About Orchids Part 5

We may expect wondrous Dendrobes from New Guinea. Some fine species have already arrived, and others have been sent in the dried inflorescence.

Of _D. phaloenopsis Schroederi_ I have spoken elsewhere. There is _D.

Goldiei_; a variety of _D. superbiens_--but much larger. There is _D.

Albertesii_, snow-white; _D. Broomfieldianum_, curiously like _Loelia anceps alba_ in its flower--which is to say that it must be the loveliest of all Dendrobes. But this species has a further charm, almost incredible. The lip in some varieties is washed with lavender blue, in some with crimson! Another is nearly related to _D. bigibb.u.m_, but much larger, with sepals more acute. Its hue is a glorious rosy-purple, deepening on the lip, the side lobes of which curl over and meet, forming a cylindrical tube, while the middle lobe, prolonged, stands out at right angles, veined with very dark purple; this has just been named _D. Statterianum_. It has upon the disc an elevated, hairy crest, like _D. bigibb.u.m_, but instead of being white as always, more or less, in that instance, the crest of the new species is dark purple. I have been particular in describing this n.o.ble flower, because very, very few have beheld it. Those who live will see marvels when the Dutch and German portions of New Guinea are explored.

Recently I have been privileged to see another, the most impressive to my taste, of all the lovely genus. It is called _D. atro-violaceum_. The stately flowers hang down their heads, reflexed like a "Turban Lily,"

ten or a dozen on a spike. The colour is ivory-white, with a faintest tinge of green, and green spots are dotted all over. The lobes of the lip curl in, making half the circ.u.mference of a funnel, the outside of which is dark violet-blue; with that fine colour the lip itself is boldly striped. They tell me that the public is not expected to "catch on" to this marvel. It hangs its head too low, and the contrast of hues is too startling. If that be so, we multiply schools of art and County Council lectures perambulate the realm, in vain. The artistic sense is denied us.

Madagascar also will furnish some astonis.h.i.+ng novelties; it has already begun, in fact--with a vengeance. Imagine a scarlet Cymbidium! That such a wonder existed has been known for some years, and three collectors have gone in search of it; two died, and the third has been terribly ill since his return to Europe--but he won the treasure, which we shall behold in good time. Those parts of Madagascar which especially attract botanists must be death-traps indeed! M. Leon Humblot tells how he dined at Tamatave with his brother and six compatriots, exploring the country with various scientific aims. Within twelve months he was the only survivor. One of these unfortunates, travelling on behalf of Mr. Cutler, the celebrated naturalist of Bloomsbury Street, to find b.u.t.terflies and birds, shot at a native idol, as the report goes. The priests soaked him with paraffin, and burnt him on a table--perhaps their altar. M.

Humblot himself has had awful experiences. He was attached to the geographical survey directed by the French Government, and ten years ago he found _Phajus Humblotii_ and _Phajus tuberculosus_ in the deadliest swamps of the interior. A few of the bulbs gathered lived through the pa.s.sage home, and caused much excitement when offered for sale at Stevens' Auction Rooms. M. Humblot risked his life again, and secured a great quant.i.ty for Mr. Sander, but at a dreadful cost. He spent twelve months in the hospital at Mayotte, and on arrival at Ma.r.s.eilles with his plants the doctors gave him no hope of recovery. _P. Humblotii_ is a marvel of beauty--rose-pink, with a great crimson labellum exquisitely frilled, and a bright green column.

Everybody who knows his "Darwin" is aware that Madagascar is the chosen home of the Angraec.u.ms. All, indeed, are natives of Africa, so far as I know, excepting the delightful _A. falcatum_, which comes, strangely enough, from j.a.pan. One cannot but suspect, under the circ.u.mstances, that this species was brought from Africa ages ago, when the j.a.panese were enterprising seamen, and has been acclimatized by those skilful horticulturists. It is certainly odd that the only "cool" Aerides--the only one found, I believe, outside of India and the Eastern Tropics--also belongs to j.a.pan, and a cool Dendrobe, _A. arcuatum_, is found in the Transvaal; and I have reason to hope that another or more will turn up when South Africa is thoroughly searched. A pink Angraec.u.m, very rarely seen, dwells somewhere on the West Coast; the only species, so far as I know, which is not white. It bears the name of M. Du Chaillu, who found it--he has forgotten where, unhappily. I took that famous traveller to St. Albans in the hope of quickening his recollection, and I fear I bored him afterwards with categorical inquiries. But all was vain. M. Du Chaillu can only recall that once on a time, when just starting for Europe, it occurred to him to run into the bush and strip the trees indiscriminately. Mr. Sander was prepared to send a man expressly for this Angraec.u.m. The exquisite _A.

