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A MANUAL OF ORCHIDACKOUS PLANTS.
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A MANUAL
OF
ORCHIDACKOUS PLANTS
CULTIVATED UNDER GLASS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
WOT:
HPIDENDREA.
JAMES VEITCH. & SONS,
RoyaL Exotic Nursery, 544, Kine’s Roap, Cuersza, S.W.
1887—94.
All rights reserved.
H. M. POLLETT & Co.,
HoRTICULTURAL AND GENERAL PRINTERS,
FANN STREET, ALDERSGATE STREET,
Lonpon, E.C,
‘
}
PREFACE.
Tats Manual has been compiled to supply amateurs and
cultivators of exotic Orchids with a fuller account of the
principal genera, species and varieties cultivated under glass,
than is contained in the Manuals hitherto in use.
The rapid extension of Orchid culture during the last
quarter of a century, resulting from the increased taste for
and appreciation of this beautiful and interesting order of
plants, has created the desideratum which we have now
attempted to supply. The prominent place, too, occupied
by Orchids in the columns of the Horticultural Press, and
the amount of practical and varied information respecting
them disseminated through its agency, has also stimulated
the desire to obtain all the leading facts in a condensed
form, to which easy reference may at any time be made.
So numerous are the species and varieties of Orchids at
present in cultivation, and to which additions are constantly
being made by new discoveries and by artificial hybridisation,
that the labour attending the compilation of a Manual
sufficiently comprehensive to meet the wants of cultivators
has necessarily taken up much time. Moreover, the un-
satisfactory state of Orchidology, especially in its horticultural
aspect at the time this Manual was commenced, and_ its
complicated and unscientific nomenclature, have rendered its
compilation within a stated time almost an impossibility.
Under these circumstances we decided upon issuing the work
in parts, each part containing a monograph of the cultivated
species and varieties of one of the most important genera,
or of a group of genera. The parts were issued according
\
v1 PREFACE.
as the materials which came to hand enabled us to complete
each, as far as practicable, without reference to their
systematic order of sequence. This has necessarily deranged
the paging of the whole work, but with the aid of the
systematic and alphabetical indexes to the genera appended
to each volume, little imconvenience will, it is hoped, be
experienced in finding any of the described species.
Little explanation of the plan of the work is here needed ;
we have only to state that im the scientific classification
and sequence of the genera we have followed, with but
trifling deviations, the arrangement of Bentham and Hooker
as elaborated in their Genera Plantarum, the most profound
and, at the same time, the most intelligible exposition of
the Orchideze extant. In the nomenclature of the species
we have adhered to the Laws of Botanical Nomenclature
adopted by the International Botanical Congress, held at Paris
in August, 1867.
In the description of the species, we have been compelled
to use occasionally a few technical terms; at the end of
the second volume we have given a glossary of the terms
so used. In the cultural notes we have quoted temperatures
in the Centigrade seale with the equivalent Fahrenheit
readings, in the hope that the far more rational scale, now
almost universally adopted in scientific investigations, may
also come into use in horticulture. The literary references
in italics indicate coloured plates of the species or variety
deseribed.
We gratefully acknowledge our deep obligations to the
numerous patrons and friends who have with untirmg
kindness supplied us with materials for description and
illustration of rare and little known kinds, without which
the issue of this work in its present form would have been
impossible. The various sourees from which these materials
PREFACE. Vil
have been derived are duly noted in their respective places.
The determination of the correct nomenclature of very many
species has necessitated constant reference to the original
types preserved in the National Herbaria. To the heads of
these departments an especial acknowledgment is due, and we
tender our warmest thanks to Mr. W. T. Thiselton Dyer,
Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, and to Mr. J. G.
Baker, the Keeper of the Herbarium, and his assistants; also
to Mr. W. Carruthers, of the Natural History Museum, South
Kensington, and to his staff, for their unremitting kindness
and assistance im enabling us to inspect the herbarium
specimens under their charge, by which many perplexing
questions of nomenclature have been definitely settled. We
also gladly acknowledge our indebtedness to Dr. Maxwell 1.
Masters for his article on the Teratology of Orchids and for
his assistance in the preparatory notes on the minute anatomy
of the leaves. And we must gratefully recognise the un-
remitting care which our assistant Mr. A. H. Kent has
bestowed on the preparation of this work.
JAMES VEITCH & SONS
Roya Exotic Nursery, CHELSEA.
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SYSTEMATIC
SYSTEMATIC
Sub-tribe Pleurothallee.
Pleurcthallis
Restrepia
Masdevallia...
Arpophyllum
Sub-tribe Liparieze.
Platyclinis ...
List of species
Sub-tribe Dendrobiee.
Dendrobium
Bulbophyllum
Cirrhopetalum
List of species
Sub-tribe Erie.
Coelia
Pachystoma
Ipsea ‘
Spathoglottis
Sub-tribe Bletiez.
Phaius
Phaiocalanthe x
Thunia
Bletia
Chysis er
Sub-tribe Coelogynee.
Trichosma ...
Coelogyne
INDEX. TO. SEEK
Vor. FE
TRIBE—EHPIDENDRE®.
including Pleione
INDEX TO THE GENERA.
GENERA.
29
il SYSTEMATIC INDEX TO ‘THE
Calanthe
Arundina
Sub-tribe Leeliez.
Diacrium
Kpidendrum
including Nanodes
Broughtonia
List of species
Cattleya
Leelia
Sophrocattleya =
Leliopsis ... cae
‘Tetramicra (Leptotes)
Schomburgkia
Sophronitis...
List of species
GENERA,
PAGE
100
104
107
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
Arpophyllum ...
Arundina
Bletia ..
Broughtonia ...
Bulbophyllum...
Cattleya
Chysis ...
Cirrhopetalum
Ceelia ...
Coelogyne
Cryptophorant hus
Dendrobium
Diacrium
Epidendrum .
Ipsea ...
Leelia ...
Leeliopsis
Leptotes
Masdevallia
Nanodes
Pachystoma
Phaiocalanthe x
Phaius...
Platyclinis
Pleione :
Pleurothallis ...
Restrepia
Schomburgkia
Sophrocattleya x
Sophronitis
Spathoglottis ...
Tetramicra
Thunia
Trichosma
Vou. i.
under Sub-tribe
3) B)
5) 9
9
3) b
3) >
5) 9)
3 Pe)
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9 Bp)
a) 7b)
3)
I) I)
d) )
d) bp)
I) dd
d) d)
) d)
3) 2)
) 3)
+) 3)
3) 3)
d) 3)
+) 2)
3 3)
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bP) +)
3 9
LEG
ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO THE GENERA.
Pleurothalleze
Coelogynez
Bletiez ...
Leelee ...
Dendrobiew
Leeliexe ...
Bletiez ...
Dendrobiez
Erieve
Coelogyneze
Pleurothallez
Dendrobiez
Leelieze ...
Leeliew ...
Hriez
Leeliez ...
Leeliez ...
Leeliexw .
Pleurothalleze ...
Kpidendree
Hriev
Bletiez ...
Bletiez ...
Lipariee. ..
Coelogyneze
Pleurothalleze
Pleurothallez
Leeliew ..
Leeliew ...
Leeliex ...
Erieze
Leeliez ...
Bletiez .
Coelogyneze
THE GENERA.
iil
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GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS. 1
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
Acropetal or basifugal order, applied to flowers produced in succession from
a common axis, of which the youngest is nearest the apex as in
Oneidium Papilio, Masdevallia Chimera and other Saccolabiate Masde-
vallias, Cypripedium Chamberlainianum and nearly all the Cypripedes
in the section SELENIPEDIA.
Acuminate, tapering to a point.
Acute, terminating in a sharp point.
Adnate, adherent, applied to unlike organs as the column and lip in
Epidendrum; the base of the sepals and the foot of the column in
Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, ete.
Anastomosing, said of veins which sub-divide and join each other as those
in the upper sepal of many Cypripedes.
Amplexicaul, applied to leaves that embrace the stem at their base like
those of Dendrobium formosum, and many others.
Ancipitous, two-edged as the pseudo-bulbs_ of Trichopilia, many Oncids,
Odontoglots, etc.
Annulate, surrounded with raised narrow bands or rings as the fleshy stems
of Phaius, Chysis, Mormodes, Cynoches, ete.
Anatropous, applied to ovules that are turned down upon themselves so
that the true apex points to the base. See Fig. 10, page 87.
Auriculate, having small rounded lobes or ears as the small basal lobes of
the labellum of many Oncidiums.
Bibracteate, having two opposite bracts of which one is usually larger
than the other as in Cypripedium callosum, C. nivewm, etc. °
Bicalearate, having two spurs.
Bicuspidate, having two horn-like points as the staminode of Cypripedium
barbatum, C. Lawrenceanum and closely allied species.
Bifid, divided into two from the middle upwards.
Bilamellate, applied to the crest of the labellum of Brassia, Odontoglossum,
ete., when it consists of two small vertical plates.
Calceolate, calceiform, having the form of a slipper as the labellum of
Cypripedium, Dendrobium moschatum, D. Chrysocrepis, ete.
Campanulate, bell-shaped.
Capsule, the seed vessel.
Carinate, having a keel or raised line,
Caudicle, the extension of the smaller end of a pollen-mass into a tail-lke
point as in most of the Opurypr®, in Calanthe, Eria and a few others.
See Morphology, Fig. B, page 22.
K
ll GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
Cauline, belonging to the ascending axis or stem.
Cespitose, growing in tufts or patches,
Ciliate, fringed with hairs as the petals of many Cypripedes.
Ciliolate, fringed with very short soft hairs.
Cirri, small thread-like organs more or less spirally twisted as the apical
appendages of the labellum of Phalenopsis amabilis and P. Aphrodite,
of the column of Odontoglossum cirrosum, ete.
Clavate, club-shaped, gradually thickening from below upwards as the stems
of many Cattleyas, Dendrobes, etc.
Clinandrium, the chamber at the top of the column in which the pollinia
he.
Complicate, folded, of leaves in part only.
Conduplicate, folded longitudinally down the middle the whole length.
Connate, said of leaves when the bases of two opposite ones are united
as in the common Honeysuckle, but in Orchidology it is often applied
to two like organs that have grown together along their sides as the
lateral sepals in Cypripedium, Masdevallia, many Oncidiums, ete.
Connivent, nearly synonymous with convergent, applied to organs that are
gradually turned towards each other as the lateral sepals of many Cattleyas.
Cordate, heart-shaped, when the base of the leaf, foliage or floral, is in
the form of two rounded lobes and the apex is pointed, like the hearts
of a pack of cards. Cordate-ovate, intermediate between cordate and ovate.
Cordate-oblong, longer and less tapering than cordate.
Corymbose, corymbiform, expresses a modification of the raceme im which
the pedicels are gradually shorter towards the summit, as in Calanthe
veratrifolia and allied species, the Amphiglottide Epidendra, ete.
Crenulate, said of leaves, whether foliage or floral, when the edge has
rounded teeth and sharp angles between them as the labellum of Aerides
japonicum.
Cucullate, hooded; the apex of the column of many Oncids and species of
allied genera is prolonged into a membraneous or petaloid appendage,
often turned inwards and resembling a_ hood.
Cuneate, wedge-shaped, tapering towards the base.
Cymbiform, having the form of a boat, as the hypochile of some _ species
of Stanhopea.
Decurrent, applied to leaves the blade of which is continued down the
stem into a kind of foliaceous wing; also to any organ prolonged down-
wards beyond the point of insertion.
Deltoid, of the shape of the Greek letter delta A.
Denticulate, having small marginal teeth.
Dialysis, the converse of connate; when two like organs which normally
occur joined together, become separated.
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS. lil
Digitate, finger-like, usually applied to parts that radiate from a common
centre on one side only.
Dichotomous, branching in pairs like the panicle of Dendrobium teretifolium.
Diphyllous, applied to pseudo-bulbs and stems which produce two leaves at
their apex.
Distichous, arranged in two rows on opposite sides of the stem as the
leaves of Vanda, Aérides, Dendrobium, etc.
Dolabriform, axe-shaped, having one margin straight and thick and the
opposite one enlarged, rounded and thin.
Emarginate, applied to leaves, both foliage and floral, which have a shallow
notch at the apex.
Ensiform, straight and narrow with the point acute like the blade of a
sword.
Epichile. See Stanhopea, p. 109.
Equitant, applied to leaves that are folded one over the other at their
base as those of many Cymbidiums, Aérides, Vandas, ete.
Erose, having the margin irregularly toothed as if gnawed by an insect,
like the labellum of Odontoglossum Cervantesit.
Falcate, curved like a reaper’s sickle.
Filiform, thread-like.
Fimbriate, fringed by fine divisions of the margin as the labellum of
Lycaste lanipes, Dendrobium jfimbriatum,; the petals of D. Harveyanum,
ete. In the labellum of D. Brymerianum the fimbriation is excessively
developed and much _ branched.
Foliaceous, leaf-like, having the texture and appearance of leaves.
Fusiform, spindle-shaped, tapering towards each end like the stems of many
of the Aulizeum Epidendra.
Galeate, helmet-shaped.
Gibbous, with a short obtuse swelling.
Glabrous, smooth, quite destitute of hairs.
Hastate, halberd-shaped, having two lobes nearly at right angles to the
petiole or claw.
Hispid, Hispidulous, covered with short stiff hairs.
Hypochile. See Stanhopea, p. 109.
Imbricating, overlapping like the tiles of a roof,
Infundibuliform, funnel-shaped.
Involute, when the lateral margins of an organ (sepal, petal, etc.) are rolled
inwards over the blade.
Laciniw, the divisions of a leaf, whether foliage or floral, when acute and
separated by an acute sinus as the side lobes of the labellum of many
Celogynes, Cymbidiums, etc.
lv GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
Lamina, the flat expanded part of a leaf or floral segment.
Ligulate, strap-shaped, narrow and moderately long.
Limb, as Lamina, but applied to the floral segments only.
Lanceolate, when the blade is broadest in the middle and diminishes
insensibly towards each end. The true lanceolate form is three or four
times as long as_ broad.
Linear, narrow with the edges parallel. Linear-lanceolate, narrower than
lanceolate. Linear-oblong, narrower than oblong.
Micropyle, the pore or opening in the ovule through which the pollen
tubes enter.
Monophylous, applied to pseudo-bulbs and stems which produce but one leaf
at their apex.
Mesochile. See Stanhopea, p. 109.
Mucronate, abruptly terminated by a sharp hard point.
Obcordate, the converse of cordate, narrow at the base and terminating
in two rounded lobes; but in the OrcuipEm an obcordate blade is
usually apiculate or pointed at the apex as the labellum of Brassia
Gireoudiana.
Oblanceolate, the converse of lanceolate, broader between the middle and the
apex. Oblanceolate-oblong, intermediate between oblong and oblanceolate.
Oblong, the sides parallel and nearly straight, two or three times as long
as broad.
Obovate, the converse of ovate.
Ovate, egg-shaped in outline, one and a half to twice as long as broad.
Ovate-obiong, intermediate between ovate and oblong, broadest near the
base.
Panduriform, fiddle-shaped, of obovate form with two recesses on each side
as in the labellum of Celogyne pandurata, many Oncids and Odontoglots,
etc.
Paniculate, Panicled, branched, applied to the inflorescence only.
Papillez, minute epidermal “ up-risings” or glandular asperities on the surface.
Papillose, covered with papille as the sepals and lip of many Masdevallias.
Pectinate, arranged like the teeth of a comb.
Pedicel, the lateral or secondary flower-stalk of a raceme or panicle.
Perianth, the series of floral segments that surrounds the sexual organs.
In orchidology it is sometimes restricted to the lower whorl or sepals as
they are conventionally called.
Petiolate, applied to leaves having a footstalk, in contradistinction to sessile
said of leaves in which the footstalk is absent.
Petiole, the footstalk of a leaf.
Placentation, parietal and axile. See Cypripedium, p. 5 (foot-note).
GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS. v
Pyriform, pear-shaped.
Quadripartite, divided into four lobes as the labellum of the Amphiglottide
Epidendra.
Raceme, an inflorescence in which the flowers are arranged on _ pedicels
along an undivided axis.
Racemed, Racemose, in the form of a raceme.
Rachis, the axis or stem of an inflorescence.
Retuse, obtuse with a slight depression at the apex.
Reniform, kidney-shaped.
Rhomboidal, approaching four-sided with rounded angles as the petals of
Phalenopsis amabilis, P. Aphrodite, P. Schilleriana, ete.
Revolute, rolled backwards, applied to leaves, sepals, petals, etc., that have
their margins rolled back under the blade.
Saccate, having a depression in the form of a bag or pouch as the labellum
of Saccolabium.
Scandent, climbing, rising by the aid of neighbouring bodies and attaching
itself to them like the stems of Vanda teres, V. Hookeriana, Sarcochilus
(Camarotis) purpurea, etc.
Scape, in the ordinary acceptation of the term is the naked peduncle which
rises from the crown of many bulbous plants as the Tulip, Hippeastrum,
ete. In orchidology it is generally applied to peduncles that spring from
the base of pseudo-bulbs as in Odontoglossum, Oncidium, Miltonia, ete.*
Scarious, dry and membraneous.
Sepaline, belonging to the sepals as the tube and tails of Masdevallia.
Secund, having the flowers all turned in one direction as those of Angraecum
citratum, Rodriguezia secunda, etc.
Serrate, Serrulate, notched like the teeth of a saw.
Sinuate, having the margin alternately convex and concave.
Spathaceous, resembling the spathe or floral bract of Aroids.
Spathulate, narrow at the base, broader and rounded at the apex.
Staminode. See Cypripedium, p. 7.
Stellate, rayed like a star.
Stipes, the strap-like prolongation of the gland or removable disk of the
rostellum that support the pollinia in VanpEx. See Morphology, p. 29.
Subpandurate, approaching pandurate or fiddle-shaped.
Subulate, awl-shaped, cylindric or nearly so, and terminating in an awllike
point like the minute petals and lip of many Cirrhopetala.
* The inflorescence of most orchids of whatever form or origin is called a spike by nearly
all British cultivators. True spikes are however rarely seen in the cultivated OrcuipE®
requiring the protection of a glass-house. Instances occur in Arpophyllum, Cecelia, Bulbo-
phyllum, ete.
vil GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS.
Thyrsus, Thyrsoid, a raceme of oval shape of which the central pedicels
are a little longer than the outer ones. This form of inflorescence occurs
in Dendrobium densiflorum, D. Farmer’, D. thyrsiflorum and allied species.
Tomentosa, covered with short matted hairs.
Tridentate, terminating in three teeth.
Trigonal, three-angled.
Triquetral, three-edged.
Truncate, terminating abruptly, as if a piece had been cut off.
Trapeziform, having four sides, but the opposite sides not parallel nor the
opposite angles equal.
Umbel, an inflorescence in which the pedicels or secondary axes spring from
the same point in the peduncle or primary axis and diverge like the rays
of a parasol. The umbel and semi-umbel oceur in Cirrhopetalum, Bulbo-
phyllum and a few others.
Unguiculate, applied to floral segments when the blade or limb is narrowed
at the base into a short petiole or claw.
Ventricose, bulging or swelling out as the disk of the labellum of Cyenoches
chlorochilon.
634.63
V53m
eo MANUAL
OF
ORCHIDACKOUS PLANTS
CULTIVATED UNDER GLASS IN. GREAT BRITAIN,
PARLE ON:
MASDEVALLIA.
PLEUROTHALLIS, CRYPTOPHORANTHUS, RESTREPIA,
_ ARPOPHYLLUM ano PLATYCLINIS.
JAMES VEITCH & SONS,
, 2 a)
Royat Exotic Nursery, 544, Kuine’s Roap, Cuersea, S.W
1682849
All rights reserved.
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
Tus Manual is being compiled to supply amateurs and cultivators of
exotic Orchids with a fuller account of the principal genera, species and
varieties cultivated under glass, than is contained in the Manuals hitherto
in use. | .
The rapid extension of Orchid culture during the last quarter of a
century, resulting from the increased taste for and appreciation of this
beautiful and interesting order of plants, has, in our opinion, created the
desiderutum which we are now attempting to supply. The prominent
place, too, occupied by Orchids in the columns of the Horticultural Press,
and the surprising amount of practical and varied information respecting
them disseminated through its agency, has also stimulated the desire
to obtain all the ieading facts m a condensed form, to which easy
reference may at any time be made.
So numerous are the species and varieties of Orchids at present im
cultivation, and to which additions are constantly being made by new
discoveries and by artificial hybridisation, that the labour attending the
compilation of a Manual sufficiently comprehensive to meet the wants of
cultivators must necessarily demand much time. Moreover, the present
~*“sfactory state of Orchidology, especially in its horticultural aspect
3s complicated and unscientific nomenclature, have rendered the
lation of such a Manual within a stated time almost an impossibility.
uuder these circumstances, and yielding to the solicitations of patrons
and friends, we have decided upon issuing the work in parts, each part
containing a monograph of the cultivated species and varieties of one of
the most important genera, or of a group of genera.
Little explanation of the plan of the work is here needed; the parts
as issued must speak for themselves. We have only to state that in
the scientific classification and sequence of the genera we have followed,
with but trifling deviations, the arrangement of Bentham and Hooker
as elaborated in their Genera Plantarum, the most profound and, at the
same time, the most intelligible exposition of the Orchidez extant. In
the nomenclature of the species, we have adhered to the Laws of Botanical
nomenclature adopted by the International Botanical Congress, held
at Paris in August, 1867.
In the description of the species, we have been compelled to use
occasionally a few technical terms to avoid cumbrous circumlocutions ;
at the conclusion of the work we propose giving a glossary of the terms
so used. In the cultural notes we have quoted temperatures in the
Centigrade scale with the equivalent Fahrenheit readings, in the hope
that the far more rational scale, now almost universally adopted in
scientific investigations, may also come into use in horticulture. The
literary references in italics indicate coloured plates of the species or
variety described.
TRIBE—HPIDEN DREAM.
Meer RIEE PLEVUROTHALLEA.
Ceespitose herbs, with slender stems that are not pseudo-bulbous, imono-
phyllous and terminated by a one- or many-flowered inflorescence.
PLEUROTHALLIS.
R. Brown in Aiton’s Hort. Kew. ed. II. p. 211 (1813). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 4 (1880).
Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 488 (1883).
Although Pleurothallis is one of the largest genera in the orchidean
family, it has hitherto been thought of so little interest to cultivators that
it has been passed over in silence by the compilers of every horticultural
work on orchids with which we are acquainted, with the exception
of Mr. E. S. Rand, who cursorily mentions it.* It has, however, a
certain scientific importance as the typical genus around which other
genera are grouped, forming the sub-tribe Pleurothallew, of which the
most distinctive common characters are given above. This sub-tribe
includes in the aggregate, according to Mr. Bentham’s estimate, over
650 species, to which additions are frequently being made by new
discoveries, so that this one sub-division contains probably more than
one-tenth of the whole of the Orchidez ; the species are very unequally
divided among ten genera, + some of whose names even are practically
unknown to horticulture. ;
Upwards of 850 species of Pleurothallis are known to science,
all natives of the mountains of tropical America, at a considerable
elevation. They occur on the Andes from Bolivia to Mexico, ascending
to 10,000—12,500 feet towards the southern limit of their range; they
are also found on the mountains of Brazil and in the West Indies.
Although upwards of 100 of the species have at different times been
* Orchids, a description of the species and varieties grown at Glen Ridge, near Boston,
U.S.A., p. 375.
+ Thus, Pleurothallis 350, Stelis 150, Physosiphon 4, Lepanthes 40, Restrepia 20, Brachio-
nidium 3, Masdevallia 100, Arpophyllum 6, Octomeria 10, Meiracyllium 3; all natives of
tropical America, from southern Brazil to central Mexico, most of them alpine.
B
2 PLEUROTHALLIS.
introduced into British gardens, but very few indeed have remained
long in cultivation,* and scarcely a dozen have been considered worthy of
being figured in works other than those purely devoted tc science. The
flowers of most of the known species are small, inconspicuous and
without fragrance, but there are many of singular form and gem-
hike beauty which, requiring but little space for their cultivation, should
induce amateurs to give some attention to them. The species de-
scribed below are among the best known; the cultural treatment of
these, as will be readily inferred from their alpine character, is. that
of cool orchids such as we have given in detail under Masdevallia
and Odontoglossum.
To assist the reader to distinguish the species of Pleurothallis
from those of the closely allied genera, we subjoin a diagnosis of
the chief characteristics of the flower :—
The dorsal sepal is free; the lateral two are always coherent into
one that is bifid or bipartite at the apex; the petals are shorter and
narrower than the sepals; the lp, which is generally shorter than the
petals, is articulated at the base of the column. The column is of
the same length as the lip, or a little shorter; the pollinia are two
in number, and are either pear-shaped or of sub-globose form.
In their vegetation the species of Pleurothallis are dwarf, often
minute plants.—
The stems are simple, rarely exceeding a few inches in height,
enclosed in sheathing scales, and terminating in a solitary leaf that
varies in size and form in the different species. The inflorescence
springs from the base of the leaf and is generally racemose, but some-
times a 1—2 or few-flowered peduncle.
Pleurothallis is derived from 7Aevpoy (pleuron), “a rib” or side,
and @a\\w (thallo), “to bloom,” probably in allusion to the
bilateral position of the floral segments with respect to the axis.
Pleurothallis Barberiana.
A minute stemless plant. Leaves petiolate, elliptic, half-an-inch long.
Peduncles capillary (as slender as a hair), 2—4 inches long, drooping,
6—12 flowered. Flowers small; sepals free, oblong-lanceolate, aristate,
whitish spotted with deep purple; petals ovate, apiculate, longer than
the column, whitish with paler spots than the sepals; lip “a linear-
oblong, terete, sub-clavate, solid body of purple colour blotched with
* See Hemsley’s enumeration in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, XV. (1881). p. 784 ; XVI. pp. 10
and 42.
PLEUROTHALLIS. 3
deeper purple, rounded at the tip, and with two teeth opposite the
very short claw.” Column yellowish.
Pleurothallis Barberiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p. 6. Bot. Mag.
t. 6886. Masdevallia Culex, Hort.
The above description conveys but an imperfect conception of this
miniature orchid, which is well deserving a place in every collection
on account of the singular beauty and curious structure of its
flowers that have the fanciful resemblance of a species of gnat.
It was introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton, who gave
no locality, but the plant is generally believed to be of Colombian origin.
It is dedicated to Mr. Barber, of Spondon, near Derby.
P. insignis.
Stems slender, 1—2 inches long. Leaves linear-oblong, as long as the
stems. Peduncles as long as the leaves, two or more flowered. Flowers
large for the genus; sepals ovate-lanceolate, prolonged into slender tails
2 inches long, yellowish white with longitudinal red streaks on the
dilated part; petals linear-oblong, ‘‘toothed at the tip, and with a fili-
form tail as long as the sepals inserted between the teeth”; lip three-
_ lobed, the lateral lobes linear, turned upwards and outwards, colourless,
the middle lobe linear-oblong, obscurely papillose, with a dense tuft of
small bristles at the apex, chocolate-red.
Pleurothallis insignis, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 477. Bot. Mag.
t. 6936.
This is one of the largest flowered species of Pleurothallis yet
known; the sepals are prolonged into slender tails like those of a
Masdevallia, and its curiously-shaped bearded lip reminds one of the
closely allied species, Plewrothallis glossopogon, which it much resembles,
and under which name it was first distributed. It differs, however, from
that species in its much larger flowers in which the sepals are not
puberulous, also in the form of the leaves, and in some other
minor characters. It was imtroduced by us in 1879 from New
Granada.
P. Leucopyramis.
Stems 2—3 inches high, slender, invested with dark brown, almost
blackish membraneous sheaths. Leaves lanceolate-ligulate, as long as the
stems. Peduncles slender, erect racemose, the rachis zigzag, many-
flowered. Flowers white ; upper sepal lanceolate, arched, keeled behind ;
connate lateral sepals similar, two-keeled, bidentate at the apex; petals
and lip very minute, rhombeo-ligulate. Column tridentate at the apex.
Pleurothallis Leucopyramis, Rehb. in Linneea XLI. p. 47 (1877). Id, Xen, Orch,
PEE py 14.
|. PLEUROTHALLIS.
A very attractive species with small milk-white flowers that are
produced freely in the autumn months. Nothing certain appears to
be known of its origin, beyond the fact that it was originally in the
collection of the late Mr. Wilson Saunders at Reigate, whence it
passed to the Botanic Garden at Hamburg. It was also in cul-
tivation in our Chelsea Nursery some years ago, and is believed to
have been sent to us from Costa Rica, by Endres. The notice of
it in this place may tend to preserve it from oblivion.
P. picta.
A densely-tufted dwarf plant. Leaves linear-spathulate, 1—2 inches
long. Peduncles thread-like, erect, as long again as the leaves, loosely
racemose above. Flowers small but beautifully coloured ; sepals yellow
streaked with red, the upper one ovate-lanceolate, acute, the connate
lateral two similar, bifid at the tip; petals and lip very minute, the
former linear-lanceolate acute, the latter oblong-obtuse, furrowed.
Pleurothallis picta, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. XXI. sub. t. 1797 (1836). Id. t. 1825.
Id. Fol. Orch. Pleur. No. 222. Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 431. P. surinam-
ensis, Focke in Miquel’s Stirpes Surinam, t. 646.
Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges from Demerara in 1834, and
occasionally met with in cultivation since. It is closely allied to
the equally interesting Pleurothallis Grobyi from the same country,
which appears to be lost to cultivation; the P. jpicta of the
Botanical Magazine, tab. 3897, is a totally different species, viz.,
P. strupifolia (Lindl.). ‘‘ Although a Pleurothallis—and it might be
a very unfortunate thing to be a Pleurothallis—P. picta is really a
httle gem, its numerous racemes of bright yellow and red flowers
being very attractive.” *
P. punctulata.
Stems about 2 inches high, slightly two-angled. Leaves lanceolate-
oblong, sub-acute, narrowed below into a short petiole, blade 3—32 inches
long, erect, exceedingly stiff and leathery, glaucous on the back. Peduncles
shorter than the leaves, sheathed at the base by a whitish tubular
spathe, one-flowered. Flowers 1# inches across the sepals when spread
out ; upper sepal broadly lanceolate, acute, light yellow spotted with
brown-purple ; lateral sepals “connate into a concave, oblong body,
the minute acute points only free,” coloured like the upper one; petals
broadly lanceolate, one-third as long as the upper sepals, light vinous red
with brown-purple spots; lip oblong, obtuse, concave, papillose above,
deep maroon-purple. Column terete with two minute cirri at the apex.
Pleurothallis punctulata, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1889), p. 756,
*Gard, Chron. loc. cit, supra.
PLEUROTHALLIS. 5
Introduced by us from New Granada in 1885. As may be
gathered from the above description, the flowers are large for the
genus and handsomely coloured; the species is therefore worthy
of a place in every representative collection of orchids. ‘‘ A curious
feature in the plant is to be seen in the leaf, which has a sharp twist
at the base, and by which the flower hangs pendulous beneath it.”
P. Roezlii.
Stems slender, erect, 3—6 inches high, clothed with pale brown,
scarious sheaths. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, emarginate or acute, 5—8
inches long, very leathery, light grass-ereen. Peduncles longer than
the leaves, dull purple, with 2—3 joints, at each of which is a
whitish, sheathing, closely appressed, membraneous bract, and a similar
one at the base of each pedicel; racemes nodding, 5—9 or more
flowered. Flowers pendulous, partially expanding, deep sanguineous
purple; sepals 1} inches long, the upper one elliptic-oblong, concave,
keeled behind; the lateral two connate into an oval blade with two
keels beneath; petals like the upper sepal but smaller; lip tongue-
shaped, the margins of the basal half inflexed, the distal half
pubescent above. Column white.
Pleurothallis Roezlii, Rehb. in Linnea XLI. p. 13 (1877). Godefroy’s Orchido-
phile, 1888, p. 80. PP. laurifolia, Rchb. in Xen. Orch. II. p. 31 (1862), not
Humbt. et Kunth.
According to the Orchidophile, this plant was discovered by
Roezl* in the yicinity of Sonson, situate at a considerable eleva-
tion on the western slopes of the central Cordillera of New
Granada. As it is said to have been found growing under the
same conditions as Masdevallia macrura, also one of M. Roezl’s
discoveries, that 1s to say, “fon the moss-covered blocks of granite
that are found scattered over the ground around the town,” it
may be assumed to have been first detected at the same date as
the discovery of that plant, or 1874. It was introduced into France
by M. Kienast-Zolly, a zealous orchid amateur of Zurich, and was
exhibited by M. Godefroy, of Argenteuil, near Paris, at one of the
Royal Horticultural Society’s meetings in March, 1885, when it
became known to British cultivators for the first time. The above
description was taken from a plaut in the collection of Sir Trevor
Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge, near Dorking. The flowers of
this Pleurothallis are the most richly coloured yet seen in the genus.
* The only information given in Linnea, respecting the discovery of the plant, is
contained in the following brief sentence :—‘‘ Hic vir (Roezl) plantas vivas collegit qui
miserime perierunt.”
