Januarj'  23,  19C2. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
OcBlogyne  Sanderiana. 
f  unlikely  to  exist  in  other  minds  than  that 
^  -T.  Iv.’s,”  who  asks  us  to  explain  the  characters  cf 
v.  Sandenans^  and  to  state  if,  and  where,  it  differs  from 
‘C.  i^nderse.  Well,  Ave  here  illustrate  C.  Sanderiana,  Avhose  more 
7o 
versant  AA’ith  the  culture  of  these  two  would,  probably,  be 
welcomed  by  “S.  F.  R.,”  and  others  besides. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
Those  growers  who  wish  to  be  up  to  date  in  their  Orchid 
growing  Avill  be  anxious  to  trj^  the  experiment  of  growing  them 
in  leaf  mould.  A  friend  of  mine,  who  has  charge  of  one  of  the 
most  celebrated  of  the  Midland  collections,  has  been  using  this 
material  with  the  greatest  success  for  some  years  now,  and  some 
two  years  ago,  when  I  saAV  his  plants  thriving  Avell  in  it,  in¬ 
creasing  in  size  of  pseudo-bulb  and  number  of  flowers,  I  asked 
liiin  his  opinion  of  it.  Like  the  careful  cultivator  he  is,  he  had 
not  put  his  most  valuable  specimens  in  this  material,  and  his 
on  Tver  AA'ould  have  done  credit  to  one  of  our  greatest 
diplomats. 
«,pparent  features  are  its  furrowed  pseudo-bulbs,  2in  to  4in  long  ; 
its  long,  drooping  racemes  of  snow  white  flowers,  the  lip  with 
bright  yellow  disc,  bearing  six  fringed  keels,  and  the  side  lobes 
streaked  brown.  C.  Sanderiana  is  not  by  any  means  common,  and 
might  safely  be  described  as  rare.  It  flowers  during  the  spring 
months,  and  requires  a  stove  temperature.  C.  Sanderse,  on  the 
other  hand,  does  not  floAver  till  later  in  the  year,  generally  July, 
and  the  much  smaller  Avhite  floAvers,  AAuth  their  orange  blotch  on 
the  disc  of  the  lip,  are  home  on  erect  spikes.  The  lip  is  beauti- 
fally  fringed,  which  feature  is  distinctive.  The  latter  is  a  very 
rqre  and  beautiful  species,  and  fetches  considerably  more  money 
than  the  one  AV’e  figure.  It  differs  from  C.  Sanderiana  in 
preferring  an  intermediate  house.  All  representative  collections 
should  endeavour  to  include  both.  Notes  from  anyone  con- 
But  in  a  letter  now  before  me  he  has  no  hesitation  in  recom¬ 
mending  it.  “  Have  no  fear  to  use  it,”  he  says,  “  for  Dendrobiums, 
Cattleyas,  Oncidiums,  and  Odontoglots.”  In  fact  there  are  few 
Orchids,  according  to  his  shoAving,  that  Avill  not  thrive.  Another 
noted  grower  says,  “  Cattleyas  simply  go  mad  in  it ;  ”  and  he  has 
had  several  years’  experience  Avith  it.  We  have  all  heard  the 
croakers,  and  one  of  them  declares  that  if  Orchids  are  potted  in 
leaf  mould  they  must  of  necessity  be  given  new  material 
annually.  It  is  nothing  of  the  kind,  according  to  my  Midland 
friend,  for  he  says,  “  My  best  plants  have  been  in  it  for  over  tAvo 
years,”  and  “  The  great  thing  is  not  to  overAv^ater  the  roots.” 
This,  I  think,  is  the  crux  of  the  matter.  The  comparatively 
close  nature  of  the  material  Avould  be  intensified  by  soaking  it 
with  water,  and,  doubtless,  in  this  case  the  roots  would  suffer. 
CCELOGYNE  SANDERIANA,  nat*  size.  Native  of  the  Sonda  Isles,  Malay  Archipelago. 
