Terrestrial. Stems erect, terete, striate, with the habit of a small bamboo, three to five feet high, as thick as a stout quill or one’s little finger, polyphyllous. Leaves a span to a foot in length, distant, distichous, ensiform, with the base sheathing the stem, and the apex attenuated, erect and spreading, the upper ones on the flowering stems reduced to sheathing bracts, which are numerous, short, ovate acute, spreading at the tips, so that the peduncles are ochreate, of a whitish green, and terminate in a spike, sometimes branched, of several showy blossoms. Flowers large and effective, measuring about two and a half inches across; sepals narrow lanceolate, entire, the dorsal one erect, the two lateral ones sub-parallel, directed downwards, of a pale pink colour; petals ovate, plane, spreading laterally, of a deeper pink than the sepals, with a rose-pink stripe down the centre; lip three-lobed, the lateral segments rolled over the column, pink, abruptly abbreviated in front, where they are recurved and deeper in colour; middle segment larger, bipartite, the divisions bluntly obovate-oblong, divaricate and crisped, of a magenta-rose, the throat white in the lower part, marked with white lines on each side, the disk bearing two fleshy undulated lamellæ or crests, and a third shorter straight one between them. Column clavate, semi-terete, lying parallel with the lip.
Arundina bambusæfolia, Lindley, in Wallich’s Catalogue, No. 3751; Id. Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 125; Griffith, Notulæ ad Plantas Asiaticas, iii., 329, t. 314; Wight, Icones Plantarum Indiæ Orientalis, v., t. 1661; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers’ Annales Botanices Systematicæ, vi., 457.
Cymbidium bambusifolium, Roxburgh, Hortus Bengalensis, 63.
Bletia graminifolia, Don, Prodromus Floræ Nepalensis, 29.
The plant we now introduce to the notice of our readers is very distinct from the ordinary types of Orchids, and is remarkable for its reed-like stems, and its very charming and beautiful blossoms. Its habit is to keep flowering in succession for a long period. When better known it will be much sought after; at present there are but few plants in cultivation, at least very few have come under our notice. There exist several varieties which vary in the colouring of their flowers; that which we now figure being a very good type. We are indebted to T. D. Cunningham Graham, Esq., Dunlop House, Stewarton, Ayrshire, for his kindness in sending the specimens for the use of our artist. A description of the Orchids at Dunlop House will be found under [plate 118] of our present volume.
Arundina bambusæfolia is an evergreen plant, with reed-like or bamboo-like stems, bearing foliage of a light green colour; the sepals and petals are pale magenta-rose, the lip rich rose shaded with magenta. It grows, in its natural state, from three to five feet in height, and produces its flowers from the top of the stems about July, continuing to bloom for some time during the summer and autumn months. Mr. Kemp, the gardener at Dunlop House, thinks it a most useful plant.
We find this Orchid to do best when grown in a pot, with good drainage. The material most suited to it is good rough fibrous peat and loam mixed together. It is a free-rooting species, but has no thick fleshy bulbs from which to draw support. These Orchids which have these reed-like stems require to be potted in a richer soil than others; they grow after the manner of the Sobralia, and require similar treatment, that is, the treatment of the cool end of the East India house, with a good supply of water during the growing season, and to have the soil kept moderately moist when at rest; the plants need plenty of light, but should be shaded from the rays of the burning sun.
They must be kept free from insects, or the thrips will soon injure their foliage. They are propagated by dividing the crowns, and they also produce plants on the stems, which can be taken off and potted when they have formed roots. We saw some fine plants of this Orchid in the collection of W. Lee, Esq., of Leatherhead, which were producing shoots in this way quite freely, and these being taken off, soon formed young established plants.
Phaius tuberculosus (for figure, see [plate 91] of our second volume.)—We are much pleased to be able to again record the flowering of this plant in the collection of A. Sillem, Esq., Laurie Park, Sydenham. It is generally considered a most difficult plant to cultivate, but here it grows most luxuriantly, no less than four spikes having been produced on three plants last February, all of which were distinct varieties. Mr. Billiard, the gardener, seems to have hit upon a plan of cultivation that suits this plant admirably, and great credit is due to him for his perseverance in the matter. We were so much interested in this successful treatment that we paid a visit to this collection to ascertain the mode of procedure, and Mr. Billiard was kind enough to give us the result of his experience, which we here reproduce for the benefit of our readers. “Our plants,” he writes, “have been grown on the northeast side of a sun-roofed house, close to the glass, in a temperature from 65° to 70°. We keep the sun from them as much as possible. They are potted in equal parts of peat and moss, with a small quantity of sharp sand, and plenty of crocks and charcoal as drainage. When making their growth they delight in an abundance of moisture at the roots. We find it necessary to sponge them weekly, as red spider, thrips and green fly are particularly fond of these plants. This year from three plants we have four spikes, which have opened twenty-three flowers; last year the same plants had one spike each, which gave us eighteen flowers in all.”—B. S. W.
PL. 140. CYMBIDIUM AFFINE.