6 CRYPTOPHORANTHUS.
CRYPTOPHORANTHUS.
Rodriguez Gen. et Sp. Orch. nov. II. p. 79 (1881). Rolfe in Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887),
p. 692.
This is a genus recently founded for the reception of some eight
or ten species at present known, some of which had been previously
referred to Pleurothallis and others to Masdevallia, but all showing
the same structural peculiarity in their flowers, and differing essentially
from both genera in the following character as described by Mr.
Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium, in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, loc. cit.
supra :—
“The flowers do not open at all in the ordinary manner, but the sepals
remain united both at base and apex ; two small lateral openings on either
side, where the upper sepal joins the lateral ones, being the only openings
into the flower.”
These lateral openings have suggested the name Window-bearing
for these curious orchids, a designation by which they will probably
be hereafter popularly known. The scientific name Cryptophoranthus*
refers to the hidden parts of the flower; the petals, lip, &c., being
concealed within an almost closed flower, the only opening into which
is by a pair of small windows at the side.
The first species of the group now proposed to be brought under
Cryptophoranthus, that became known to science was described by
Dr. Lindley, in the Botanical Register for 1836 (sub. t. 1797), under
the name of Specklinia atropurpurea, but which he subsequently trans-
ferred to Pleurothallis (Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. p. 68); three years later
this same plant was figured and described by Sir William Hooker, in
the Botanical Magazine, t. 4164, as Masdevallia jfenestrata, Lindl. MS.
Mr. Bentham, when dealing with it for the Genera Plantarum, admitted
that it had apparently with equal right been published in both genera. t
This instance is adduced here in order to show the difficulty ex-
perienced by these eminent botanists in determining the systematic
place of the plant-—a difficulty that has arisen in a scarcely less degree
with other species that have since been brought to light, and which are
now grouped with it. To obviate this difficulty, it is proposed to adopt
the genus Cryptophoranthus, which the Brazilian botanist Rodriguez
created for the reception of three Brazilian species described by himself,
and which he was unable to refer to any known genus. To these,
P \ ° \ ° ?
* From xpumroc (kruptos), ‘‘ hidden,” @opdc¢ (phoros), ‘‘ bearing,” and av@oe (anthos),
‘“‘a flower.” The compound is non-classical and cumbrous, and it is to be regretted that a
more simple designation was not selected by the author.
t+ Jour, Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 292.
CRYPTOPHORANTHUS, id
Mr. Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium, has added Plewrothallis atropurpurea,
Lindl. (Masdevallia jfenestrata, Lindl.), and two or three others of later
introduction, all evidently allied to the Rodriguezian species by the same
peculiarity of structure in the flowers. The genus “is not included in
the main body of the Genera Plantarum, but Mr. Bentham obtained
Rodriguez’s work in time to mention it in the addenda” (p. 1225),
where, however, it is reduced to Pleurothallis. It will be easily under-
stood from the foregoing how close is the connection between the three
genera Pleurothallis, Masdevallia, and Cryptophoranthus; the last named
is separated from the two former by the character described above and
no other, and the only essential difference between Pleurothallis and
Masdevallia is, that in the latter the sepals are united at their base
into a tube, and when this is extremely short or nearly obsolete as in
Masdevallia platyrhachis, the two genera merge into each other. Restrepia,
although in the same natural group, is separated from these three genera
by its four pollinia, they having only two.
The introduction of the genus into these pages is for the express
purpose of bringing under the notice of cultivators two of the best known
species included in it, the first having an exceptional interest attached
to it on account of the classical investigation respecting the fertilisation
of its flowers by the greatest English naturalist of the present century,
and the second on account of its bearing the name of one of the most
respected of English orchid amateurs of the same period.
Cryptophoranthus atropurpureum.
Stems tufted, 2—3 inches high, clothed with sheathing scales, mono-
phyllous. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute, 2—4 inches long, bright green
above, purplish beneath. Peduncles 2—3 or more from the base of each
leaf, one-flowered. Flowers about an inch long, somewhat resembling
a bird’s head, brownish purple; sepals coherent except at a small opening
below the apex which is turned upwards, gibbous below at the base ;
petals ovate, acute, parallel with the column; lip oblong, acuminate,
channelled above and toothed towards the apex. Column semi-terete, the
petals, lip and column all minute and concealed by the united sepals.
Pollinia 2.
Cryptophoranthus atropurpureum, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. Il. s. 3 (1887), p. 693.
Specklinia atropurpurea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1797 (1836). Pleurothallis
atropurpurea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. p. 81. Id. Fol. Orch.’ Pleuroth.
No. 107. Masdevallia fenestrata, Lindl. ex Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4164 (1845).
Introduced from Jamaica to the Royal Gardens at Kew by Purdie
in 1848; it had, however, been made known to science seven
years previously from dried specimens received from the same
island; it also occurs in Cuba. For many years after its introduction
it remained in cultivation under the name of Masdevallia fenestrata,
both at Kew and in a few other orchid collections, rather as a
8 CRYPTOPHORANTHUS.
curiosity than from any other cause, till the late Mr. Darwin showed
that the remarkable structure of its flowers rendered it more worthy
of attention than it had previously received. He pointed out that
the manner in which the flowers are fertilised was altogether
unknown, and that he himself failed to make it out satisfactorily.
As already stated, the plant has thus acquired a special interest
for all those who observe the wonderful contrivances existing
throughout the whole race of orchids for the purpose of securing
the perpetuation of the species. No apology is needed for intro-
ducing here Mr. Darwin’s account of the flower of this curious
species :—
Cryptophoranthus atropurpureum.
“ Masdevallia jenestrata is an extraordinary flower, for the three
sepals always cohere together and never open. Two minute lateral
oval windows, seated high up in the flower and opposite each other,
afford the only entrance into the flower; but the presence of these
two minute windows shows how necessary it is that insects should
have access in this case as with other orchids. At the bottom of
the roomy and dark chamber formed by the closed sepals, the minute
column is placed, in front of which the furrowed labellum stands,
with a highly flexible hinge, and on each side the two upper petals,
CRYPTOPHORANTHUS. 9
a little tube being thus formed. Hence, when a minute insect enters,
or a larger insect inserts ifs proboscis through either window, it has
by touch to find the inner tube in order to reach the curious nectary
at its base. Within this little tube formed by the column, labellum
and petals, a very broad and hinged rostellum projects at right angles,
the under surface of which is viscid; the minute caudicles of the
pollinia projecting out of the anther case, rest on the base of the
upper membraneous surface of the rostellum. The whole structure of
the flower seems carefully intended to prevent the withdrawal of the
pollinia, as well as their subsequent insertion into the stigmatic
chamber. Some new and curious contrivance has here to be made
out.”—Fertilisation of Orchids, pp. 168-69.
C. Dayanum.
Stems 2—3 inches high, clothed with broad sheathing scales, and
bearing a solitary oval leaf 3—4 inches long and 2—3 inches broad,
Cryptophoranthus Dayanum.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle).
tinged with purple when mature. Peduncles from the base of the
leaf, very short, one-flowered. Upper sepal joined to the lower connate
two at base and apex, ovate-oblong, acute, slightly convex, and with
6—7 shallow keels above, pale yellow spotted with deep reddish
purple, the spots smaller and more numerous on the basal portion ;
lower connate sepals similar with inflexed margins, with a broad keel
below and a gibbosity at the base, buff-yellow spotted with purple
within, pale buff-yellow beneath, the inflexed margins purple ; petals
10 RESTREPIA.
and lip very minute, pale yellow, the former oblong, obtuse, the latter
tongue-shaped.
Cryptophoranthus Dayanum, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 693.
Masdevallia Dayana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. X1V. (1880), p. 295. Id. XXVI. (1886),
p. 428, icon. xyl.
This curious plant was first brought under notice by the late Mr.
John Day, who acquired it at a sale of orchids at Stevens’ Rooms
in 1872, when it was offered as a new species of Restrepia; it
had been sent there by M. Linden, of Ghent, and had presumably
been received from New Granada, from which country it was
afterwards sent to us by Gustav Wallis. It flowered for the first
time in this country in Mr. Day’s collection at Tottenham in 1875,
RESTREPIA.
Humbt. et Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 366, t. 94 (1815). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p. 14 (1830). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. II]. p. 491.
The Restrepias form a group of small, often minute plants,
including about twenty species, all natives of the mountains of
tropical America, from Brazil to Mexico, on which they occur at a
considerable elevation, growing among moss on the stems of trees
and on rocks, but always where the climate is humid. The genus
is closely allied to Pleurothallis, from which there is little to
separate it besides its greater number of pollinia, and its one-
flowered peduncles.
The essential characters of the flowers are :—
The dorsal sepals and petals are free, thread-like, and have a small
gland at their apex; the lateral sepals are much broader and are
coherent ; the labellum is generally flat, and is articulated with the
base of the column, which is elongated. The pollinia are four in
number, and are sub-pyriform or globose.
In their vegetation the Restrepias present much the same character-
istics as Pleurothallis, which need not be here repeated.
About ten species have at different times been introduced into
European gardens, all remarkable for the peculiar form of their
flowers, some of whose parts bear a fanciful resemblance ;to the
antennz of certain insects. Some of the species flower several
times during the year from the same growth, so that there is
scarcely any season in which these curious flowers may not be seen.
The genus is dedicated to Joseph HE. Restrep, who first investigated
the natural history of the Antioquian Andes.
RESTREPIA. 14
The four forms described below are the most interesting of the
group known to us. ‘Their cultural treatment is the same as that
of Masdevallia.
Restrepia antennifera.
Stems 2—4 inches high, clothed with loosely imbricating spotted
sheaths. Leaves ovate, acute, 24—34 inches long, leathery. Peduncles
slender, longer than the leaves. Flowers large for the genus; upper
\
Restrepia antennifera.
sepal lanceolate, tapering into a filiform tail, pale yellow dotted with
red; connate lateral sepals oblong, concave, boat-like, bifid at the apex,
bright ochreous yellow densely spotted with brown-purple, the spots
arranged in close-set rows; petals like the upper sepal but smaller;
12 RESTREPIA.
lip oblong, one-third as lone as the lateral sepals, appressed to and
I g )
oO)
coloured like them. Column with two narrow toothed wings.
Restrepia antennifera, Humbt. et Kunth. Noy. Gen. et Sp. IL. p. 367, t. 94 (1815).
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 14 (1830). Id. Fol. Orch. Restr. No. 2. Illus. hort.
1869, t. 601. Bot. Mag. t. 6288. R. maculata, Lindl. Orch. Lind. No. 19. RB.
guttata, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Restr. No. 3.
This is the largest flowered species of Restrepia known, and the
one most generally cultivated. It is that upon which the genus
was founded by Humboldt and his collaborator Kunth, it having
been discovered by the distinguished traveller himself at the
begining of the present century, growing on the trunks of trees
at 9—10,000 feet elevation, near Pasto, in southern New Granada.
It was subsequently detected by Linden (Merida, Bogota), Schlim
(Ocafa), Wallis, and other collectors in different localities in New
Granada, and even in Venezuela, at altitudes ranging from 7,000 to
12,000 feet. It is thus spread over a large extent of territory,
and is found to vary slightly in foliage, size and colour of flower,
and in some minor particulars. The form known in gardens as
Restrepia maculata, which was gathered by Linden at Salto de
Teguendana, at 7,000 feet elevation, is a more robust plant than
the common type, and has somewhat larger flowers, with the
lower connate sepals of a deeper yellow. Another form, to which
Lindley doubtfully gave specific rank under the name of R. guttata,
is a very beautiful one, of which the sepals have purple-crimson
spots on a white ground.
R. elegans.
A small tufted plant, smaller in all its parts than Restrepia .antenni-
Jera. Stems 1$—3 inches high, clothed with stiffish scarious. scales.
Leaves elliptic, sub-acute, 1} inches long. Peduncles usually in pairs,
slender, erect Upper sepal erect, lanceolate, prolonged into a_ straight
tail as long as itself, basal portion white, streaked with purple, tail
yellow ; connate lateral sepals oblong, concave, yellow dotted with purple;
petals similar to the upper sepal, but only half the size; lip clawed,
oblong, emarginate, half as long as the connate lateral sepals, and
coloured like them. Column slender, bent, whitish.
Restrepia elegans, Karst. Ausw. neuer Gewiichse Ven. fide Bot. Mag. t. 5966
(1872). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VII. t. 748 (1851). Lindl. Fol. Orch.
Restr. No, 2. R. punctulata, Lindl. in lit. 1846.
A pretty little orchid, much resembling Restrepia antennifera, of
which it is the representative on the Venezuelian Cordillera, in the
province of Caracas. It occurs in the neighbourhood of Tovar, at
RESTREPIA. 13
an elevation of 5—6,000 feet, growing on the mossy trunks of trees ;
in this locality it was discovered many years ago by Karsten, a
German traveller, and re-discovered some years afterwards by the
Belgian collector, Funck, through whom it was introduced into
European gardens by M. Linden, about the year 1850,
R. pandurata.
Stems 1—2 inches high, clothed with pale loosely imbricating mem-
braneous sheaths, Leaves ovate, acute, 24 inches long, very stiff and
leathery, deep green above, dull purple beneath. Peduncles slender,
shorter than the leaves, several in succession produced from the base
of each leaf, pale green speckled with dull purple, one-flowered, the
ovary sheathed by an acute bract. Upper sepal narrowly lanceolate,
tapering into a short tail whitish with purple veins and tip; _ lateral
sepals connate into an oblong, emarginate, concave blade, whitish densely
spotted with crimson-purple, the spots arranged in longitudinal lines ;
petals like the upper sepal, but much smaller, and with three purple
streaks on the dilated part; lip coloured like the connate sepals, with
the spots more scattered, panduriform, emarginate, with a long bristle
on each of the basal lobes. Column elongated, clavate, arching, with
two orange spots at the base and a purple streak above them.
Restrepia pandurata, Rchb. in lit. ad. F. W. Moore, Hort. bot. Glasnevin.
A very floriferous species that has been for some time in culti-
vation in the Royal Botanic Garden at Glasnevin. It has also been
imported by us from New Granada, which is thence known to be
its native country, but the locality in which it occurs has not been
communicated to us. The spots on the connate sepals and lip, when
viewed through a pocket lens, are of gem-like brilliancy, and form
one of the most attractive of floral objects.
R. xanthophthalma.
A dwarf tufted plant. Stems 1—2 inches high, clothed with imbri-
eating membraneous sheaths. Leaves linear-oblong, obtuse, as long as the
stems. Peduncles shorter than the leaves, pale yellow, spotted with
purple. Upper sepal subulate with a clubbed tip; lower connate sepals
oblong, concave, bifid at the apex; lp oblong, rounded at the apex,
about one-third as long as the connate lateral sepals.
Restrepia xanthophthalma, Rchb, in Hamb. Gartenz. XXI. p. 300 (1865). R.
Lansbergii, Bot. Mag. t. 5257.
A native of Guatemala, from which country it was sent to the
Royal Gardens at Kew by Salwyn, about the year 1860. Although
one of the prettiest of the small-flowered Restrepias, it is now rarely
14. MASDEVALLIA.
seen in orchid collections. Restrepia Lansbergii (Rchb.), with which
R. wxanthophthalna has been confounded, is evidently a different
plant* that was discovered by Wagener in 1850, in Caracas,
and introduced by him into Huropean gardens.
MASDEVALLIA.
Ruiz et Pav. Fl. Peru et Chili, Prod. 122, t. 27 (1794). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant III. p.
492 (1883).
In Masdevallia we have a genus of plants as remarkable for the
uniformity of their vegetation as for the diversity of form and
colour displayed in their flowers. Striking as are the grotesque
shapes assumed by the flowers of some of the species, perhaps still
more so is the extraordinary brilliancy of the colours of others,
while in strong contrast to these, there are other species whose
flowers are of so homely a hue as to fail altogether to attract the
favour of the greater number of orchid cultivators.
The structure of the flowers of Masdevallia presents a curious
anomaly when compared with that of the flowers of many of the
genera that find favour with amateurs, such as Cattleya, Dendrobium,
many Odontoglots and Oncids, etc., in which the lip is often
enormously developed, apparently at the expense of the other floral
segments, and it is also the most richly-coloured of all the segments. —
In Masdevallia, on the contrary, the lower whorl of floral segments—
the sepals, as they are conventionally called—are the most developed
and the most richly-coloured parts of the flower, this development
being, no doubt, at the expense of the petals and lp, which are
reduced to minute organst that have but an insignificant influence
on the aspect of the flower, and which are not infrequently quite
concealed within the tube formed by the cohesion of the sepals at
their basal end. Another peculiarity, although not confined to this
genus, is seen in the sudden contraction of the sepals into long
filiform tails, which are often of a colour different from the basal
or tubular portion, and which contribute much to the _ bizarre
appearance of the flowers.
* See Xen. Orch. I. p. 170, t. 60.
+ In Masdevallia Chimera, M. Chestertonii and most other saccolabiate species, the lip is
moderately large in comparison with the size of the entire flower, while in J. Gargantua,
M. platyglossa, M. velifera, and other coriaceous species it is quite a conspicuous organ, but
always less than the sepals.
MASDEVALIIA. 15
Curious as are these peculiarities in structure, it is certain that they
have an important bearing on the economy of the plants with an
especial aim to the fertilisation of the flowers by insect agency, since
it is impossible to see by what other means this is effected. The
gorgeous colours of the sepals of some species, and the powerful
odour (almost feetor) of the labellum of others have doubtless been given
them to attract insects to the flower; these would naturally alight
either on the broad lateral sepals, or, where that organ is large enough,
on the labellum, which is usually fluted or channelled, or, as in the
saccolabiate group, curiously sculptured, but in such a way as_ to
afford a guide to an insect to the bottom of the sepaline tube where
honey would be most likely to be secreted, although we have never
detected any such secretion in any of the species cultivated by us.
It is difficult to see how an insect that has once made its way to
the foot of the column, via the labellum, can withdraw without
carrying away the very small and very light pollinia, and which drop
from the anther chamber (clinandrum) upon the slightest touch ;
moreover the labellum itself is, in the majority of the species, parallel
with the column and almost adpressed to it except at the reflexed
tip, so that an insect could scarcely make its escape that way without
either touching the rostellum or some other part of the sexual apparatus.
In the same way, an insect loaded with one or more of the pollinia,
on entering a second flower would scarcely fail to deposit them on
the stigmatic surface, where they would be retained by the viscid
secretion. No instance of a Masdevallia being self-fertilising has yet
been observed by us, but at least two undoubted natural hybrids (see
infra) have been introduced with one or other of the recognised
parents ; it is not possible to imagine that the cross could have been
effected otherwise than by insect agency.
The essential characters of Masdevallia are :—
The sepals are connate at the base, usually into a_ sub-cylindric or
broadly campanulate tube, the free portions, with very few exceptions,
being produced into long, slender tails.
The petals are small, parallel with the column, and generally narrow.
The lip is also small, polymorphous, and articulated at the base of
the column.
The column is either margined or winged, and is sometimes produced
at the base into a short foot; the pollinia are two, without caudicle.
The capsule is cylindric or fusiform, six-ribbed, from one-half of an
inch to an inch long.*
In their vegetation the Masdevallias are cespitose or tufted herbs
without pseudo-bulbs.—
*In Masdevallia Chimera and other saccolabiate species, the capsule is ovoid-orbicular,
about as large as a medium-sized gooseberry, with three pairs of prominent ribs, more or
less serrate at the edge.
16 MASDEVALLIA.
The stems are short, erect, invested with membraneous sheaths, and
monophyllous. The leaves vary but little in form, but considerably in
size in the different species. They are usually lanceolate, oblanceolate,
or elliptic, attenuated below into channelled foot-stalks, and very
leathery in texture. The peduncles, which spring fiom the base of
the foot-stalk, are sometimes clothed with a scarious sheath, or are
distinctly jointed with a small bract at each joint, and at the base
of the ovary, often one-flowered, but sometimes 2—d _ flowered, or
terminating in a many-flowered raceme.
‘a
Capsules of Masdevallia—(1) Veitchiana. (2) maculata. (3) Chimera,
The genus Masdeyallia was dedicated to Joseph Masdeval, a
Spanish physician and botanist of the eighteenth century, by Ruiz
and Pavon, two botanists of the same nationality, who were sent
out to Peru by the Spanish Government in 1777 to investigate the
Cinchona forests of that country; and who, during their stay in
South America, compiled a Flora of Peru and Chili. The type
species is Peruvian, and was named by them Masdevallia uniflora,
a plant that has not been gathered by any modern collector, but
which may be still lurking in the remote valley high up on the
Andes, where first discovered; its habitat, according to the founders
)
of the genus, is “in rocky places near Huassahuassi,’’? wherever that
may be.
There is scarcely a genus belonging to the Orchidee that has been
more rapidly extended of late years, through the discoveries of
botanical travellers, than Masdevallia. Masdevallia uniflora was the
only species known to its founders, and when, in 1832, Dr. Lindley
published the third part of his Genera and Species of Orcehidaceous
Plants, only two more were known to him, J. caudata and M. infracta,
MASDEVALLIA. 1N7,
Thirty years later Reichenbach enumerated thirty-six species in Walpers
Annales Systematice, but from that time forwards an almost uninter-
rupted stream of new species was poured into Europe, either as living
plants or as dried specimens, so that Mr. Bentham, when dealing with
Masdevallia for the Genera Plantarum, estimated the number at over
100;* and although some of the Reichenbachian species have to be
reduced to varieties of previously known types, the number 125 cannot
be regarded as an exaggerated estimate at the present time. Of these
probably upwards of eighty have been, and may still be in cultivation
in botanic gardens and in private collections; but many of them
possess so little interest for amateurs in general, that most of such are
purposely omitted in the synopsis that follows.
No sectional divisions of the genus were proposed by Mr. Bentham,
the extreme difficulty of determining sectional characters from dried
specimens alone, especially when the series is imperfect, being almost
insuperable. Scattered through his numerous notes and descriptions of
species published in the Gardeners’ Chronicle and elsewhere, Reichenbach
has indicated various sectional divisions, but nowhere do we find them
brought together into a systematic form. That Masdevallia is not a
mere aggregation of species is manifest enough from a comparison of such
well-known species as M. Veitchiana, M. Reichenbachiana, M. Chimera,
M. Estrade, M. polysticta, M. triaristella, etc., ete, hence the want of
a scientific classification of the included species has long been felt, both
by botanists and by horticulturists. As a step in that direction we
have brought together those Reichenbachian sections that include most
of the species hereafter described, and have indicated the characters upon
which they have been framed,t but, as stated above, other species are
cultivated in a few collections, and many more have been described from
dried specimens, while others again are but still very imperfectly known.
To draw up sectional characters for the whole of the genus is therefore
not here intended, as the necessary material for it is not yet available.
I. Evumaspevauira. Lip generally ligulate, or linear-oblong, usually
nearly flat, more or less fleshy ; petals flat, often somewhat oblique ; sepals
united below into a tube which is generally but not always longer than
broad, the sepaline tails variable in length, breadth, colour, &e.
A very large section, comprising the great bulk of the genus and not easily
confounded with the remaining sections. It admits of sub-division into
* With the remark that ‘‘plures tamen hortulanis potius quam botanicis distincte,”
which later examination has amply confirmed.
+ In this we have been assisted by Mr. R. A. Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium, to whom we
tender our best acknowledgments. Mr. Rolfe kindly placed his notes on this subject at our
disposal, and at his suggestion we have reduced several of the Reichenbachian sections to
sub-sections of EUMASDEVALLIA. We have also to express our indebtedness to Sir Trevor
Lawrence, Bart., M.P., Mr Sydney Courtauld, Capt. Hincks, Mr. Charles Winn, and Mr. F. W.
Moore, of Glasnevin, for materials that have enabled us to include in the synopsis that
follows several rare and little known species which, without such help, must have been
unavoidably omitted or but imperfee'ly described,
C
18 MASDEVALLIA.
groups of minor importance, which on the whole are very natural and
fairly well characterised, thus :—
1. Coriacew. Perianth distinctly coriaceous, varying from shortly and
broadly to narrowly tubular, sepaline tails variable, usually short and rigid ;
peduncles one-flowered ; bracts generally small.
To this sub-section belong Masdevallia calura, civilis, coriacea, elephan-
ticeps, floribunda, Gargantua, Ionocharis, leontoglossa, Mooreana, pachyantha,
Peristeria, platyglossa, Reichenbachiana, velifera.
2. Cucullate. Bracts large and cucullate, which distinguishes the
included species from the preceding.
It includes M. corniculata, M. cucullata, M. macrura.
3. Polyanthe. Peduncles few or many-flowered. Flowers generally
but not always somewhat coriaceous, differing but little in shape from the
preceding groups.
A somewhat polymorphous group, including M. Ephippium, infracta,
maculata, Schlimii, tovarensis.
4. Coccinew. Perianth scarlet, rose-purple, or yellow, sub-membraneous,
generally narrowly tubular below, lateral tails always short, or almost
absent. Peduncles normally one-flowered, except in M. racemosa. A
very natural group, easily recognised by the brilliant coloured perianth.
All the included species and their hybrids are highly popular among
cultivators,
This sub-section includes M. amabilis, Barlwana, coccinea, Davisii,
ignea, militaris, racemosa, rosea, Veitchiana.
5. Caudate. Perianth membraneous, the tubular portion generally
short and open, with long slender tails, peduncles one-flowered.
2
Masdevallia Chimera.
(See page 30.)
MASDEVALLIA. 127
A species introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co. from Costa Rica,
where it is said to be associated with Masdevallia Reichenbachiana.
Its deep chocolate flowers with bright yellow tails render it distinct
among the small-flowered Masdevallias. The specific name is from
kado¢ (kalos), “ beautiful,”? and ovpa (oura), “a tail.” *
M. campyloglossa,
Leaves linear-oblong, petiolate, obtuse, 3 inches long, very leathery.
Peduncles slender, shorter than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers about
an inch across ; perianth tube very short; sepals spreading, triangular,
acuminate, dull white with some purple spots at the margin, and three
purple veins; petals oblong, mucronate, white; lip longer than the
petals, linear-oblong, slightly tapering, bent, obscurely pubescent, white
with a purple median line, and a shorter one on each side of it.
Masdevallia campyloglozsa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. X. (1878), p. 588.
Acquired by us amongst other orchids at Stevens’ Rooms in 1878,
no information being given respecting its origin. As it is still in
cultivation in several collections it could not be passed over in this
place. Its specific name refers to its bent labellum, from KapvAoc¢
(kampulos), “bent,” and yAwooa (glossa), tongue—in orchidology,
goliae:
M. Carderi.
Leaves spathulate-lanceolate, 3—5 inches long. Scapes slender, pen-
dulous, with 2—3 appressed membraneous bracts, shorter than the leaves,
one-flowered. Flowers campanulate, French-white, blotched externally
around and near the base of the connate sepals with brown-purple,
the inner surface covered with short hairs, and spotted with brown-purple
at the base; sepaline tails equidistant, 2 inches long, pale yellow,
sometimes spotted with brown-purple; petals-linear-oblong, reflexed at
the tip, white with a purplish brown mid-line; lip sub-panduriform in
outline, the basal half (hypochile) with a longitudinal cleft, the distal
half (epichile) shell-like, smooth on the inside.
Masdevallia Carderi, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 784. Id. XX.
p. 181, icon. xyl.
Introduced by Messrs. Shuttleworth and Carder in 1883, and
named after the junior partner of the firm, for many years a collector
of orchids in tropical America, and who discovered this pretty
Masdevallia on the siopes of the western Cordillera of New Granada,
near Frontino.
* The specific name is thence a substantive name, and if we interpret rightly Art. 34 of the
Laws of Botanical Nomenclature, it should take a capital letter, but following custom, we leave
itasitis. So also campyloglossa; leontoglossa, macrura, ete.
28 MASDEVALLIA.
M. caudata.
Foliis. obovato-oblongis, scapo paulo brevioribus, sepalis longissime
aristato-caudatis. Hab. in subfrigidis regni Novogranatensis prope S.
Fortunato, florens Junio. (Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 193.)
var.—Shuttleworthii.
Leaves obovate-oblong, often elliptic-oblong, 2—3 inches long, narrowed
to a slender petiole of about the same length. Scapes equalling or
longer than the leaves, with 1—2 acuminate, appressed bracts, one-
Masdevallia caudata Shuttleworthii.
flowered. | Flowers 1—14 inches across, exclusive of the sepaline tails
perianth tube short, campanulate gibbous below; upper sepal obovate,
concave, light yellow spotted with red and with 5—7_ red veins
MASDEVALLTA. 29
lateral sepals obliquely ovate, mauve-purple mottled with white; tails
yellow, 2—3 inches long; petals linear-oblong, white; lip broadly
oblong, reflexed at tip, pale mauve.
M. caudata Shuttleworthii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. V.s. 3. (1889), p. 200.*
M. Shuttleworthii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. III]. (1875), p. 170. Bot. Mag. t. 6372.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. J. t. 5. Sander’s Reichenbachia I. t. 13.
var.—xanthocorys.
Flowers smaller than in the variety Shuttleworthii, with the sevals
a little broader at the base, the upper sepal pale yellow with thin
brownish red, dotted veins, the lateral sepals pale yellow sometimes
faintly tinted and spotted with rose.
M. caudata xanthocorys, supra. M. Shuttleworthii xanthocorys, Rchb. in
Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 366.
Masdevallia caudata was one of the first species of the genus that
became known to science, a dried specimen having been received
by Dr. Lindley in 1831, or even earlier. It remained unknown to
horticulture till it was re-discovered by Mr. Shuttleworth in 1874,
between Agua Larga and Fusugassinga in New Granada, while collecting
orchids for Mr. William Bull, of Chelsea, by whom it was intro-
duced. It has also been detected in the Odontoglossum crispum
district, near Pacho, growimg on the trunks of trees at 6,500—
8,000 feet elevation. The variety xanthocorys first appeared in the
collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge, near
Dorking, in 1882.
M. Chestertonii.
Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, sub-acute, 5—-7 inches long, leathery.
Scapes as long as the leaves, pendulous, one-flowered. Sepals ovate-
oblong, keeled behind, with abrupt slender tails an inch long, the blade
greenish yellow spotted with blackish purple; petals minute, oblong,
yellowish red with an apicular black tumour; lip large, with a grooved
claw and transversly reniform, concave blade, pale orange-yellow with
numerous radiating raised reddish lines. Column terete, arched, white
with a few brownish red spots near the apex,
Masdevallia Chestertonii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XIX. (1883), p. 532. Bot. Mag.
t. 6977.
*The typical Masdevallia caudata is but poorly represented in British herbaria, but
enough of it remains to remove any doubts as to the propriety of referring Reichenbach’s
M. Shuttleworthii to that species. The late Professor himself also arrived at this conclu-
sion, and gave expression to his belief in the article quoted above, but adopting the
unusual course of affixing a varietal name to the form which he considered to be the type.
There is, however, still some uncertainty whether M. caudata (Lindl.) and M. Shuttleworthii
(Rchb.) are simply identical, or whether the latter is a variety of the former; until this
uncertainty can be cleared up, it appears to us that the safest course is to leave them for
the present as they are described in the text.
30 MASDEVALLIA.
A very curious species, one of the saccolabiste group, with flowers
about the size of those of Masdevallia nycterina. It was the last
discovery of Chesterton while collecting orchids for Messrs, Sander
and Co., in the New Granadian province of Antioquia, a short time
previous to his death, in 1885, It is well distinguished by its large,
pale red, elaborately sculptured lip with a grooved claw, in which it
approaches M. bella, but differs from it in the colour both of this
organ and of the sepals.
M. Chimera.
Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 6—9 inches long, narrowed below into
a complicate foot-stalk, invested with membraneous sheaths at the base.
Scapes slender, 12—15 (or more) inches long,* pushing first downwards
and then upwards, but sometimes erect, jointed with a small pale green
appressed sheath at each joint, 3—5 or more flowered. Flowers produced
singly by successive prolongations of the scape from the joint immediately
below the ovary, and issuing from the sheathing bract; very variable
in size and colour,t but with the following constant characters :—Perianth
tube broadly campanulate, very short; sepals broadly ovate, acuminate,
keeled behind, prolonged into slender tails 3—4 inches long, the lateral
two connate to about one-half of their length, forming at the suture a
deep boat-shaped depression, all more or less pubescent on the inner side
and covered with warty spots; petals spathulate, expanded at the tip,
into lobes, on which is a blackish purple spot; lip saccate, clawed,
the claw (hypochile) fleshy with a broad oval cleft above, the blade
(epichile) concave with three parallel or very slightly divergent raised
longitudinal lines and with numerous smaller ribs radiating from the
outside two to the toothed margin. Column terete, bent at the apex,
usually yellow above and white beneath.
Masdevallia Chimera, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 463. Id. in Linnea XLI.
p. 8 (1877). Xen. Orch. I. p. 195, t. 185 and t. 186, fig. 1. Gard. Chron. IV.
(1875), p. 258. Id. XIV. (1881), p. 118. Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 208.
var.— Backhouseana.
