June  6,  19011 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
473 
Odontoglossum  Rossi  var. 
'One  of  the  most  frequently  chosen  Olontoglossums  suitable  for  a 
cool  house  is  the  species  Rossi,  whose  persistency  and  reliability  as  a 
flowering  Odontoglot  has  become  well  known.  It  is  a  Mexican  species 
of  good  habit,  and  was  introduced  to  England  by  a  Mr.  Barker,  who 
obtained  it  from  his  collector  Mr.  Ross,  after  whom  it  is  named.  It 
succeeds  either  in  pots  or  pans,  but  plants  upon  blocks  become 
exhausted  in  a  few  years. 
judiciously  watering  as  the  leaves  fall,  and  giving  only  sufficient  in 
winter  to  keep  the  crowns  fresh  and  plump,  the  plants  may  come 
through  all  right.  The  summer  treatment  is  very  similar  to  that  for 
other  Moth  Orchids,  though  it  appears  to  need  even  more  moisture 
than  these,  at  least  in  the  atmosphere.  Grown  on  blocks  these  should 
be  lightly  surfaced  with  sphagnum,  and  if  this  grows  freely  in  summer 
it  must  be  lightly  clipped  back  in  late  autumn.  It  was  discovered  by 
the  late  Rev.  C.  S.  Parish  in  1862. 
Cattleya  intermedia  alba. 
This  rare  and  pretty  albino — exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall  on 
April  23rd — continues  to  turn  up  occasionally  among  importations, 
but  unfortunately  it  is  not  of  so  vigorous  a  habit  as  the  type.  In 
several  places  it  has  flowered  and  grown  for  a  short  time  and  then 
disappeared  by  degrees.  The  same  thing  occurs  with  several  of  the 
albino  forms,  and  I  am  afraid  in  many  instances  it  is  caused  by 
allowing  the  flowers  to  remain  too  long.  It  is  always  interesting  to 
see  a  rare  flower,  but  in  case  of  a  weak  specimen,  when  one  is  sure  of 
Phalsenopsis  Lowi. 
This  is  certainly  one  of  the  prettiest  of  the  dwarf  Moth  Orchids, 
and  it  is  a  pity  it  is  not  more  tractable  under  cultivation.  In  its 
native  home  in  Moulmein  it  loses  its  leaves  annually  in  the  resting 
season,  and  in  order  to  follow  this  in  our  Orchid  houses  it  is  necessary 
to  dry  the  plants  rather  more  than  they  like.  The  resting  season  is, 
in  short,  the  time  they  are  apt  to  go  wrong.  On  many  occasions  I 
have  known  a  plant  with  three  or  four  tufts  of  leaves  in  autumn 
throw  up  only  one  or  two  the  succeeding  spring,  and  this  is  very 
tantalising  to  the  grower  who  has  been  nursing  his  plants  carefully 
through  the  dull  days. 
It  is  safest  to  keep  the  plants  well  up  to  the  light  as  late  as 
possible  in  autumn,  this  consolidating  the  foliage  and  enabling  each 
leaf  to  contribute  its  part  to  the  swelling  up  of  the  crowns.  Then,  by 
I  the  variety,  it  is  really  better  to  pinch  out  the  spike  when  it  forms  and 
allow  the  plant  to  gain  strength. 
Cypripedium  Pearcei. 
This  pretty  species  is  quite  distinct  in  habit  from  all  other 
.Cypripe  hums,  being  very  like  a  Sedge,  from  which  circumstance  it 
takes  its  earlier  name  of  C.  caricinum.  In  some  places  it  has  been 
found  shy  flowering,  but  this  will  not  be  the  case  if  it  is  left  alone 
and  not  repotted  too  often.  At  St.  Albans  it  grows  well  on  the 
rockeries  in  the  Orchid  houses,  and  as  in  such  positions  it  can  be  left 
alone  and  yet  always  find  fresh  material,  this  should  prove  a  suitable 
way  of  growing  it.  The  flowers  are  very  pretty,  and  the  name 
Pearcei  was  given  in  honour  of  an  Orchid  collector  who  sent  the  plant 
home  in  1863. — H.  R.  R. 
