CALANTHE VEITCHII.
[[Plate 31].]
A Garden Hybrid.
Terrestrial. Pseudobulbs fleshy, conical, bluntly angular, four to six inches in height. Leaves deciduous, about two from the apex of each pseudobulb, lanceolate, narrowed both towards the base and apex, plicate or plaited, of a bright green, produced before the flowers. Scapes radical, downy, invested in the lower part with sheathing bracts, and each supporting a tall showy raceme of flowers, sometimes reaching three to four feet long. Flowers abundant, each subtended by an ovate bract, of a very attractive and pleasing tint of rich deep rosy pink, darker in some varieties; sepals oblong lanceolate, the dorsal one erect, the lateral ones spreading, deep rose-pink; petals of the same form and colour, patent, directed upwards; lip adherent to the column, round which it is rolled at the base, front part clawed, and expanded into a squarish four-lobed limb, rich rose-pink, deepening almost to crimson around the creamy white eye or centre, the spur straight, downy. Column small, terete, downy at the back.
Calanthe Veitchii, Lindley, Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1859, 1016; Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 5375; Bateman, Second Century of Orchids, t. 106; Jennings, Orchids, t. 48; Floral Magazine, t. 280; Williams, Orchid Growers’ Manual, 5 ed., 109.
This Hybrid is one of the most distinct and charming of Orchids, as well as one of the most useful for winter decoration. Our illustration was prepared from some admirably grown materials which were kindly sent to us from the rich collection of William Leach, Esq., of Oakley, Fallowfield, near Manchester, where we have seen as many as one hundred flower spikes of one of the most highly coloured forms of this somewhat variable plant in full beauty; and, intermixed as they were with the white Calanthe vestita, the effect produced was exceedingly pleasing and attractive. Mr. Swan seems to have hit upon the most successful method of cultivating these very charming plants, for some of the spikes bore as many as forty flowers. He evidently knows also how to arrange the plants to advantage, namely, by placing them in rows among the foliage of the East Indian Orchids, so that the Calanthes, blooming as they do without their leaves, have their beauty enhanced by the foliage of the associated plants, especially that of the Aërides and Vandas.
Calanthe Veitchii is of deciduous habit, losing its foliage just as it comes into flower. We have, however, occasionally seen it with leaves accompanying its flowers, though its natural habit is to lose them. It produces flower spikes from three to four feet or more in length, and sometimes bears as many as fifty flowers on one spike. The plants are free-blooming and continue in flower for two months. The sepals and petals, as well as the lip, are of a rich rosy pink colour. A gay appearance may be kept up throughout the dull months of winter by having a sufficient number of plants and starting them successively into blossom.
These Calanthes are very accommodating, since they will thrive well in baskets suspended from the roof, as well as in pots suspended by wire in the same way as the baskets; they will also thrive in pots standing on the tables, where room is not an object. If grown in baskets, they will require more water in their growing season. We prefer them grown in this manner where there is room, as they look so pleasing with their spikes hanging gracefully from the roof. Where hundreds of spikes have to be produced, as for instance is the case with Mr. C. Penny, of Sandringham Gardens, for decorating the Prince of Wales’ table, the effect produced is charming, and even for filling large vases they form a most elegant adornment.
They are of easy cultivation when they get the treatment they require. Like all other deciduous and bulbous plants their blooming season follows that of the completion of the growth of the bulbs, and their growing season commences when they have finished blooming, after which they will soon begin to throw up their young growths. When this is observed, let them be fresh potted. We have found it best to do this every year, as they lose all their old roots annually. We shake the soil away and cut off all the roots, and repot them, when, as soon as they begin to grow, they will send out their new roots into fresh soil. The material we use for potting is good rough fibrous loam and leaf mould, with a little rotten manure, mixing them well together, and giving good drainage with a layer of rough peat and moss on the top of it. In potting, fill the pot up with the soil and place the bulb on the top, just making it firm; it will soon root and support itself. If planted in baskets, it is necessary to place some rough fibrous peat round the sides and at the bottom to keep the soil from washing out; fill the basket up with the same kind of compost as that recommended for the pots, with drainage at the bottom; place the bulbs upright in the basket, about three in number, on the top of the soil, and finish by giving a little water. After the plants get into growth and are making roots freely, they should always be kept moist until they have finished their growth, when a less copious supply will suffice; and after they have bloomed they may be kept dry for a time until they are ready for potting. When the plants are in vigorous growth a little manure water may, with advantage, be applied to their roots once or twice a week, but it must be well diluted before being used, as, if given too strong, it might destroy the roots.
We find the East India house to suit these Calanthes best, or they will thrive well in a house where stove plants are grown. They are propagated by separating the pseudobulbs at the time they are potted, and as they generally make two growths from one bulb the increase is comparatively rapid. Like other orchidaceous plants, they must be kept free from insects.
PL. 32. ONCIDIUM HÆMATOCHILUM.