthy  looking  finely 
spotted  leaves,  that  are  indicative  of  constitutional  vigour, 
provided  the  plants  are  happily  placed.  Unfortunately  the 
right  place  for  it  is  often  difficult  to  find,  for  it  is  one  of 
those  peculiar  plants  that  do  well  in  one  place,  where 
apparently  but  little  care  is  taken  in  its  culture  ;  while  in 
another  healthy  vigorous  growth  is  out  of  the  question,  no 
matter  how  carefully  the  plants  are  treated.  One  very 
frequent  mistake  in  its  culture  is  to  be  always  pulling  the 
roots  about.  These  it  will  be  noticed,  when  in  congenial  quarters, 
live  much  longer  than  those  of  many  in  the  family,  and  for  this 
reason  therefore  the  disturbance  of  them  is  greatly  to  be  deprecated. 
Of  course,  it  will  not  do  to  go  to  the  other  extreme,  and  leave 
the  plants  to  take  care  of  themselves  year  after  year  without  proper 
hold  for  the  roots  and  in  a  compost  often  quite  unsuited  to  their 
requirements.  Some  growers  are  very  fond  of  what  they  call 
letting  well  alone,  but  what,  for  want  of  a  better  way  of  describing 
it,  may  be  called  letting  bad  get  still  worse.  In  order  to  prevent 
this,  then,  and  at  the  same  time  to  obviate  the  necessity  for  fre¬ 
quent  renewals,  the  compost  must  be  well  considered  in  the  first 
place — that  is,  if  possible,^when  the  plants  are  newly  imported. 
At  this  time  they  have  the  innate  vigour  of  wild  plants  of  every 
kind  ;  they  are  come  direct  from  their  native  habitats,  whore  every¬ 
thing  suits  them,  and  only  need  the  quickening  influence  of  heat 
and  moisture  to  make  them  put  forth  a  good  flush  of  roots  that  on 
one  hand  carry  sustenance  to  the  withering  leaves,  and  on  tne  other 
give*  them  a  hold  on  their  adopted  home.  Let  this  first  root  hold, 
then,  be  in  a  suitable  medium  and  no  trouble  need  be  apprehended 
until  the  time  for  transplanting  arrives,  when  the  peat  and  mos* 
or  the  block,  or  whatever  was  used  for  it,  begins  to  decay. 
This  too  often  means  the  beginning  of  a  backward  tendency  in 
