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It was raised by Miss Harris, of Lamberhurst, Kent, one single plant only; and it has flowered several times. Messrs. Sander have crossed Catt. guttata Leopoldii, Brazil, with Catt. Dowiana, Costa Rica, giving Catt. Skinneri, Costa Rica, giving Loelio-Catt. Marriottiana; Loelia pumila, Brazil, with Catt. Dowiana, Costa Rica, giving Loelio-Catt.
Yellow is the ground all through in Cattleya aurea sepals, petals, and lip; unbroken in the two former, in the latter superbly streaked with crimson. But Cattleya Dowiana shows crimson pencillings on its sepals, while the ground colour of the lip is crimson, broadly lined and reticulated with gold. Imagine four of these noble flowers on one stalk, each half a foot across!
But it lies beyond the power of imagination. C. Dowiana was discovered by Warscewicz about 1850, and he sent home accounts too enthusiastic for belief. Steady-going Britons utterly refused to credit such a marvel his few plants died, and there was an end of it for the time. I may mention an instance of more recent date, where the eye-witness of a collector was flatly rejected at home. Monsieur St.
So there may be connecting links between C. Dowiana and C. aurea in that vast wilderness, but it is quite possible there are none. Words could not picture the glory of these marvels. In each the scheme of colour is yellow and crimson, but there are important modifications.
The structure of the plants is identical, and to admit C. Mossiæ as a sub-species of the same was the utmost concession Lindley would make. This was in 1840. Fifteen years later came C. Warscewiczi, now called gigas; then, next year, C. Trianæ; C. Dowiana in 1866; C. Mendellii in 1870 all labiatas, strictly speaking. At each arrival the controversy was renewed; it is not over yet.
Vandas, indeed, should flourish where Cattleya superba is at home, or anything else that loves the atmosphere of a kitchen on washing-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 repetition.
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 competition, 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 circumstances, 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 shipment do less well than those shipped direct in good condition, though the public, naturally, is slow to admit a conclusion opposed by
The most gorgeous, the stateliest, the most imperial of all flowers on this earth, is C. Dowiana unless it be C. aurea, a "geographical variety" of the same. They dwell a thousand miles apart at least, the one in Colombia, the other in Costa Rica; and neither occurs, so far as is known, in the great intervening region.
I cite the following haphazard: Phajus Wallichii × Phajus tuberculosus. Loelia præstans. × Cattleya Dowiana. " purpurata × Cattleya Dowiana. " " × Loelia grandis tenebrosa. " " × Cattleya Mendellii. " marginata × Loelia elegans Cooksoni. Cattleya Mendellii × " purpurata. " Trianæ × " harpophylla. " Percivalliana × " " Lawrenceana × Cattleya Mossiæ. " gigas × " Gaskelliana.
The particular case of Monsieur St. Leger was complicated by the extreme resemblance which the foliage of Onc. Jonesianum bears to that of Onc. cibolletum, a species almost worthless. Unfortunately the beautiful thing declines to live with us as yet. Cattleya Dowiana was rediscovered by Mr.
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