TRICHOSMA SUAVIS.
[[Plate 114].]
Native of the Khasya Mountains.
Epiphytal. Stems thin, terete, tufted, from a short rhizome, with a few sheathing verrucose scales at the base, the apex diphyllous. Leaves somewhat fleshy, broadly lanceolate acuminate, obsoletely three-nerved, the base contracted into a sheathing petiole. Flowers in short terminal racemes, fragrant; sepals lanceolate, spreading, the dorsal one free, the lateral ones somewhat broader, adnate at the base with the foot of the column, so as to form a short chin, creamy white; petals erect, lanceolate, resembling the dorsal sepal, creamy white; lip articulated with the foot of the column, with a short incumbent claw, the limb three-lobed, the side lobes plane striped with brownish crimson, the middle one undulated, yellow spotted with red and bearing five crispy lamellæ or crests, there being also four such crests on the disk. Column short, semiterete, marginate, the anther-bell irregularly toothed at the edge, the anthers incumbent affixed within the margin. Pollen-masses eight.
Trichosma suavis, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1842, t. 21.
Cœlogyne coronaria, Lindley, Botanical Register, 1841, misc. 178.
Eria coronaria, Reichenbach, in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicæ, vi., 271.
The Orchid, of which we now submit a figure, is a very pretty free-growing species; it is also distinct from any other Orchid, and one well worthy a place in any collection. Almost every one who sees it in flower admires it, not, perhaps, so much for its showy character, as for its neat pleasing inflorescence and fragrant flowers. There are admirers of small flowered Orchids as well as of those with larger and more showy blossoms.
This Trichosma has curious slender fleshy stems, scaly at the base, and surmounted by a pair of dark green three-nerved leaves from between which, at the top of this stem, the flower spike is produced, as will be seen from our figure. The inflorescence forms a short erect spike or raceme, bearing several very sweet-scented flowers, which have a pleasing appearance.
Trichosma suavis grows about ten inches in height, and produces its blossoms very freely. The sepals and petals are of a creamy white colour, the lip profusely striped with purplish crimson and having a bright yellow crest.
This plant flowered with us in March, and continued for several weeks in bloom; but we have also seen it blossoming at different times of the year, according to the period of the completion of its growth. We find it does well grown in a pot with rough fibrous peat and good drainage, and when in vigorous growth it must be kept moderately moist at the roots. It should never be allowed to get dry as it has no thick fleshy bulbs on which to draw for support. We find it succeeds well in the Cattleya house, shaded from the burning sun during the summer season.
Dr. Paterson’s Orchids.—The charming locality of the Bridge of Allan has long been celebrated for this collection of Orchids. Dr. Paterson is an enthusiastic lover of this most noble family, for as he truly says, “There are no plants like them.” There are others of the same opinion, and we believe there is no class of plants that afford such an amount of pleasure and interest to the cultivator, for the more one gets acquainted with them, the more one finds to admire, in their bright colours and their infinite variety, the length of time they last in blossom, and their usefulness when cut; besides all this there is the interest of novelty attaching to them, many new species and varieties continually appearing. There are, in fact, no flowers to surpass them.
At Dr. Paterson’s there is always to be seen a grand display of Orchids. The way in which they are cultivated, and the order and cleanliness that surround them, seem to be made quite the study of their owner. No doubt cleanliness is one of the principal items in their successful cultivation. It is marvellous how this collection has sprung up since our visit in September of last year. Nearly all the best specimens had then been sold, many of them at high prices, and scattered in different directions; buyers came from far and near, as there were many unique specimens of fine species and select varieties. These were sold to make room for the young plants, which now bid fair to be as fine in a few years’ time, for they are at present making rapid strides. The East Indian kinds are in a specially flourishing condition. We noticed a vigorous plant of Vanda Cathcartii, three feet high, and the specimens of Saccolabium, Aërides, Cattleya, Lælia, Vanda, &c., are making fine growths. To enumerate the plants that are doing well would occupy too much of our limited space, but we cannot conclude this note without mentioning the cool Orchids, such as Odontoglossum Pescatorei, O. Alexandræ, and many other kinds, some in bloom, and others showing fine spikes and making good pseudobulbs. The specimens of Masdevallia were making good progress. Next to these was Oncidium Barkerii, with its bright yellow flowers. The different kinds of Pleione were also finely in bloom.