Sanderianum_ is a native of the Comorro Islands. No flower could be prettier than this, nor more deliciously scented--when scented it is! It grows in a climate which travellers describe as Paradise, and, in truth, it becomes such a scene. Those who behold young plants with graceful garlands of snowy bloom twelve to twenty inches long are p.r.o.ne to fall into raptures; but imagine it as a long-established specimen appears just now at St Albans, with racemes drooping two and a half feet from each new growth, clothed on either side with flowers like a double train of white long-tailed b.u.t.terflies hovering! _A. Scottianum_ comes from Zanzibar, discovered, I believe, by Sir John Kirk; _A. caudatum_, from Sierra Leone. This latter species is the nearest rival of _A.

sesquipedale_, showing "tails" ten inches long. Next in order for this characteristic detail rank _A. Leonis_ and _Kotschyi_--the latter rarely grown--with seven-inch "tails;" _Scottianum_ and _Ellisii_ with six-inch; that is to say, they ought to show such dimensions respectively. Whether they fulfil their promise depends upon the grower.

With the exceptions named, this family belongs to Madagascar. It has a charming distinction, shared by no other genus which I recall, save, in less degree, Cattleya--every member is attractive. But I must concentrate myself on the most striking--that which fascinated Darwin.

In the first place it should be pointed out that _savants_ call this plant _aeranthus sesquipedalis_, not _Angraec.u.m_--a fact useful to know, but unimportant to ordinary mortals. It was discovered by the Rev. Mr.

Ellis, and sent home alive, nearly thirty years ago; but civilized mankind has not yet done wondering at it. The stately growth, the magnificent green-white flowers, command admiration at a glance, but the "tail," or spur, offers a problem of which the thoughtful never tire. It is commonly ten inches long, sometimes fourteen inches, and at home, I have been told, even longer; about the thickness of a goose-quill, hollow, of course, the last inch and a half filled with nectar. Studying this appendage by the light of the principles he had laid down, Darwin ventured on a prophecy which roused special mirth among the unbelievers.

Not only the abnormal length of the nectary had to be considered; there was, besides, the fact that all its honey lay at the base, a foot or more from the orifice. Accepting it as a postulate that every detail of the apparatus must be equally essential for the purpose it had to serve, he made a series of experiments which demonstrated that some insect of Madagascar--doubtless a moth--must be equipped with a proboscis long enough to reach the nectar, and at the same time thick enough at the base to withdraw the pollinia--thus fertilizing the bloom. For, if the nectar had lain so close to the orifice that moths with a proboscis of reasonable length and thickness could get at it, they would drain the cup without touching the pollinia. Darwin never proved his special genius more admirably than in this case. He created an insect beyond belief, as one may say, by the force of logic; and such absolute confidence had he in his own syllogism that he declared, "If such great moths were to become extinct in Madagascar, a.s.suredly this Angraec.u.m would become extinct." I am not aware that Darwin's fine argument has yet been clinched by the discovery of that insect. But cavil has ceased.

Long before his death a sphinx moth arrived from South Brazil which shows a proboscis between ten and eleven inches long--very nearly equal, therefore, to the task of probing the nectary of _Angraec.u.m sesquipidale_. And we know enough of orchids at this time to be absolutely certain that the Madagascar species must exist.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 4: _Vide_ "The Lost Orchid," _infra_, p. 173.]

[Footnote 5: I have learned by a doleful experience that this fly, commonly called "the weavil," is quite at home on _Loelia purpurata_; in fact, it will prey on any Cattleya.]

HOT ORCHIDS.

In former chapters I have done my best to show that orchid culture is no mystery. The laws which govern it are strict and simple, easy to define in books, easily understood, and subject to few exceptions. It is not with Odontoglossums and Dendrobes as with roses--an intelligent man or woman needs no long apprentices.h.i.+p to master their treatment. Stove orchids are not so readily dealt with; but then, persons who own a stove usually keep a gardener. Coming from the hot lowlands of either hemisphere, they show much greater variety than those of the temperate and sub-tropic zones; there are more genera, though not so many species, and more exceptions to every rule. These, therefore, are not to be recommended to all householders. Not everyone indeed is anxious to grow plants which need a minimum night heat of 60 in winter, 70 in summer, and cannot dispense with fire the whole year round.

