Cycnoches.—Of similar habit and requirements to Catasetum. The plants are best grown in baskets and suspended. They should be rested cool and dry with the deciduous Dendrobiums. C. chlorochilon (Swan Orchid), C. Egertonianum, C. Loddigesii, C. maculatum, C. peruvianum, and C. pentadactylon are fine species.
Cymbidium.—These are showy, large-growing Orchids for the intermediate house or warm conservatory. Pot the plants in equal proportions of fibrous loam, peat, and Sphagnum-moss. C. giganteum, C. Lowianum, C. grandiflorum, and C. Tracyanum are the most commonly grown. C. eburneum, C. Mastersii, C. insigne, and C. erythrostylum are fine, white species, the latter two with rose markings on the lip. There are numerous hybrids. C. Lowio-eburneum, a cross from C. Lowianum, and C. eburneum is illustrated in [Plate VI].
Cynorchis.—Terrestrial Orchids from Tropical Africa and Madagascar, requiring to be grown in the warm house in moist and shady conditions. The flowers are generally of rose colour.
Cypripedium.—This is one of the largest, most useful, and most prolific genera, which, although commonly known in gardens as Cypripedium, may be divided into several distinct classes. Most of those generally known in gardens as Cypripediums have been termed Paphiopedilum, including C. barbatum, and C. Rothschildianum, and the green-leafed class, more commonly known in gardens as Selenipedium, are now termed Phragmopedilum. The name Cypripedium, however, has so firm a hold on cultivators that it is convenient to retain it in gardening handbooks.
The Cypripediums have very numerous hybrids, and their numbers increase annually. An enumeration is therefore impossible within the scope of this work. All require to be treated as terrestrial Orchids, a proportion of fibrous loam (see the chapter on potting terrestrial Orchids) being added in proportion to the strength of the subject, the largest proportion being given to the strongest growers. The Selenipedium, or green-leafed section, should be potted in fibrous loam, with a sprinkling of leaves and Sphagnum-moss. C. insigne, C. Spicerianum, C. Charlesworthii, and others of the class, also hybrids of them, may be grown in the cool house. C. Rothschildianum, C. Stonei, and the whole of that section require the highest temperature, but all may be grown successfully in an intermediate house. C. insigne Sanderæ is illustrated in [Plate I].
Cyrtopodium.—A strong-growing genus needing to be grown in the intermediate house. The plants should be potted as terrestrial Orchids. C. punctatum is the showiest and most easily grown species.
Dendrobium.—One of the largest and most decorative genera of epiphytal Orchids, comprising several hundred species and a large number of hybrids. Primarily the genus may be divided into two classes—the evergreen; and the deciduous, which lose their leaves after the completion of the growths, and should have a protracted dry resting season. The evergreen species have a shorter and less rigorous resting season accorded them. The deciduous class is exemplified by D. nobile, D. Wardianum, D. crassinode, and the plants associated with them, and their hybrids; and the evergreen species by D. densiflorum, D. Farmeri, and D. chrysotoxum. D. Wardianum, with 264 flowers, is illustrated in [Plate III].
Next, the genus may be divided into two further classes—those requiring a high temperature, such as D. Phalænopsis, D. superbum, D. atro-violaceum, &c.; and those which may be grown comparatively cool, which include D. speciosum (an excellent plant for a sunny conservatory), D. moniliforme from Japan, D. aggregatum, D. Jenkinsii, and many others. All the species require a high temperature, moist atmosphere, and an abundance of water during the growing season, but should be kept drier and cooler after the growth is completed to prepare them for flowering. The species with pendulous growths should be grown in baskets or suspended pans.
Diacrium.—A section of Epidendrum, with hollow pseudo-bulbs, and white, wax-like flowers. D. bicornutum is a very fine species for the warm house.
Disa.—A genus of terrestrial Orchids from Africa, best represented in gardens by the fine Scarlet Disa grandiflora, which, with the others of its section, D. racemosa and D. tripetaloides, have produced many beautiful hybrids. These are cool-house plants, and should be potted in a mixture of peat, Sphagnum-moss, sand, and loam fibre. They are increased by offsets, and, when repotted soon after the flowering season, the strong growths should be potted on for flowering, and the smaller ones placed together in store pans. Free drainage should be provided, and the plants liberally watered until they flower. After this stage, cultivation in a cold frame for a few weeks before repotting and returning the plants to the cool house will benefit them.