We trust that the illustration we have now the pleasure to submit to our readers, may be the means of inducing Orchid Growers to take up the cultivation of the plants of this family for decorative purposes more than is done at the present time. They produce fine handsome flowers, and such kinds as L. Skinneri are most useful for winter decoration. There is a fine plate representing L. Skinneri in Mr. Warner’s Select Orchidaceous Plants, in which the light and dark coloured varieties are well shown. There are among them many distinct and varied colours, and they are all free blooming, lasting for six weeks in beauty; indeed, when grown in a cool house, they continue still longer in perfection. Some persons object to the Lycastes on account of the stiff rigid form of their flowers, while other cultivators selecting the best forms and varieties, find in them a source of much gratification. W. Lee, Esq., of Leatherhead, has some wonderful varieties of the L. Skinneri type, some of them dark red, others mauve-pink or pure white, and there are besides various other shades of colour; these all blooming at the same time, and intermixed with plants of graceful foliage, produce the decorative effect that one looks for in our orchid houses.
The plant our plate represents belongs to a different species, L. Harrisoniæ, one of the older of cultivated Orchids. The drawing was taken from a specimen bloomed and exhibited by ourselves at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show at South Kensington in April last, and which was deservedly awarded a First Class Certificate for its ivory white flowers with a slight pencilling of purple on the lip. The typical L. Harrisoniæ although one of the oldest inhabitants of our stoves is well worth cultivating more extensively; it has creamy white flowers, with a purplish lilac lip, the flowers being larger, and the plant more robust in growth than in the present variety, eburnea, which, however, blooms more freely and retains the purity of its whiteness for some time. There are some yellow-flowered species, such as L. cruenta and L. aromatica, which are worth growing for their colour and fragrance.
Lycaste Harrisoniæ eburnea is an evergreen plant eight inches in height, with deep green foliage; the flower spikes proceed from the base of the pseudobulb and are about six inches in length. The sepals and petals are of pure ivory-white, and the lip is also white faintly striped with crimson; the throat yellow, striped with purplish red. It blooms during April and May, and lasts for several weeks in flower.
We have found this plant do well at the cool end of the Cattleya house. A cooler situation even than this will do. It must be potted in rough fibrous peat, with good drainage, and must be well elevated above the pot so that its roots can work about the soil. A little charcoal intermixed with the peat helps to keep the soil open; moreover, the roots like to cling to it, and it prevents the material from becoming sour. This plant will also do well in a basket suspended from the roof, as it likes a considerable amount of light to ripen its bulbs and foliage; this causes it to grow stronger and flower more freely. It requires the same treatment as L. Skinneri as regards watering during the growing season, but when at rest must be kept drier.
Orchids at Upper Holloway.—We were much gratified, when recently calling at the Victoria Nursery, to see the excellent condition of the Orchids generally, and the fine display of flowers. Some of Mr. Williams’ Orchid houses are provided with a vestibule, which, from its contiguity to the outer atmosphere and the frequently open doorway, is cooler and drier than the growing houses attached, and into these the blooming plants are brought for display, with the result that they are thus kept much longer in a state of beauty. The stock here is large and in first-rate condition, as, indeed, one would expect it to be in the hands of so skilful a grower. The plan of shading adopted in this establishment is much to be commended; the canvas, which is of a special construction, is so fixed that it is kept quite clear of the glass, and a space is thus provided through which the air is constantly passing. In the case of cool Orchids this is of great importance, as it acts so as to moderate any excess of summer heat. We were much pleased to see that Mr. Williams’ large specimen plants, now in flower, are legitimately “grown on” and not “made up” as has lately been much the fashion, a practice which, it may be hoped, the rule now adopted at some exhibitions, to the effect that “made up” plants will disqualify, will put an end to. Many fine species were in bloom, but as the object of this note is not to make a catalogue of them, we will only add that the Cattleyas, Vandas, Odontoglots, and Masdevallias were blooming very freely and were represented by many finely grown specimens.—T. M.
PL. 101. ODONTOGLOSSUM LEEANUM.