The hottest of all orchids probably is _Peristeria elata_, the famous "Spirito Santo," flower of the Holy Ghost. The dullest soul who observes that white dove rising with wings half spread, as in the very act of taking flight, can understand the frenzy of the Spaniards when they came upon it. Rumours of Peruvian magnificence had just reached them at Panama--on the same day, perhaps--when this miraculous sign from heaven encouraged them to advance. The empire of the Incas did not fall a prey to that particular band of ruffians, nevertheless. _Peristeria elata_ is so well known that I would not dwell upon it, but an odd little tale rises to my mind. The great collector Roezl was travelling homeward, in 1868, by Panama. The railway fare to Colon was sixty dollars at that time, and he grudged the money. Setting his wits to work, Roezl discovered that the company issued tickets from station to station at a very low price for the convenience of its employes. Taking advantage of this system, he crossed the isthmus for five dollars--such an advantage it is in travelling to be an old campaigner! At one of the intermediate stations he had to wait for his train, and rushed into the jungle of course. _Peristeria_ abounded in that steaming swamp, but the collector was on holiday. To his amazement, however, he found, side by side with it, a Masdevallia--that genus most impatient of suns.h.i.+ne among all orchids, flouris.h.i.+ng here in the hottest blaze! s.n.a.t.c.hing up half a dozen of the tender plants with a practised hand, he brought them safe to England. On the day they were put up to auction news of Livingstone's death arrived, and in a flash of inspiration Roezl christened his novelty _M. Livingstoniana_. Few, indeed, even among authorities, know where that rarest of Masdevallias has its home; none have reached Europe since. A pretty flower it is--white, rosy tipped, with yellow "tails."

And it dwells by the station of Culebras, on the Panama railway.

Of genera, however, doubtless the Vandas are hottest; and among these, _V. Sanderiana_ stands first. It was found in Mindanao, the most southerly of the Philippines, by Mr. Roebelin when he went thither in search of the red Phaloenopsis, as will be told presently. _Vanda Sanderiana_ is a plant to be described as majestic rather than lovely, if we may distinguish among these glorious things. Its blooms are five inches across, pale lilac in their ground colour, suffused with brownish yellow, and covered with a network of crimson brown. Twelve or more of such striking flowers to a spike, and four or five spikes upon a plant make a wonder indeed. But, to view matters prosaically, _Vanda_ _Sanderiana_ is "bad business." It is not common, and it grows on the very top of the highest trees, which must be felled to secure the treasure; and of those gathered but a small proportion survive. In the first place, the agent must employ natives, who are paid so much per plant, no matter what the size--a bad system, but they will allow no change. It is evidently their interest to divide any "specimen" that will bear cutting up; if the fragments bleed to death, they have got their money meantime. Then, the Manilla steamers call at Mindanao only once a month. Three months are needed to get together plants enough to yield a fair profit. At the end of that time a large proportion of those first gathered will certainly be doomed--Vandas have no pseudo-bulbs to sustain their strength. Steamers run from Manilla to Singapore every fortnight. If the collector be fortunate he may light upon a captain willing to receive his packages; in that case he builds structures of bamboo on deck, and spends the next fortnight in watering, shading, and ventilating his precious _trouvailles_, alternately. But captains willing to receive such freight must be waited for too often. At Singapore it is necessary to make a final overhauling of the plants--to their woeful diminution. This done, troubles recommence. Seldom will the captain of a mail steamer accept that miscellaneous cargo. Happily, the time of year is, or ought to be, that season when tea-s.h.i.+ps arrive at Singapore. The collector may reasonably hope to secure a pa.s.sage in one of these, which will carry him to England in thirty-five days or so.

If this state of things be pondered, even without allowance for accident, it will not seem surprising that _V. Sanderiana_ is a costly species. The largest piece yet secured was bought by Sir Trevor Lawrence at auction for ninety guineas. It had eight stems, the tallest four feet high. No consignment has yet returned a profit, however.

The favoured home of Vandas is Java. They are n.o.ble plants even when at rest, if perfect--that is, clothed in their glossy, dark green leaves from base to crown. If there be any age or any height at which the lower leaves fall of necessity, I have not been able to identify it. In Mr.

Sander's collection, for instance, there is a giant plant of _Vanda suavis_, eleven growths, a small thicket, established in 1847. The tallest stem measures fifteen feet, and every one of its leaves remain.