Flowers among the largest, with shorter tails and hispid pubescence ;
ground colour of sepals light yellow with cinnamon-red warty spots some-
what sparingly scattered over the central area of each sepal;_ tails
reddish brown; lip white.
M. Chimera Backhouseana, supra. M. Backhouseana in Gard. Chron. XI. (1879),
p. 716. Sander’s Reichenbachia I. t 19.
* Roezl, the discoverer of the species, states that the plants detected by him near Choco bore
flower scapes 2 feet long ; a variety collected by Kalbreyer, near the upper limits of its vertical
range, had erect scapes little more than 6 inches long.
+ The polymorphy of Masdevallia Chimera was first observed by Gustav Wallis, Gard,
Chron. IV (1875), p. 258,
MASDEVALLIA. 31
var.—Gorgona.
Sepals very hairy, the ground colour canary-yellow densely spotted with
deep red-purple except towards the inner margin of the lateral two where
the spots are more scattered, and at the base of the upper one where
they are replaced by purple dots; lip tinged with pale orange-red.
M. Chimera Gorgona, supra. M. Gorgona, Hort.
var.—Roezlii.
Sepaline spots blackish and very densely placed, leaving but small traces
of the pale ground colour, pubescence very close; lip with a somewhat
broader and shorter epichile than in other forms, white or faintly tinted
with rose, the raised lines within the sac bright rose.*
ae Chimera Roezlii. supra. M. Roezlii, Rechb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 196, t. 186,
we, D,
sub-var.—rubra (Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 243), spots chocolate-red
and not so dense as in the type.
var.—senilis.
Flowers among the smallest of the Masdevallia Chimera forms; the
pubescence on the inner surface of sepals long and whitish, the spots
blackish red on a pale yellow ground; lip white with an orange spot
within the sac on the basal side
M. Chimera senilis, supra. M. senilis, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885),
p. 489.
var.—severa.
Peduncles erect or sub-erect, shorter, and bearing smaller flowers
than the typical form; sepals narrower and more acuminate, pale
yellow densely spotted with chocolate-red, pubescence close.
M. Chimera severa, supra. M. severa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 170.
var.—Wallisii.
Sepals with hispid pubescence, whitish or pale yellow more or less
covered with brown-purple warty spots; tails red-purple; lip white
sometimes yellowish within the sae.
M. Chimera Wallisii, supra. M. Wallisii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. IV. (1875),
p. 258. Id. XXIII. (1885), p. 270 (stupenda). M. Chimera, Bot. Mag. t. 6152.
Revue hort. 1881, p. 130. Fl. Mag. n. s. t. 149.
var.— Winniana.
Flowers large; sepils elongated and more acuminate than in the
variety Roezlii which it closely approaches, and with the tails more
slender ; pubescence very close, spots dense and blackish; at the base
of the upper sepal is a yellow transverse band dotted with purple.
M. Chimera Winniana, supra. M. Winniana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881),
p. 198.
* One of the characters relied on by Reichenbach to distinguish this form specifically from
his Masdevallia Chimera was the entire edge of the saccate limb of the lip, but we have failed
to detect this peculiarity in any of the plants seen by us in cultivation under the name of
M, Roezlii ; in fact, in all the forms we have examined, the margin is more or less denticulate,
32 MASDEVALLIA
This grotesque and striking Masdevallia was discovered in 1871
by M. Roezl at Choco, on the Western Cordillera of New Granada,*
but he failed to send living plants to Hurope at the time. It
was, however, introduced shortly afterwards by M. Linden, through
Gustav Wallis, who had detected it at Frontino, near Antioquia,
mixed with Masdevallia nycterinu, as the two were sent to M.
Linden together, and both were distributed in the first instance
under the name of M. Chimera.t The form introduced through
Wallis was afterwards found to differ somewhat from Roezl’s
discovery, and subsequently received the name of M. Wallisti, a
circumstance which led to much confusion in the nomenclature and
identification of both these and other forms.t The variety Back-
houseana was introduced by the firm whose name it bears through
their collector, Butler, who found it near Frontino.§ Roezlii was
introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co., of St. Albans, in 1881;
severa by Mr. Bull, through Shuttleworth; senilis by Messrs. Low
and Co.; Winnianw first appeared in the collection of Mr. Charles
Winn, at the Uplands, Sely Hill, Birmingham, a collection
exceptionally rich in Chimera varieties.|
The habitat of Masdevallia Chimera is restricted to a comparatively
small area on the western Cordillera of New Granada, extending
from Frontino, near Antioquia, to a few miles southward of that
town. Its vertical range is from 4,500—6,500 feet; it grows
chiefly on trees and shrubs, preferring the forks of the branches
where there is a small accumulation of decaying vegetable matter,
and where there is shade and moisture. In those localities in
which M. Chimera is most abundant the atmosphere is always at
or near the saturation point, and fogs and mists are almost of
daily occurrence for more than nine months of the year; but at
the higher limits of its range, where these hygrometric conditions
are less pronounced, the plants are much less vigorous, but flower
* Gard. Chron. IV. (1875), p. 233.
+ Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 1238.
+ Gard. Chron. II. (1874), p. 804. Id. III.(1875), p. 40. Id. IV. p. 258.
§ Sander’s Reichenbachia, I. sub. t. 19.
|| Besides the varieties described above there are other Chimera forms in cultivation, named
and unnamed, so intermediate in character between these varieties that they may with equal
right be referred to either of the two between which they stand; the probability is also
extremely great that other forms exist in the natiye habitat of the species, sufficient in number
to connect the whole into a confluent series,
MASDEVALLIA. 33
more freely; the leaves are smaller and more leathery, the flower
scapes shorter and erect, and the flowers are smaller in all their
parts.*
The name Chimera is mythological, but although a very fanciful
one for plant nomenclature, its application to this species is justified
by the singular appearance of the flowers.t
M. civilis.
Leaves linear-oblong, sub-acute, 5—6 inches long. Scapes very short,
mottled blackish purple, with a sheathing bract below the short, bent,
furrowed ovary, one-flowered. Flowers coriaceous, with a smooth polished
surface externally, and emitting a faint fetid odour; perianth tube
cylindric, gibbous below at the base, greenish yellow externally, in-
ternally deep purple at the base, above which it is spotted; free portion
of sepals triangular, prolonged into short recurved tails, greenish yellow ;
petals sub-spathulate, acute, white with a deep purple sunk mid-line on
the inner side, keeled behind; lip oblong, reflexed at apex, channelled
above, mottled and dotted with purple. Column stoutish, semi-terete,
winged on the inside, greenish above, purple below the stigmatic hollow.
Masdevallia civilis, Rehb. in Bonpl. II. (1854), p. 115. Bot. Mag. t. 5476.
Discovered by Warscewicz in Peru, in 1852—3, It was first
cultivated in Europe by Consul Schiller, at Hamburg, by whom it
was communicated to Sir William J. Hooker, at Kew. ‘The specific
name, civilis, “relating to citizens or the state,” is peculiar, and of
which we have seen no explanation respecting its application to
this plant. We are indebted to Mr. F. W. Moore, of the Royal
Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, for materials for description.
M. coccinea.
Leaves obovate-lanceolate, 6—9 inches long, narrowed below into long
petioles. | Scapes 12 or more inches long, slightly flexuose, with 3—4
distant joints, at each of which is an appressed spotted sheath. Flowers
solitary, magenta-purple in the first introduced form and with the base
of the tube white ; perianth tube compressed, bent, slightly gibbous
below; upper sepal linear, with a triangular base, flexuose above ;
* The difference in the size of the leaves and the length of their foot-stalks, noticeable in
imported plants, often disappears more or less under cultivation, thence showing that the
smaller-leaved forms from the higher limits of the vertical range of the species are but climatic
variations.
+ The Chimera of mythology was a monster, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna, that
breathed flames of fire ; it had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.
After ravaging Lyeia and the surrounding countries, it was killed by the hero Bellerophon,
who, having obtained possession of the winged horse Pegasus, rose with it into the air and slew
the Chimera with his arrows,
D
34 MASDEVALLTA.
lateral sepals connate to about one-third of their length, semi-ovate,
oblique, tapering to approximate tips; petals and lip included in the
tube, the former lnear-oblong, auricled at the base on the front side,
the latter tongue-shaped, cordate at base.
Masdevallia coccinea, Linden ex. Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 5 (1846). Gard. Chron.
1868, p. 75. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 197, t. 74. M. Lindenii, André in Zdlus. hort.
1870, p. 226, t. 42. Fl. Mag. n.s. 1. t. 28. Jennings’ Orch. t. 17.
var.—conchiflora.
Flowers larger, with the lateral sepals broader, more rotund, concave,
or shell-like; in colour hke the first introduced form.
M. coccinea conchiflora, supra. M. Harryana conchiflora, Hort. Bull.
var.—Harryana.
Flowers variable in size and colour, and distinguished from the
typical Masdevallia coccinea chiefly by the two lateral sepals that are
dilated into broad oval-falcate blades, terminating in acuminate tips
which are turned towards each other, the two forming an almost
orbicular body, varying in size from 134 to 3 inches in diameter, and in
colour from deep sanguineous purple to pale yellow or milk-white ;
sepaline tube orange.yellow.
M. coccinea Harryana, supra. M. Harryana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 1421.
Fl; Mag. 1871, t. 555. Fl. and Pomol. 1873, p. 169. Belg. hort. 1873, t. 21. Van
Houtte’s FU. des Serres, XXJ. t. 2250. M. Lindenii Harryana, Illus. hort. 1873, p.
167, t. 142. Bot. Mag. t. 5990 (Lindenii).
sub-vars.—armeniaca (Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 224), deep apricot-
yellow with red veins; atrosanguinea (Id. III, t. 105), deep
crimson-purple ; cwrulescens (Id. I. t. 24), magenta-crimson toned
with bluish purple; decora (id. VIII. t. 344), light magenta-
purple with deeper veins; Denisondi (Fl. Mag. n. s. 1873, t. 79),
syn. Bull’s blood, deep sanguineous purple ; lata (Gard. Chron, XI.
(1879), p. 716), rosy purple; miniata (Wilhams’ Orch. Alb.- III.
t. 110), vermilion-red with crimson veins; J/ateritia (Hort.),
brilliant magenta-purple ; ¢trécolor (Hort.), magenta-crimson, striped
with maroon; versicolor (Gard. Chron. XVI, (1881), p. 306),
deep magenta-crimson veined and shaded with purple-crimson,
carmine, and rose. etc., etc.
Masdevallia coccinea was first discovered in 1842—3 “on the
southern slopes of the high mountains near Pamplona, at 9,500
feet elevation,” by Linden, from whose herbarium specimen, now
preserved at Kew, it was described by Dr. Lindley in the work
quoted above. It subsequently became confused with M. militaris,
discovered some years later by Warscewicz, from whom Dr. Lindley
received dried flowers and a coloured drawing which he affixed, in
error, to lLinden’s type specimen. Still later the name became
mixed up with M. ignea, both in British and continental collections,
MASDEVALLIA. 35
and forms of M. militaris and M. ignea have been cultivated
under the name of M. coccinea. ‘The typical M. coccinea was intro-
duced in 1869, in which year it was re-discovered by Gustay Wallis
and sent by him to M. Linden, in whose horticultural establishment,
at Ghent, it flowered for the first time in Kurope in June in the
following year, when it was described by M. André, and figured
in the Illustration Horticole under the name of M. Lindenti. It is
abundant on the rocks along the western slopes of the eastern Cordillera
of New Granada, near Pamplona, at a great elevation, where it is
associated with the small-flowered, inattractive M. octhodes, which is
Masdevallia coccinea Harryana.
also very abundant. The variety conchiflora, which is very distinct
in form but in colour agreeing with the first-introduced form, appeared
some years ago in Mr. Bull’s horticultural establishment, at Chelsea.
Far superior both to the type and to the variety conchiflora, from
a horticultural point of view, is the vanety Harryana ; this
superiority is due to its great variability in colour, which in all the
cultivated forms is characterised by great brilliancy, and to a less extent,
36 MASDEVALLIA.
in form, and also to the improvement to which it is susceptible under
cultivation; these causes have tended to render this Masdevallia one of
the most popular in cultivation, as is amply testified by the numerous
illustrations of it quoted in page 34.* It was discovered by Chesterton,
in 1871, near Sogamosa, and was introduced by us in the same
year. Its principal locality is on the eastern Cordillera, between
Sogamosa and Concepcion, where its vertical range is 7,000—10,000
feet; it is particularly abundant on that part of the Cordillera
called the Sierra Nevada de Chita, where it spreads in uninterrupted
masses for miles, covering acres upon acres of the upland slopes,
growing in the partial shade afforded by the low shrubs that abound
in the place. When in bloom these masses of Masdevallia present
one of the most striking floral sights it is possible to behold, even
in tropical lands; it is not only the dazzling brilliancy of the
colours displayed by the countless thousands of flowers, but also
their astonishing variety; there is scarcely a shade of colour from
the deep rich crimson-purple of Bull’s Blood, through magenta-
crimson, crimson-scarlet, scarlet, orange, yellow, to cream-white that
is not represented in greater or less abundance, the lighter shades
of yellow being the rarest. In the lower hmits of its range
the leaves ure longer, narrower and deeper in colour, the plants
less floriferous, the flowers somewhat smaller and of a _ uniform
colour, merging into that of the form known in gardens as M. Lindenit,
which always occupies the lower zone of the vertical range of the
species. On ascending towards the higher limits the foliage becomes
dwarfer and paler in colour, and the flowers larger and more
variable in colour; it is only at and near the upper lmit that
the pale yellow and white varieties occur.
M. coriacea.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, very coriaceous, almost fleshy, 5—7 inches
long, deep green with a sunk mid-line above, pale green and obscurely
keeled beneath. Scapes as long as, sometimes shorter than the leaves,
pale green dotted with dull purple, with an appressed bract at the joint
below the ovary, one-flowered. Perianth tube broadly cylindric, whitish
yellow with some purple dots along the veins; free portion of upper
* The fine specimens of many of the Harryana varieties in the collection of Sir Trevor
Lawrence, Bart., M.P., at Burford Lodge, Dorking, are the admiration of all who have had the
privilege of seeing them.
MASDEVALLIA. 37
sepal triangular, keeled above, coloured like the perianth tube, and
prolonged into a short broad tail; lateral sepals oblong, yellowish,
prolonged into acuminate points; petals oblong, white with a purple
mid-line; lip tongue-shaped, reflexed, hairy above, greenish yellow,
with purple mid-line and margined dots.
Masdevallia coriacea, Lindl. in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. XV. (1845), p. 257.
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 1067. M. Briickmiilleri, Hort. Low.
Discovered in 1842 on the eastern Cordillera of New Granada,
near Bogota, by Hartweg, from whose herbarium specimens it was
named and described by Dr. Lindley; it was afterwards found by
Linden, Schlim and Weir in the neighbourhood of the same city,
where it occurs on fully exposed slopes high up on the Cordillera,
but all these collectors failed to send living plants to Hurope. It
was first imported alive by Messrs. Low and Co. in 1871, and was
distributed by them under the name of Masdevallia Briickmiilleri, in
compliment to the collector who sent it to them, it being supposed
at the time to be a new species. The specific name, coriacea,
‘leathery,’ refers to the texture of the flowers.
M. corniculata.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 6 inches long, including petiole. Scapes half
as long as the leaves, one-flowered, with a large, pale green, prominently
keeled, ovate, acuminate bract embracing the ovary and _ base of
perianth tube. Flowers brownish red, mottled with pale yellow;
perianth tube broadly cylindric, bent, gibbous below; free portion of
upper sepal shortly triangular, suddenly contracted into a slender tail
2 inches long; lateral sepals nearly oblong, reflexed, contracted into
slender tails that are shorter than the upper one and which point
straight downwards; petals ligulate, longer than the column, white
with yellow tips; lp sub-pandurate, papillose at the apex, yellowish
spotted with purple, as is the short column.
Masdevallia corniculata, Rchb, in Gard, Chron. IX. (1878), p. 72
var.—inflata.
Flowers somewhat larger, with the perianth tube more inflated, light
orange-yellow mottled with brown, paler beneath; tails bright yellow.
M. corniculata inflata, supra. M. inflata, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881),
p. 716.
Introduced by Messrs. Backhouse from New Granada, in 1877,
und subsequently imported by other horticultural firms, ‘The variety
inflata first appeared in Mr. Bull’s collection in 1881. This species
and the next are well distinguished by the large hood-like bract
that sheaths the base of the perianth tube.
98 MASDEVALLIA.
M. cucullata.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 9—12 inches long, very leathery. Scapes
as long as the leaves, with a sheathing bract near the base, and a
larger one embracing the ovary and base of sepaline tube. Tube
sub-cylindrie, with a double gibbosity below; free portion of sepals
triangular, keeled, deep maroon-purple ; tails 14 inches long, yellowish
ereen ; petals white, oblong, contracted at the tip where there is a blackish
purple wart; lip tongue-shaped, deep purple.
Masdevallia cucullata, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 4 (1846). Rehb. in Gard. Chron.
XIX. (1883), p. 592.
Discovered by Linden, in the forests of Fusagassuga, near Bogota,
in New Granada, in 1842, and afterwards gathered by Wallis,
Roezl, and others, but not introduced till 1883, when the first
plants that reached Europe alive were collected by Carder, for the firm
of Messrs. Shuttleworth and Co., in the locality in which the species
had been discovered by Linden forty years previously. Masdevallia
cucullata is known in its native country by the name of La Viuda,
“the widow,’* which it probably obtained on account of its sombre-
coloured flowers that are hooded by a conspicuous bract, the latter
character also suggesting the scientific name.
M. Davisii.
Leaves 6—8 inches long, narrowly oblanceolate, thick and leathery.
Scapes slender, longer than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers
1$—2 inches broad across the lateral sepals, yellow with some orange
markings at the base externally; perianth tube sub-cylindric, with a
prominent keel above and gibbous beneath at the base; free portion
of upper sepal ovate-triangular, ascending, gradually contracted into a
slender tail an inch long; lateral sepals oblong, connate to more than
half their length, contracted at the apex into slender cusps; petals
and lip very small and concealed within the tube, the former oblong,
notched at the top, auricled at the base, white, the latter clawed,
linear-oblong, brownish. Column semi terete, toothed at apex.
Masdevallia Davisii, Rehb, in Gard. Chron. II. (1874), p. 710. Id. V. (1876),
p. oe Xen. Orch. ILL. p. 3. t. 203. Bot. Mag. t. 6190. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IT.
» 69.
Discovered in 1873 by our collector, Davis, on the eastern Cor-
dillera of Peru, at no great distance from the historic city of Cuzco.
It occurs on the slopes of the mountains at an immense elevation,
probably not less than 10,500—12,000 feet, growing in loam and
moss, and also in decaying vegetable matter collected in the crevices
_ ~ Roezl affirms that this name is applied to Masdevallia macrura by all the children
in the neighbourhood of Sonson. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1883, p. 643.
MASDEVALLIA. 39
of the rocks. [ts geographical range appears to be very restricted,
extending but a few miles along the flanks of the mountain within
the vertical limits stated above, but where, however, plants were
seen in all stages of growth, from the smallest seedlings to masses
of considerable size. Like most of the species with brilliant-coloured
flowers (sub-section Coccinee), Masdevallia Davisii varies in the size
of its flowers, and in the shade of their colouring which ranges
from rich orange-yellow to light primrose.
Masdevallia Davisii.
M. demissa.
Leaves very leathery, spathulate-cuneate, 6 inches long, tridentate at
apex, narrowed below into a channelled petiole. Scapes shorter than
the leaves, with a lax, membraneous bract below the short, bent ovary.
Perianth tube half an inch long, funnel-shaped, yellow with three red-
brown lines above, deep red-brown below; free portion of upper
sepal yellow, triangular at the base, prolonged at apex into a slender
40 MASDEVALLIA.
tail an inch long: lateral sepals connate to three-fourths of their
length, ovate-oblong, deep red-brown with yellowish veins; tails orange-
yellow ; petals, lip and column minute and concealed within the tube ;
the petals and lp oblong, red-brown, the column white.
Masdevallia demissa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. II. s. 3. (1817), p 9.
A species of dwarf habit, with red-brown and_ yellow flowers,
resembling on superficial glance a diminished Masdevallia corniculata,
but the hooded bract of which is replaced in this species by a
small loose membraneous one, a character which removes it from
the sub-section Cucullate. It was recently imported from Costa
Rica by Messrs. Shuttleworth and Carder. We are indebted to
Mr. Sydney Courtauld, of Bocking Place, Braintree, for materials
for description.
M. elephanticeps.
Leaves narrowly spathulate-cuneate, approaching linear-oblong, 6—10
inches iong, very leathery. Scapes stoutish, shorter than the leaves,
dotted with dull purple, with 2—3 small sheathing bracts, one-
flowered Flowers large for the genus, horizontal or deflexed; perianth
tube broadly cylindric, yellowish above, dull purple beneath ; upper sepal
triangular, elongated, keeled above, gradually contracted into a long
coriaceous yellowish tail, 2—3 inches long; lateral sepals reddish purple
on the inner side, dull purple beneath, oblong, connate to nearly the
middle and contracted into yellowish tails; petals oblong, acute; lip
ligulate or oblong, papillose above.
Masdevallia elephanticeps, Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 6, t. 3 (1854). Id. p. 194,
t. 74 (pachysepala). Id. in Bonpl. Il. p. 116 (1854). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres,
X. t. 997 (copied from Xen. Orch.).
This remarkable species was discovered by Warscewicz, in 1850—
51, on the eastern Cordillera of New Granada, between Ocaiia
and Pamplona, at 6,500-——10,000 feet elevation, and where many
years afterwards it was gathered by Bowman, Briickmiiller, and
Shuttleworth. It has recently been introduced by more than one
horticultural firm, and is now in cultivation in several collections.
The variety pachysepala, which does not appear to be yet in
cultivation, was gathered by Schlim, near Ocafia. The fanciful
resemblance of the flower to an elephant’s head and trunk, when
viewed from above, suggested the specific name.
M. Ephippium.
Leaves narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, 5—7 inches long, attenuated below
into a channelled foot-stalk, half as long as the blade. Scapes
Masdevallia Ephippium.
MASDEVALLIA. 4]
stoutish, flexuose, sharply trigonal, 12 or more inches high, with
an obovate cumpressed bract about an inch below the short ovary,
the intervening portion of the peduncle slender and terete. Perianth
tube cylindric, short; upper sepal sub-orbicular, keeled, yellow stained
with brown without, concave and tawny yellow within, contracted into
a yellow reflexed tail, 3—4 inches long; lateral sepals sub-orbicular,
forming a hemispherical cup, ribbed within and without, reddish or
chestnut-brown, contracted like the upper sepal into long flexuose yellow
tails; petals white, linear, acute, but sometimes 2—3 toothed at the
apex ; lip oblong, apiculate, clawed and auriculate at the base, toothed
towards the apex, reddish brown. Column whitish.
Masdevallia Ephippium, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1873, p. 390. Id. in Gard. Chron,
I (1874); p. 3/2.- Id._xXen. Orch. I. p. 213, t. 195. Bot. Mag. t. 6208. M.
Trochilus, Lind. et André, i/us. hort. 1874, p. 136, t. 180. Fl. Mag. n. s. t. 443.
M. acrochordonia, Rechb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 213 (1874). Id. in Gard. Chron.
XXIII. (1885), p. 174. Id. XXVI. (1886), p. 526. M. Colibre, nom. vulg.
Jide Roezl.*
The botanical history of this species is somewhat confused.
According to Reichenbach, it was first discovered near Loxa, in
Ecuador, by Dr. Krause, of Leipsic, who sent it to Messrs. Back-
house,t but some years later he states, in another place, that
Wallis was its discoverer, this collector having met with it near
Antioquia, in 1873, while on a mission to New Granada for M.
Linden; it was shortly afterwards gathered by Roezl and_ by
Patin, near Medellin, and Mr. Shuttleworth informs us_ that
it has been collected by Carder in the _ neighbourhood of
the last-named town. Its New Granadian origin is_ therefore
unquestionably established, and the Loxa locality must be referred to
Masdevallia acrochordonia (Rchb.); but we have reduced this to a
synonym of M. Ephippium, as we are unable to detect even a
varietal distinction between the plants in cultivation under these
names. M. acrochordonia was also discovered by Krause, near
Loxa, and was introduced from that district, in 1884, by Messrs.
Sander and Co. through their collector Hiibsch.§ The presence of
* The names applied to this species have not been very felicitously selected. Ephippium
(eQixmiov) means ‘‘a saddle,” to which neither the flower nor any part of it bears any
especial resemblance; Trochilus (7pdxtAoc), ‘a wren,” is equally far fetched; Acrochordonia
(axpoxopowv ) is a Greek word of uncertain signification, but supposed to mean a kind
of wart. Colibre (Spanish), Colibri (French), is ‘‘humming-bird.”
+ Gard. Chron, I. (1874), p. 372. Bot. Mag. sub. t. 6208.
~ Gard. Chron. XXIII. (1885), p. 174. Xen. Orch. II. p. 214.
§ Gard. Chron. XXIII. (1885), p. 174. The statements made here and in I. (1874),
p- 372, respecting the discovery of Masdevallia Ephippium and M. acrochordonia, by Krause,
near Loxa, doubtless refer to one and the same species.
42 MASDEVALLIA.
M. Ephippium in localities separated from each other by an
interval of upwards of a thousand miles, is a singular fact im its
history. As a species, its chief peculiarity is seen in the lateral
sepals that form a deeply concave bowl-shaped body of a rufous
brown colour, and their long flexuose tails that curve away from
each other in a singular manner.
M. Erythrochete.
Leaves linear-oblanceolate, 6—8 inches long.* Scapes slender, nearly
as long again as the leaves, with a closely appressed sheath at each
joint and a larger one below the bent ovary, one-flowered. Perianth
tube short, patent, yellowish white externally; free portion of sepals
ovate-triangular, which, as well as the connate basal portions, are
yellowish white spotted with red-purple and studded with numerous
white hairs on the inner side; tails 2 inches long, reddish purple; petals
minute, oblong, brown at the tips; lip as in Masdevallia Chimera,
but smaller, white faintly tinted with rose. Column white.
Masdevallia Erythrochete, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 392.
Introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co., from Central America. It
is very near Masdevallia Chimera and M. astuta, from both of
which it may be distinguished by its smaller flowers. The specific
name, from ¢pv9p0c (eruthros), ‘red,’ and yairn (chaité), “long hair,”
refers to the long slender tails.
M. Estrade.
A dwarf, densely-tufted plant. Leaves elliptic-spathulate, leathery,
2—3 inches long including petioles, often bifid at the apex. Scapes
slender, longer than the leaves, with a sheathing bract near the base,
and another below the ovary, one-flowered. Perianth tube short, cam-
panulate ; free portion of upper sepal obovate-oblong, concave, almost
helmet-shaped ; lateral sepals oblong, obtuse, nearly flat with recurved
margins, and terminating in long slender tails, 1$—2 inches long, basal
half and tails yellow, distal half mauve-purple; petals and lip linear-oblong,
whitish. Column white, spotted and margined with purple.
Masdevallia Estrad, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, I. (1874), p. 485. Bot. Mag. t. 6171.
Belg. hort. 1875, p. 371.
var.—xanthina.
Flowers pale honey-yellow with a mauve-purple spot at the base of
the lateral sepals.
M. Estrade xanthina, supra. M. xanthina, Rchb, in Gard. Chron. XIII. (1880),
p- 681.
* A foot long, according to Reichenbach. Our description was taken from a plant in the
Downside collection.
MASDEVALLIA. 43
First found by Gustav Wallis in the garden of a New Granadian
lady, named Dota Estrada, to whom it is dedicated It was intro-
duced in 1873, by Mr. B. S. Willams, of Holloway, from the province
of Antioquia, through Patin, a Belgian collector. The variety, which
differs from the type in nothing except colour, is doubtless from
the same locality in New Granada, for although the materials for
description were supplied by us, we have no record of its origin.
M. floribunda.
A dwarf, tufted plant. Leaves oblanceolate-oblong, 83—4 inches long
including the foot-stalk. Scapes numerous, slender, decumbent, longer
than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers pale buff-yellow dotted with
brown-purple ; perianth tube cylindric, with a small gibbosity at the
base on the lower side; free portion of sepals very short, that of the
upper one triangular, of the lateral two rotund; tails, of which the upper
one is the longest, slender, recurved, reddish; petals linear-oblong,
toothed at the tip, white; lip ‘nearly heart-shaped at its base, con-
stricted below the middle and with red-brown blotch at the tip.”
Masdevallia floribunda, Lind]. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 72. Rehb. in Gard.
Chron. VIII. (1877), p. 616. M. Galeottiana, A. Rich. et Gal. Ann. Sc. Nat. s. 3,
III. (1845), p. 17. M. myriostigma,* Morren in Belg. hort. 1873, p. 359, t. 33.
A very floriferous species, native of Mexico, and the first Mas-
devallia from that country that became known to science. It was
gathered by Galeotti, in 1840, in the neighbourhood of Vera Cruz, and
living plants were probably sent by him to Europe, for one was in
cultivation three years later in the collection of the late Mr. Rogers,
at Sevenoaks, from whom Dr. Lindley received materials for naming
and description. It was re-introduced in 1873, by Messrs. Jacob-
Makoy and Co., of Liége.
M. Gargantua.
A robust plant. Leaves oblong, fleshy, 6 inches long. Scapes
terete, shorter than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers large and leathery;
perianth tube broadly cylindric, pale yellow-green above, gibbous and
stained with dull purple beneath; free portion of upper sepal yellow,
triangular, contracted into a tapering reflexed tail 2 inches long ;
lateral sepals oblong, terminating in divergent tails an inch _ long,
verrucose, brown-purple bordered with yellow on the inner side; petals
oblong, whitish; lip tongue-shaped, very hairy, deep purple. Column
thick, whitish with some purple markings.
Masdevallia Gargantua, Rchb. in Gard, Chron. VI. (1876), p. 516.
* Calami lapsu passim fere, ‘‘myriosigma,” which is meaningless. See Gard. Chron. loc.
cit. supra.
44. MASDEVALLIA.
Introduced by us, in 1874, from the Frontino district in New
Granada, through Gustay Wallis. Its nearest allies are Masdevallia
elephanticeps and M. Mooreana, from the latter of which it is not
distinguishable in a dried state. When first expanded the flower
emits a strong fetid odour. The specific name is that of one of
the heroes in Rabelais’ once famous story of Gargantua and
Pantagruel.
M. Gaskelliana.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 3—4 inches long. Peduneles slender,
mottled dull purple and green, one-flowered. Flowers triangular, about
an inch across vertically, with a very short campanulate perianth tube ;
free portion of sepals triangular, with short hispid pubescence on the
inner side, keeled behind, the upper one cream-white spotted with red,
the lateral two similarly coloured but with the spots aggregated chiefly
on the outer half of each; sepaline tails 14—2 inches long, pale red-
brown; petals ligulate, reflexed at the apex, where there is a brown
hairy wart; lip narrowly saceate, with three longitudinal keels within
the cavity, pale yellow. Column pale yellow, bent at the apex.
Masdevallia Gaskelliana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, XX. (18838), p. 294.
Imported in 1882 by Messrs. Sander and Co., origin not recorded.
It flowered for the first time in this country in the collection of
Mr. Holbrook Gaskell, at Woolton Wood, near Liverpool, to whom
it is dedicated. Its nearest affinity is Masdevallia astuta, with
which the flowers are almost structurally identical but smaller in all
their parts; it differs from that species chiefly in its much smaller
leaves and one-flowered (?) peduncles.
M. gemmata.
A diminutive plant. Leaves linear, 14—2 inches long, somewhat
fleshy, grooved on the upper side. Peduncles filiform, decumbent,
longer than the leaves, one-flowered, Upper sepal nearly free, triangular
at the base, brownish yellow with purple veins, contracted into an
orange-yellow filiform tail an inch long; lateral two larger, connate
into an oblong, concave, somewhat boat-shaped body, vinous purple
with deeper veins and with an orange-yellow tail inserted in each
outer margin near the apex; petals and lp very minute, the former
linear-oblong, obscurely toothed at the apex, the latter cordate-
triangular, purple.
Masdevallia gemmata, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 294. M. Trichete,
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 360.
A recently introduced species of the TriaRIsTELL# section, whose
MASDEVALLIA. 45
habitat has not been divulged. It is as curious as it is beautiful,
the flower when inverted having the resemblance of a large gnat.
“The name gemmala refers to the hundreds of papilla which
stand by crowds on the anterior parts of the sepals, and a few
on the lip.”
M. hieroglyphica.
Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, leathery, 4—5 inches long. Peduncles
slender, as long as the leaves, one-flowered. Perianth tube campanu-
late, gibbous below, mauve-purple, paler at the base; free portion of
sepals shortly triangular, violet-purple mottled with white, the upper
one with three deep purple longitudinal veins and with a glandular pro-
tuberance at the base of the tail; tails thread-like, 12 inches long,
purplish at the base, passing into dull yellow towards the apex ; petals
oblong, obtuse, white; lip broader, oblong, truncate, purple. Column
white with some purplish spots.
