Odontoglossum triumphans requires the same treatment as O. Alexandræ as regards temperature, material for potting, and moisture at the roots.
Disa grandiflora superba.—This grand Orchid is grown very successfully by Mr. Elphinstone, gardener to John Heywood, Esq., the Grange, Stretford, Manchester. We received from him a spike of it bearing seven flowers—a perfect marvel of cultivation. We should like to see this gorgeous plant better managed than it generally is, it being, when grown as Mr. Elphinstone grows it, without exception the most showy Orchid in cultivation.
PL. 59. VANDA ROXBURGHII.
VANDA ROXBURGHII.
[[Plate 59].]
Native of India.
Epiphytal. Stems dwarf, stout, erect, leafy, with aërial roots from the lower portion. Leaves two-ranked, evergreen, leathery, light green, ligulate, channelled, obliquely tridentate at the apex. Flowers six to twelve, in erect axillary racemes longer than the leaves, tessellated; sepals and petals oblong-obovate, obtuse, undulated, white on the exterior surface, the inner side pale green, marked with olive-brown in chequered lines; lip three-lobed, projected backwards near the middle to form a short pinkish spur; the lateral lobes lanceolate, sharp-pointed, about as long as the column, white; the middle lobe convex, with the sides inflected beneath, ovate, emarginate and very obtuse, channelled, violet-purple, deeper towards the apex. Column short, thick, obtuse, white.
Vanda Roxburghii, R. Brown, in Botanical Register, t. 506; Lindley, Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 215; Id. Folia Orchidacea, art. Vanda, No. 4; Id. Paxton’s Flower Garden, t. 42, fig. 2; Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 2245; Van Houtte, Flore des Serres, ii., t. 11; Wight, Icones Plantarum Indiæ Orientalis, iii., t. 916; Williams, Orchid Grower’s Manual, 5 ed., 307.
Vanda tessellata, Loddiges; Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, vii., 265 (var. with rosy lip).
Vanda tesselloides, Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicæ, vi., 864.
Cymbidium tesselloides, Roxburgh, Flora Indica, iii., 463.
We now bring before our readers a plant that few of the present generation of Orchid growers have seen, but one which we think they all should possess, as it requires but little space, and produces its flower-spikes on very small specimens. Our plate will give some idea of this, as it represents a full-sized plant, with a spike of very charmingly coloured flowers. There are several varieties of this species known, among which we consider the one which our plate pourtrays to be an excellent form. The plant represented is in the collection of W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leatherhead. We are delighted to know that Mr. Lee is taking up the cultivation of the Vandas (of which he possesses a splendid collection), and intends devoting a centre table in one of his houses to their accommodation. There are no Orchids that flower so freely when they are well grown; indeed, Mr. Lee blooms many plants of Vanda tricolor while quite small. When the specimens attain a large size they flower two or three times a year, lasting each time some six weeks, or even more, in perfection. They are extremely fragrant, imparting a grateful odour to the whole atmosphere of the house. Other growers also are paying more regard to these beautiful plants, which we are glad to observe, as, though they flower so often, they do not require so much heat as some East Indian kinds.
Vanda Roxburghii is a dwarf compact growing plant, with light green foliage. The flower-spikes proceed from the axils of the leaves, and are upright, bearing from six to twelve flowers. The sepals and petals are of a greenish yellow, netted with purplish brown, the lip being of a bright mauve colour. This plant usually blossoms in May, and lasts six weeks in full beauty; but it sometimes varies as to the time of flowering.