They fall off easily under bad treatment, but the mischief is reparable at a certain sacrifice. The stem may be cut through and the crown replanted, with leaves perfect; but it will be so much shorter, of course. The finest specimen I ever heard of is the _V. Lowii_ at Ferrieres, seat of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, near Paris. It fills the upper part of a large greenhouse, and year by year its twelve stems produce an indefinite number of spikes, eight to ten feet long, covered with thousands of yellow and brown blooms.[6] Vandas inhabit all the Malayan Archipelago; some are found even in India. The superb _V. teres_ comes from Sylhet; from Burmah also. This might be called the floral cognizance of the house of Rothschild. At Frankfort, Vienna, Ferrieres, and Gunnersbury little meadows of it are grown--that is, the plants flourish at their own sweet will, unc.u.mbered with pots, in houses devoted to them. Rising from a carpet of palms and maidenhair, each crowned with its drooping garland of rose and crimson and cinnamon-brown, they make a glorious show indeed. A pretty little coincidence was remarked when the Queen paid a visit to Waddesdon the other day. _V. teres_ first bloomed in Europe at Syon House, and a small spray was sent to the young Princess, unmarried then and uncrowned. The incident recurred to memory when Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild chose this same flower for the bouquet presented to Her Majesty; he adorned the luncheon table therewith besides. This story bears a moral. The plant of which one spray was a royal gift less than sixty years ago has become so far common that it may be used in ma.s.ses to decorate a room.

Thousands of unconsidered subjects of Her Majesty enjoy the pleasure which one great duke monopolized before her reign began. There is matter for an essay here. I hasten back to my theme.

_V. teres_ is not such a common object that description would be superfluous. It belongs to the small cla.s.s of climbing orchids, delighting to sun itself upon the rafters of the hottest stove. If this habit be duly regarded, it is not difficult to flower by any means, though gardeners who do not keep pace with their age still p.r.o.nounce it a hopeless rebel. Sir Hugh Low tells me that he clothed all the trees round Government House at Pahang with _Vanda teres_, planting its near relative, _V. Hookeri_, more exquisite still, if that were possible, in a swampy hollow. His servants might gather a basket of these flowers daily in the season. So the memory of the first President for Pahang will be kept green. A plant rarely seen is _V. limbata_ from the island of Timor--dusky yellow, the tip purple, outlined with white, formed like a shovel.

I may cite a personal reminiscence here, in the hope that some reader may be able to supply what is wanting. In years so far back that they seem to belong to a "previous existence," I travelled in Borneo, and paid a visit to the antimony-mines of Bidi. The manager, Mr. Bentley, showed me a grand tapong-tree at his door from which he had lately gathered a "blue orchid,"--we were desperately vague about names in the jungle at that day, or in England for that matter. In a note published on my return, I said, "As Mr. Bentley described it, the blossoms hung in an azure garland from the bough, more gracefully than art could design."

This specimen is, I believe, the only one at present known, and both Malays and Dyaks are quite ignorant of such a flower! What was this?

There is no question of the facts. Mr. Bentley sent the plant, a large ma.s.s to the chairman of the Company, and it reached home in fair condition. I saw the warm letter, enclosing cheque for 100l., in which Mr. Templar acknowledged receipt. But further record I have not been able to discover. One inclines to a.s.sume that a blue orchid which puts forth a "garland" of bloom must be a Vanda. The description might be applied to _V. coerulea_, but that species is a native of the Khasya hills; more appropriately, as I recall Mr. Bentley's words, to _V.

coerulescens_, which, however, is Burmese. Furthermore, neither of these would be looked for on the branch of a great tree. Possibly someone who reads this may know what became of Mr. Templar's specimen.

Both the species of Renanthera need great heat. Among "facts not generally known" to orchid-growers, but decidedly interesting for them, is the commercial habitat, as one may say, of _R. coccinea_. The books state correctly that it is a native of Cochin China. Orchids coming from such a distance must needs be withered on arrival. Accordingly, the most experienced horticulturist who is not up to a little secret feels a.s.sured that all is well when he beholds at the auction-room or at one of the small dealer's a plant full of sap, with glossy leaves and unshrivelled roots. It must have been in cultivation for a year at the very least, and he buys with confidence. Too often, however, a disastrous change sets in from the very moment his purchase reaches home. Instead of growing it falls back and back, until in a very few weeks it has all the appearance of a newly-imported piece. The explanation is curious. At some time, not distant, a quant.i.ty of _R.

coccinea_ must have found its way to the neighbourhood of Rio. There it flourishes as a weed, with a vigour quite unparalleled in its native soil. Unscrupulous persons take advantage of this extraordinary accident. From a country so near and so readily accessible they can get plants home, pot them up, and sell them, before the withering process sets in. May this revelation confound such knavish tricks! The moral is old--buy your orchids from one of the great dealers, if you do not care to "establish" them yourself.