Masdevallia hieroglyphica, Rehb. XVIII. (1882), p. 230. Id. in Gard. Chron.
XXIV. (1885), p. 584.
Imported by Messrs. Sander and Co., from New Granada, in 1882.
As regards colour, it is one of the most distinct of the smaller-flowered
Masdevallias.
M. Houtteana.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, 5—7 inches long. Scapes slender, procum-
bent, shorter than the leaves, one-flowered, Flowers #inch in diameter
exclusive of the tails; perianth tube campanulate ; free portion of sepals
shortly triangular, cream-white spotted with purple and densely studded
with short white hairs; tails spreading, 1} inches long, reddish purple ;
petals small, oblong, dilated at the apex, where there is a dense tuft of
short blackish hairs; lip oblong in outline, clawed, the claw (hypochile)
curved upwards, broad, with an oval cavity in the upper side, the
blade (epichile) sub-rotund, concave, with several radiating raised lines
in the hollow, generally white, but sometimes pale pink, Column short.
Masdevallia Houtteana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. II. (1874), p. 98 (July). Van
Houtte’s Fl. des Serres XX. t. 2106. M. Benedicti, Rchb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 197
(Oct. 1874). M. psittacina, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 817.
An interesting species, and in some of its characteristics a distinct
one also; in its vegetation it is not unlike a dwarf sedge, a character
by which it may be readily recognised amidst the general uniformity
of foliage that prevails throughout the cultivated Masdevallias. Its
flowers are produced very freely from the rhizome, and, in curious
contrast to the rigid upright leaves, le prostrate on the sphagnum,
46 MASDEVALLIA.
or protrude over the rim of the pot or between the rods of the
basket in which it is cultivated; they are somewhat variable in size
and colour, particularly in the spotting on the sepals. Masdevallia
Houtteana occurs on the western Cordillera of New Granada, in the
neighbourhood of Frontino, where its vertical range is 4,500—6,000
feet elevation; it grows chiefly in small tufts on low trees and
shrubs, sometimes on the trunks, but more frequently towards the
extremities of the branches; it was first detected by Roezl, and
shortly afterwards by Wallis, through whom it was introduced. It is
dedicated to the late Louis Van Houtte, the well-known horticulturist
of Ghent.
M. ignea.
Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, 3—4 inches long, narrowed below into a
channelled petiole, half as long as the blade. Scapes slender, 12—15
or more inches long, one-flowered. Flowers 1}—2$ inches across verti-
cally, somewhat variable in colour, usually bright cinnabar-red toned
with crimson; perianth tube bent, gibbous below; upper sepal with a
narrow triangular base, prolonged at the apex into a linear tail that
is bent downwards into the sinus between the two lateral sepals, which
are connate to more than half their leneth, elliptic-oblong, pointed,
three-nerved, the free portions more or less divergent; petals linear-
oblong, auricled below, white, with a purple midline; lip similar,
recurved at the apex where there is an orange-red stain.
Masdevallia ignea, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 1482. Bot. Mag. t. 5962.
Fl. Mag. n. s. t. 15. Fl. and Pom. 1873, p. 169. Jllus. hort. n. s. t. 333.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. II. t. 62. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1885, p. 367. M. coccinea,
Regel’s Gartenfl. 1876, t. 170, not Lindl.
var.—Massangeana.
Flowers larger than the commoner forms, with the lateral sepals
longer, bright cinnabar-red ; perianth tube yellow.
M. ignea Massangeana, Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 273.
sub-vars. (distinguished by colour only).—awrantiaca, light orange-red; M.
Boddaert’s (Illus. hort. 1880, t. 357), erimson-scarlet, spotted with pale
yellow ; citrina, light orange-yellow ; Mr. Marshall’s (Gard. Chron. 1872,
p- 351), yellow, toned with cinnabar-red; Mr. Hobart’s (Gard. Chron.
XV. (1881), p. 136), orange-yellow, faintly tinted with mauve-purple.
Introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., in 1870, from the eastern
Cordillera of New Granada, on which it spreads from Ocana south-
wards as far as Rosa, with a vertical range of 8,500—11,000 feet
elevation. Im such an extensive range Musdevallia ignea affects a
MASDEVALLIA. 47
variety of situations, a circumstance which has influenced the habit
of the plants and the colour of the flowers; thus, at and near
the lower limits of its vertical range, where the soil is deeper
and where the plants are often in partial shade, the leaves
are longer and less rigid, the peduncles are longer and more
slender, and the flowers uniform in colour; towards the higher
limits the plants become somewhat dwarfer and the flowers vary a
Masdevallia ignea.
httle in colour. On account of the brilliant colour of the flowers,
and the improvement of which the species is susceptible under
cultivation, M. ignea has become a _ general favourite amongst
orchid amateurs.*
M. infracta.
Leaves lanceolate, leathery, 5—6 inches long, bright .glossy green.
Scapes three-angled, twisted, longer than the leaves. Perianth
tube broadly campanulate, bent, with a prominent rib above and a
* It is with much hesitation that we retain this species under the name it is described above,
believing that it should be referred to Masdevallia militaris, Rehb., which had been introduced
by Warscewicz trom the same locality twenty years earlier. As we have, thus far, been unable
to obtain satisfactory proof of the identity of the two species, and moreover as J. militaris is
said to be constitutionally distinct from the JZ ignea in cultivation, it seems to us that the best
course is to keep them separate for the present.
48 MASDEVALLIA.
gibbosity below at the base, yellowish white; free portion of upper
sepal triangular-rotund, concave, yellowish white like the tube, the
lateral two oblong-rotund, connate to below the middle, keeled at the
suture, the outer half yellowish white, inner half pale violet-purple ;
tails spreading, 1}—2 inches long, pale yellow; petals linear-oblong,
toothed at the apex, white; lip oblong, reflexed at the spotted red-
brown apex.
Masdevallia infracta, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 193 (1831). Belg. hort. 1873,
p- 35. Van Houtte’s FV. des Serres XXIII. t. 2389. M. longicaudata, Lemaire in
Illus. hort. 1868, p. 109, icon. xyl.
var.—purpurea.
Flowers somewhat larger and of a nearly uniform violet-purple.
M. infracta purpurea, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 460.
A Brazilian species discovered in the early part of the present
century by the French traveller and naturalist, Descourtilz, on the
wooded mountains which separate Rio de Janeiro from the Campos.
It was gathered by Gardner on the Organ Mountains in 1837,
and sent by him to Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery at Hackney
it flowered for the first time in this country in the following
year. In a geographical sense, Masdevallia infracta is a remotely
outlying member of the genus, its nearest ally, so far as at present
known, being an inhabitant of the Peruvian Andes, upwards of
2,000 miles distant. The glossy, shining surface of the leaves is a
marked feature in this species. Of the two known forms, which are
simply colour variations, the purple one is the more showy. The
applicability of the name infracta, “unbroken,” is obscure.
M. Ionocharis.
A dwarf, tufted plant. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, 3—4 inches long,
including the foot-stalk. Scapes numerous, slender, as long as the leaves,
bearing a solitary flower half an inch in diameter, and with a com-
pressed tubular bract below the ovary. Perianth tube campanulate,
yellowish ; the sepals keeled at the back, the free portions very
short, rotund, white blotched with violet-purple ; tails slender, spreading,
about as long as the tube, yellow; petals and lip minute, the former
oblong, auricled at the base, the latter clawed, tongue-shaped, apiculate,
purplish.
Masdevallia Ionocharis, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. IV. (1875), p. 388. Bot. Mag.
t. 6262.
A pretty free-flowering species introduced by us in 1574, from
Peru, through our collector, Walter Davis, who discovered it in the
Andean valley of Sandia, in the province of Caravaya, at 9,000—
MASDEVALLIA. 49
10,000 feet elevation. The specific name is a compound of two
ef . . . =
words, tov (ion), “a violet,” and xaptc (charis), “pleasure or joy”
Masdevallia leontoglossa.
M. leontoglossa.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, 5—7 inches long, very leathery, sometimes
tinged with deep, dull purple. Flowers with very short peduncles ;
perianth tube broadly cylindric, gibbous below, pale yellow-green with
three purple spotted ribs above, and spotted with dull purple beneath ;
free portion of upper sepal triangular, contracted into a broad tail an
E
50 MASDEVALLIA.
inch long, pale yellow-green with three purple lines on the inner side ;
lateral sepals oblong, connate to one-half of their length, the free
portion triangular, prolonged into short tails, pale yellow-green, spotted
with blackish purple warts that are usually arranged in rows, with a
blackish purple line between them; petals oblong, acute, white with a
purple median line and another shorter one on the inside; lip tongue-
shaped, hairy, densely spotted with vinous purple papilla. Column
white with purple edges.
Masdevallia leontoglossa, Rehb. in Bonpl. III. p. 69 (1855). Id. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 191. Id. in Gard. Chron. XV. (1881), p. 284. Gard. Chron. XXIV.
(1885), p. 429. icon. xyl.
A curious species belonging to the sub-section Coriacew, discovered
many years ago in Venezuela by Wagener,* and was introduced
about the year 1867 to M. Linden’s horticultural establishment at
Brussels. It is now in several British collections, where its curious
structure and beautiful markings rarely fail to arrest the attention
of the observer. The specific name indicates the supposed
resemblance of the lp to a lion’s tongue.
M. ludibunda.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, 2—3 inches long. Scapes slender, longer than
the leaves, one-flowered. Perianth tube short, ochreous yellow; free
portion of sepals ovate-oblong, the upper one almost galeate, purple,
and prominently keeled above, the lateral two light violet-purple in
one variety, pale yellow in another; tails filiform, 1—2 inches long,
light orange-yellow ; petals oblong, toothed at the apex; lip sub-pandurate,
yellowish with a blackish wart at the reflexed tip.
Masdevallia ludibunda, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 179.
One of the prettiest, and probably one of the rarest of the
Caudatcee sub-section of Masdevallias. It was introduced by Messrs.
Sander and Co. along with M. caudata Shuttleworthii, and therefore
its habitat is within the geographical range of that species. There
are two distinct colour forms in Sir Trevor Lawrence’s collection at
Burford Lodge, as described above. As a species—if species it is—
it stands between M. caudata and M. FHstrade, and but for the
uncertainty respecting the precise habitat of the last-named species,
and for the fact that the artificially raised hybrid caudata-Hstrade
is quite distinct from it, it might be assumed to be a natural
hybrid between them; the name ludibunda, ‘‘sportive,’’? probably has
some indirect allusion to such an hypothesis of origin.
* Wagener’s explorations extended for some miles along the coast range in the neighbour-
hood of Caracas, hence the habitat of this species may be surmised.
MASDEVALLIA. 51
M. macrura.
A robust plant. Stems about 6 inches high. Leaves elliptic-oblong,
10—12 inches long, and 2}—3 inches broad, very leathery. Scapes
as long as the leaves, one-flowered, the ovary and base of perianth
tube sheathed by a whitish membraneous keeled bract. Flowers among
the largest in the genus; perianth tube short, cylindric, ribbed, dull
tawny yellow shaded with brown externally as are the free portions
of the sepals, on the inner side both sepals and tube tawny yellow
studded with numerous blackish purple warts; tails paler and without
warts; free portion of upper sepal lanceolate, acuminate, prolonged
into a stoutish tail, 4—5 inches long; lateral sepals connate to fully
one inch beyond the tube, and then tapering into tails as long as
the upper one; petals and lip oblong, pale tawny yellow, the lip with
a papillose, reflexed tip, and spotted with purple below.
Masdevallia macrura, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874), p. 240 and VII. (1877),
p- 12, icon. xyl. Id. in Linnea, XLI. p. 11.
Discovered by Roezl in 1871, near Sonson, growing on the moss-
covered blocks of granite that are scattered over the ground around
the town,* and afterwards found by Patin and other collectors, but
not introduced till 1876, when it was collected by Shuttleworth
between Frias and Libano, in the province of Tolima, New Granada,
and sent by him to Mr. Bull, in whose horticultural establishment
at Chelsea it flowered for the first time in this country early in the
followimg year. The plant is a giant among Masdevallias, the leaves
being among the largest in the genus yet known; the flower,
which is proportionately large, is an object of curiosity rather than
admiration. The specific name, from paxpoc (makros), “long,” and
oupa (oura), ‘‘a tail,’ refers to the long sepaline tails.
M. maculata.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, 4—5 inches long. Scapes a little longer
than the leaves, few-flowered, three-angled up to within about
2 inches of the short deflexed ovary, the remainder slender, terete,
sheathed by two whitish, papery, opposite bracts above the trigonal part,
and by two smaller, compressed, acute green ones below the ovary.
Perianth tube short, with a prominent rib above, orange-yellow; free
portion of upper sepal triangular, gradually contracted into a stoutish
yellow tail 3 inches long; lateral sepals connate to below the middle,
* Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1883, p. 643. That Roezl was the first discoverer of Masde-
vallia Macrura is emphatically affirmed by Reichenbach in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, loc.
cit. supra. The statement in that journal, III. s. 3. (1888), p. 12, copied from Lindenia,
that Wallis was the discoverer, and Linden the introducer, must therefore be received with
reserve,
52 MASDEVALLIA,
the inner half brown-purple, the outer half yellow, and then contracted
into pale yellow tails that are sometimes parallel and bent downwards,
sometimes crossing each other; petals and lip oblong, the former white, the
latter dull purple, papillose and recurved at the apex.
Masdevallia maculata, Klotzsch and Karsten in Allg. Gartenz. XV. p. 330 (1847),
Rehb. in Bonpl. II. p. 23 (1854). Van Houtte’s Wl. des Serres, XXI. t. 2150.
var.—flava.
Flowers smaller than those of the typical Masdevallia maculata, with
shorter sepaline tails and of a uniform tawny yellow.
M. maculata flava, supra.
Discovered by Wagener, in the neighbourhood of Caracas, and sent
by him to the Botanic Garden at Berlin, where it flowered for the
first time in Europe in 1847. The variety appeared amongst an
importation of the species from Caracas by Messrs. Sander and Co.,
in 1881.
M. Melanopus.
Leaves oblanceolate, 4—5 inches long, narrowed below into slender
petioles, bidentate at tip. Scapes numerous, longer than the leaves,
racemose, 5—7 flowered. Flowers white, sparingly speckled with purple ;
perianth tube shortly campanulate, three-angled, gibbous below; free
portion of sepals sub-orbicular, concave within, keeled behind, and con-
tracted into rather short, slender, bright yellow tails; petals limear-oblong,
minute; lip tongue-shaped, dilated at the apex into a round yellow
terminal lobe.
Masdevallia Melanopus, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874), p 338. Id. Il. p. 322.
Id. ILI. (1875), p. 136. M. polysticta, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 6258, not Rchb.
A small-flowered species, one of a batch of three or four discovered
by Roezl in the temperate regions of the Andes of northern Peru,
and sent by him to M. Ortgies, Inspector of the Botanic Garden at
Zurich. It is one of the most attractive of the racemose Masdevallias
(sub-section Amande), reminding one of the charming little Odonto-
glossum blandum. The specific name, from péAay (melan), “ black,”
and ove (pous), “a foot,” probably refers to the blackish stain some-
times seen on the scape just below the ovary.
M. militaris.
** Aff coccinee, tepalis inequalibus, binervis; labello apice dilatato
integro. Folia oblonga, acuta, basin versus anguste cuneata. Pedunculus
validus folio suo vulgo dimidio longior violaceus. Perigonii tubulus
incurvus septemlinearis, mento omnino obtusato evanescente, dein
bilabiatus ; labium ‘superius a basi angustissima triangula, linearisetaceum,
MASDEVALLIA. 53
sesquipollicare ; labium inferius latissimum medium usque bilobum,
lobi trianguli utrinque obtusati, apiculati; tepala ligulata, binervia,
altero latere rectilinea, altero lobulato, 3—5 linearia; labellum ligulatum,
apice dilatatum, obtusatum, integrum, androclinium margine cucullatum.”
“Blithe 2/3 der Grosse deren der M. coccinea; getrocknet,
mennigroth ; lebend, scharlach. Neu Granada.”—Rchb. f. in Bonpl.
II, p. 115 (1854).
Masdevallia militaris, Rchb. loc. cit. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 193. Id. in Gard.
Chron. XIII. (1880), p. 742.
Discovered by Warscewicz on the eastern Cordillera of New
Granada, in the neighbourhood of Ocafa, in 1849—50, but the
plants he collected died during transmission to EHurope, except a
few remains that were secured for the collection of the late Mr.
Sigismund Rucker, at West Hill, Wandsworth, where they continued
to be cultivated till the dispersion of the collection in 1875. It
is still one of the rarest of Masdevallias in the form in which it
was specifically recognised by the late Professor Reichenbach, who,
in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, XIII. (1880), p, 742, thus distinguishes
it from Masdevallia ignea, “its next critical species.’’ *
“Tt is very easily recognised by its extremely stiff, dark green leaf
of great substance, standing on a petiole shorter than the blade, by
a thicker peduncle, a much wider flower tube, and a wider limb. .
The lip is much broader and shorter(?) The plant does not flower
very readily, while Masdevallia ignea, with its much broader and
longer, lighter green, thinner, long-stalked leaves, and much less wide
flowers, gives a profusion of bloom,”
Although we find no record of the plant having been imported
since its first introduction, it was in cultivation in the collections
of Sw Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge, and of the
Baroness Rothschild, at Gunnersbury Park, at the date of the
publication of the article just quoted, and may probably be still in
those collections. We have also since met with plants under the
name of Masdevallia coccinea, that conform to the characters described
in the foregoing quotation.
M. Mooreana.
Leaves with inflated sheaths at their base, lnear-oblong, 6—8 inches
long, very leathery. Scapes one-flowered, stoutish, shorter than the
leaves, obscurely angulate, green spotted with dull purple, sheathed at
the base and middle. Tube broad, cylindric with a short gibbosity
* The description in the text is equally applicable to Masdevallia iynea, Rehb.
54. MASDEVALLIA.
below ; upper sepal triangular, gradually contracted into a linear tail,
yellow on the inside, with three vinous purple streaks on the paler
dilated basal portion ; lateral sepals connate to nearly the middle, similar
but more acute, the tails parallel, vinous red, covered with imnumerable
minute blackish purple papille on the inner side; tails yellowish towards
the tip; petals oblong, acute, white, with a purple mid-line; lip oblong,
blackish purple, hairy above. Column greenish white, with blackish
purple edges.
Masdevallia Mooreana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 408. Id. II. s. 3
(1887), p. 777. Bot. Mag. t. 7015.
A curious Masdeyallia, allied to M. elephanticeps and M. Gargantua,
so near indeed to the last named that it may prove to be only a
variety of it, or even identical; its origin does not appear to have
been recorded. It is named in compliment to Mr. F. W. Moore, of
the Royal Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, near Dublin. It is in cul-
tivation in several collections under the name of M. melanowantha,
which, according to the description in the Cardeners’ Chronicle, 1V.
(1875), p. 580, must be a different species.
M. muscosa.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, 2 inches long, minutely tridentate at the tip
narrowed below into a slender channelled foot-stalk shorter than the
blade, very leathery, deep green above, stained with purple beneath.
Scapes slender, 6—7 inches long, one-flowered, pale green, clothed with
hispid moss-like hairs up to the small appressed bract just below the
ovary, then glabrous to the base of the ovary, which is verrucose and
bristly and bent horizontally. Flowers ? inch in diameter; perianth
tube short, compressed, gibbous below; sepals narrowly triangular with
three veins, prolonged into slender tails an inch long, pale buff-yellow ;
petals linear, longer than the column, their thickened apices meeting
above it; lip clawed, the claw adnate to the bent foot of the column,
the blade yellow, maroon at the apical edge, triangular, with the
broad side at the apex, and with a yellow ridge from the base to the
middle.
Masdevallia muscosa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 460. Id. I. s. 3. (1887),
p. 836.
Of the many remarkable species included in Masdevallia, the
flowers of some are distinguished by their brilliant colours, others
by their grotesque form, and others again by their microscopic
beauty, but Masdevallia muscosa stands apart from all these by
reason of a peculiarity not yet observed in any other Masdevallia,
although known to exist in two or three species belonging to other
genera, viz., that of irritability or sensitiveness in the labellum, so
MASDEVALLIA. 55
that “when an insect alights on it, it suddenly shuts up against
the column and encloses its prey, as it were, in a box.’ We extract
from the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 25th June, 1887, the following
account of the curious mechanism by which this is effected :—
“When a flower first opens, the tails of the sepals curve back
and the labellum is seen with its bearded tip folded just beneath the
arch of the petals as if held there. Presently, however, the triangular
blade falls down and hangs like the lip of an Oncidium; _ this,
on being first observed, was surmised to be owing to sensitiveness,
and on testing it this surmise was found to be correct. The seat of
irritability is only in the yellow ridge on the lip, and on _ touching
this gently with a hair, the lip is at once raised, at first slowly and
then closed suddenly, as it were, with a click. In about twenty
minutes it descends again, and on being again touched it closes just
as quickly as before. A winged aphis placed on the labellum was
carried up and held firmly, and the same happened when a_ house-fly,
was tried. Attempts to force the lp down again after it closed
showed that the sensitiveness was of precisely the same nature as that
of Dionwa Muscipula (Venus’ Fly-trap), and it could not be made to
remain down unless held. An insect alighting on the labellum would
certainly touch the ridge, and would be lifted up and enclosed in the
‘““box” formed when the lp is closed. The excessive hairiness of the
scapes and ovaries, altogether exceptional among the cultivated Masde-
vallias, is no doubt -intended to prevent crawling insects from gaining
access to the flowers.”
This curious plant was one of the discoveries of Shuttleworth,
in New Granada, near San Domingo, on the central Cordillera, in
the province of Tolima, while collecting orchids in that country for
Mr. Bull, of Chelsea. The sensitiveness of the labellum was first
observed by Mr. Bean, the foreman of the orchid department at
the Royal Gardens, Kew; and to the Royal Gardens also we are
indebted for the materials for description.
M. nycterina.
Leaves linear-oblanceolate, 6—8 inches long, scapes pendulous or
decumbent, shorter than the leaves, warty, deep purple, with a small
pale acute bract at the base of the ovary, one-flowered. Flowers
patent, triangular in outline; upper sepal triangular, connate with the
lateral two at the base, which are ovate-triangular, and connate to below
the middle, all keeled behind and contracted into slender, purple-red
tails 3 inches long, the inner surface light yellow spotted with red,
purple, and studded with short white hispid hairs; petals oblong-
56 MASDEVALLIA.
dilated at apex into a rotund yellowish blade, on which are three or
four blackish spots; lip with recurved fleshy claw and concave shell-
like blade, in the hollow of which are numerous raised lines radiating
from the claw. Column small, terete, white.
Masdevallia nycterina, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 1288. Id. I. (1874),
p. 639, icon. xyl. M. Chimera, J?lus. hort. 1873, t. 117, not Rchb. De Puydt,
Les Orch. t. 22.
One of the discoveries of Gustav Wallis while collecting plants in
New Granada in 1872, and sent by him to M. Linden, who, in
error, distributed it under the name of Masdevallia Chimera. Its
habitat is im the neighbourhood of Frontino, on the western
Cordillera, at 5,000—6,000 feet elevation, where it occurs under the
same conditions as M. bella and M. Chimera. It is very near the
first named species and M. Vespertilio. The specific name, from
vuktepuoc, literally ‘nocturnal,’ may either refer to the sombre
hues of the flower, or by metonymy, may be some fanciful allusion,
as “the night bird,” the ‘“‘bat,” etc.
M. pachyantha.
Leaves oblanceolate, 6 inches long, deep green and leathery. Scapes
longer than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers with a vertical diameter
of 2—3 inches, exclusive of the sepaline tails; tube broadly cylindric,
slightly bent, pale orange-yellow ; upper sepale triangular, keeled above,
pale yellow-green with three brown-purple veins, and contracted into a
stoutish erect tail an inch long; lateral sepals ovate-oblong, connate to
below the middle and prolonged into broad reflexed tails shorter than
the upper one, pale yellow-green densely spotted with rose-purple, the
spots larger and brighter in colour towards the base; tails bright
yellow; petals ovate acute, whitish with a brown-purple median line;
lip ligulate, reflexed at the tip, brown below, blackish at the apex.
Column terete above, greenish with brown-purple margins.
Masdevallia pachyantha, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 174.
Discovered many years ago by Cross, and afterwards found by
Lehmann, but not introduced till 1883, when plants collected by
Carder, in the valley of the Cauca, near Popayan, in New
Granada, were sent by him to the horticultural establishment of
Messrs. Shuttleworth and Carder, in Park Road, Clapham, where
one of them flowered for the first time in May, 1886. Its nearest
affinity is Masdevallia coriacea, from which it is chiefly distinguished
by its larger flowers with longer and broader sepaline tails, by
its differently formed and differently coloured lip, and by its densely
MASDEVALLIA. 57
spotted perianth tube and lateral sepals. The specific name, from
mayve (pachus), “thick,” and aoc (anthos), a flower, refers to the
leathery texture of the perianth.*
M. Peristeria.
Leaves oblanceolate-oblong, 4—6 inches long. Scapes shorter than the
leaves, with a loosely sheathing bract at the joint below the ovary,
one-flowered. Flowers 4—5 inches across from tip to tip of sepals;
tube broadly cylindric, gibbous at the base, and with six prominent
ribs, dull yellowish green externally; free portion of sepals triangular,
yellow, spotted with purple, and contracted into stoutish, tawny yellow
tails, 1} inches long; petals linear-oblong, acute, pale greenish yellow ;
lip “with a linear claw, and oblong sub-acute limb which is dilated
in the middle and suddenly contracted beyond it, upper surface studded
with amethystine papille, tip recurved.” Column white,
Masdevallia Peristeria, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874). p. 500. Bot. Mag.
t. 6159. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres. XXII. t. 2346. Illus. hort. s. 3. t. 327.
One of the handsomest of the coriaceous Masdevallias, introduced
by us from New Granada, in 1873, through Gustav Wallis, who met
with it in the province of Antioquia. The labellum is very singu-
larly coloured, being covered with numerous close-set amethystine
papille, and the top of the column and the petals have a striking
resemblance to the same organs of the flower of the Dove Plant,
Peristeria elata, which suggested the specific name. A variety with
somewhat smaller flowers, and thence called minor, is in cultivation
in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin.
M. platyglossa.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 6 inches long, rigid, erect. Scapes decumbent,
shorter than the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers of semi-transparent
texture, and of a uniform light green; tube short, cylindric with a
gibbosity below ; free portion of sepals triangular, contracted to sharp
points, each with three prominent veins; petals ligulate, with a triangular
lacinia above the middle; lip oval-oblong, reflexed, and with numerous
papille at the apex. Column minutely cucullate.
Masdevallia platyglossa, Rcehb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 552.
A native of the province of Antioquia, New Granada, but by whom
discovered and intreduced we do not find recorded. ‘The broad,
fleshy lip, and the absence of the sepaline tails, well distinguish this
* This name is not especially applicable to this species ; Masdevallia elephanticeps, M.
Gargantua, M. Mooreana, for example, have much thicker perianths.
58 MASDEVALLIA.
Masdevallia, the former character suggesting the specific name, which
is from wAarve (platus), “ broad,’ and yAwssa (glossa), “a tongue,”
in orchid terminology “ lip.”
M. polysticta.
Leaves sub-spathulate, emarginate, 5—6 inches long. Scapes longer
than the leaves, pale green spotted with dull purple, racemose, 5—7
flowered. Flowers white spotted with purple, on short pedicels, at
the base of which is a rather large, inflated, pale green bract; tube
short; free portion of the dorsal sepal broadly ovate, concave; of the
lateral two narrowly oblong, oblique, convex with a yellow mid-line,
all with ciliolate margins, keeled behind, and terminating in slender tails
that are white and spotted like the blade along the basal half, the
distal half bright ochreous yellow; petals and lip minute, the former
spathulate, apiculate, the latter oblong and channelled above.
Masdevallia polysticta, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874), p. 338. Id. II. p. 290.
Id. ILI. (1875), p. 656. icon. xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 6368. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1876, t. 869.
illus. hort. s. 3. t. 199. Revue hort. 1880, p. 250.
Of similar origin as Masdevallia Melanopus, with which is also
associated a third species, called M. caloptera, not yet in cultivation.
These, with three or four others known to science, form the sub-
section Amand, all the members of which have a _ racemose
inflorescence with rather small, white or lght-coloured flowers, more
or less spotted. As distinguished from M. Melanopus, M. polysticta
has larger leaves, more robust scapes that are spotted, broader
inflated bracts, larger flowers with broader sepals, that are hairy
on the inner side and more spotted, and a differently shaped
lip, especially at the apical end. It flowered for the first time
in England in our Chelsea Nursery, in the spring of 1878. A
variety with shorter and stouter tails was communicated to Professor
Reichenbach by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., in 1881.* The specific
name, from 76Advd¢ (polus), “much,” and ottxroe (stiktos), “ dotted,”
refers to the spotted perianth.
M. racemosa.
Stems erect, 14—3 inches high, produced from a creeping rhizome
at intervals of 4—1 inch. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 2—4 inches long.
Scape 10—15 inches long, racemose, 8—15 or more flowered. Flowers
brilliant orange-red shaded with crimson, sometimes paler approaching
yellow; perianth tube cylindric, ribbed, ? inch long; free portion of
* Masdevallia polysticta crassicaudata, Gard. Chron. XVII. (1881), p. 179.
HALF NATURAL SIZE,
Masdevallia racemosa.
Masdevallia radiosa.
MASDEVALLIA. 59
upper sepals triangular, acuminate, reflexed ; lateral sepals connate into a
broadly obcordate, tailless blade 1—14 inches broad, each with three
longitudinal veins that are deeper in colour than the intervening
surface; petals and lip minute, whitish, the former oval-oblong, the
latter linear-oblong.
Masdevallia racemosa, Lindl. ex. Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 258 (1839). Id. Ann.
et Mag. Nat. Hist. pp. 15, 256 (1845). Rchb. in Bonpl. III. p. 69 (1885).
Id. in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 466. Id. XXI. (1884), p. 737, icon. xyl.
M. racemosa Crossii, Hort.
Originally discovered in New Granada, by Hartweg, from whose
herbarium specimens it was named and described by Dr. Lindley,
in 1839. Many years later it was gathered by Cross at Pitayo,
near Popayan, whose name thence became attached to the plant,
although he failed to send living plants to Europe, as did other
collectors after him, it being, it is said, one of the worst of
Masdevallias to travel. The merit of itroduction is due to Mr.
Carder, of the firm of Messrs. Shuttleworth and Carder, who
succeeded in sending a small consignment of living plants to their
horticultural establishment in Park Road, Clapham, in 1883. Mr.
Carder gathered these plants on the central Cordillera, between
Popayan and Tolima.
As a species Masdevallia racemosa is one of the most distinct.
Although we have placed it in the sub-section Coccinece chiefly on
account of its brilliantly coloured flowers, it is clearly separated from
the other members of the group by its creeping rhizome and long
racemes of tailless flowers—characters that would, by some, be con-
sidered of sufficient value to constitute a separate sub-sectional division.
M. radiosa.
Leaves oblanceolate, 6—8 inches long. Scapes decumbent, shorter
than the leaves, three or more-flowered, the flowers produced successively
as in Masdevallia astuta, M. Chimera, and other saccolabiate species.
Perianth tube broadly campanulate; free portion of sepals similar and
sub-equal, very short, broadly oval, keeled behind, concave, tawny
yellow, pubescent, and densely spotted with blackish purple, warty
papille in front, with a deep depression at the suture of the lateral
pair; tails 2—3 inches long, dull blackish purple, paler towards the
tips; petals oblong, keeled, dilated at the apex, at which is a blackish
watt; lip with a fleshy claw and saccate shell-like blade, white with
numerous rose-coloured radiating lamelle within the sac. Column yellow
above, blackish at the tip.
Masdevallia radiosa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. VII. (1877), p. 684.
60 MASDEVALLIA.
Discovered by Gustay Wallis near Frontino, in New Granada, at
8,000 feet elevation, and introduced with other saccolabiate Masde-
vallias collected by him in the same locality in 1873-4,
M. Reichenbachiana.
Leaves oblanceolate, acute, 6 inches long, including the erect channelled
foot-stalks. Scapes slender, erect, longer than the leaves, 2—4 flowered,
the flowers produced in succession from pedicels springing from the
joint below the ovary of the next older. Tube funnel-shaped, bent,
reddish crimson above, pale yellow beneath; free portion of upper
sepal triangular, yellowish white, contracted into a slender tail 1}
inches long; lateral sepals deflexed, connate to one-half of their length,
and then suddenly contracted into slender awns, which cross each other
at their extremities, yellowish white; petals, lip, and column minute,
and concealed within the tube.
Masdevallia Reichenbachiana, Endres, ex. Rehb. f. in Gard. Chron. IV. (1885),
p. 257. Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 360 (aurantiaca).
A native of Costa Rica, where it was first detected in 1873 by
Kndres, who sent living plants to Europe shortly afterwards, and
at whose desire it was named in compliment to the late Professor
Reichenbach, of Hamburg.
