Lycaste was the beautiful daughter of Priam, king of Troy, yet only one member of this orchid genus deserves the name—Lycaste skinneri. Discovered by George Ure Skinner, he considered it to be the consummation of his lifelong search for rare and beautiful plants, and asserted that any man would not regret giving his life to secure it. Skinner did not lose his life, but he spent many of his after years in popularizing the beauty and culture of Lycaste skinneri until it became a common conservatory plant in many parts of the Old World. It has been a house plant since 1820 and often is called the "Drawing Room Flower" because the thick, waxy petals are resistant to rapid temperature changes and dry air found in homes. Lycaste skinneri also holds one of the records for longevity of bloom. The botanist and grower B. S. Williams kept a large plant in his English cottage sitting room where it bloomed from early February to late May with no more warmth than that from an occasional small coal fire during the early evenings.

Other than Lycaste skinneri only a half-dozen species from the higher forests of the Central American CordilIeras keep the genus in favor with hobbyists. The Mexican and Guatemalan lycastes are reasonably hardy and always floriferous. Some of the flowers may be small, but often are deliciously fragrant. They are good plants for beginners who have little time and less money and who don't relish laboring overlong with their plants. A plain, lightly shaded window facing southward in any section of the country will keep them from being homesick for their native mountains.

Like so many other cool orchids imported from the so-called tropical countries, lycastes were not cultivated successfully until they were taken out of warm greenhouses and grown in cool temperatures or outdoors. Then the orchidist Frederick Boyle said of them, "A man must really give his mind to it to kill a lycaste." In Southern California they are used in lath houses and outdoor shade gardens. They have withstood frost down to 28° except where frost may last for days on end. This is to be expected, since they come from areas where there is always frost in winter for short periods. In the Pacific Northwest they are used as patio and window decorations. In Florida and adjacent states they are known as garden subjects. A gardener in Philadelphia has grown them in a living-room window without any special heating equipment for over twenty years. Lycastes are easy to grow anywhere and that is the best that can be said of them. They propagate readily, producing large clumps in a short time. And nothing can so stagger your imagination as a twelve-inch pot of Lycaste skinneri with thirty or more blooms. Incidentally, the flowers are oddly shaped for orchids. Most people seeing them for the first time may mistake them for tulips, because the flowers are borne erect and the lip is somewhat reduced in size.

Lycastes as a rule have large palmlike foliage set on top of long and wrinkled pseudobulbs. Their foliage makes them attractive conservatory plants the year round although old foliage may not last for more than three years. The flowers are customarily solitary on short stems. Lycaste aromatica, though the dwarf of the genus, may produce as many as thirty flower stems from a single pseudobulb over a period of weeks. The small clove-scented, summer-blooming orange flowers and miniature foliage make it a delightful companion for other small-leaved orchids. On the other hand, the six-inch rose to white blossoms of Lycaste skinneri and the four-inch purple spotted flowers of Lycaste deppei make up for the faults of the rest of the family. Even the smaller Mexican species, Lycaste leucantha—which blooms haphazardly all the year—has attractive two-inch flowers whose sepals and petals are faced with clear yellow and backed with emerald green.

All lycastes are grown under identical conditions: plenty of fresh air, plenty of light, normal living-room warmth. In greenhouse culture they are grown under cool temperatures and slight shade. They need somewhat continuous moisture about their roots and perfect—absolutely perfect —drainage. They do not seem to be injured by hot, dry air on occasion, but keep those occasions rare. They should be grown under cool, moist conditions, particularly in summer; and in cool (50°), slightly dry conditions in winter. These are the same cultural requirements as those of another genus of orchids—disas. The two genera, coming from opposite ends of the world, are peculiarly alike and often can be grown together successfully.

Many lycastes are found on small shrubs or stumpy trees and are therefore described as semiepiphytes. Their roots, however, are thin, short, and generally buried in masses of decaying vegetation and wind-deposited soil. For this reason they are grown strictly as terrestrials in leafmold and gravel. They are grown in osmunda but not so well. Be careful that drainage is good. Add more gravel, if necessary, to the compost. Lycastes need water, but too much will rot them.

The compost must be well firmed into the pots (preferably shallow fern pans not much greater in diameter than the plants) and the pseudobulbs set on top of the compost. If there are enough healthy roots left, pot lycastes as you would a strawberry plant by building the compost up about the spread roots but not over the rhizome. If no roots are left on the pseudobulbs, they can be held in place by short, heavy wire staples slipped over the rhizome and into the compost. Unlike those of calanthes or disas, the pseudobulbs of lycastes cannot be partly buried; they will rot if the rhizome is covered.

Propagation is by division of the back bulbs, and is best done immediately after new growth appears. With Lycaste skinneri and Lycaste deppei that period is in late winter or early spring. The other lycastes, all summer-blooming, are divided and potted in the early fall. Never leave fewer than two pseudobulbs to a division. Some of the pseudobulbs may appear large to you, but they do not have the recuperative ability of calanthes.

Always give lycastes sufficient water. A little at a time and rather often is not a bad practice to follow. They don't need much water when their visual growth cycle has stopped, but many of them may have substantial root systems and will need enough to maintain firm pseudobulbs. During active growth, however, it is hard to overwater them. The larger-foliaged species particularly can use copious amounts. Since lycastes are inclined to be somewhat epiphytic in their habits, they have acclimated themselves to considerable air about their roots. For this reason it is not wise to allow the compost to stay too moist too long. Once in a while let the compost dry out a bit, though never completely; it will stay in better condition. If there is one single thing above all else injurious to lycastes, it is a soggy, decayed litter in which to root.

Because lycastes also are inclined to be terrestrial they are heavy feeders. They have responded well to small applications of a balanced chemical fertilizer sprinkled around the edges of the pot and watered in. Their most favorable growth has been obtained from biweekly applications of manure water but almost as good results have been demonstrated by amateurs who have used a nutrient solution each time their plants needed watering, both winter and summer.

If beginners require beauty in plants, and don't want to install additional equipment, they should select lycastes, and be content with the species. There are few hybrids in existence. This is because the two loveliest species bloom six months later than the balance of the genus. Hybridists find it difficult to store lycaste pollen and to keep it viable. However, no hybrid has excelled the beauty of Lycaste skinneri, and it is recommended as being an addition to your list of perfect plant house guests.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here...