_R. coccinea_ is another of the climbing species, and it demands, even more urgently than _V. teres_, to reach the top of the house, where suns.h.i.+ne is fiercest, before blooming. Under the best conditions, indeed, it is slow to produce its n.o.ble wreaths of flower--deep red, crimson, and orange. Upon the other hand, the plant itself is ornamental, and it grows very fast. The Duke of Devons.h.i.+re has some at Chatsworth which never fail to make a gorgeous show in their season; but they stand twenty feet high, twisted round birch-trees, and they have occupied their present quarters for half a century or near it. There is but one more species in the genus, so far as the unlearned know, but this, generally recognized as _Vanda Lowii_, as has been already mentioned, ranks among the grand curiosities of botanic science. Like some of the Catasetums and Cycnoches, it bears two distinct types of flower on each spike, but the instance of _R. Lowii_ is even more perplexing. In those other cases the differing forms represent male and female s.e.x, but the microscope has not yet discovered any sort of reason for the like eccentricity of this Renanthera. Its proper inflorescence, as one may put it, is greenish yellow, blotched with brown, three inches in diameter, clothing a spike sometimes twelve feet long. The first two flowers to open, however--those at the base--present a strong contrast in all respects--smaller, of different shape, tawny yellow in colour, dotted with crimson. It would be a pleasing task for ingenious youth with a bent towards science to seek the utility of this arrangement.

Orchids are spreading fast over the world in these days, and we may expect to hear of other instances where a species has taken root in alien climes like _R. coccinea_ in Brazil. I cannot cite a parallel at present. But Mr. Sander informs me that there is a growing demand for these plants in realms which have their own native orchids. We have an example in the letter which has been already quoted.[7] Among customers who write to him direct are magnates of China and Siam, an Indian and a Javanese rajah. Orders are received--not unimportant, nor infrequent--from merchants at Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, and smaller places, of course. It is vastly droll to hear that some of these gentlemen import species at a great expense which an intelligent coolie could gather for them in any quant.i.ty within a few furlongs of their go-down! But for the most part they demand foreigners.

The plants thus distributed will be grown in the open air; naturally they will seed; at least, we may hope so. Even _Angraec.u.m sesquipedale_, of which I wrote in the preceding chapter, would find a moth able to impregnate it in South Brazil. Such species as recognize the conditions necessary for their existence will establish themselves. It is fairly safe to credit that in some future time, not distant, Cattleyas may flourish in the jungles of India, Dendrobiums on the Amazons, Phaloenopsis in the coast lands of Central America. Those who wish well to their kind would like to hasten that day.

Mr. Burbidge suggested at the Orchid Conference that gentlemen who have plantations in a country suitable should establish a "farm," or rather a market-garden, and grow the precious things for exportation. It is an excellent idea, and when tea, coffee, sugar-cane, all the regular crops of the East and West Indies, are so depreciated by compet.i.tion, one would think that some planters might adopt it. Perhaps some have; it is too early yet for results. Upon inquiry I hear of a case, but it is not encouraging. One of Mr. Sander's collectors, marrying when on service in the United States of Colombia, resolved to follow Mr. Burbidge's advice.

He set up his "farm" and began "hybridizing" freely. No man living is better qualified as a collector, for the hero of this little tale is Mr.

Kerbach, a name familiar among those who take interest in such matters; but I am not aware that he had any experience in growing orchids. To start with hybridizing seems very ambitious--too much of a short cut to fortune. However, in less than eighteen months Mr. Kerbach found it did not answer, for reasons unexplained, and he begged to be reinstated in Mr. Sander's service. It is clear, indeed, that the orchid-farmer of the future, in whose success I firmly believe, will be wise to begin modestly, cultivating the species he finds in his neighbourhood. It is not in our greenhouses alone that these plants sometimes show likes and dislikes beyond explanation. For example, many gentlemen in Costa Rica--a wealthy land, and comparatively civilized--have tried to cultivate the glorious _Cattleya Dowiana_. For business purposes also the attempt has been made. But never with success. In those tropical lands a variation of climate or circ.u.mstances, small perhaps, but such as plants that subsist mostly upon air can recognize, will be found in a very narrow circuit. We say that Trichopilias have their home at Bogota.

