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 assuming that
cool species are happier beneath his cloudy skies; if he be prudent, he
will not seek to verify the assumption. The Assistant Curator of Kew
assures 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 circumstances 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.
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