Epiphytal. Stems fusiform, three to four inches long, annulately marked with the remains of the leaf-bases. Leaves evergreen, distichous, ligulate-linear, keeled behind, bifid with acute lobes, from one to two feet long, of a rich green colour. Racemes springing from the axils of the outer leaves, three to seven-flowered, the scapes furnished with lanceolate, falcate, acuminate, scariose sheaths. Flowers large, sweet-scented, ivory-white, with an orange disk and crimson-purple spots on the lip; sepals and petals oblong-ligulate, acute, of a creamy white colour, the lateral sepals largest; lip white with an orange coloured central band, flabellately dilated from a narrowed base, three-cleft in front, the side lobes oblong directed forwards, white, with numerous violet-purple spots, the middle or front lobe cuneate-ovate, undulated, with an orange-coloured silky or velvety disk, spotted with purplish crimson; disk having near the base a callus which terminates abruptly in front, and is furnished on the outer side with velvety hairs. Column white behind, yellow at the edges, and in front having brownish purple spots at the base; caudicle provided in front, on both sides, with an awl-shaped extrorse process.
Cymbidium Parishii, Reichenbach fil., MS. Herb. Kew; Id. Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.S. I., 338, 566; x., 74; Id. Transactions of the Linnean Society, xxx., 144.
The genus Cymbidium forms a small group of Orchids of which there are but few species worthy of cultivation for ornamental purposes. That which we now figure is one of the best of them, and is a very rare and very beautiful plant, which has but seldom bloomed in this country. In the summer of 1878 Mr. Swan, gardener to W. Leach, Esq., of Oakley Fallowfield, Manchester, flowered it for the first time in Europe, and about the same time another specimen blossomed with John Day, Esq., of Tottenham, which was subsequently purchased by us for 100 guineas. This latter plant has again flowered, and our sketch was taken from it.
Though a near relative of Cymbidium eburneum, this plant is considered by Reichenbach to be a distinct species, the points of difference being—the broader leaves with more prominent nerves on the upper surface; the somewhat smaller flowers with shorter sepals and petals; and the different form of the segments of the lip, together with some peculiarities in its callus and pubescence. It is one of the treasures of India, having been originally discovered so long since as 1859, in Moulmein, by the Rev. C. Parish, who found Dendrobium crassinode at the same time. The plants of both these fine Orchids, then collected, were lost in the Ganges, and the Cymbidium was not seen again for many years. It appears to have been actually introduced shortly prior to 1874, since at that date living plants are recorded as being rarities in the collection of Mr. J. Day, of Tottenham, and Mr. R. Warner, of Broomfield, though it had not then flowered in Europe. It is a most chaste and lovely plant, its graceful green foliage, and creamy white blossoms in which the lip is spotted with crimson, producing a beautiful effect. The flowers have also a pleasant perfume, and last for three or four weeks in perfection. The flowering season is July and August, and several flowers are produced upon a spike, in which respect it has a decided advantage on the score of beauty over C. eburneum, which produces but one flower on a spike. The latter, however, is a charming Orchid for winter and spring flowering, its ivory-white blossoms being then especially acceptable. There is also another fine species, C. Mastersii, which produces its white flowers during the dull months of autumn, when Orchid as well as other white flowers, are scarce. These are all worth growing for the purpose of cutting, as they keep for a long time in water.
Cymbidium Parishii is very much like C. eburneum and C. Mastersii in its manner of growth, and also in its general appearance; in fact, it is somewhat difficult, when the plants are not in bloom, to distinguish the one from the other. An inspection of our figure will, however, show that the foliage of C. Parishii is broader and that it is of a lighter green colour.
It requires the same treatment as C. eburneum. We grow the plants in pots, in the Cattleya house, on the side tables, near the glass. The material we use for potting is rough fibrous peat and loam, with thoroughly good drainage, the plants being also elevated above the rim of the pot. Their roots are thick and fleshy, and they therefore require a good supply of water during the growing season, but when at rest, the soil must be kept only just moist. They must be shielded from bright sunshine, by blinds or some other means, otherwise their foliage will become spotted. In winter they do not like to have their leaves damped, although in summer, on warm days, it will not injure them.
They are propagated by dividing the tufts just as they are starting to make fresh growth, leaving some of the established portion at the back of the new growth. They must be kept free from insects. The white scale, which sometimes endeavours to make its way on the foliage, is that chiefly to be guarded against.
Vanda tricolor.—In November last, we saw in the collection of J. Broome, Esq., of Didsbury, a very finely grown plant of V. tricolor, with two spikes of exceedingly richly coloured flowers—one of the best we have ever seen. It is in the way of the Dalkeith variety, but the flowers are large and of a remarkably bright colour. Mr. Broome sent us a spike to figure but it was spoilt in the transit; we hope, however, to be able to procure another when the plant again blooms, so that our subscribers may see what a well-grown specimen it is. It stands two feet six inches in height, and has beautifully healthy foliage down to the pot.