As a matter of fact, however, they will not live in the immediate vicinity of that town, though the woods, fifteen miles away, are stocked with them. The orchid-farmer will have to begin cautiously, propagating what he finds at hand, and he must not be hasty in sending his crop to market. It is a general rule of experience that plants brought from the forest and "established" before s.h.i.+pment do less well than those s.h.i.+pped direct in good condition, though the public, naturally, is slow to admit a conclusion opposed by _a priori_ reasoning. The cause may be that they exhaust their strength in that first effort, and suffer more severely on the voyage.

I hear of one gentleman, however, who appears to be cultivating orchids with success. This is Mr. Rand, dwelling on the Rio Negro, in Brazil, where he has established a plantation of _Hevia Brazilienses_, a new caoutchouc of the highest quality, indigenous to those parts. Some years ago Mr. Rand wrote to Mr. G.o.dseff, at St. Albans, begging plants of _Vanda Sanderiana_ and other Oriental species, which were duly forwarded. In return he despatched some pieces of a new Epidendrum, named in his honour _E. Randii_, a n.o.ble flower, with brown sepals and petals, the lip crimson, betwixt two large white wings. This and others native to the Rio Negro Mr. Rand is propagating on a large scale in shreds of bamboo, especially a white _Cattleya superba_ which he himself discovered. It is pleasing to add that by latest reports all the Oriental species were thriving to perfection on the other side of the Atlantic.

Vandas, indeed, should flourish where _Cattleya superba_ is at home, or anything else that loves the atmosphere of a kitchen on was.h.i.+ng-day at midsummer. Though all the Cattleyas, or very nearly all, will "do" in an intermediate house, several prefer the stove. Of two among them, _C.

Dowiana_ and _C. aurea_, I spoke in the preceding chapter with an enthusiasm that does not bear repet.i.tion. _Cattleya guttata Leopoldi_ grows upon rocks in the little island of Sta. Catarina, Brazil, in company with _Loelia elegans_ and _L. purpurata_. There the four dwelt in such numbers only twenty years ago that the supply was thought inexhaustible. It has come to an end already, and collectors no longer visit the spot. Cliffs and ravines which men still young can recollect ablaze with colour, are as bare now as a stone-quarry. Nature had done much to protect her treasures; they flourished mostly in places which the human foot cannot reach--_Loelia elegans_ and _Cattleya g.

Leopoldi_ inextricably entwined, clinging to the face of lofty rocks.

The blooms of the former are white and mauve, of the latter chocolate-brown, spotted with dark red, the lip purple. A wondrous sight that must have been in the time of flowering. It is lost now, probably for ever. Natives went down, suspended on a rope, and swept the whole circuit of the island, year by year. A few specimens remain in nooks absolutely inaccessible, but those happy mortals who possess a bit of _L. elegans_ should treasure it, for more are very seldom forthcoming.

_Loelia elegans Statteriana_ is the finest variety perhaps; the crimson velvet tip of its labellum is as clearly and sharply-defined upon the snow-white surface as pencil could draw; it looks like painting by the steadiest of hands in angelic colour. _C. g. Leopoldi_ has been found elsewhere. It is deliciously scented. I observed a plant at St. Albans lately with three spikes, each bearing over twenty flowers; many strong perfumes there were in the house, but that overpowered them all. The _Loelia purpurata_ of Sta. Catarina, to which the finest varieties in cultivation belong, has shared the same fate. It occupied boulders jutting out above the swamps in the full glare of tropic suns.h.i.+ne. Many gardeners give it too much shade. This species grows also on the mainland, but of inferior quality in all respects; curiously enough it dwells upon trees there, even though rocks be at hand, while the island variety, I believe, was never found on timber.

Another hot Cattleya of the highest cla.s.s is _C. Acklandiae_ It belongs to the dwarf section of the genus, and inexperienced persons are vastly surprised to see such a little plant bearing two flowers on a spike, each larger than itself. They are four inches in diameter, petals and sepals chocolate-brown, barred with yellow, lip large, of colour varying from rose to purple. _C. Acklandiae_ is found at Bahia, where it grows side by side with _C. amethystoglossa_, also a charming species, very tall, leafless to the tip of its pseudo-bulbs. Thus the dwarf beneath is seen in all its beauty. As they cling together in great ma.s.ses the pair must make a flower-bed to themselves--above, the cl.u.s.tered spikes of _C. amethystoglossa_, dusky-lilac, purple-spotted, with a lip of amethyst; upon the ground the rich chocolate and rose of _C. Acklandiae_.