M. rosea.
Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, 4—6 inches long, narrowed below into
erect channelled foot-stalks. Scapes slender, a little longer than the
leaves, one-flowered. Tube 1—1} inches long, angulate and compressed,
reddish above, orange-yellow at the base; free portion of upper sepal
filiform, 2 inches long, red above, yellow on the inner side, the lateral
two dilated into ovate-lanceolate, concave, rosy carmine lobes, which are
connate to about one-third of their length from the base, and terminate
in short red tails; petals and lip reduced to minute ligulate white
bodies, the latter with a tuft of blackish hairs at the apex. Column
arched, white.
Masdevallia rosea, Lindl. in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. XV. p. 257 (1845). Rehb.
in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 192 (1861). Id. Otia. Bot. Hamb. p. 14. Id. Gard. Chron.
XIII. (1880), p. 648. Id. XVII, p. 628. Belg. hort. 1882, p. 65.
Discovered by Hartweg about the year 1842, at a great elevation
on the Andes, in the neighbourhood of Loxa, in Ecuador; from the
dried specimens brought home by him, it was described by Dr.
Lindley in the publication quoted above. It was afterwards
found by Dr. Jameson, for many years in the service of the
Government of Ecuador as Professor of Botany and Chemistry in
the University of Quito. Nothing more was seen or heard of it till
MASDEVALLIA. 61
1880, when M. Lehmann, after much toil and many privations,
succeeded in reaching the elevated region to which the plant is
restricted. By carefully packing the plants he collected, and by a
rapid transport across the low-lying hot country that intervenes
between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, a transit that has proved
fatal to thousands of beautiful orchids, M. Lehmann had the good
fortune to ship his plants in good condition, and which reached
England alive. Masdevallia rosea is a most floriferous species, and
a large plant in full bloom is a very showy object; its long
perianth tube is peculiar.
Masdevallia rosea.
M. Schlimii.
Leaves elliptic-obovate, 12 or more inches long, and 3 inches
broad. Scapes longer than the leaves, racemose, 5--8 flowered, the
pedicel of each sheathed by a whitish, membraneous bract. Flowers
with a vertical diameter of about 14 inches, exclusive of the tails ;
tube short and open, light orange-yellow above; upper sepal triangular,
concave, light yellow; lateral sepals connate to beyond the middle,
broadly ovate, the free portion divergent, yellow, densely mottled with
brownish purple papille; tails about 2 inches long, golden yellow;
petals linear-oblong, white; lip also linear-oblong, pointed and reflexed
at the apex. Column white with two purple stripes on the side
opposite the lip.
62 MASDEVALLIA.
Masdevallia Schlimii, Linden ex. Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 5 (1846). Rehb. in
Bonpl. Il. p. 283 (1854). | Id. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 532, icon. xyl.
Bot. Mag, t. 6740. M. polyantha, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 6, jide Rolfe in Gard.
Chron. V. s. 3 (1889), p. 743.
Masdevallia Schlimii.
Native of the mountains of Merida in Venezuela,
at 6,000 feet
MASDEVALLIA. 63
elevation, where it was discovered by Schlin in 1843—44. It
was not introduced into Huropean gardens till 1883, when it was
sent to Messrs. Sander and Co., of St. Albans, by one of their collectors.
It was shortly afterwards found by our collector, Burke, on the
eastern Cordillera of New Granada, near Cocui, whence it spreads
northwards along the Cordillera. with a vertical range of 9,000—
11,000 feet to near Bucaramanga. In this locality it is purely
epiphytal, growing only on the old stunted trees where decaying
vegetable matter can rest and accumulate. Its nearest affinity is
Masdevallia Ephippium, but its large leaves much resemble those of
M. macrura; its flowers are curious and even showy, but wanting
the brilhant tints characteristic of the species included in the
sub-section Coccinee.
M. simula.
A minute cespitose plant. Leaves linear, 2—3 inches long, channelled
and bright grass-green above, but sometimes tinged with dull purple,
obscurely keeled beneath. Peduncles with ovary $—# inch high, sheathed
by scarious, pale brown bracts, one-flowered. Flowers half an inch in
diameter ; perianth tube short, upper sepal ovate, acuminate, concave
on the inner side, keeled behind, pale yellow, evenly barred with
purple ; lateral sepals free, ovate, falcate, acuminate, brighter yellow
than the upper sepal and with small purple spots; petals linear,
greenish ; lip much larger, broadly tongue-shaped, dull vinous purple.
Masdevallia simula, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 8.
Introduced by us in 1874 from New Granada, through Chesterton,
who gave no locality. It is noticed here on account of its gem-
like flowers, which are of surprising beauty when viewed through a
common pocket lens.
M. tovarensis.
Leaves elliptic-spathulate, 5—6 inches long, obscurely toothed at the
apex. Scapes as long as the leaves, three-angled, bi-bracteate at
the apex, 2—5 flowered. Flowers an inch across transversely, pure
white ; tube cylindric, slightly gibbous below; upper sepal filiform, 14
inches long, dilated into a triangular base; lateral sepals oval-oblong,
three-nerved, connate to two-thirds of their length, rather abruptly
contracted at their apex into short awns; petals and lip oblong, the
former unequally two-lobed, the latter pointed and reflexed at the apex,
Masdevallia tovarensis, Rchb. in Bonpl. III. p. 225 (1855). Id. in Linnea, XXII.
p. 818 (1857). Bot. Mag. t. 5505. Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 914, icon. xyl. Fi.
and Pomol. 1873, p. 169. — Illus. hort. XX VI. t. 363. M. candida, Klotzsch.
64 MASDEVALLIA.
Discovered about the year 1849 by Wagener, at a place called
Tovar, situated at a considerable elevation on the coast range of
Venezuela in the province of Caracas. Plants were sent by him to
Germany, one of which was subsequently obtained by the late Mr.
Sigismund Rucker, in whose collection at West Hill, Wandsworth, it
flowered for the first time in this country in November, 1864. Mas-
Yy
Ue
“ft
Masdevallia tovarensis.
devallia tovarensis continued to be a comparatively rare plant in
British collections till 1880, when a large importation of native plants
was received by Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton. Ever since its
first introduction ‘this Masdevallia has been one of the most highly ©
prized of orchids on account of its pure white flowers that are
produced late in the autumn, and which last nearly till Christmas,
MASDEVALLIA. 65
A morphological peculiarity in Masdevallia tovarensis and also in
the allied species M. Ephippium, M. infracta, and M. maculata, that
was omitted when drawing up the sub-sectional characters of the
Polyanthe Masdevallias, may properly be noticed here. The so-called
peduncles or scapes of all these species are sharply three-angled, and
the flowers are produced from their apex, the pedicels issuing from
a membraneous, persistent sheath that is single in M. Ephippium and
M. infracta, but double in M. maculata and M. tovarensis. When
the flowers fade the pedicels and ovaries wither and drop with them
if infertilised, which is usually the case, but the long, trigonal part
does not wither and drop lke the flower scapes of most Masdevallias;
it continues green and fresh, and if not removed from the plant,
more flowers are produced from the apex in the following year
precisely in the same way as on the first occasion; the same occurrence
has been observed in the third season, so that it may be assumed,
in default of direct observation, that so long as the leaf, from the
base of which the so-called scape springs, is in a condition to perform
its functions, so long will the flowers be produced from the apex
of these trigonal scapes on the return of the flowering season. This
circumstance shows that there is a material difference between the
slender, terete scapes of those Masdevallias that perish when the flowers
drop and the more robust, three-angled ones of the species in question,
that persist and produce flowers from their apex two, three, or more
seasons in succession. The latter are, in fact, bi-, tri and even
perennial leafless stems, and not scapes in the strict botanical meaning
of the term, such as is implied in the foregoing descriptions, It is
highly probable, too, that this peculiarity is not confined to the species
named above, but in the absence of direct observation we are unable
to specify any others by name.
M. triangularis.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, 4—6 inches long, narrowed below into a some-
what slender petiole as long as the blade. Scapes slender, as long as
the leaves, with a small, keeled, acute, spotted bract at the base of the
ovary, one-flowered. Perianth tube broadly campanulate; sepals tri-
angular-oblong, concave, keeled at the back, the lateral two sub-falcate,
tawny yellow, densely spotted with purple; tails filiform, 2}—3 inches
long, brownish purple; petals oblong, tridentate at the tip, white; lip
oblong, dilated at the middle and reflexed at the apex, at which there
is a small tuft of blackish hairs, white, spotted with red-purple below.
Masdevallia triangularis, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 5 (1846). Rehb. in Bonpl. II. p. 23
(1854). Id. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 44.
One of the prettiest of the Caudate sub-section that was first dis-
covered by Linden, in 1842—3, near Merida, in Venezuela, and re-
F
66 MASDEVALLIA.
discovered a few years later by Wagener, in the province of Caracas.
We find no record of its being in cultivation till 1882, it having
been imported the year before by Messrs. Sander and Co.
M. triaristella.
“Dwarf, densely tufted. Leaves erect, 1—14 inches long, slender, subulate
and narrowed to both ends, channelled down the face. Scapes 1—2
flowered, very slender and rigid, rough with minute warts, and bearing
two or more short appressed sheaths. Flowers nearly an inch long, red-
brown with yellow tails; upper sepal small, ovate, concave, suddenly
contracted into a flexuose ascending tail, half-an-inch long; lateral sepals
combined into a linear-oblong boat-shaped blade, which is notched at
the tip, and bears on each margin beyond the middle a filiform tail
about the same length as that of the dorsal sepal; petals linear-oblong,
three-toothed at the tip; lip tongue-shaped, deeply two-lobed at the base.
Column club-shaped.”—Botanical Magazine.
Masdevallia triaristella, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. VI. (1876), p. 226. Id. 559, icon.
xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 6268.
A curious and interesting little plant imtroduced by us from Costa
Rica, in 1875, through Endres. It is the type of a very distinct
section of the genus called by Reichenbach TriaristeLu, of which the
distinguishing characters are given in page 18. Allied to it are
three or four other species in cultivation, including the next to be
described, all of which, with one exception, Masdevallia gemmata, have
received specific names in reference to their curious sepaline tails,
thus triaristella means “‘having three awns’’; tridactylites, “ having
three fingers”’; triglochin, “having three barbs,” etc.
M. Tridactylites.
A minute ceespitose plant with erect awl-shaped leaves about 1} inches
long, channelled down the face. Scapes rigid, longer than the leaves, one-
flowered. | Upper sepal sub-orbicular, concave, keeled behind, ochreous
yellow stained with red, and contracted into a yellow filiform tail, slightly
swollen at the tip; lower connate sepals boat-shaped, notched at the
tip, dull purple, tails similar to that of the upper sepal; petals oblong,
acute, purple with yellow margins; lip tongue-shaped, dull purple.
Masdevallia Tridactylites, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 784.
Very similar to Masdevallia triaristella, but a somewhat larger plant
with differently coloured flowers. Its origin is presumably New
Granadian, but no locality is recorded.*
* Masdevallia Tridactylites approaches the Restrepias nearer than any other Masdevallia
yet observed ; this affinity is seen chiefly in the free upper sepal with its club-like tail,
and in the comparatively broad lip that is scarcely appressed to the column. Of course
its two pollinia clearly separate it from the Restrepias, which always have four pollinia.
MASDEVALIIA. 67
M. Troglodytes.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, 4—5 inches long, with recurved tridentate
tips. Scapes shorter than the leaves, with a small appressed bract at
each joint, decumbent, one-flowered. Flowers campanulate, reddish
brown on the inside, white with a few brown spots externally; free
portion of sepals very short, sub-rotund, prolonged into filiform,
divergent, red-brown tails 1$ inches long; petals ligulate, reddish
brown bordered with white ; lip with hypochile (claw) short, channelled,
the epichile (sac) sub-orbicular, concave with one keel inside, white.
Masdevallia Troglodytes,* Morren in Belg. Hort. 1877, p. 97.
Introduced into European gardens by M. Lalinde, a resident of
Medellin, in New Granada; it flowered for the first time in the
collection of M. Oscar-Lamarche, at Liége, in Belgium, in 1876.
Although the flowers are small and inattractive as regards colour,
the great profusion in which they are produced secures for the
plant a place in many collections. The specific name, tpwyodvrne,
‘“‘dweller in caves,” is a purely fanciful one, like Chimera, nycterina
and others.
In Masdevallia Troglodytes, M. Houtteana. and M. Carderi (to
which others may probably be hereafter added) we have a_ series of
closely-allied forms, which, seen singly, might be mistaken the one for
the other. The chief botanical distinction between them consists in the
structure of their curious labellum, thus—in M. Carderi the hypochile
is comparatively broad with the cleft open, and the epichile is narrowly
reniform with the concave surface smooth; in M. Houtteana the epichile
is sub-quadrate and has three equidistant raised lines in the hollow;
in M. Troglodytes the two divisions of the lip are smaller, and the
epichile has but one raised line in its cavity. Moreover, in M. Carder?
the sinus between the sepals is very shallow; in M. Troglodytes a
little deeper; in M. Houtteana it is angular; the tails of the three
species are differently coloured, as are the spots on their perianth
tubes. The sedge-like foliage of M. Houtteana is peculiar to that species,
M. Veitchiana.
Leaves linear-oblong or linear-oblanceolate, 6—8 inches long, sub-acute.
Scapes 12—18 inches long with two or more appressed, elongate,
sheathing bracts, one- rarely two-flowered. Flowers among the largest
and most showy in the genus, 2—3 inches across vertically, exclusive
of the sepaline tails; perianth tube campanulate ; free portion of sepals
* Reichenbach in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885), p. 489, sub. Masdevallia senilis, states that
M. Troglodytes, Morr. = M. Benedicti, Rehb., but a comparison of the figure in the Belgique
Horticole quoted above with that of M. Benedicti in Xen. Orch. II. t. 186, does not confirm
this, The M. Houtteana and the M. Benedicti in cultivation are unquestionably one and the
same species,
MASDEVALLUIA,
broadly ovate, contracted into slender tails, of which the upper one is
Masdevallia Veitchii.
narrower and longer than the others, brilliant orange-red studded with
MASDEVALLIA. 69
minute crimson-purple papillae, the lateral sepals connate to beyond the
middie; petals and lp minute, linear-oblong, white, as is also the short
semi-terete column,
Masdevallia Veitchiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 814. Bot. Mag. t. 5739.
Van Houtte’s FU. des Serres, XVIL. t. 1803. Fl. Mag. t. 481. Fl. and Pomol. 1873,
p. 169. Warner’s Sel. Orch. IL. t. 33. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 25 (Veitchii).
This fine Masdevallia was discovered by Pearce on the lofty
Andes of Peru, near Cuzco, at 11,000—13,000 feet elevation, and
was introduced by us in 1807. It was gathered in the same
locality a few years later by our collector, Davis, who has given
us the following particulars respecting its habitat :—Masdevullia
Veitchiana occurs above the timber line, at the altitude above stated;
the plants are found in the crevices and hollows of the rocks with
but little soil about their roots, but sometimes where a_ small
quantity of decaying vegetable matter has accumulated; in this case
the plants are more robust, and when partially shaded by the
stunted shrubs found here and there or by projecting rocks, produce
larger flowers; in the former casc the plants are more tufted and
more floriferous, but the flowers are smaller, At this great altitude,
notwithstanding the tenuity of the atmosphere, the heat from the
direct rays of an almost vertical sun is very great on clear days,
but the nights are damp and chilly; the range of temperature is
therefore very considerable. Vapour is constantly rising from the
streams and valleys below, keeping the atmosphere always highly
charged with moisture; besides this, rain is frequent, even in what
is called the dry season.
Under cultivation the flowers of Masdevullia Veitchiana are found
to vary in size and in the manner in which the papille are spread
over the surface of the sepals; a large-flowered form is known in
gardens under the name of grandiflora.*
M. velifera.
Leaves linear-elliptic, 6—8 inches long, including the petioles, rigid
and erect. Scapes stoutish, one-flowered, half as long as the leaves,
with a sheathing bract midway between the base and the ovary, the
last named organ bent forwards at right angles to the peduncle. Tube
* As more than one sub-variety is found in collections under this name, we may state that the
original Masdevallia Veitchiana grandiflora distributed by us may be recognised by the following
characters :—the upper sepal is densely and almost uniformly covered with crimson papille,
while in the lateral two these are confined entirely to the outer half, the inner half being of the
purest orange-scarlet and destitute of papille. The foliage of the plant is also more robust,
and is produced more slowly than in the ordinary form.
76 MASDEVALLIA.
broadly cylindric, gibbous below; upper sepal triangular, contracted
into a stoutish tail 2 inches long, ochreous yellow, very smooth and
shining without, minutely dotted with red-brown within; the connate
lateral sepals oblong, bent downwards, terminating in stoutish tails and
coloured like the upper one; petals linear-oblong, greenish white; lip
sub-quadrate, narrow at the apex, and covered with chocolate-red, close-
set papille. Column trigonal, curved, yellowish green.
Masdevallia velifera, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874), p. 406 (name only). Id. in
II. p. 98. Id. in X. (1878), p. 364. Id. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 745, icon. xyl.
Masdevallia velifera.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
A species with large malodorous flowers sent by Patin from
New Granada to Mr. B. 8S. Williams, in 1874. It is abundant in
the neighbourhood cf Ocafia, where a few years later it was
gathered by Shuttleworth while collecting orchids for Mr. Bull.
Masdevallia velifera is one of a group of coriaceous Masdeyallias
represented in British collections by M. elephanticeps, M. Gargantua
and M. Mooreana, which may possibly be brought into closer
connection with each other hereafter by the appearance of intermediate
forms.
MASDEVALLIA. Val
M. Vespertilio.
Leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 4—6 inches long. Scapes shorter than
the leaves, pendulous, one-flowered. Flowers patent, triangular in outline,
1—14 inches across vertically exclusive of the tails, pale yellow
spotted with brown-purple; upper sepal ovate-oblong, acuminate,
contracted into a slender tail 15 inches long; lateral connate sepals
sub-quadrate, prolonged into tails lke that of the upper one; petals
oblong, reflexed at the tip, white blotched with yellowish brown and
with a brown papillose blotch on the inner side at the apex; lip
with a fleshy grooved claw in which is a broad, longitudinal cleft on
the upper side, and with a broad, transverse, shell-like blade, without
radiating keels. Column bent, terete above.
Masdevallia Vespertilio, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1873, p. 390. Id. in Gard. Chron.
VEL, G87), p. 272, Id. XIII. (1880), p. 712.
One of the saccolabiate Masdevallias that has been gathered by
various collectors in the valley of the Cauca, New Granada, (probably
in the Frontino district), but not imtroduced till 1877; it is still
rare in British gardens.
M. Wageneriana.
A dwarf, tufted plant. Leaves spathulate, leathery, about 2 inches
long. Scapes as long as the leaves, one-flowered. Flowers light butt
yellow with numerous minute red dots sprinkled over the sepals, and
some crimson lines at their base; sepals broadly oval-oblong, narrowing
very suddenly to slender yellow tails 2 inches long, sharply bent backwards
from the base, the upper one concave on the inner side, keeled
behind, the lateral two connate to beyond the middle; petals hatchet-
shaped, bidentate at apex; lip rhomboidal with reflexed, toothed
margin, whitish spotted with red-brown, as is the short semi-terete
column,
Masdevallia Wageneriana, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. ILI. p. 74 (1853). Bot. Mag.
t, 4921. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 199, t. 75.
A lovely little plant, discovered in 1849 near the German colony
of Tovar in the Venezuelian province of Caracas. It was gathered
in the following year by Wagener at Carobobo,* at 6,000 feet
elevation, and sent by him to M. Linden, in whose horticultural
establishment at Brussels it flowered for the first time in Hurope
in 1851.
* Fide Rehb. Xen. Orch. J, loc. cit. supra, but this name is not found on any map to
which we have access,
Tipe MASDEVALLIA.
M. Wendlandiana.
A densely tufted cespitose plant. Leaves linear, 1—2 inches long,
including petiole, fleshy, with a depressed mid-line on _ the face.
Peduncles filiform, as long again as the leaves, pale green spotted
with dull crimson, one-flowered. Perianth tube cylindric, gibbous and
purple below, muilk-white above; free portion of sepals narrowly
triangular, white, passing into yellow at the tips, the lateral two
reflexed ; petals and lip very minute, linear-oblong, the petals white,
the lip purplish, reflexed at the tip.
Masdevallia Wendlandiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 174.
imported from New Granada by Messrs. Sander and Co.,
and dedicated to Herr Wendland, Director of the Berggarten at
Herrenhausen, in Hanover. It is a most floriferous species, “ far
too pretty and interesting to be relegated to that dubious group
known as botanical curiosities.’* We are indebted to Mr. F. W.
Moore, of the Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, for materials for
description.
HYBRID MASDEVALLIAS.
When describing Masdevallia splendida,t the late Professor
Reichenbach broached the hypothesis that it might be a natural
hybrid between M. Veitchiana and M. Barleana or M. amabilis ;
and when about a year later, a flower of another plant from the
same importation was submitted to him for identification, he called
it M. Purlatoreana,t suggesting that that too might be a natural
hybrid derived from M. Veitchiana and M. Barleana. The hypothesis,
as regards these two species, has since been confirmed by Seden,
who has obtained an artificial hybrid from them, of which WM.
Veilchiana was fertilised with the pollen of M. Barlceana, the
resulting progeny being so near the supposed natural hybrid that it
must bear the same name. Moreover, M. Parlatoreana is so near M.
splendida as to admit of no doubt of its being of like origin,
probably from the reversed cross, and it must thence be reduced
to a variety of the last named. The existence of natural hybrids
among Masdevallias is, therefore, an undoubted fact, but to what
extent they exist must long remain an uncertainty.
* «OW, B.” in Gard, Chron. III. s. 3 (1888). p. 563, who states that it requires tropical
treatment.
+ Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), p. 493.
* Id. XI. (1879), p. 172.
MASDEVALLIA. FB
Long, however, before Masdevallia splendida had been produced
artificially, hybridisation among the most showy species had been
taken in hand by Seden in our nursery, but with only partial
success, caused probably by the fact that Masdevallia, as a genus,
is far more heterogenous than was at first supposed, whence a
mixture of the different sections may not possibly be effected, and
more recently progenies have been obtained by other operators.
The forms described below include all the undoubted hybrids of
which we have cognisance up to the present time, and which
naturally fall under two heads, viz., Natural and Garden Hybrids:
all have been derived from species included in the Coccinee and
Caudate sub-sections, or from crosses between species belonging to
each of them, the only exceptions at present known being WM.
glaphyrantha and M. Hincksiana, in which cases a species from the
Polyanthe group was selected for one of the parents. Their vege-
tative organs present scarcely any character by which they may
be distinguished from either parent but the flowers, which are
intermediate, are distinct, and these only need description.
Naturat Hysrips.
Masdevallia splendida.
Perianth tube slender, nearly an inch long, with a prominent rib above,
pale orange-red; free portion of sepals oval-oblong, three-nerved, bright
orange-red studded with crimson-purple papille; tails an inch long, orange-
red; petals, ip and column white, the latter with a purple streak on
each side of the stigmatic cavity.
Masdevallia splendida, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, IX. (1878), p. 493.
var.—Parlatoreana.
Flowers larger, with the purple papille differently distributed over
the surface of the sepals.
M. splendida Parlatoreana, supra. M. Parlatoreana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XI.
(1879), p. 172.
Both forms were gathered on the eastern Cordillera of Peru, near Cuzco;
by Walter Davis, who sent them to us in a consignment of Masdevallia
Veitchiana and M. Barlwana, with which they were mixed. The variety
which is the more attractive of the two forms was dedicated to Professor
Parlatore, of Florence, the most distinguished Italian botanist of his
time. The artificially-raised hybrid surpasses the wild ones both in size
of flower and in the brilliancy of its colours, a circumstance due _ to
the finest forms of MW. Veitchiana and M. Barlwana being selected
for parents.
74 MASDEVALLIA.
GARDEN Hyprips.
Masdevallia caudata-Estrade.
Parentage expressed by the name.
Upper sepal a nearly uniform rose-purple, yellowish at the base, paler
on the outside and with a yellowish keel; lateral sepals soft violet-purple,
paler at the apex ; tails 2 inches long, orange-yellow ; petals and lip white,
the latter with minute lilac spots ; apex of column maroon-purple.
Masdevallia caudata-Estrade, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. V. s. 3. (1889), p. 714.
Raised by Seden at our nursery.
MASDEVALLIA.
sepal is much hke that of Masdevallia Vertchiana, but narrower in
proportion to its length; the lateral sepals are nearly those of
M. Davisi/, but not so abruptly pointed.
M. Geleniana.
M. caudata Shuttleworthtti x M. Estradw wanthina.
Flowers intermediate in size between those of the parents. Free
portion of upper sepal orange-yellow with numerous purple dots chiefly
along the veins; lateral sepals paler with fewer and more minute
dots ; tails 24 inches long, bright yellow.
Masdevallia Geleniana, Rehb. in Gard Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 586.
Raised by Messrs. Sander and Co. at their St. Albans nursery, and
dedicated to Baron Hruby von Gelenye, of Peckau, in Bohemia.
M. glaphyrantha.
M. infracta x M. Barlewana.
Scapes usually two-flowered. Flowers as large as those of Masdevallia
‘nfracta ; perianth tube brownish red; upper sepal yellowish bordered
with rose-purple, and with a rose-purple central streak ; lateral sepals
rose-purple with three deeper veins in each; tails orange-yellow.
Masdeyvallia glaphyrantha, Rchb in Gard, Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 648.
Raised by Seden at our nursery.
M. Hincksiana.
M. tovarensis X M. ignea.
Scapes 1—2 (or more) flowered. Flowers as large as those of
Masdevallia tovarensis, clear butt-yellow, the perianth tube and dilated
basal portion of the upper sepal paler, this organ nearly as in WM.
tovarensis ; the lateral. sepals connate to nearly the middle, acuminate,
with shorter tails and with three nerves; petals and lip white.
Mesdevallia Hincksiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, II. s. 3 (1887), p. 214.
Raised by Captain Hincks, of Breckenbrough, Thirsk, Yorkshire.
ExcLuDED SPECIES.
Masdevallia \now referred to... Pleurothallis macroblepharis
Culex (Hort.) en (Rchb.)
Dayana (Rehb.) ae A 5 Cryptophoranthus Dayanum (Rolfe)
fenestrata (Hook.) |... i iF A atropurpureum (Rolfe)
ARPOPHYLLUM. ‘/
ARPOPHYLLUM.
Llav. et Lex. Nov. Veg. descript. Orch. p. 19 (1825). Benth. et Hook Gen. Plant. III.
p. 492 (1883).
Quite different as are the Arpophylla in aspect from the Pleurothallids
and Masdevallias of tropical America on the one hand, and from
such humble herbs as Malawis paludosa and Liparis Loeselli of
British fens on the other, they nevertheless form one of the con-
necting links in the chain of orchid affinities between the first
and last named genera. ‘They occupy this position chiefly in virtue
of the structure of their flowers.
Four or five species of Arpophyllum are at present recognised,
all natives of central America and Mexico, and of which one was
found not long ago in Jamaica. ‘Two of the species are well known
in cultivation in British collections, and a third has been introduced
into continental gardens. They differ chiefly from the allied
genera in their large size and their long, dense, cylindrical, erect
floral racemes, in which the flowers are inverted and spirally arranged
round the axis. ‘Their character will be sufficiently understood from
the description of the two species given below.
The generic name Arpophyllum, from apn (harpé),* ‘a sword,”
and pvAXov (phullon), “a leaf,’ refers to the form of the leaves.
Cultural Note.—Although strictly epiphytal, the Arpophylla have a
semi-terrestrial habit that renders them suitable for pot culture. The
pots should be filled to fully two-thirds of their depth with clean
broken crocks for drainage, over which should be placed a layer of
sphagnum ; the remainder and to at least an inch above the rim should
be filled with a compost of fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum in equal
proportions well mixed together. The plants should be placed in the
centre, and held fast by a stick or any other suitable contrivance
till firmly established. The general treatment of Arpophylla is in
all other respects that of the Cattleyas, with which for cultural
purposes they may be associated. They should, however, be placed
in the lightest position, as they require but little or uo shade except
on bright hot days.
Arpophyllum giganteum.
A robust plant. Rhizome creeping, ligneous, as thick as the little
finger. Stems terete, compressed, 6—10 inches high, jointed, with an
appressed sheath at each joint nearly as long as the internode,
* Hence Harpophyllum would be more correct orthography.
78 ARPOPHYLLUM.
monophyllous. Leaves ligulate, 12—15 inches long, coriaceous, rigid,
bronzy purple when first developed, changing to green with age.
Peduncle stoutish, issuing from a compressed purplish sheath, pale
green dotted with blackish purple and terminating in a dense spike,
frequently upwards of a foot long. Flowers very numerous, small,
almost sessile, rosy purple, the lip deeper in colour than the other
segments; sepals and petals oblong, reflexed at the apex, the petals
narrower than the sepals; lp broadly obovate. Column very short ;
pollinia eight in two series of four,
Arpophyllum giganteum, Lindl. in Ann. Nat. Hist. IV. p. 384 (1840). Warner’s
Sel. Orch. I. t. 39 (1862-65).
Discovered by Hartweg in 1339, and introduced by him to the
garden of the Horticultural Society of London, at Chiswick. It is
a native of Mexico and Guatemala, occurring on the mountains and
hills in isolated patches that are frequently remote from each other.
Roezl met with it in the first named country on the Sante
Comapau in immense masses on the trunks and branches of trees
at the summit of the mountain. In this situation the plants are
exposed from October to March to the violent storms which
occasionally blow from the north with so great impetuosity, that
under their influence a man can with difficulty keep on his feet,
but which the Arpophyllum resists without injury.
A. spicatum.
Rhizome as thick as an ordinary writing-pencil. Stems erect, 3—6
inches long, as thick as the rhizome, monophyllous. Leaves linear,
9— 12 inches long, complicate, faleate, very leathery. Peduncles with
a basal sheath, 6—9 inches long including the dense terminal spike.
Flowers one-third of an inch in diameter; sepals and petals pale rose-
purple, the former ovate-oblong, the latter similar byt narrower and
with the margin erose; lip longer than the petals, concave, gibbous
at the base, bright purple.
Arpophyllum spicatum, Llav. et Lex. Nov. Veg. descript. II. p. 19 (1825). Lindl.
Gen. et. Sp. Orch. p. 151. Id. in Bot. Reg. XXV. misc. No. 16. Bot. Mag. t. 6022.
The typical species upon which the genus was founded by the
Mexican botanists La Llave and Lexarza, in the early part of the
present century. It has been reported from various parts of Mexico,
and, like the preceding, was introduced into British gardens by
Hartweg.
PLATYCLINIS. 79
MOE TRIBE LIPARBEA?.
Stems often pseudo-bulbous, one- or many-leaved, racemes terminal.
Column sessile, i.e., not produced into a foot; pollinia usually four,
in two pairs, inappendiculate.
PLATYCLINIS.
Benth. in Jour. of Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 295 (1881). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p,
496 (1883).
The only genus in this sub-tribe of which the included species are
of any horticultural interest, is Platyclinis, established by Mr. Bentham
on Blume’s second section of Dendrochilum. Blume’s typical Den-
drochilum is a Java plant, possessing more of the characters of the
Denpropizx than of the Lirartem, but with that he joined others
having the characters of the last-named sub-tribe;* it is these that
Mr. Bentbam has separated from Dendrochilum, to which must now
be added other species since discovered, the typical species with two
or three others being retained under the original generic name.
Thus circumscribed, Platyclinis includes about ten species, nearly all
natives of Java and the Philippine Islands, those in cultivation being
all from the last-named group.t
The essential characters of the genus may be thus_ briefly
summarised :—
Epiphytal herbs with small pseudo-bulbs that are covered from below
with scarious sheaths, and bear at their apex a single narrow leaf con-
tracted to a short foot-stalk. Flowers small and numerous, in terminal
pendulous racemes and usually distichous and alternate along the rachis.
Column short, erect, and having two lateral branches or arms.
The generic name is derived from wAarve (platus), “ broad,’ and
kAbne (klinis), “a small bed.”
Cultural Note.—The plants described below, being natives of a region
lying within and near the equatorial zone,{ require the temperature of
* Journal of Linn, Soe. Ice. cit. supra.
+ M. Porte, who visited the Philippine Islands a few years after our own countryman,
Cuming, had made known the great orchid wealth of those islands, observed of Platyclinis
(Dendrochilum), ‘‘ Les Dendrochilum trés-nombreux & une altitude de 500 & 1,000 métres ne se
rencontrent jamais dans les Philippines 4 une altitude moindre, attachés aux trones des arbres
a deux ou quatres métres au-dessus du sol. Les foréts dans lesquelles on les trouve sont si
humides que, pendant neuf mois de l’année, les sangsues y vivent comme si elles etaient
terrestres.”—Du Buysson, L’Orchidophile, p. 325.
+ For climate of this zone see notes under Dendrobium, page 9.
