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. 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 sunshine.  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 class 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 masses the pair must make a flower-bed to themselves—­above, the clustered spikes of C. amethystoglossa, dusky-lilac, purple-spotted, with a lip of amethyst; upon the ground the rich chocolate and rose of C.  Acklandiae.