_Cattleya superba_, as has been said, dwells also on the Rio Negro in Brazil; it has a wide range, for specimens have been sent from the Rio Meta in Colombia. This species is not loved by gardeners, who find it difficult to cultivate and almost impossible to flower, probably because they cannot give it suns.h.i.+ne enough. I have heard that Baron Hruby, a Hungarian enthusiast in our science, has no sort of trouble; wonders, indeed, are reported of that admirable collection, where all the hot orchids thrive like weeds. The Briton may find comfort in a.s.suming that cool species are happier beneath his cloudy skies; if he be prudent, he will not seek to verify the a.s.sumption. The a.s.sistant Curator of Kew a.s.sures us, in his excellent little work, "Orchids," that the late Mr.

Spyers grew _C. superba_ well, and he details his method. I myself have never seen the bloom. Mr. Watson describes it as five inches across, "bright rosy-purple suffused with white, very fragrant, lip with acute side lobes folding over the column,"--making a funnel, in short--"the front lobe spreading, kidney-shaped, crimson-purple, with a blotch of white and yellow in front."

In the same districts with _Cattleya superba_ grows _Galleandra Devoniana_ under circ.u.mstances rather unusual. It clings to the very tip of a slender palm, in swamps which the Indians themselves regard with dread as the chosen home of fever and mosquitoes. It was discovered by Sir Robert Schomburgk, who compared the flower to a foxglove, referring especially, perhaps, to the graceful bend of its long pseudo-bulbs, which is almost lost under cultivation. The tube-like flowers are purple, contrasting exquisitely with a snow-white lip, striped with lilac in the throat.

Phaloenopsis, of course, are hot. This is one of our oldest genera which still rank in the first cla.s.s. It was drawn and described so early as 1750, and a plant reached Messrs. Rollisson in 1838; they sold it to the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re for a hundred guineas. Many persons regard Phaloenopsis as the loveliest of all, and there is no question of their supreme beauty, though not everyone may rank them first. They come mostly from the Philippines, but Java, Borneo, Cochin China, Burmah, even a.s.sam contribute some species. Colonel Berkeley found _Ph.

tetraspis_, snow-white, and _Ph. speciosa_, purple, in the Andamans, when he was Governor of that settlement, clinging to low bushes along the mangrove creeks. So far as I know, all the species dwell within breath of the sea, as it may be put, where the atmosphere is laden with salt; this gives a hint to the thoughtful. Mr. Partington, of Cheshunt, who was the most renowned cultivator of the genus in his time, used to lay down salt upon the paths and beneath the stages of his Phaloenopsis house. Lady Howard de Walden stands first, perhaps, at the present day, and her gardener follows the same system. These plants, indeed, are affected, for good or ill, by influences too subtle for our perception as yet. Experiment alone will decide whether a certain house, or a certain neighbourhood even, is agreeable to their taste. It is a waste of money in general to make alterations; if they do not like the place they won't live there, and that's flat! It is probable that Maidstone, where Lady Howard de Walden resides, may be specially suited to their needs, but her ladys.h.i.+p's gardener knows how to turn a lucky chance to the best account. Some of his plants have ten leaves!--the uninitiated may think that fact grotesquely undeserving of a note of exclamation, but to explain would be too technical. It may be observed that the famous Swan orchid, _Cycnoches chlorochilon_, flourishes at Maidstone as nowhere else perhaps in England.

Phaloenopsis were first introduced by Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting, a firm that vanished years ago, but will live in the annals of horticulture as the earliest of the great importers. In 1836 they got home a living specimen of _Ph. amabilis_, which had been described, and even figured, eighty years before. A few months later the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re secured _Ph. Schilleriana_. The late Mr. B.S. Williams told me a very curious incident relating to this species. It comes from the Philippines, and exacts a very hot, close atmosphere of course. Once upon a time, however, a little piece was left in the cool house at Holloway, and remained there some months unnoticed by the authorities.