80 FLATYCLINIS.
what is familiarly called the East Indian house. They should be
re-potted within a short time after the fall of the flowers, in a compost
of peat and chopped sphagnum, such as is generally used for tropical
epiphytal orchids with pseudo-bulbs. The pots should have an ample
drainage of clean broken crocks to three-fourths of their depth; water
must be freely supplied during the growing season, the supply being
diminished in the dormant season to a quantity sufficient to keep the
compost moist.
Platyclinis Cobbiana.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conical, elongated, angulate, channelled, 14—2 inches
long. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, 6 inches long. Peduncles slender, about
a foot long; raceme flexuose, dense. Flowers pale straw-yellow with
an orange-yellow lip ; sepals and petals elliptic-oblong, acute ; lip flabellate,
slightly retuse in front. Column white at the apex, greenish below.
Platyclinis Cobbiana, Hemsley in Gard. Chion. XVI. (1881), p. 656. Dendrochilum
Cobbianum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), p. 748.
Introduced from the Philippine Islands, in 1879—80, by Messrs.
Low and Co., through their collector Boxall, and dedicated by
Reichenbach to Mr. Walter Cobb, of Silverdale, Sydenham, in whose
collection it flowered for the first time in this country. Platyclinis
Cobbiana is easily distinguished from the better known P. glumacea
by its differently shaped pseudo-bulbs, its zigzag rachis, and by its
flowering at the opposite season of the year, usually September
and October.
P. filiformis.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, about the size of a filbert. Leaves linear, 5—6
inches long. Peduncles filiform, 12—15 inches long. Raceme with
50—80, or even more flowers of an uniform canary-yellow ; sepals and
petals oval; lip shorter than the other segments, obcordate, emarginate.
Platyclinis filiformis, Benth. in Journ. Linh. Soc. XVIII. (1881), p. 295, ined.
Dendrochilum filiforme, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 113. Regel’s Gartenfl.
XVIIL. (1869), t. 604. Illus. hort. 1878, t. 323.
One of the discoveries of Cuming during his excursion to the
Philippine Islands in 1836—40, and sent by him to Messrs. Loddiges.
It flowered for the first time in Europe in Mr. Bateman’s collection
at Knypersley, in Cheshire, in 1841. — Its flowering season is June
and July, when, although the individual flowers are among the
smallest in the orchid family, the graceful thread-like racemes in
which they are collected, form a most striking and pleasing object.
~
_
=
J
»
a rer, +
p=
acea,
lum
oO
Po)
yclinis
Plat
PLATYCLINIS.
P. glumacea.
81
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, about the size of a small walnut, the younger
ones sheathed with reddish scales which enclose also the foot-stalks of
the leaves and the bases of the scapes. Leaves lanceolate, about a
foot long. Peduncles filiform, bearing along the distal half a pendulous
raceme of yellowish white, chafflike flowers. Sepals and petals linear-
oblong, acuminate; lip three-lobed, the side lobes pointed, the middle
lobe sub-orbicular with two thickish lamelle on the disc of a deeper
yellow than the other parts of the flower.
Platyclinis glumacea, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. (1881), p. 295, ined.
Dendrochilum glumaceum, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1841, misc. No. 58. Bot. Mag.
t. 4853.
This was also one of Cuming’s discoveries in the Philippine Islands,
and was sent by him to Messrs. Loddiges about the same time
as
the preceding species, and in whose nursery it flowered for the first
time in 1841. The gracefully pendulous crowded racemes of flowers
appear in March and April, which, although of a homely colour,
have a pleasant fragrance, somewhat like that of new-made hay.
INDEX.
The names in italics are varieties or synonyms; those followed by x are hybrids or
supposed hybrids.
ARPOPHYLLUM — PAGE , MASDEVALLIA— PAGE
giganteum .., Bo se sot igen) campy loglossa Sot 0c 27
spicatum ... 360 se 500 78 Carderi a6 cn 450 27
caudata ... a tse 28
CRYPTOPHORANTHUS— | caudata-Estrade x ae 74
atropurpureum ve sie i Chelsoni x .. 74
Dayanum ... rae O60 one 9) | Chestertonii 29
Chimera ..,, 30
MASDEVALLIA— | civilis 33
acrochordoniu wee nae See Asem coccinea 500 aca B00 33
amabilis... wae ae ae 23 | Colibre 586 500 a 660 41
Arminii dea dos 3G 24 | conchiflora ... 54
astuta a6 see 506 aC 25 coriacea aT 36
Backhouseana “ ... ate 500 30 corniculata ,. wee 37
Barleana ... 50c Be ao 25 | Courtauldiana x .., 74
bella... 500 BOC 500 ‘iss 26 cucullata 38
Benedicti .. a0 wes aud 45 | Culex 2
Briickmiilleri 37 Davisii 39
>)
calura 566 Sor 0 Bale 26 Dayana
82 INDEX.
MASDEVALLIA— PAGE | MASDEVALLIA—- PAGE
demissa aie wee ies sa 39 senilis ‘als 66c she das 31
elephanticeps ic ies boo 40 severa 360 sas on 500 31
Ellisiana xX... 500 Oss er 75 Shuttleworthit ay eek Se 28
Ephippium ... es 6c ade 40 simula ies wee nee se 63
Erythrochiete sae = See 42 splendida x aC aoe 166 73
Kstrade ... ere See ens 42 swertiefolia res sale ovis 19
Jenestrata ... ace cee wee if tovarensis ... ae see ses 63
floribunda ... 50 wee nae 43 triangularis .. ~ SC ee 65
Fraseri X ... nae aA aan 75 triaristella ... a cae Sie 66
Gairiana x ... nee Ses see 75 | Tridactylites ee te bss 66
Galeottiana... a. aes sab 43 Triglochin .., AG an wee 66
Gargantua ... sa tas aoe 43 | Trichele ... ie wes ose 44
Gaskelliana... wee soe Ae 44 Trochilus ... wale str 365 41
Geleniana x ak os goc 76 Troglodytes .. ane Sot 1 67
gemmata_... Ri we vas 44 uniflora... a 5 vas 7
gibberosa ... or see act 19 Veitchiana ... ie 8c ot 67
glaphyrantha x... an aoe 76 velitera sae Bes oe nee 69
Gorgona ss ies os 31 | Vespertilio .., ae ee on) eS
Harryana ... ae es cee 34 Wageneriana “es S32 a 71
hieroglyphica Be sais ate 45 | Wallisti ... ne ee 50 31
Hincksiana x uae nei an 76 | Wendlandiana oes oe wae 72
Houtteana ... ves vee ves 45 Winniana ... ict aN a 31
ignea vee one nee vee 46 vanthina ... ates ah sie 42
inflata see eee vee see 37 xanthocorys... wee Roe see 29
infracta aaa eee aa sie 47
lonocharis ... es Ses vas 48 | PLATYCLINIS—
leontoglossa ive wile ae 49 | Cobbiana... 5o0 360 500 80
Lindenti a “oe fas me 34 | filiformis ... ae nee une 80
longicaudata eee wae mae 48 | glumacea_ ... See aH a 81
ludibunda .., ue wes ves 50 |
macrura... ise mee Ses 51 | PLEUROTHALLIS—
maculata... ies vee we 51 atropurpuren oes Sp a0
Melanopus ... oe ee 00 52 | Barberiana ... nee we 500
militaris ... aes ae sc 52 | glossopogon... ae eee 300
Mooreana ... uae ae sas 53 Grobyi bc nes Sic eee
muscosa ss. ap ben ae o4 insignis... 50 300 nc
myrtostigma as as see 43 | laurifolia ... ves or 360
nycterina ... vee oe oe 55 | Leucopyramis 300 via de
octhodes... nee see 6 35 macroblepharis —... 340 ves
pachyantha ... sc mas ae 56 picta dd se ba ee
Parlatoreana X wa 500 us 73 punctulata ... 06 See 500
Peristeria.. nee ate tas 57 Roezlit ae 500 500 600
platyglossa ... see nae ee 57 surinamensts cra ee
platyrhachis = ad is 7
polyantha ... iat igs .. 62 | REsTREPIA—
polysticta ... ees ase Ss 58 antennifera .. tee vs
psittacina ... ase eee Be 45 elegans a vey snc Sco
racemosa... be sas oe 58 guttata ws te vee te
radiosa 50: sob nC ase 59 Lansbergit ... vee tee
Reichenbachiana ... asa aos 60 maculata — ... vee wee we
Roezlit ae te aac 86 31 pandurata ... haz dae a00
rosea... SHC wea uk aes 60 punctulata ... we aes vies
Schlimii ... x nas OE 61 xanthophthalma ... 500 a0
~T
m Or Rm BH O DO Ol OW H OO DD ST
_
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MONERNUAL os
or
ORCHIDACKOUS PLANTS
CULTIVATED UNDER GLASS IN GREAT BRITAIN,
PARE. Vb
CHLOGYNE, EPIDENDRUM,
SPATHOGLOTTIS, PHAIUS, THUNIA, CHYSIS, PLELONE,
CALANTHE, DIACRIUM, NANODES, Erc., Ere.
JAMES VEITCH & SONS,
Royat Exotic Nursery, 544, Kine’s Roap, CHepsea, S.W.
189.0:
All rights reserved.
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
Tu1s Manual is being compiled to supply amateurs and cultivators of
exotic Orchids with a fuller account of the principal genera, species and
varieties cultivated under glass, than is contained in the Manuals hitherto
in use.
The rapid extension of Orchid culture during the last quarter of a
century, resulting from the increased taste for and appreciation of this
beautiful and interesting order of plants, has, in our opinion, created the
desideratum which we are now attempting to supply. The prominent
place, too, occupied by Orchids in the columns of the Horticultural Press,
and the surprising amount of practical and varied information respecting
them disseminated through its agency, has also stimulated the desire
to obtain all the ieading facts in a condensed form, to which easy
reference may at any time be made.
So numerous are the species and varieties of Orchids at present in
cultivation, and to which additions are constantly being made by new
discoveries and by artificial hybridisation, that the labour attending the
compilation of a Manual sufficiently comprehensive to meet the wants of
cultivators must necessarily demand much time. Moreover, the present
unsatisfactory state of Orchidology, especially in its horticultural aspect
and its complicated and unscientific nomenclature, have rendered the
compilation of sucha Manual within a stated time almost an impossibility.
Under these circumstances, and yielding to the solicitations of patrons
and friends, we have decided upon issuing the work in parts, each part
containing a monograph of the cultivated species and varieties of one of
the most important genera, or of a group of genera.
Little explanation of the plan of the work is here needed; the parts
as issued must speak for themselves. We have only to state that in
the scientific classification and sequence of the genera we haye followed,
with but trifling deviations, the arrangement of Bentham and Hooker
as elaborated in their Genera Plantarum, the most profound and, at the
same time, the most intelligible exposition of the Orchidez extant. In
the nomenclature of the species, we have adhered to the Laws of Botanical
nomenclature adopted by the International Botanical Congress, held
at Paris in August, 1867. .
In the description of the species, we have been compelled to use
occasionally a few technical terms to avoid cumbrous circumlocutions ;
at the conclusion of the work we propose giving a glossary of the terms
so used. In the cultural notes we have quoted temperatures in the
Centigrade scale with the equivalent Fahrenheit readings, in the hope
that the far more rational scale, now almost universally adopted in
scientific investigations, may also come into use in horticulture. The
literary references in italics indicate coloured plates of the species or
variety described.
BOBTRIBE HRIE ZL.
Inflorescence lateral, pseudo-terminal, or from the rhizome distinct
from the leaf-bearing pseudo-bulbs. Column almost always extended
into a foot. Pollinia eight, four in each cell.*
CCELIA.
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 36 (1831). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 508 (1883).
Coelia includes four or five species inhabiting the West Indies,
Mexico, and Central America, of which three have been introduced
into Kuropean gardens. The genus was founded by Dr. Lindley
upon a drawing of Celia Baueriana made by the distinguished
botanical artist, Francis Bauer, who, however, ‘‘represented the
pollen masses as being four in number and _ concayo-convex, so
that by lying in pairs, side by side, each pair formed a_ hollow
body, narrower at back than in front, a circumstance that suggested
the name of the genus (from «otAoc, hollow). When fresh speci-
mens were subsequently examined, it was found that no such
structure as that represented by Bauer exists; on the contrary,
the pollinia are eight in number, placed in two series of double
pairs, and of the supposed hollowing out no trace is discoverable.” t
The name Ceelia, nevertheless, was retained by Lindley and adopted
by his successors.
The most obvious generic characters are:—The long narrow, more
or less folded and veined leaves; the densely racemose scapes (three-
flowered only in Celia bella) which spring from the base of the latest
formed pseudo-bulbs; the column produced into a short foot, to which
the two lateral sepals are adnate at their base; and the three-winged
capsule.
Cultural Note-——Celia bella requires the average annual temperature of
the Cattleya house; a moist atmosphere and a liberal supply of water
during its season of growth are requisite to insure the pseudo-bulbs
* Celia, Pachystoma, Ipsea, and Spathoglottis form part of this sub-tribe, of which Eria
supplies the type, a genus including upwards of eighty species, none of which properly fall
Within the scope of the present work. We may, however, mention that Hria obesa, E. cinna-
barina, E. floribunda, and two or three others are among the species sometimes met with
in private collections.
+ Bot. Reg. 1842, sub. t. 36,
B
bo
C@LIA.
attaining their full size, and the flowering of the plant in the follow-
ng season. C. macrostachya requires the same cultural treatment as
Lycaste Skinneri, Odontoglussum Insleay’, and other well-known orchids
inhabiting the elevated regions of Central America. C. Baueriana
requires a higher temperature and a more humid atmosphere than the
two first-mentioned species,
Coelia Baueriana.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, ovoid or sub-globose, 14—2 inches thick, di-
triphyllous. Leaves linear, acute, 12—18 inches long, narrowed below
into sheathing petioles, deep green with 2—4 pale veins. Scapes
stoutish, 4—5 inches long, invested below by 3—5 large lanceolate,
acuminate, greenish brown sheaths, densely racemose along the upper
half. Flowers with all the segments concave, fragrant, white, on short
pedicels, at the base of which is a linear greenish brown bract longer
than the ovary and perianth; ovary three-angled, prominently winged
at the angles; sepals ovate-lanceolate; petals broadly obovate-oblong ;
lip shorter than the other segments, with a broad saccate yellow claw
and triangular blade. Column very short.
Ceelia Baueriana, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 36 (1831). Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 36
(Bauerana). Epidendrum tripterum, Smith Ic. pict. t. 14. Cymbidium tripterum,
Swartz, N. Act. Ups. VI. p. 70.
Celia Baueriana is somewhat widely distributed over the West
India Islands and parts of Mexico. It became known to science
towards the end of the last century, first as Hpidendrum tripterum,
then as Cymbidium tripterum, till removed from the last-named genus
by Dr. Lindley, on account of the totally different structure of its
flowers. We find no record of its first introduction into British
gardens, but it was in cultivation prior to 1842, in which year it
was figured in the Botanical Register. Dr. Lindley compared it
with our native Lily of the Valley, for ‘although white and
inconspicuous, it 1s so sweet that it must take precedence of most
of its race; no hawthorn hedge is more fragrant than a bed of
this Coelia.” We are indebted to Mr. F. G. Tautz, of Studley
House, Hammersmith, for materials for description.
C. bella.
Pseudo-bulbs globose, smooth, 14—2 inches in diameter. Leaves
3—4 from the apex of each pseudo-bulb, elongate, ensiform, acuminate,
15—20 inches long. Scapes 3—5 inches high, sheathed with brown
imbricating acute boat-shaped bracts, 3—5 flowered. Flowers fragrant,
2 inches long, tubular below, funnel-shaped above; sepals and petals
similar, oblong-obtuse, white, the sepals tipped with rose-purple; lip
PACHYSTOMA. 3
obscurely three-lobed, the side lobes linear-oblong, erect, canary-yellow,
the middle lobe tongue-shaped, reflexed. Column white, triquetral,
three-toothed at the apex.
Ceelia bella, Rchb. Walp. Ann. VI. p. 218 (1861). Bot. Mag. t. 6628. Williams’
Orch. Alb. IJ. t. 51. Bifrenaria bella, Lemaire, Gard. Flewr. t. 325 (1853).
Bothriochilus bellus, Lemaire, Illus. hort. III. (1856), p. 30.
The origin of this plant is obscure. According to Lemaire (17
Illustration Horticole, loc. cit.) it was sent about the year 1852 to
M. Verschaffelt’s horticultural establishment at Ghent, by M. Devos,
from Sancta Catherina in Southern Brazil. But Sir J. D. Hooker
has pointed out (Botanical Magazine, sub. t. 6628), that the
plant is without doubt, like its congeners, a native of Central
America, as there is a specimen of it in Lindley’s herbarium,
collected by Mr. G. Ure Skinner in Guatemala. It is by far the
handsomest species in the genus.
C. macrostachya.
Pseudo-bulbs globose, 2—3 inches in diameter, triphyllous. Leaves
lanceolate, acuminate, plicate, 12—15 inches long. Scapes as_ long
as the leaves, the basal portion clothed with large, ovate acute
brownish sheaths, the upper two-thirds a crowded spike of partially
expanded rose-coloured flowers, the colour deeper at the base and on
the spur of the lip, and paler on the petals. Bracts linear, acuminate,
longer than the flowers. Sepals oblong, acute; petals obovate-oblong ;
lip oblong, reflexed, terminating below in a bi-gibbous spur. Column
semi-terete, whitish.
Celia macrostachya, Lindl. in Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 92 (1842). Id. Bot. Reg.
1842, sub. t. 36. Bot. Mag. t. 4712. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, t. 900 (1854),
(copied from Bot. Mag.). ev. hort. 1878, p. 210.
First sent by Hartweg from the Hacienda de la Llaguna, in
Mexico, in 1841, to the Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick,
and occasionally imported since with other Mexican orchids. Its
flowering season is August—September.
PACHYSTOMA.
Blume, Bijdr. p. 376 (1825). Benth. et. Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 511 (1883).
Although founded by the Dutch botanist Blume, on a terrestrial
orchid (Pachystoma pubescens) which he discovered in Java in the
early part of the present century, the genus Vachystoma was
scarcely known to horticulture even by name till the beautiful species
described below—which was sent to us in 1878—was referred to it by
4. PACHYSTOMA.
Reichenbach, and subsequently accepted by Bentham, who would, how-
ever, have preferred bringing it under Ipsea.* The true Pachystomas,
about seven or eight species, are leafless plants with inconspicuous
flowers of a totally different habit from the African plant here
described, and are scattered over parts of India and the Malay Archi-
pelago, but none of them possess any horticultural interest.
Pachystoma Thomsonianum.
Pseudo-bulbs orbicular, much like those of a Pleione, placed at short
intervals on a creeping rhizome, mono-diphyllous. Leaves lanceolate,
acuminate, 6—8 inches long. Peduneles slender, as long as the leaves,
one or two from the base of each pseudo-bulb, 2—4 flowered. Flowers
3 inches across; sepals and petals white, lanceolate, acute, the dorsal
sepal the broadest, the lateral two narrower and faleate; lip three-
lobed, the lateral lobes erect, sub-quadrate, greenish, densely spotted with
deep purple on the inner side; middle lobe triangular, elongated, tapering
to a recurved point, and traversed by five raised longitudinal purple
lines which gradually coalesce towards the apex. Column arched, semi-
terete, green spotted with red.
Pachystema Thomsonianum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XII. (1879), pp. 582 and 625,
icon. xyl. Id. Xen. Orch. IIT. p. 35, t. 218. Bot. Mag. t. 6471. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. V. t. 220.
A native of the mountains of Old Calabar, in West Africa, at a
moderate elevation, where it was discovered by Kalbreyer growing on
the trunks of trees, and at his request named after Mr. Thomson,
for a long time an earnest missionary in that unhealthy region.
The species is, as Sir J. D. Hooker justly remarks, “a very lovely
one; its graceful form and the purity and brilliancy of its white,
and the vividness of its purple, render it one of the most beautiful
orchids of its type and habit, which remind one a good deal of
some Coelogynes”’ (Pleiones).t
Cultural Note.—Inhabiting one of the hottest parts of the globe,
its geographical position indicates its chief cultural requirements, viz.,
a constantly warm and moist atmosphere, such as is maintained in the
Phalenopsis house. A suitable provision should be made for its sub-
terrestrial, creeping habit, such as a shallow pan or teak basket that
can be conveniently suspended near the roof-glass of the house.
* Jour. of Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 304.
+ Bot. Mag. sub. t. 6471.
mooguuddeyae cel wou vutoysAyoed
Spathoglottis aurea.
From the Gardeners’
Chronicle. )
or
IPSEA.
IPSEA.
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 124 (1831).
Ipsea is made sectional under Pachystoma by Bentham, with the
remark that it would perhaps be better to restore it to generic rank.
We need therefore offer no apology for doing so, especially as the species
described below is clearly distinguishable from the typical Pachystomas
by its leaf-bearing pseudo-bulbs and large showy flowers. Pachystoma
Thomsonianum should, according to the same authority, be a second
species of Ipsea,* but there are structural differences observable in
the flower, especially in the pollinia and the labellum, that render it
very distinct from the Ceylon plant; it is, to our mind, so far as at
present known, a monotypic form that should have separate generic
rank,
Ipsea speciosa.
Pseudo-bulbs or tuberous rhizomes, sub-globose lke corms, from the
conical tops of which are produced two but sometimes only one lanceolate
leaf, 5—9 inches long, tapering below into a slender petiole. Scapes slender,
erect, 12—18 inches high, with 2—3 joints, at each of which is a spath-
aceous bract, 1—2 flowered. Flowers 2—3 inches in diameter, canary-
yellow with some red lines on the disk of the lp; sepals oblong, obtuse,
the lateral two connate at the base of the column, forming a small obtuse
spur; petals obovate-oblong, smaller than the sepals; lip three-lobed, the
lateral lobes triangular, ascending, the intermediate lobe broadly obcordate,
recurved with five wavy keels on the disc, of which the middle one is the
longest. Column clavate.
Ipsea speciosa, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 124 (1831). Thwaites, Pl. zeyl.
p. 301. Bot. Mag. t. 5701. The Garden, XXII. (1882), ¢. 351. Gard. Chron.
XVIII. (1882), p. 500. Pachystoma speciosum, Rehb. in Bonpl. III. (1855), p. 250.
Discovered in the early part of the present century by McRae, on the
mountains in the south of Ceylon, where it is ‘not uncommon amongst
long grass on exposed slopes, at an elevation of 4,000—5,000 feet.”
It was introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew, in 1866, by Mr.
Thwaites, at that time Director of the Botanic Garden at Peradenia.
Cultural Note.-—The cultural treatment of Ipsea speciosa is the same
as that of the Pleiones (see postea), but with the average temperature
somewhat higher.
* Hi bene adjunctum videtur Pachystoma Thom sonianum. Gen, Plant. III. p. 511. See als
Jour, Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 304.
o>
SPATHOGLOTTIS.
SPATHOGLOEP®TIS.
Blume Bijdr. p. 400 (1825). Benth. et Hook, Gen. Plant. III. p. 511 (1883).
Closely allied to the two preceding genera, and separated from them
chiefly on account of the column not being produced at the base, 1s
Spathoglottis, including about ten species inhabiting southern China,
India, the Malay Archipelago, and some of the islands of the Pacific
Ocean. They are terrestrial orchids, with mono-diphyllous pseudo-
bulbs, elongated prominently veined leaves, and racemose scapes borne
on the rhizome distinct from the pseudo-bulbs. Several of the species
have been in cultivation during the past half century, but like other
tropical terrestrial orchids, most of them have failed to find fayour with
amateurs, with the exception of Spathoglottis aurea and the recently
introduced S. Vieillardi. The other three species described in the
following pages are still occasionally met with in collections.
The generic name Spathoglottis is derived from o7a@m (spathe),
“a spathe,’ originally the name given to the large bract enclosing
the inflorescence of the Palm; and yAwsooa (glossa or glotta), “the
tongue,” in orchidology the labellum or lip.
Cultural Note.—The native localities of the species indicate the approxi-
mate temperature in which they should be cultivated; thus, Spathoglottis
aurea and S. Lobbii, occurring within the equatorial zone, should be grown in
the East India house, S. Vieillardi and S. Petri, although both tropical
species, grow wild on mountains at a considerable elevation, whence a some-
what lower or intermediate temperature is sufficient for them ; S. Fortune?,
from Hongkong, may also be associated with them. On account of the
terrestrial habit of the Spathoglots, it is usual, as in the case of the
Pleiones, to mix a small quantity of leaf-mould or loam and a little silver
sand with the compost of peat and chopped sphagnum in which they are
potted, a drainage of clean crocks being allowed in proportion to the depth
of the pots or pans used. The watering must be regulated according to
the season, freely given when the plants are in active growth, diminished
and even withheld for a time when at rest during the winter season.
Spathoglottis aurea.
Leaves plaited, ligulate-lanceolate, acuminate, 30—40 inches long.
Scapes erect, as long as or longer than the leaves, purplish below,
green along the rachis, many-flowered. Bracts numerous, spathulate,
concave. Flowers 3 inches in diameter; sepals elliptic-oblong obtuse,
bright canary-yellow, keeled and streaked with dull orange-red behind ;
petals generally larger than the sepals, obovate-oblong, but sometimes
SPATHOGLOTTIS. i
similar and equal to them, bright canary-yellow on both sides; lip
shorter and smaller than the other segments, three-lobed, the side lobes
oblong, roundish and dilated at the apex, incurved, bright yellow
densely spotted with red on the basal half; front lobe fleshy, linear
spathulate, obtuse, with two broad subulate auricles at the base, bright
yellow spotted with red. Crest bi-lamellate, the lamelle divergent.
Spathoglottis aurea, Lindl. in Jour. of Hort. Soc. Lond. 1850, p. 34. Rchb. in
Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1888), p. 92, icon. xyl. 8S. Kimballiana, Hort. Sander.
Introduced by us in 1849 from Mount Ophir in Malacca, where
it was detected by Thomas Lobb growing near Nepenthes sanguinea
and Rhododendron jasminiflorum. Only a very few plants reached
England alive, and these gradually died out after flowering one or
two seasons. Nothing more was seen or heard of it in a living
state till 1886, when it was sold at Stevens’ Rooms by its importers,
Messrs. Sander and Co., of St. Albans, who had received it from
their collector Forstermann.
Spathoglottis aurea is a plant of considerable interest both to botanists
and to horticulturists; its large spoon-like cauline bracts are peculiar
to it and strongly mark its specific character, while its flowers are
the largest and most handsomely coloured in the genus.
S. Fortunei.
Leaves form a tuberous rhizome, usually in pairs, linear-lanceolate,
9—15 inches long. Scapes shorter than the leaves, slender, pubescent,
bearing a terminal 5—9 flowered lax raceme. Flowers yellow with
the side lobes of the lip streaked and spotted with red; sepals oval-
oblong; petals broader, oval; lateral lobes of lip oblong, erect; middle
lobe obcordate, emarginate; crest consisting of two divergent fleshy lobes,
and a central raised line reaching nearly to the apex of the lip.
Column winged, triquetral above, concave below.
Spathoglottis Fortunei, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1845, t. 19. Benth. Fl. Hongkong,
p- 355. Pachystoma Fortunei, Rchb. Walp. Ann. VI. p. 464 (1861).
First sent by Fortune in 1844 from Hongkong to the Horti-
cultural Society of London, in whose garden at Chiswick it flowered
in January in the following year. It is abundant in the island,
and it has been also gathered in China on the mountains adjacent
to the coast opposite Hongkong.
S. Lobbii.
Pseudo-bulbs of irregular form, compressed, Leaves broadly lanceolate,
acute, 7—10 nerved. Scapes slender, 18—24 inches high, pale green
and pubescent below, purplish above, 4—6 flowered, Flowers 1$—2
8 SPATHOGLOTTIS.
inches across, bright yellow with some lines of red spots on the lateral
sepals and at the base of the lip; sepals and petals similar, oval-
oblong, acute; lip three-lobed, the side lobes linear-oblong erect, the
intermediate lobe obcordate, emarginate, contracted below to a narrow
claw on which is a bi-lamellate callus. Column arched, broad at apex.
Spathoglottis Lobbii, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 455 (1861). Id. in Gard.
Chron. V. (1876), p. 5384. The Garden, XXII. (1882), t. 351.
A native of Labuan, in Borneo, where it grows in red sandy
earth on the cliffs below the Civil Hospital Flat, its roots being
protected by grass and other herbage, but otherwise exposed to a
tropical sun.* It also occurs on the slopes of the mountains of
Sarawak at 1,200—1,500 feet elevation. It was originally detected
by the collector whose name it bears, but who failed to send hving
specimens to Hurope; it seems to have been first introduced by
Messrs. Rollisson about the year 1875.
S. Petri.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-globose, 14 inches in diameter. Leaves narrowly
lanceolate, acuminate, 12—18 inches long. Scapes a little longer than
the leaves, 9—12 flowered. Flowers 14 inches in diameter, pale rosy
lilac on purplish pedicels, at the base of which is a small ovate
deciduous bract ; sepals ovate-oblong; petals broader, sub-orbicular, apicu-
late ; lip shorter than the other segments, distinctly three-lobed, the side
lobes oblong, incurved, purple on the inner side; front lobe transversly
oblong, apiculate; callus heart-shaped, yellow spotted with red. Column
sub-clavate, bent, purplish lilac.
Spathoglottis Petri, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. VIII. (1877), p. 392. Bot. Mag.
t. 6354.
Discovered by Mr. Peter Veitch in the Feejee Islands, in 1876, and
sent by him to our Chelsea nursery, where it flowered for the first
time in the followmg year. ‘The deciduous bracts are a marked
characteristic of this species, as these organs are persistent in the
other species even long after the ripening of the fruit.t
S. Vieillardi.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 25 inches long. Leaves large for the genus,
30—40 inches long, lanceolate, acuminate, plicate and closely ribbed,
cuneate below, and passing into a short petiole, but sometimes. sessile.
Scapes erect, 18—24 inches high, racemose above, many flowered, the
flowers expanding in succession from below upwards, five to ten being
* F. W. B. in The Garden, XXII. (1882), p. 188.
+ Bot. Mag. sub. t. 6354.
SPATHOGLOTTIS. 9
in perfection at one time; pedicels (including ovary), 2—2% inches long,
pale purple, at the base of which is a conspicuous oval, acute, concave,
cream-coloured bract. Flowers 2 inches across; sepals and petals white,
the sepals elliptic-oblong, acute, concave, keeled behind, the petals similar
but larger, slightly undulate, not keeled; lip three-lobed, the side lobes
oblong-obtuse, turned upwards and inwards, pale red-brown; the middle
lobe obcordate, emarginate with a long linear claw at the base of
which is a large, bilobate, bright yellow callus, below which are two
depressed whitish lobules dotted with red. Column clavate, arched,
terete above, white sometimes tinted with rose.
Spathoglottis Vieillardi, Rchb. in Linnea, XLI. p, 85 (1877). Bot. Mag. t. 7018.
S. Augustorum, Rechb. in Lindenia, I. t. 25 (1886). Gard. Chron. XXV. (1886),
p- 335.
First discovered by MacGillivray, naturalist to Captain Denham’s
voyage to the Pacific Ocean, in 1853, in the Isle of Pines, one of
the New Caledonian group of islands, and subsequently gathered in
New Caledonia by the French botanist whose name it commemorates,
and from whose specimens it was described by the late Professor
Reichenbach in the serial quoted above.* It was introduced into
Kuropean gardens by MM. Auguste Linden and Auguste de Ronne
in 1885—86, while collecting plants for the Compagnie Continentale
d’Horticulture de Gand from the Sunda Isles (?) it is said, but a
locality so vaguely stated is misleading, and from its remoteness
from New Caledonia, the known habitat of the species, its presence
there was hardly to be anticipated. From the published account of
one of these travellers in the Gardeners’ Chronicle loc. cit., we
gather that the plant occurs on a mountain, at an elevation of
1,200—1,300 feet at the bottom of a gully surrounded with rocks,
where it occupies shaded and damp retreats.
Bot. Mag. sub. t. 7013.
10 PHAIUS.
SOUB-TRIBE, BETTE AS
Stems usually pseudo-bulbous at the base; leaves large and folded
with prominent longitudinal nerves. Inflorescence (with few exceptions)
on separate leafless scapes.
jada bUllUiey
Lour. Fl. Coch. Ch. II. p. 529 (1790). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 512 (1888).
Phajus, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 126 (1831).
A genus of robust sub-terrestrial orchids, including about twenty
species that are spread over tropical Asia, parts of Africa, Mada-
gascar, Australia, some of the islands of th Pacific Ocean, the
Malay Archipelago, and extending northwards into China and Japan,
occurring generally in low-lying swampy places, but in a few cases
at a considerable elevation, often in shade, but sometimes fully
exposed to the sun’s rays. Mr. Bentham, following the Dutch
botanist Blume, has adopted four sectional divisions of the genus,
of which two only include species of horticultural interest, viz.,
the true Phaii (Genuini) and Thunia. The last named section was
raised to generic rank by Reichenbach, on account of the totally
different habit of the included species, the different form of the
inflorescence, and some structural differences observable in the
flowers, notably the fringed lamelle of the lip. As the Thunias
require a cultural treatment very different from Phaius, they must
necessarily be regarded as horticulturally distinct; we have there-
fore followed Reichenbach in keeping Thunia separate from Phaius.
