PL. 77. VANDA TRICOLOR.
VANDA TRICOLOR.
[[Plate 77].]
Native of Java.
Epiphytal. Stems tall, erect, leafy, producing stout aërial roots. Leaves distichous, broadly lorate, channelled, longer than the inflorescence, overlapping at the base, obliquely bilobed and somewhat erose at the apex. Racemes few-flowered. Flowers handsome, sweet-scented, roundish in outline, but longer than broad, their depth being about two and a half inches, beautifully spotted, the pedicels white, striately furrowed; sepals oblong-obovate obtuse, the edges rolled back, unguiculate, fully an inch long, coriaceous, pale creamy yellow, with a narrow marginal band of delicate rosy pink, spotted throughout, except at the edge, with deep rich brownish-red, white at the back; petals similar in size, form, and colouring, but with the pink edge less distinct, and the spots somewhat fewer in number, and inclined to coalesce into stripes; lip of about equal length, three-lobed, with a pair of erect rounded colourless lobes, standing one on each side the short blunt compressed white spur, and a convex cuneate deeply emarginate middle-lobe, which has three ridges extending from the disk to the front, two of which run out quite to the apex, and two white ridges at the mouth of the spur behind the disk; the colour is a bright rosy magenta, paler at the tip, the disk marked with about five white lines, of which the three central ones are longest. Column free, short, thick, white.
Vanda tricolor, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1847, in note under t. 59; Id. Paxton’s Flower Garden, ii., t. 42; Id. Folia Orchidacea, art. Vanda, No. 10; Pescatorea, t. 42; Warner, Select Orchidaceous Plants, ii., 39 (var. Warnerii); Van Houtte, Flore des Serres, t. 641; Lemaire, Jardin Fleuriste, t. 136.
Vanda suaveolens, Blume, Rumphia, iv., 49.
It is with great pleasure that we here introduce to our readers a genus of Orchids, which has been grown and exhibited for many years, and of which we have in former days seen some wonderful examples produced. What a contrast with those we meet with at the present time, when few really fine specimens are brought out by exhibitors! What is there more splendid or majestic than a Vanda when grown into a large specimen? The Vandas, indeed, possess good qualities that few other Orchids can boast of, for they are stately in their growth, they have beautiful evergreen foliage, they are of graceful habit, and their showy flowers produced in fine spikes on either side of the plant are deliciously fragrant, and continue in perfection for six weeks or more. Sometimes a plant that has but one stem will produce three or four spikes of flower, and bloom twice in a year. We have had plants only twelve inches in height produce two flower spikes, and have bloomed many in an equally dwarf state, as we are glad to know that others have also done. We are, moreover, glad to notice that growers are now more generally successful in retaining the leaves down to the rim of the pot.
It has been said that Vandas are difficult to flower, but if the proper treatment is given, there is no difficulty about it. We have been growing and exhibiting these plants for nearly forty years, and can with confidence assert that they are the most useful Orchids we have met with for exhibition and decorative purposes. They are also invaluable for furnishing cut flowers to be used either in button-hole bouquets, or in any other convenient manner. The plant now figured, our sketch of which was taken from a small specimen at the Victoria Nurseries, Upper Holloway, we consider the true Vanda tricolor; and there are besides other specially fine forms, which in time we hope to illustrate.
Vanda tricolor is an evergreen plant, with gracefully recurved foliage. It grows to the height of five or six feet, and produces “breaks” freely from the sides of the stem, generally at the base, so that in time the plants form large specimens, and when the growths get strong they all flower. We have seen as many as from ten to fifteen spikes on the same specimen. The sepals and petals are pale yellow spotted with reddish brown, and the lip is magenta, striped with white at the base. The plants bloom at different times of the year, and continue in perfection for about six weeks, perfuming the atmosphere of the house in which they are grown. These Vandas are natives of Java, and are of easy cultivation when they obtain suitable treatment. We have grown them in the same house for more than twenty years, and have never found any difficulty with them, but the plants have been constantly growing, improving, and blooming.
The house in which we grow our Vandas is sixty feet in length, and eighteen feet in width, with a centre and side tables, covered with slate, the floors being of cement; three pipes pass round the house, and these are fitted with about four zinc troughs to hold water during the summer. The temperature during the resting season should be a minimum of 60°, but a few degrees higher would not do any harm at night; in the daytime it should range about 65°, unless by sun-heat, under the influence of which we allow it to get a few degrees higher. We always give air when the temperature is 65°, but always avoid cold draughts. We usually moisten our houses twice a day, morning and evening, if the weather is at all fine and the house dry; but the application of moisture should depend upon the weather; during the dull months of autumn and winter a little will suffice, but in summer, of course, a considerable amount of moisture spread over the tables and paths will be required. We always avoid throwing water on the pipes to cause steam, and we seldom syringe the plants unless there are some in a shrivelly state, in which case they require to be kept in the shade, and should have a slight syringing morning and evening in summer. The material we use for potting is good sphagnum moss, and plenty of drainage. They will also thrive in baskets suspended from the roof.
The great secret of getting the Vandas to bloom freely is to give them plenty of light and air, and only sufficient shade to keep their leaves from scorching. We use a very thin shading material made on purpose, and both ourselves and our friends find it suitable for nearly all kinds of Orchids.