When at length the oversight was remarked, to their amaze this stranger from the tropics, abandoned in the temperate zone, proved to be thriving more vigorously than any of his fellows who enjoyed their proper climate!--so he was left in peace and cherished as a "phenomenon." Four seasons had pa.s.sed when I beheld the marvel, and it was a picture of health and strength, flowering freely; but the reader is not advised to introduce a few Phaloenopsis to his Odontoglossums--not by any means.

Mr. Williams himself never repeated the experiment. It was one of those delightfully perplexing vagaries which the orchid-grower notes from time to time.

There are rare species of this genus which will not be found in the dealers' catalogues, and amateurs who like a novelty may be pleased to hear some names. _Ph. Manni_, christened in honour of Mr. Mann, Director of the Indian Forest Department, is yellow and red; _Ph. cornucervi_, yellow and brown; _Ph. Portei_, a natural hybrid, of _Ph. rosea_ and _Ph. Aphrodite_, white, the lip amethyst. It is found very, very rarely in the woods near Manilla. Above all, _Ph. Sanderiana_, to which hangs a little tale.

So soon as the natives of the Philippines began to understand that their white and lilac weeds were cherished in Europe, they talked of a scarlet variety, which thrilled listening collectors with joy; but the precious thing never came to hand, and, on closer inquiry, no responsible witness could be found who had seen it. Years pa.s.sed by and the scarlet Phaloenopsis became a jest among orchidaceans. The natives persisted, however, and Mr. Sander found the belief so general, if shadowy, that when a service of coasting steamers was established, he sent Mr.

Roebelin to make a thorough investigation. His enterprise and sagacity were rewarded, as usual. After floating round for twenty-five years amidst derision, the rumour proved true in part. _Ph. Sanderiana_ is not scarlet but purplish rose, a very handsome and distinct species.

To the same collector we owe the n.o.blest of Aerides, _A. Lawrenciae_, waxy white tipped with purple, and deep purple lip. Besides the lovely colouring it is the largest by far of that genus. Mr. Roebelin sent two plants from the Far East; he had not seen the flower, nor received any description from the natives. Mr. Sander grew them in equal ignorance for three years, and sent one to auction in blossom; it fell to Sir Trevor Lawrence's bid for 235 guineas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COELOGENE PANDURATA.

Reduced to One Sixth]

Many of the Coelogenes cla.s.sed as cool, which, indeed, rub along with Odontoglossums, do better in the stove while growing. _Coel. cristata_ itself comes from Nepaul, where the summer sun is terrible, and it covers the rocks most exposed. But I will only name a few of those recognized as hot. Amongst the most striking of flowers, exquisitely pretty also, is _Coel. pandurata_, from Borneo. Its spike has been described by a person of fine fancy as resembling a row of glossy pea-green frogs with black tongues, each three inches in diameter. The whole bloom is brilliantly green, but several ridges clothed with hairs as black and soft as velvet run down the lip, seeming to issue from a mouth. It is strange to see that a plant so curious, so beautiful, and so sweet should be so rarely cultivated; I own, however, that it is very unwilling to make itself at home with us. _Coel. Dayana_, also a native of Borneo, one of our newest discoveries, is named after Mr. Day, of Tottenham. I may interpolate a remark here for the encouragement of poor but enthusiastic members of our fraternity. When Mr. Day sold his collection lately, an American "Syndicate" paid 12,000l. down, and the remaining plants fetched 12,000l. at auction; so, at least, the uncontradicted report goes. _Coel. Dayana_ is rare, of course, and dear, but Mr. Sander has lately imported a large quant.i.ty. The spike is three feet long sometimes, a pendant wreath of buff-yellow flowers broadly striped with chocolate. _Coel. Ma.s.sangeana_, from a.s.sam, resembles this, but the lip is deep crimson-brown, with lines of yellow, and a white edge. Newest of all the Coelogenes, and supremely beautiful, is _Coel. Sanderiana_, imported by the gentleman whose name it bears. He has been called "The Orchid King." This superb species has only flowered once in Europe as yet; Baron Ferdinand Rothschild is the happy man. Its snow-white blooms, six on a spike generally, each three inches across, have very dark brown stripes on the lip. It was discovered in Borneo by Mr. Forstermann, the same collector who happed upon the wondrous scarlet Dendrobe, mentioned in a former chapter. There I stated that Baron Schroeder had three pieces; this was a mistake unfortunately. Mr. Forstermann only secured three, of which two died on the journey. Baron Schroeder bought the third, but it has perished. No more can be found as yet.