The essential characters of Phaius are:—Leaves ample, 4—6 in
number from a thickened rhizome or pseudo-bulb; scapes racemose,
tall, leafless, many sheathed; sepals and petals free, similar and sub-
equal ; labellum spurred at the base. Column wingless, pollinia eight,
in two bundles of four each.
The name Phaius (gatoc) is the Greek word for swarthy, in
reference tc the prevailing yellow-brown tints of the flowers.
Cultural Note.-—The plants should be re-potted in the spring when
commencing their new growth in a compost of fibrous loam, and
a small quantity of rough peat and chopped sphagnum. Drainage to
about one-half the depth of the pot should be secured by means of
broken crocks. Liberal and frequent waterings must be given during
the season of active growth, and occasionally a little weak manure
PHAIUS. 11
water may be used, but during the season of rest only sufficient
water should be given to keep the compost moist. The temperature
of the intermediate house is sufficient, that is to say, a range of about
13°—20° C. (55°—70° F.) by fire heat, according to the season of
the year. The plants should not be exposed to direct sunlight during
the summer months; it is not unusual to place them in a_ shady
position in the East India house during active growth, or even in an
ordinary stove. All the species of Phaius described below usually
flower in March and April, with the exception of Phaius tuberculosus,
which generally flowers earlier.
Phaius grandifolius.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate, as large as a large hyacinth bulb, and sheathed
by the imbricating bases of the fallen leaves. Leaves 4—6, oblong-
lanceolate, acute, petiolate, 30—40 inches long. Scapes stout, 3—4 feet
high, terminating in a 12—18 flowered raceme. Flowers 3—4 inches
across; sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, acute, distinctly nerved,
yellow-brown on the inner side, silvery white behind; lip broadly
obovate, convolute into a tube to three-fourths of its length, whitish
without, pale yellow-brown bordered with rose-purple on the inner side ;
anterior part open, rose-purple bordered with white; disk yellow
streaked with red-purple; spur short, curved.
Phaius grandifolius, Lour. Fl. Coch. Ch. II. p. 529 (1790). Bot. Reg. 1839,
mise. 40. Hook. Cent. Orch. t. 37. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VII. t. 7388.
Benth. Fl. austral. VI. p. 304. P. australis, P. leucopheus, P. Carronii, F. Muel,
Bletia Tankervillee. R. Br. in Hort. Kew, ed. 2, vol. V. p. 205. Bot. Mag. t. 1924.
Limodorum Tankervillie, Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. I. vol. III. p. 302, t. 12. And
many others.
var.—Blumei.
Sepals and petals oblong, acute, broader than in the type, deep
buff-yellow faintly mottled with red.*
P. grandifolius Blumei, supra. P. Blumei, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 127. Blume,
Orch. Ind. Archipel. t. 1. Regel’s Gartenjfl. 1865, t. 464.
One of the earliest tropical orchids introduced into British gardens,
it having been brought from China about the year 1778 by Dr.
John Fothergill; it is also a native of the hot valleys of the
lower Himalayan zone, Cochin China, and various parts of eastern
Australia, especially in the neighbourhood of Moreton Bay, whence
it was sent to the Royal Gardens at Kew, by Allan Cunningham,
* The above is the only character we find in Phaius Blumei in cultivation, by which it
may be distinguished from P, grandifoliws. Moreover we have had forms in our houses so
nearly intermediate between these, that they might with equal propriety be referred to either.
An Australian representative of the variety, figured in the Botanical Magazine, t. 6032, under
the name of P. Blumei Bernaysii, has primrose-yellow flowers, but it is of little value
as a horticultural plant on account of the flowers being often self-fertilising before’ they
expand, and thence lasting but a short time in perfection.
12 PHAIUS.
in 1824. Over so extensive a region the plant is observed to vary
somewhat in habit and the flowers considerably in colour; it has
received many names in consequence. The form known as Phaius
Blumei, first detected on Mount Salak, in Java, by the botanist
whose name it bears, is now regarded as a variety of the common
type, from which it differs only in the character described above.
P. grandifolius was introduced to Jamaica by Hinton Hast in 1787,
where it has become thoroughly naturalised, and is now found growing
freely in the bush, and sometimes even in the forest, on the hills
at 2,000—4,000 feet elevation.* P. grandifolius is one of those
useful orchids that may be cultivated in any ordinary stove or
intermediate house, and when in flower it may even be used for
the decoration of apartments from which frost is carefully excluded.
Its flowering season is from February to April.
P. Humblotii.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-globose, about 12 inches in diameter, with 2—3
rings where the leaves have fallen. Leaves broadly lanceolate,
acuminate, plicate, 15—20 or more inches long, narrowed below into
channelled and winged foot-stalks. | Scapes as long as, or longer
than, the leaves, racemose, 7—10 or more flowered. Flowers 2 inches
in diameter; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, broadly obovate-
elliptic, light rose-purple suffused with white; lip broadly panduriform
with crisped and undulate margin, the basal lobes notched at the edge,
reddish brown passing into crimson at the margin; the anterior lobe
rose-purple with a whitish centre, on which are two large bright yellow
teeth pointing inwards. Column slender, bent like a _ swan’s_ neck,
terete and greenish above, grooved below the small stigmatic cavity.
Phaius Humblotii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), p. 812. Id. XXVI.
(1886), p. 294. Id. 173 icon. xyl. Sander’s Reichenbachia, I. t. 17.
Introduced by M. Leon Humblot, a French naturalist and traveller,
who had discovered it during an excursion into the interior of
Madagascar, in 1879—80. He sent at the same time the beautiful
Phaius tuberculosus, so that to M. Humblot is due the merit of
adding to the orchid collections of Hurope two of the most remark-
able species of the genus yet known.
P. maculatus.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, ovoid, 4—5 inches long, and 2—2+ inches
thick, produced at the apex into a leafy stem 15—20 inches long,
* D, Morris in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885), p. 140. We have since had it offered to us
by an amateur collector of orchids in Jamaica.
Phaius Hunpblotii.
(Drawn at Tring Park, the seat of the Right Hon. Lord Rothschild.)
Phaius tuberculosus.
(Drawn in the garden of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., at Burford Lodge, Dorking.)
PHAIUS, 13
bearing 5—7 oblong-lanceolate leaves as long as the stem, and spotted
with pale yellow. Scapes 2—3 feet high, racemose along the distal
half, many flowered. Flowers 3 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
oval-oblong, buff-yellow; lip shorter than the other segments, convolute
into a tube, pale buff-yellow, the anterior margin bent downwards,
much crisped, and of a chocolate-red colour; spur oblong-obtuse.
Phaius maculatus, Lindl. Gen. et. Sp. Orch. p. 127 (1831). Bot Mag. t. 3960.
Hook. Cent. Orch. t. 40. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VITT. t. 381. Bletia Woodfordii, Bot.
Mag. t. 2719, Blume, Orch. Ind. Archipel. p. 9.
Native of various parts of the lower Himalayan zone, where it
occurs in swampy places. It was one of the numerous discoveries
of Dr. Wallich, in the early part of the present century, and who sent
it to Kew about the year 1822. Its spotted leaves generally distinguish
it from all the cultivated species of Phaius, but instances have been
observed in which the spots are absent.
P. philippinensis.
Pseudo-bulbs like the rhizome of an Iris, 14—2 inches long, cylindric,
with 5—6 rings when the sheaths have fallen. Leaves, two from each
growth, lanceolate, acuminate, plicate, 9—15 inches long, narrowed below
into a channelled petiole half as long as the blade. Scapes as long as
or longer than the leaves, terete with equidistant joints, at each of which
is a tubular spathaceous sheath, and terminating in a few-flowered raceme.
Flowers leathery in texture, not fully expanding; sepals and_ petals
oblanceolate-oblong, sub-acute, reddish brown, passing into light yellow
at the margin, white outside ; lip trumpet-shaped with a truncate mouth,
the margin recurved, more or less frilled, white with a faint tinge of pink
when first expanded, changing with age to pale yellow; spur obsolete,
disk with three keels, of which the outside two are the shortest and most
elevated. Column clavate, with broad rounded wings.
Phaius philippinensis, N. E. Brown in Gard. Chron. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 239.
Detected by our collector, David Burke, on the slopes of the hills,
at 3,000—4,000 feet elevation, in the Island of Mindanao, and thence
interesting as being the first species of Phaius found in the Philippine
Islands. It flowered for the first time in our Chelsea nursery in
August, 1889. As a species it is remarkably distinct, especially in the
structure of the labellum, which is neither three-lobed nor spurred,
but “has a nearly truncate mouth with a slightly frilled, recurved
margin, the emarginate apex is not in the least produced.”
P. tuberculosus.
Pseudo-bulbs fusiform, annulate, prostrate or slightly ascending, 2—3
inches long. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 10—15 inches long.
14. PHAIUS.
Scapes erect, 12—18 or more inches high, sheathed by a whitish bract at
7 flowered raceme, Flowers 2—2$
each jomt and terminating in a 5
inches in diameter ; sepals and petals white, elliptic-oblong, acuminate, with
a depressed line above, slightly carinate beneath ; lip three-lobed, the side
lobes large, sub-orbicular, meeting above the column and forming a wide-
mouthed funnel, orange yellow much spotted with red-purple and studded
with white hispid hairs; middle lobe sub-quadrate, emarginate, with a
crisped edge and deep yellow callus on the disk consisting of three broad
denticulate ridges, white blotched with rose ; below the callus is a dense tuft
of sulphur-yellow hairs. Column clavate, arched, white above, purplish
in front.
Phaius tuberculosus, Blume, Mus. Bot. Il. p. 181 (1856), Rchb. in Gard. Chron.
XY. (1881), p. 423. Williams’ Orch. Alb. II. t. 91. The Garden, XXVT. (1884),
t. 449. Limodorum tuberculosum, Thouars, Orch. Iles d’Afr. t. 35. Bletia tubercu-
losa, Spreng. Syst. Pl. IIL. p. 744 (1826). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 123 (1831).
The most striking of all the species of Phaius. The flowers are
not only of remarkable beauty, but also of singular structure and
very difficult to describe. Although so recently introduced to British
gardens, it was known as an herbarium specimen, in the early part
of the present century, to the French naturalist Dupetit Thouars,
and to the German botanist Sprengel, and through them the species
,became known to Dr. Lindley, who, following Sprengel, described it
in his Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants under the name of
Bletia tuberculosa. Blume subsequently referred it to Phaius, the
correctness of which has since been confirmed by its hybridising with
the Indian species, Phaius Wallichiit. The plants at present in cultivation
were collected in Madagascar by the brothers Humblot, and through
them introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co., in 1880. P. tuberculosus
flowered for the first time in this country in the collection of
Sir Trevor Lawrence, at Burford Lodge, in the spring of the following
“year.
Cultural Note.—Considerable difficulty has been experienced in growing
and flowering this most interesting orchid, and much disappointment has
ensued therefrom. One of the most successful instances that has come
under our notice is that of the plants in the collection of Mr. A. Sullem,
at Lawrie Park, Sydenham, where they receive the following treatment :—
“The pots in which they are cultivated are large enough to allow the
roots to spread freely in all directions; they are first filled to two-thirds
of their depth with broken crocks and charcoal, then a layer of peat ;
on this the plants are placed, and around the stems the pots are filled to
the brim with living sphagnum. By this arrangement the plants are in
the same condition as they would be if growing on the surface of
a bog (and this is probably their natural position); they can also be
PHAIUS. TS
freely watered, with rain water when possible, without getting sodden.
They are placed in a shady corner of the Phalenopsis house, where the
temperature ranges from 18—21° C. (65—70° F.), and where they get
plenty of air; the sphagnum and compost are kept moist all the year
round, and the leaves are generally sponged over once a week to keep off
the thrips that sorely affect this plant.”*
We may add that Phaius tuberculosus is also successfully cultivated
in the Orchid collections of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Baron Schroeder and
other amateurs, also in Mr. Wilson’s garden at Weybridge. It has
been found to thrive in a shaded stove under treatment similar to that
described above,
P. Wallichii.
Pseudo-bulbs angulate, 3—6 inches high, di-triphyllous. Leaves elliptie-
oblong, acute, nearly a yard long. Scape 3—4 feet high, bearing along
its upper part a raceme of 15—20 large and showy flowers spirally
arranged round the rachis, Sepals and petals linear lanceolate, 25 inches
long, tawny brown, sometimes margined with yellow, whitish behind ; lip
broadly oval, convolute over the column, the basal half orange-yellow
with a pale purple stain on each side; distal half reflexed at the apex,
white with a yellow disk traversed longitudinally by 4—5 red lines,
margin erose; spur yellow. Column pale yellow.
Phaius Wallichii, Lindl. Wall. Pl. Asiat. II. p. 46, var. t. 158 (1831). Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 126. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VI. p.193. Bot. Mag. t. 7023. P. Mannii, Hort.
var.—bicolor.
Pseudo-bulbs smaller and knobby like the rhizome of some species of
Iris. Flowers smaller and differently coloured, especially the labellum,
the spur and tube of which is tawny yellow, the front lobe white
bordered with rose.
P. Wallichii bicolor, supra. P. bicolor, Lind. Gen.et Sp. Orch. p. 128 (1831). Id. Sert.
Orch. t. 23. Bot. Mag.t. 4078. Thwaites, Enum. Pl. zeyl. p. 300.
Widely distributed throughout the lower Himalayan zone, inhabiting
hot and damp valleys from Nepal eastwards to Assam and thence
spreading southwards into Burmah. It was introduced to Chatsworth,
in 1837, by Gibson, from the Khasia Hills, where “it luxuriates
beneath a densely umbrageous covering of trees on such portions of
rock as are partially covered with vegetable soil.”
The variety, long cultivated as a species under the name of Phaius
bicolor, is a native of Ceylon, on the hills near Peradenia, at 2,000—4,000
feet elevation, where there is an annual rainfall of 100 inches. It
was communicated to Dr. Lindley and probably to the Royal Gardens
at Kew, by McRae, in 1836, or the following year.
* Gard. Chron. XXI (1884), p. 520,
16 PHAIUS.
HYBRID PHAIUS.
The only hybrid between species of Phaius that has flowered up
to the present time is that described below, which was obtained
by Mr. Norman C. Cookson, of Wylam-on-Tyne. Previous to its
appearance the hybridisation of Phaius by hand had, so far as we
are aware, been exclusively confined to our own nursery, and even
there the operations were on a very limited scale, and undertaken
with the sole object of obtaining bi-generic hybrids between Phaius
grandifolius and Calanthe vestita or one of its varieties. Many years ago
Dominy raised P. irroratus, Rchb. (Phaio-calanthe irrorata, Rolfe) from
P. grandifolius x Calanthe vestita, var. Turneri nivalis, which flowered
for the first time in 1867; and Seden subsequently obtained from P,
grandifolius X Calanthe vestita, var. rubro-oculata, another form, described
below as Phaio-calanthe irrorata, var. purpurea, The last-named hybridist
has also obtained a progeny of stronger constitution and with hand-
somer flowers from P. grandifolius X Calanthe Veitchii, itself a hybrid,
so that three species of two distinct genera have participated in its
parentage. In all three cases the number of seedlings raised was
extremely restricted. It is an interesting fact that these crosses have
been effected between an evergreen and a deciduous species, and
although their vegetative organs show, as might be expected, some
intermediate characters, the evergreen element greatly preponderates,
and the habit of all of them is much that of a Phaius. The flowers,
too, have the triangular outline as seen in P. grandifolius, P.
Wallichii, etc., to which they are also but little inferior in size.
‘he sepals and petals are spreading, lanceolate, sub-equal and nerved
nearly as in those species. ‘The lip, also, is much more that of a
Phaius than of a Calanthe, but it is more deeply lobed and has a
more slender spur. The column has derived its most obvious characters
from both genera, being clavate and stoutish as m Phaius, but winged
below as in Calanthe; the pollinia are eight, the number common
to both genera.
Phaius Cooksonii.
P. Wallichii x P. tuberculosus.
Pseudo-bulbs nearly as in Phaius Wallichii. Leaves intermediate
between those of the two parents. Scapes shorter than the leaves,
five or more flowered. Flowers as large as those of P. Wallichit ;
sepals and petals light rose tinted with yellow-brown along the middle,
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THUNIA. 174
the sepals lanceolate, the petals shorter, oval-oblong, acute; lip convo-
lute into a broad-mouthed funnel, with a crisped margin that is
reflexed at the apex; basal half yellow, which is prolonged to the apex,
the lateral areas of the apical half rose spotted with carmine-purple.
Phaius Cooksonii, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. VII. s. 3 (1890), p. 388, fig. 57.
A very interesting hybrid with handsome flowers, of which the
sepals and petals are nearly as in the seed parent Phaius Wallichit,
while in the lp the influence of the pollen parent, P. tuberculosus,
greatly preponderates.
Phaiocalanthe irrorata.
Flowers 24 inches in diameter; sepals and petals cream-white with
a slight tinge of green at the base and of pale rose towards the apex ;
lip red-purple margimed with white, and with a large yellow disk
traversed by three white longitudinal raised lines. Column white.
Phaiocalanthe irrorata, Rolfe in Jour. Linn. Soe. XXIV. (1887), p. 168. Phaius
irroratus, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1867, p. 264. FV. Mag. 1869, t. 426.
var.—purpurea.
Flowers as large as the preceding; sepals and petals pure white;
lip red-purple striated, margin white, disk orange-yellow traversed by
three white lines.
P. irrorata purpurea, supra. Phaius irroratus purpureus, Rchb. in lit.
As distinguished from Phaiocalanthe irrorata, the sepals and petals
are of a purer white, the lip somewhat larger and more deeply lobed,
its colour is richer, and the white margin broader.
P. Sedeniana.
Scapes stoutish, 2—3 feet high, bearing a 10—15 flowered raceme
above. Flowers 2—3 inches in diameter; sepals and petals cream-
white tinted with pale yellow and flushed with light rose colour at
the base; lip distinctly three-lobed, the side lobes convolute over the
column, yellowish with a broad rose-purple border, front lobe bilobate,
white with a broad rose-purple border; disk with three raised median
lines.
Phaiocalanthe Sedeniana, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 186. Phaius
Sedenianus, Rchb. in Gard Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 174.
TEED NEA:
ichb. in Bot. Zeit. (1852), p. 764. Hook. f. Bot. Mag. sub. t. 5694.
As distinguished from Phaius, Thunia has no pseudo-bulbs, but
jointed, biennial stems slightly nodose, and invested with leafy
sheaths below that gradually pass upwards into true leaves, The
c
18 THUNIA.
inflorescence is terminal and borne on the young leafy stems; the
bracts are persistent.
The flowers are in drooping racemes of five to seven or more; the
pedicels are short and enclosed at first in large sheathing spathes; the
lip is traversed by 5—7 fringed lamelle, the spur is short and obtuse,
and the column has two small wings at the apex. The pollinia are
four, but bipartite or equivalent to eight.
The three forms described below are horticulturally distinct, but
scarcely specificaliy so; they usually flower from May to July. The
genus is named after Count von Thun Hohenstein, of Tetschin, in
Bohemia.
Cultural Note-—The plants should be re-potted about the middle of
March in a compost of fibrous loam, silver sand, rough peat, and chopped
sphagnum; the pots should be half filled with broken crocks for drainage,
and the remaining space up to the brim with the compost, into
which one or more stems may be placed according to the size of
the pots used, and held firmly in their places by means of sticks ;
but they should not be crowded, as the Thunias root freely.
The plants should then be placed in the lightest position in the East
India or Dendrobium house, where they should remain till the flower
buds appear. Water should be given sparingly at first, but when the
young shoots push above the surface of the compost, it should be given
more copiously, and occasionally a little manure water may be applied
with advantage; the supply should be continued till the flowers are past,
and even afterwards an occasional watering should be given so long as
the leaves keep green, When these begin to change colour, the plants
should then be allowed to enter upon their annual period of rest, and
be stowed away in any light and dry place where the temperature does
not sink below 10° C. (50° F.) and water entirely withheld.
The Thunias are among the very few tropical orchids that admit of
being readily propagated. This is usually effected by cutting the previous
year’s shoots into lengths of about 6 inches each, and inserting them
firmly in pots filled with drainage crocks and compost in the same
proportion as for rooted plants. This operation should be performed
in May or not later than June.
Thunia alba.
Stems 24—31 feet long. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 6—8
inches long, light green, glaucous beneath, and with a pale mid-nerve.
Flowers in racemes of 5—9 or more on short white pedicels, sheathed
by a large, white, boat-shaped bract; sepals and petals similar, white,
oblong-lanceolate, acute; lip oval, oblong, with fringed anterior margin,
white, with five fringed lamelle on the disk that are sometimes purple,
THUNIA. 19
sometimes citron-yellow and with some purple streaks on each side of
them. Column short, slender, semi-terete, winged at the apex.
Thunia alba, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 764. Phaius albus, Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 128 (1881). Bot. Reg. 1838, t. 33. Bot. Mag. t. 3991. Paxt. Mag. Bot. V.
t. 125. Hook. Cent. Orch. t. 39.
sub-vars.—Dodgsonti (Fl. Mag. n. s. 1878, t. 329), syn. flavotineta (Gard.
Chron. XX. 1883, p. 334), front part of the lip citron-yellow, streaked
with purple; nivalis, lip pure white like the other segments.
Originally discovered by Dr. Wallich, growing on trees on one
of the lower spurs of the Nepalese Himalayas, and subsequently
gathered by one of the collectors for the Botanic Garden at Calcutta,
in Sylhet, from which locality it was introduced by Messrs. Loddiges,
about the year 1836. It was collected in the same locality in the
following year for the Duke of Devonshire by Gibson, who found
it growing upon trees in the shady damp forest at 2,000—3,000 feet
elevation.* It is widely distributed through the lower Himalayan
zone, and thence southwards over the eastern peninsula to the plains
of Lower Burmah, Moulmein, etc., where it is quite common.,t
T. Bensonie.
Stems, leaves, and inflorescence as in Thunia alba. Flowers 3—4
inches across; sepals and petals amethyst-purple, paler, almost white at
the base; the basal part of the lip whitish with entire edge, the distal
part amethyst-purple with denticulate edge, and traversed longitudinally
by numerous yellow fringed lines, five of which are prolonged to the
base of the lip; spur notched. Column white, stained with purple.
Thunia Bensonize, Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 5694 (1868). Williams’ Orch. Alb. II.
t. 67. Phaius Bensonie, Hemsley, in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 565.
Discovered by Colonel Benson in the neighbourhood of Rangoon,
in 1866, and also on the mountains of Moulmein and Arracan, at
1,500—2,500 feet elevation, where the average yearly temperature is
about 27° C. (80° F.), and the annual rainfall often reaches 200
inches, but where from December to February the country around is
charred and scorched by the intense heat that prevails at that season.
It flowered for the first time in this country in the Royal Gardens
at Kew, and in our Chelsea nursery in July, 1867.
Thunia Bensonie differs from T. alba in having larger flowers of
_ ™ For the temperature and other climatic phenomena of the lower Himalayan zone, see
introductory notes to Dendrobium.
+ Col. Benson in Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 796.
+ Colonel Benson in Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 796, who also states that there is a yellow
yariety, probably Thunia Marshalliana,
20) THUNTA.
a different colour, in which the middle lobe of the lip is longer in
proportion to the entire length of that organ, and more oblong, and
the column wings toothed.
T. Marshalliana.
Stems, leaves, and inflorescence as in the two preceding, except that
the stems are usually more robust and taller; sepals and petals white,
as is the basal half of the lip, the distal half is yellow, and the
fringed lines orange-yellow. Compared with Thunia alba and T. Ben-
sonie the lip is shorter, the hairs forming the fringe of the lamelle
longer and more numerous; the column is shorter and stouter, with
the apical wings more dilated.
Thunia Marshalliana, Rchb. in Linnea XII. (1877), p. 65. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1882,
t. 1098. Williams’ Orch. Alb. ITT. t. 130.
sub-var.—ionophlebia.
Central area of lip pale yellow, the side areas white streaked with
purple,
T. Marshalliana ionophlebia, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XXIV. (1885), p. 70,
We find no record of the habitat of this plant beyond the meagre
statement that it is a native of Moulmein, where it may be assumed
to grow under the same climatic conditions as Thunia Bensonie.
HYBRID THUNEA:
Up to the present time, the hybrid described below is the only
one raised by hand, and this, curiously enough, was obtained by
two operators from Thunia Marshalliana X T. Bensonic, first by
the late Mr. Toll of Manchester, and shortly afterwards by Seden
in our Chelsea nursery. Plants in flower from both progenies were
exhibited simultaneously at one of the Royal Botanic Society’s shows
in 1855—Mr. 'loll’s under the name of YT. Wrigleyana, in compliment
to Mr. E. G. Wrigley, of Howick House, Preston, and our own as
T. Veitchiana; but as the materials for description were supplied
to the late Professor Reichenbach from the Chelsea seedling, our
name has priority of publication.
Thunia Veitchiana.
Sepals and petals white with a flush of mauve-purple towards their
tip; side lobes of lp white, intermediate lobe rose-purple with the
fringed raised lines orange-yellow.
Thunia Veitchiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XXIII, (1885), p. 818. T. Wrigleyana,
Hort.
BLETIA. Dil
BLETIA.
Ruiz et Pav. Prod. 119, t. 26 (1794). Benth. et. Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 513 (1883).
A genus of terrestrial orchids, including about twenty species, for
the most part natives of tropical America, some of the most showy
of which have been occasionally introduced to British gardens, but
where they are now scarcely ever seen, except in botanical collec-
tions. The Bletia most generally cultivated at the present time is
the first described below; an outlying member of the genus from
China and Japan, and which has been but doubtfully referred to it,
but which, with the addition of some American species, now forms
the section Brerinta of Bentham. To this we have added descrip-
tions of three species of Bentham’s section Husinria, derived from
the Botanical Magazine, two of which were in cultivation in the
early part of the present century, and have been occasionally re-
introduced since. Bletia was founded by the Spanish botanists,
Ruiz and Pavon, on B. catenulata, a Peruvian species allied to B.
Sherrattiana, very rarely seen in cultivation, and dedicated by them
to their countryman, Don Luis Blet, an herbalist and apothecary.
The general characters of the genus will be easily understood from
the description of the species given below.
Cultural Note.—The Bletias, like Thunia, Pleione, and some of the
Calanthes, are deciduous plants, and have alternate seasons of rest and
active growth. The pseudo-bulbs should be re-potted as soon as they
show signs of starting into growth, in a compost of loam and _leaf-
mould, giving a drainage of broken crocks to about 2 inches in depth,
the pseudo-bulbs being simply covered with the soil, not pressed into
it. While growing, the plants should be fully exposed to the light,
placed in the Cattleya or intermediate house, and freely supplied with
water. Bletia hyacinthina is a half-hardy species, and may be cultivated
in a greenhouse. When the flowering is past, and the foliage begins
to change colour, water must be gradually withheld and the plants kept
dormant until the following spring.
Bletia hyacinthina.
Pseudo-bulbs tuberiform. Stems 6—9 inches high, furnished with
3—5 lanceolate acute plaited leaves. Peduncles termial, slender,
6—10 flowered. Flowers on short purplish twisted pedicels, not fully
expanding; sepals and petals similar, oblanceolate-oblong, acute, ame-
thyst-purple; lip three-lobed, the side lobes roundish oblong, convolute
over the column,* and coloured like the sepals and petals, the middle
“In the true Bletias the side lobes of the lip never enfold the column so distinctly as
they do in this species.
bo
bo
BLETIA.
lobe spreading, sub-quadrate with denticulate margin, and traversed
longitudinally by five raised lines that extend to the base of the lip,
deep purple. Column semi-terete with two narrow wings, purple above,
whitish below.
Bletia hyacinthina, R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew; ed. 2, vol. V. p. 206 (1810—13).
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 120. Blume, Orch. Arch. Ind. t. 6, fig. 1. Regel’s
Gartenfl. XIII. t. 527 (var. albo-stricta). The Garden, XVI. (1879), t. 205.
Bletiila stricta, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1878, p. 75. Bletia Gebina, Bot. Reg. 1847, t.
60. Cymbidium hyacinthinum, Bot. Mag. t. 1492. And many others.
First introduced from China in 1803, by Mr. Evans, of the Hast
India House; it also occurs wild in various parts of Kiusiu
and Nippon in Japan. It is a somewhat variable plant, both in
its foliage and in the colour of its flowers. Among the most
noteworthy forms that have been in cultivation are :—albo-striata,
which has the leaves elegantly striped with white, and was intro-
duced by Siebold from Japan. Gebina, introduced by Messrs.
Loddiges and figured and described by Lindley as a distinct species,
has nearly white flowers with a faint tinge of blush. Another form
in Sir Trevor Lawrence’s collection at Burford Lodge, not specially
named, has deep amethyst-purple flowers.
B. Shepherdii.
Pseudo-bulbs roundish, about 2 inches in diameter. Leaves broadly
lanceolate, tapering at both extremities, 15—20 inches long, deciduous,
Scapes longer than the leaves, branched, many flowered. Flowers 14
inches in diameter, of a uniform deep purple with the lamelle of the
lip white; sepals oblong, acute; petals broader, undulate; lip broadly
cuneate, the front lobe strongly undulated, the disk with 5—7 wavy
lamelle. Pollinia eight.
Bletia Shepherdii, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3319 (1834). Paxt. Mag. Bot. II. p. 146.
Introduced by the Messrs. Shepherd, of Liverpool, in the early
part of the present century from Jamaica, of which island it is a
native. It is the richest coloured Bletia known to us; it is still
occasionally seen in cultivation.
B. Sherrattiana.
‘“Pseudo-bulbs flattened, about 2 inches across. Leaves three or four,
plicate, acuminate at either end, raised upon an upright stalk, includ-
ing which they are nearly a yard long. Flowers of delicate texture,
a dozen or more in a somewhat dense terminal raceme, bright rose
colour; sepals oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, ; petals twice as broad, rounded ;
lip longer than the petals, deeply three lobed, the lateral lobes rounded,
spreading, larger than the intermediate one, which is kidney shaped,
CHYSIS. 23
emarginate and apiculate; three parallel yellow lamelle traverse the
entire length of the axis of the lip. Column clavate, arched.”—Bate-
man in Botanical Magazine, t. 5646.
Imported from New Granada in 1864 by Messrs. Low and Co.
It flowered in Mr. Bateman’s collection at Knypersley in 1867, and
is named after Sherratt, his gardener at that time. It is described
as one of the handsomest of Bletias, and coming from a country
whose orchid wealth has been repeatedly explored, it is a remark-
able fact that nothing appears to have been seen or heard of it
since its first introduction; the mention of it in this place may
tend to preserve it from oblivion.
B. verecunda.
* Pseudo-bulbs roundish, depressed, marked with rings, the scars of
former years’ leaves. Leaves ensiform, much acuminated, 2—3_ feet
long. Scapes 4—5 feet high, purplish below, green and_ branched
above, many flowered. Sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, ovate,
acuminate, of a uniform light rose colour, the lateral sepals keeled
behind; lip longer than the petals, three-lobed, the lateral lobes curved
upwards, purplish rose, yellow at the base streaked with purple lines,
the middle lobe dilated and much cupped, deep purple; disk with fine
yellow longitudinal lamelle,”’—Botanical Magazine.
Bletia verecunda, R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. II. vol. V. p. 206 (1810—13).
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 121. Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 140, icon. xyl.
B. acutipetala, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3217. Helleborine Americana, Martyn. Limo-
dorum altum, Linn. L. verecundum, Salisb. L. tuberosum, Jacq. Cymbidium
verecundum, Sw. And many others.
Widely distributed over the West India Islands, it is also found
in Florida and Mexico. Mr. Hemsley observes that “this orchid was
cultivated by Collinson, or rather by Wager, in 1731, from bulbs
received by the former as part of a dried specimen, and this is
probably the earliest record of the cultivation of an exotic orchid
in Great Britain.’’*
CHYSIS.
Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1837, t. 1937, and 1841, t. 23. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 514
(1883).
Although totally distinct in habit and aspect from the four
preceding genera, Chysis nevertheless possesses the same essential
sub-tribal characters.
* Gard, Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 681.
D4. CHYSIS.
As a genus, it is easily distinguished by its fleshy fusiform stems that
are densely leafy upwards, and thickening after the leaves have fallen ;
by its short racemes of fleshy flowers produced from the axis of
the young growths and in which the lateral sepals are adnate to the foot
of the column; the lateral lobes of the lip are erect, and the two-
winged column is produced at the base into a foot. Moreover, the
pollinia are eight, four in each chamber (loculus); the capsule is
nearly as large as that of a Cattleya of the /abiata group, but instead
of six acute ribs, there are three obtuse ribs alternating with three broad
thick plates, beneath which dehiscence takes place when the fruit is mature.
The forms here described are those in cultivation; in addition to
them, two or three others are known to science, but not yet in-
troduced into gardens. They are all natives of Mexico and New
Granada.
The genus was founded by Lindley upon Chysis uwrea, one of
the few orchids that have the power of self-fertilisation, and which in
this case almost always takes place just before the flowers expand,
and hence if the flower be examined after expansion, the pollinia
are found to be more or less fused together. From this circum-
stance Chysis (yvovc, ‘ melting”) was selected for the generic name,
although it is almost certain that Lindley was not aware of the
cause of the fusion of the pollinia when he gave the name, as
may be gathered from the laboured description of their appearance
in the Botanical Register under plate 1937.*
Cultural Note.—Chysis may be cultivated either in pots or in teak
baskets; the former filled with drainage to two-thirds of their depth
are most commonly used. The compost should consist of equal parts
of fibrous peat and sphagnum, and the plants should be grown in shade
in a temperature ranging from 15—20° C. (60—70° F.) by fire heat
according to the season of the year. Water must be supplied liberally
during the growing season, but when the plants are at rest they require
only a quantity sufficient to prevent the stems from shrivelling; the
plants may then be removed to a cooler and drier position either in
the same or in another house.
Chysis aurea.
Stems fusiform, 6—9 inches long, attenuated at the base into a foot-
stalk and bearing at the apex 4—6 broadly lanceolate, acuminate leaves
“ Nor, perhaps, was Mr. Bentham, who asks, ‘‘ Lindley pollinia superiora cum massa
materie viscidule semifusa descripsit, an in flore imperfecto vel montroso? In floribus
specierum 2 a nobis examinatis, pollinia vidimus omnia 8 perfecto distincte, etsi in uno
flore valde inequalia,
CHYSIS. 95
10—15 inches long. Scapes stoutish, a little longer than the stems,
5—7 or more flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
oval-oblong, yellowish red, pale yellow at the base; lip three-lobed, the
lateral lobes incurved, also pale yellow, middle lobe roundish, crisped,
downy, spotted red and yellow, and with five white raised lines on
the disk. Column broad, terete and pale yellow above, concave, and
spotted with red beneath.
Chysis aurea, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1937 (1837). Bot. Mag. t. 3617. Van Houtte’s
Fl. des Serres, t. 671 (copied from the Bot. Mag.).
var.—maculata.
Stems longer and more slender than in the Venezuelian and Mexican
types, and the flowers differently coloured; sepals and petals white at
the base, the remaining area tawny yellow toned with purple; side lobes
of lip yellow with a brown-purple stain at the base, middle lobe purple
with pale markings.
C. aurea maculata, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4576.
Discovered by Henchman in 134, in the valley of Cumancoa
(Cumano?), in Venezuela, “ growing suspended by long fibrous roots
from the lateral branches of trees, so that its pseudo-bulbs, which
in their growing state are uncommonly brittle, hang downwards and
wave in the wind, which would otherwise be sufficient to break them.”
It was shortly afterwards introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., of
Clapton, through its discoverer. We have since received it from the
neighbourhood of Cordova, in Mexico, with Chysis bractescens.
Chysis aurea flowers in April and May, but it is not unusual for
its flower scapes to appear at other times of the year; owing to its
power of self-fertilisation, the flowers last but a short time after
expansion. ‘The variety maculata first appeared among an importation
of Columbian orchids that was offered for sale at Stevens’ Rooms,
in 1850; it has since been recently re-imported by Messrs.
Shuttleworth and Co., of Park Road, Clapham.
C. bractescens.
Stems, leaves, and inflorescence as in Chysis aurea, but somewhat
more robust. Flowers 3 inches in diameter, on short stout pedicels
(including ovary), sheathed by a large foliaceous bract; sepals and
petals ivory-white, the former oblong, the latter obovate-oblong ; lateral
lobes of lip oblong, incurved, white on the outside, yellow streaked
with red on the inner side; middle lobe sub-quadrate with a shallow
sinus in the anterior margin, yellow streaked and stained with red;
26 CHYSIS.
on the basal half of the lip are five slightly divergent fleshy ridges.
Column white above, yellow beneath.
Chysis bractescens, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 131. Jd. 1841, t. 23. Bot.
Mag. t. 5186. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VII, t. 675. Illus. hort. 2nd ser.
t. 398. Sander’s Reichenbachia I. t. 18.
Introduced from Mexico by Mr. Barker, of Birmingham, in whose
stoves it flowered for the first time in 1840. It has since been
frequently received from Cordova, in the province of Vera Cruz, and
from Tabasco, where it grows under similar conditions and in the
same way as Chysis aurea. Its flowering season is March and April.
The large bracts and cream-white flowers chiefly distinguish this
species from all the others in cultivation.
C. levis. .
Stems club-shaped, 12—18 inches long. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acumi-
nate, spreading, shorter than the stems. Racemes 9—12 flowered ; flowers
2} inches in diameter. Sepals oblong, the dorsal one inflexed, the
lateral two falcate and spreading, tawny yellow tinged with brown at
the base; petals similar but paler in colour; lip three-lobed, the side
lobes folding over the column, pale yellow streaked with red on the
inner side, the middle lobe sub-orbicular with crisped margin, bright
yellow with five white raised lines on the disk that are confluent towards
the base. Column pale yellow spotted with red on the side facing
the lip.
Chysis levis, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1840, mise. 130. Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 31.
Illus. hort. t. 365 (1863). Warner’s Sel. Orch. IT. t. 14.
Introduced from Mexico about the same time as the preceding, by
Mr. Barker, in whose collection at Springfield, near Birmingham, it
flowered for the first time in 1840. It is distinguished from Chysis
aurea by its longer stems furnished with more leaves, by its larger
flowers with a differently-formed lip which is not downy, and by
its flowering later in the year.
C. Limminghei.
Stems, leaves, and inflorescence as in Chysis aurea, but somewhat smaller
in all their parts. Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
oval-oblong, white, the sepals with a pale and the petals with a bright
purple apical blotch; side lobes of lip ineurved towards the column,
reddish purple and yellow on the inner side, pale buff-yellow externally ;
middle lobe oval-oblong, emarginate, bright purple, streaked with white.
Column cymbiform, white above, yellow spotted with red on the side
opposite the lip.
Chysis Limminghei, Lind. et Rchb. in Otto et Diet. Allg. Gart. Zeit. 1858. Zilus.
hort. 1860, t. 240. Warner’s Sel. Orch JI. t. 34. C. aurea, var. Limminghei, Bot.
Mag. t. 5265 (Lemminghei), Hemsley, Biolog, Cent. Amer. ITI. p. 216.
q ? _
Se = .
\
\
\
CHYSIS. oF
Introduced in 1857 by M. Linden, through Ghiesbreght, who
discovered it in the Mexican province of Tabasco. It is dedicated
to Comte Alfred de Limminghe, a Belgian nobleman who was a liberal
patron of horticulture in his time. With the exception of the colour
of the flowers, which far surpass those of Chysis aurea in beauty,
there is but very little to distinguish the C. Limminghei described
above from that species, although the late Professor Reichenbach
maintained that the C. Limminghei of himself and Linden is a good
species distinguishable in the dark by the touch from C. aurea.*
HYBRID CHYSIS.
The scarcely specific difference that subsists between at least three
of the forms described above, renders cross-fertilisation among them
comparatively easy, except that it is scarcely possible to make Chysis
aurea the seed parent on account of its power of self-fertilisation
before its flowers expand, a phenomenon not observed in any other
Chysis. Although capsules and seeds are obtainable without difficulty,
the raising of seedlings is not thereby attended with any less trouble
than in the case of other genera, nor can much variety be expected
from so limited a field of operations as Chysis offers to the hybridist.
The two hybrids described below were both raised by Seden at our
nursery; both are distinct and highly appreciated by amateurs.
Chysis Chelsoni.
C. bractescens x C. levis.
Sepals and petals pale tawny yellow at the base and with a large
reddish fawn blotch at the apex; basal half of lip coloured like the
basal parts of the other segments; apical half yellow spotted with
red, the raised lines white spotted with purple. Column pale yellow
spotted with red on the under side.
Chysis Chelsoni, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. (1874), p. 5385. #7. Mag. N.S. t. 297.
OC. Sedeni.
C. Limminghet X C. bractescens,
Sepals French-white; petals purer white with a large light rose-purple
blotch near the apex; side lobes of lip sulphur-yellow with some purple
streaks at the base on the inner side; intermediate lobe amethyst-purple
streaked with white. Column white on the upper, pale yellow spotted
with purple on the lower side,
Chysis Sedeni, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIII. (1880), p. 616.
* Walp. Ann. VI. p. 472. ‘‘Species me judice optima Chysis Limminghet ipsa luce deficiente,
noctu facillime nonnisi tactu a C. aurea distingui potest. Hujus labellum apice crispolobatum,
illius apice planum,”’ but we have not observed the difference here noted in any of the plants
seen by us in cultivation.
28 TRICHOSMA.
SOB-TRIBE CCiLOGY WN Ee
Stems usually pseudo-bulbous, diphyllous or many-leaved. Peduneles
one-flowered or racemose. Column produced at the base into a foot or
footless. Pollinia 4; in Trichosma, 8.
TRICHOSMA.
Lindl, Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 21. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 518 (1883).
This includes the single species described below, which was at first
referred by Lindley to Ccelogyne, but from which it is separated
chiefly by its stems being not thickened into a pseudo-bulb and by
its pollinia being eight instead of four. He therefore raised it to
generic rank under the name by which it is now generally known,
but afterwards, followmg Reichenbach, he referred it to Hria, but
here again, as pointed out by Bentham, ‘‘the habit, the strictly
terminal raceme, and the laterally compressed pollen-masses are those
of Ca@Locynex rather than of Erima.”’* On these grounds, therefore,
Trichosrma is retained. The name is compounded of Op1é, rpryoc
(thrix, trichos), ‘hair,’ and Kkoopo¢ (kosmos), ‘ornament,’ in
reference to the fringed lamelle of the lip.
Trichosma suavis.
Stems tufted, about as thick as a goose quill, 6 inches long, with a
few sheathing scales at the base and two opposite oblong-lanceolate recurved
leaves at the apex. Racemes from between the leaves 3—5 or more
flowered. Flowers fragrant, about an inch in diameter; sepals and
petals similar and sub-equal, oblong-lanceolate, cream-white ; lip three-
lobed, the side-lobes erect, white, streaked on the inner side with red-
purple, the middle lobe oblong, acute, reflexed, with five crisped bright
yellow lamelle, the margin on either side being white and brown-purple.
Column produced at the base into a foot, to which the lip is articulated
and the sepals adnate, there forming a mentum or chin, as in Dendrobium,
Trichosma suavis, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 21. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IIT. t. 114.
Ccelogyne coronaria, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1841, misc. No. 178. ria coronaria, Rehb. in
Walp. Ann. VI. p. 271 (1861). Id. in Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 234. . suavis,
Lindl. in Jour. Linn. Soe. III. p. 52. E. eylindripoda, Griff.
Discovered by Gibson in the Chirra district of the Khasia Hills, in
1836, growing upon trees in densely-shaded woods near the summit
of the hills ; it flowered for the first time in this country at Chatsworth,
* Jour. Linn, Soc, XVIII. p. 307.
C@LOGYNE. 29
in 1841; its usual flowering season is the winter months. It has been
frequently imported since its first discovery, and there are few orchid
collections of any pretensions in which it is not represented, and where
its fragrant flowers render it peculiarly acceptable at a season when
comparatively few other orchids are in bloom. It is slightly variable,
the deviations from the original type being chiefly in the size of the
flowers and in the colour and markings of the lip.
Cultural Note.-—The treatment of ‘‘cool” orchids, as formulated under
Odontoglossum, is that which is most suitable for Trichosma. If grown
in the Cattleya house, the coolest and shadiest position must be selected
for it.
CaLLOGYNE.
Lindl. Collect. Bot. sub. t. 33 (1821—25). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p, 38 (1831). Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 518.
This is a noble genus including many species of great horticultural
merit, some of which (including Pleione) are in flower in every
month of the year. About fifty named species are known to science,
as well as others that yet remain unnamed and undescribed, widely
dispersed over the Indo-Malayan region, one (Cwlogyne fimbriata)
spreading into southern China. The Ccelogynes are particularly abun-
dant in the valleys of the lower Himalayan zone, especially in Sikkim
and eastern Nepal, up to about 7,000 feet elevation, but C. (Pleione)
Wallichti and UC. Hookeriana ascend as high as 10,000 feet. ‘On the
ascent from Darjeeling the straight shafts of many of the timber
trees are literally clothed with a continuous garment of white-
flowered Ccelogynes which bloom in a profuse manner, whitening
their trunks lke snow.”* ‘hey are scarcely less common in some
parts of the Malay Archipelago, where they occur in moist shady
places on rocks and trees by the side of streams, and also on the
hill sides, not infrequently at considerable elevation; these Malayan
species belong chiefly to the sub-section Flaccidir, and have mostly
dull whitish brown or greenish white flowers.
The genus as monographed by Dr. Lindley in his Folia Orchidacea
is divided by him into three sections, which are adopted by Mr. Bentham
in the Genera Plantarum nearly as Lindley left them. The first
section, Neocynz, includes but one species, Cwlogyne Gardeneriana,
* Hooker, Him. Jour. I. p. 110.
30 CEHLOGYNE.
which for horticultural purposes may be associated with Eucm1ocynr
(the true Ccelogynes). Not so, however, Pieione, Lindley’s third
section, which differs from Eucanocyne in the one- sometimes two-
flowered peduncle, but more especially in the vegetative organs, the
clustered pseudo-bulbs and leaves that are deciduous, and in some other
characteristics which necessitate for them a cultural treatment quite
different from that of the true Ccelogynes. We therefore find it
advisable to separate the Pleiones from Ccelogyne, regarding the
former as a sub-genus of the latter.
The section Kucw._ocynr was divided by Lindley into sub-sections
that are founded chiefly on differences observable in the inflorescence.
Of these, Hrecte (Normales, Bentham), with few-flowered, erect racemes,
and Flaccide, with many-flowered, drooping racemes, are natural and
distinct; while Fliferw, including species with narrow petals, and
Prolifere, having hard, imbricating scales immediately below the
flowers, are somewhat artificial divisions, and may be neglected by
cultivators. A fifth sub-section, with erect flexuose racemes, includes
two or three Malayan species unknown in cultivation. Of the Hrecte,
Celogyne ocellata is a good representative type, and of the Flaccide,
QO. flaccida is the type, and C. cristata, C. Massangeana and C. Dayana
are well-known favourites.
The following characters are common to nearly all the species
referred to HucmLoayne :—
The pseudo-bulbs are seated on a scaly rhizome, at longer or shorter
intervals ; they are usually of ovoid form, but sometimes elongated and
angulate, and are persistent several years. They bear at their apex two
leaves that are sometimes of large size with long foot-stalks and folded
(plicate) blades, and are persistent two or more years,
The ¢nflorescence is loosely racemose, the scapes as well as the pedicels
and ovaries of the flowers are enclosed in sheathing pale brown bracts ;
these, both cauline and floral, are usually very large, the latter often
falling before the flowers.
The flowers are either large or of medium size, of which the sepals
and petals are nearly similar and sub-equal; in the sub-section Filifere,
the petals are very narrow; the lip is sessile at the base of the column
which it embraces, and is traversed longitudinally either a part or the
whole of its length by 2—5 or more fringed or sinuous raised lines,
The elongated column is winged on both sides, the wings being gradually
dilated upwards. The pollinia are four.
The genus Coslogyne was founded by Dr, Lindley, in 1825, on
C@LOGYNE, 3]
the well-known Celogyne cristata, which had been discovered by
Dr. Wallich, in Nepal, the year before. The name is derived from
KowAoe (koilos), ‘‘ hollow,” and yuyn (guné), “a female,” in reference
to the depression of the stigma.
Cultural Note.-—The compost used for the true Coelogynes is the usual
mixture of fibrous peat and chopped sphagnum in equal proportions.
The species belonging to the sub-section Hrecte are best grown in pots
with efficient drainage; those belonging to the sub-section Flaccide,
on account of their long pendulous scapes are best placed in teak
baskets or shallow pans that can be suspended near the roof-glass of
the house in which they are cultivated. The re-potting of the plants
should be performed early in the year when they begin to emit new
roots. As regards temperature and watering, the geographical station
of the species and its climatic conditions afford the safest guide to
practice; thus, those species from elevated localities on the mountain
sides, such as Celogyne barbata, C. cristata, C. elata, C. Gardneriana,
etc., require a lower average temperature, such as is maintained in the
Cattleya house, than those from the hot damp lowlands in the equatorial
zone as C. asperata, C. Cumingti, C. Dayana, C. pandurata, ete., which
should be grown in the East Indian house, but always in partial shade,
The supply of water also should be regulated according to the same
conditions and the season of the year, taking care that the compost is,
at no time, allowed to get quite dry. For the temperature and_ rain-
fall of the equatorial zone and Indo-Malayan region in general, the
reader should refer to the notes on the subject under Dendrobium.
Coelogyne asperata.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, angulate, 5—6 or more inches long, Leaves
lanceolate, acute, 20—30 inches long. Racemes pendulous, 12—15 inches
long, issuing from a sheath composed of 6—8 distichous and alternate,
imbricating leafy bracts, 7—10 flowered. Flowers 24—3 inches across;
sepals lanceolate, keeled; petals similar but narrower, both sepals and
petals of a uniform cream-white; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong-
obtuse, white, streaked with red-brown on the imner side; the inter-
mediate lobe sub-rotund, crisped at the margin; disk with 2—3 unequal
warty ridges, orange-red with a central raised line between them that
is prolonged to the base, the marginal area pale yellow streaked with
red-brown, Column clavate, triquetral, pale straw-yellow with a rounded
auricle on each side of the rostellum.
Ccelogyne asperata, Lindl. in Jour. Hort. Soc. Lond. IV. p. 221 (1849). Id. Fol.
Orch, Ceelog. No. 6. Linden’s Pesc. t. 8. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 311. C.
Lowii, Paxt. Mag. Bot. XVI. p. 225 (1850).
Introduced from Sarawak, in North Borneo, in 1849, by Messrs.
Low and Co., whence the species became associated with the name
839 C@HLOGYNE.
of the firm. It is widely distributed over the Malay Archipelago
from Sumatra to New Guinea, growing in the hot damp lowlands
near the coast, and in proximity to streams, attached chiefly to the
overhanging branches of large trees, and always in partial shade.
It is one of the commonest epiphytes yet met with on the coast
of eastern New Guinea.
C. barbata.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-pyriform, bluntly angulate, 14—-2 inches long. Leaves
broadly lanceolate, 12—18 inches long, narrowed below into a short
petiole. Peduncles erect, nearly as long as the leaves, terminating in a
6—9 flowered raceme, below which are a number of hard imbricating
Ceelogyne barbata.
scaly bracts. Flowers 24—3 inches in diameter; sepals and petals white,
the former ovate-oblong, acute, the latter linear lanceolate; lip inflated at
the base, three-lobed, the side lobes oblong with the anterior margin
fimbriate, white externally, pale brown on the inner side; middle lobe
oblong, reflexed, fimbriate, blackish brown with three raised lines fringed
with shaggy blackish hairs. Column white.
Ceelogyne barbata, Griffith Notule ad Plant. asiat. III. t. 291 (1851). Lindl.
Fol. Orch. Ccelog. No. 21 (1854). Williams’ Orch. Alb, IT], t, 148,
CELOGYNE. 33
First discovered by Griffith in Bhotan, and afterwards by Gibson
and Thomas Lobb, on the Khasia Hills, near Mamloo, at 4,000—5,000
feet elevation, and also by Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr. Thomson at
Churra Punjee. It does not appear to have been introduced alive
till 1878—9, when it was imported by Mr. William Bull. With
Celogyne elata and four or five other species, with small greenish
flowers that are of no horticultural merit, it forms a sub-section
of the genus, characterised by the presence of a number of hard
imbricated scales immediately below the raceme, and named_ by
Lindley Proliferw, by reason of ‘a second scaly sheath, being often
(perhaps always) produced beyond the first series of flowers, and
out of that sheath arises a second series of flowers.’ The dusky
brown anterior lobe of the lip and the clear white sepals and petals
present one of the most remarkable colour contrasts ever seen, even
among the Orchideew. UC. barbata usually flowers in the late autumn.
C. corrugata.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-conic, 2}—3 inches long, angulate and much wrinkled
when old. Leaves 6—12 inches long, the shorter ones elliptic-oblong,
sub-acuminate, the longest oblong-lanceolate. Peduncles erect, shorter
than the leaves, 3—5 flowered. Flowers 2—2% inches across vertically,
with a brown oblong-acute bract sheathing each pedicel; sepals and petals
similar and sub-equal, elliptic-oblong, acute, keeled behind, French-
white; lip shorter than the other segments, the side lobes oblong,
yellow striped with red on the inner side, the middle lobe ovate,
acuminate, white with a yellow disk traversed by three fringed white
lamellze that reach to the base of the lip.
Ceelogyne corrugata, Wight, Icon. pl. ind. or t. 1639 (1852). Lindl. Fol. Orch.
Ceelog. No. 15 (1853). Bot. Mag. t. 5601.
A species well distinguished by its curiously wrinkled pseudo-bulbs,
first gathered by Dr. Wight about the year 1845 on the Neil-
gherry Hills in the neighbourhood of Courtallum, Southern India,
flowering in August and September, and where it was subsequently
found by Thomas Lobb, but who failed to send home living plants.
It was first cultivated in England in the Royal Gardens at Kew
in 1863, but it is still very rare in British collections.
C. corymbosa.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 13—2 inches long, ribbed with a_ transverse
keel a little above the middle. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 6—8
inches long. Racemes from the young growths before the leaves have
Pp
34 CHLOGYNE.
expanded, 3—5 flowered. Flowers 2—3 inches in diameter; sepals
and petals cream-white, the former lanceolate-ligulate, the latter linear-
lanceolate, all keeled behind; side lobes of lip angulate, toothed at the
apex, white with red-brown nerves and markings, and a yellow spot
bordered with orange-red at the anterior margin; the middle lobe ovate-
lanceolate, acute, entire, white with a transverse yellow bar near the
base. Column clavate, arched, white above, yellow below, wings rather
broad at the apex.
Ccelogyne corymbosa, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 16 (1854). Rchb. in Gard.
Chron. VI. (1876), p. 8. Id. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 73, icon. xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 6955.
First detected by Sir J. D. Hooker in 1849 on the Sikkim
Himalayas, at 5,000—8,000 feet elevation, and shortly afterwards by
the same eminent botanist in company with Dr. Thomson on the
Khasia Hills. It was not introduced till 1876, when it was
imported by Mr. William Bull, of Chelsea. Ccelogyne corymbosa is very
near OC. ocellata, from which it may be distinguished by its
differently shaped pseudo-bulbs, and its fewer flowered racemes of
larger flowers with a longer and more acute lip; it flowers in
the spring months, when its delicate and fragrant blossoms are
among the most attractive objects in the orchid house.
C. cristata.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, obscurely angulate, 15—-2 inches long, produced
from a scaly rhizome at intervals of 1—2 inches. Leaves linear-lanceolate,
acute, 8--12 inches long. Racemes drooping, as long as, or longer than the
leaves, 5—9 flowered. Flowers among the largest in the genus, on whitish
pedicels sheathed by reddish brown acute bracts, pure white except the
orange-yellow disk and lamelle of the lp; sepals and petals similar and
equal, lanceolate-oblong, acute, much undulated ; lip oval, three-lobed, the
side lobes incurved, roundish oblong, the intermediate one spreading,
transversely oval with the front margin denticulate. Column winged.
Ceelogyne cristata, Lindl. Collect. Bot. sub. t. 33 (1821—25). Id. Gen. et. Sp. Orch.
p. 39 (1831). Id. Bot. Reg. 1841, t. 57. Id. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 20 (1854).
Regel’s Gartenfl. VIII. t. 245. lLinden’s Pesce. t. 25. Warner’s Sel. Orch. J. t.
35. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, t. 1807 (1867—8). Jennings’ Orch. t. 7. Gard.
Chron. VIII (1877), p. 597, icon. xyl. Id. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 489, icon. xyl.
sub-vars.—Arnigadh (Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 462), sepals
and petals plain, not crisped, keels of the lip orange-yellow ; Chatsworth,
flowers larger, more regular in form, and appearing later in the season ;
hololeuca (Rchb. Gard. Chron. XX. (1881), p. 563), syn. alba (Williams’
Orch. Alb. II. t. 54), pseudo-bulbs more distantly placed on the rhizome,
flowers wholly white; Lemoniana, syn. citrina (Godefroy’s Orchidophile,
1888, p. 212), disk and fringed lamellae of the lip citron (not orange)
yellow ; intermedia, intermediate between the type and Lemoniana,
with an orange spot at the base of the lip; maxima (Sander’s
hy
iy
\\ SS
Ny WSs
Cologyne cristata.
Wi =< —
Coelogyne cristata (Chatsworth variety).
_ .. (From the Gardeners’ Chronicle 1
CELOGYNE. 35
Reichenbachia, I. t. 6; The Garden XX XI, (1887), t. 585), flowers larger
in all their parts; Trentham, flowers produced six to eight weeks later
than in the other forms.
Celogyne cristata was originally discovered by Dr. Wallich, in
1824, Its native home is in the lower Himalayan zone, at elevations
ranging from 4,500—7,500 feet from Sikkim westwards through
Nepal as far as the 75th meridian, plants which had been collected
at Arnigadh at 5,000 feet elevation having been recently sent to
Kew from the Botanic Garden at Saharunpore;* it is particularly
abundant on the range of hills opposite Cessagurri, in Nepal,
growing indifferently upon trees and upon bare rocks, often in full
exposure to the sun. It was introduced by Gibson, in 1837, but
we find no record of its having flowered in this country till the
spring of 1841, when Mr. Barker, of Springfield, near Birmingham,
received a Knightian Medal for it at one of the meetings of the
Horticultural Society of London, where it attracted marked attention,
and has since by general consent been recognised as the facile
princeps of all Coelogynes. The varieties described above, although
sufficiently distinct for horticultural purposes, differ in little from
the original type, except either in the size of the flower, the
colour of the disk of the lip and its fringes, or in the time of
flowermg; they are therefore more strictly sub-varieties or mere
variations. ‘The Arnigadh variety was sent to Kew by Mr. Duthie,
superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Saharunpore, in January,
1886; the Chatsworth form was brought from India by Gibson, in
1837; hololeuca first appeared a few years ago in the collection
of Mr. T. A. Titley, at Gledhow, near Leeds; Lemoniana first
appeared many years ago in the collection of Sir Charles Lemon,
at Carclew; intermedia is in cultivation at Syon House and
other places; the Trentham form has long been cultivated in the
Duke of Sutherland’s collection at Trentham Hall, in Staffordshire ;
of the origin of maxima we find no record.
Cultural Note.—Celogyne cristata is a plant that may be easily cultivated
in glass structures used for miscellaneous subjects, and as its chaste white
flowers are in general request in winter and early spring, the following
cultural hints may prove acceptable. The temperature of a warm greenhouse
or intermediate house will be sufficient for it, although a summer temperature
of 15°—21° C. (60°—70° F.) is by no means too high; a light shading is
* Gard, Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 462.
85 CHLOGYNE.
only necessary when the sun is powerful; at other times the plants should
receive all the light possible. During the season of active growth, water
should be copiously given, as well as an occasional syringing to keep the
bulbs plump and the foliage clean and healthy. As the season advances
towards autumn, the waterings must be diminished in frequency and
quantity till the plants are quite at rest, when only sufficient must be given
to keep the bulbs from shrinking. For large masses of C. cristata,
square teak baskets are often used, but perforated pans of about 6 inches
in depth are still better; the drainage must be ample and free, and the
compost should consist of equal proportions of fibrous peat and chopped
sphagnum.
C. Cumingii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-conical, compressed, 2—3 inches long. Leaves
lanceolate-acununate, 5—8 inches long, including the lengthened petioles.
Scapes from the axis of the newest growths, sub-erect, sheathed by
yellow-brown bracts, 3—5 flowered. Flowers 2 inches across, French-
white with a citron-yellow disk on the lip; sepals lanceolate, acuminate ;
petals linear-lanceolate ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes roundish, turned
inwards, the middle lobe reflexed, obovate-oblong with minutely den-
ticulate margin, the disk traversed longitudinally by three central
crisped lamelle that are prolonged to the base of the lip, and two
lateral shorter ones, all terminating in front in an orange-red tooth.
Column terete and white above, concave on the under side on which
is a yellow band.
Celogyne Cumingii, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 178. Jd. 1841, t. 29.
Bot. Mag. t. 4645. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VIII. t. 764 (copied from Bot.
Mag.)
Sent by Cuming from Singapore, in 1840, to Messrs. Loddiges, in
whose nursery it flowered for the first time in 1841. It is a
pretty and distinct species, usually flowering in the month of
August, but it is now rarely seen in British collections. We are
indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for materials for description.
C. Dayana.
Pseudo-bulbs cylindric-fusiform, angulate, 5—9 inches long. Leaves
oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 24—-30 inches long. Scapes quite pendulous
24—30 inches long, racemose from the base, many flowered. Bracts sub-
rhomboidal, inflated, as long as the pedicels and ovaries, dusky brown.
Flowers 2—2} inches in diameter ; sepals and petals stellate, pale nankeen-
yellow, linear-ligulate with reflexed margins, the sepals keeled behind,
the petals narrower than the sepals; lateral lobes of lip oblong,
reflexed at the anterior edge, brown streaked with white on the inner
side; middle lobe sub-quadrate, reflexed, apiculate, with a fleshy disk
CELOGYNE. 37
consisting of six white erect keels with brown fringes on the anterior
side, two of which are prolonged to the base of the lip. Column
clavate, slender, arched.*
Celogyne Dayana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 826. Williams’ Orch.
Allo, WA CAT
Introduced by us from North Borneo, through Curtis, and dedi-
cated by Professor Reichenbach, at our request, to the late Mr.
John Day, of Tottenham. It flowered for the first time in this
country at our Chelsea nursery in June, 1884. As a species it is
comparable with Ccelogyne Massangeana as regards its long pendulous
racemes; but in the colour of its flowers, and especially in its
vegetative organs, it is thoroughly distinct. In its native country
it invariably grows upon the branches of large trees in the hot
lowlands near the coast, and on the banks of streams under the same
conditions as the closely allied species CU. asperata and U. pandurata.
C. elata.
Rhizome stout, clothed with pale brown scales. Pseudo-bulbs placed
at intervals of about 2 inches along the rhizome, ovoid, compressed and
bluntly angulate, 3—4 inches long. Leaves stalked, ensiform, acute,
12—18 inches long. Scapes erect, a foot high, with a number of hard,
imbricated, brown bracts immediately below the 7—9 flowered raceme.7
Flowers on short white pedicels, cream-white; sepals broadly lanceolate ;
petals linear oblong; lip obovate, obscurely three-lobed, white with an
orange-yellow blotch, below which are two waved and crisped crests
dotted at the edge with red. Column narrowly winged.
Ccelogyne elata, Lindl. Gen. et. Sp. Orch. p. 40 (1831). Id. Bot. Reg. 1839,
misc. No. 151. Fol. Orch. Coelog. No. 22. Bot. Mag. t. 5001.
First detected by Dr. Wallich in Nepal, and introduced by him
to the garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, where it
flowered for the first time in 1839. It was subsequently found by
Sir J. D. Hooker in Sikkim, at 4,000—6,000. feet elevation, and
by other explorers in other localities. Still later it was observed
by Mr. H. J. Elwes, “growing abundantly at 8,000—9,000 feet
elevation, on the slopes of Tongloo, near Darjeeling; im one case
a fine old yew tree was covered with it.’{ The flowers, which
usually appear in February and March, are among the prettiest of
the genus, but the rambling habit of the plant renders it a some-
what awkward subject for cultivation.
* For woodcut of flower of Celogyne Dayana, see C, Massangeana, infra.
+ As in Cwlogyne barbatu and thence grouped with it under the sub-section Prolifere,
* Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 469.
38 CUSLOGYNE.
C. fimbriata.
Rhizome scaly and much branched, spreading over a_ considerable
space. Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, about the size of a filbert. Leaves
linear-lanceolate, acute, 3—4 inches long, reflexed at the tip. Peduncles
shorter than the leaves, one- rarely two-flowered. Flowers an inch in
diameter; sepals and petals pale dingy yellow, the former lanceolate,
acute, the latter linear, reflexed; lip three-lobed, the side lobes erect,
roundish, pale dingy yellow streaked obliquely with brown on the
inner side, the middle lobe spreading, sub-quadrate with fimbriate
margin, brown with a pale border; lamelle two, fringed, deep brown,
convergent at the apex, Column winged, yellowish.
Ceelogyne fimbriata, Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 868 (1825). Id. 1888, mise. No, 172.
Id. Fol. Orch. Celog. No. 29,
The first Coelogyne received alive in England, it having been
sent from southern China by Mr. J. D. Parks to the Horticultural
Society of London, in whose garden at Chiswick it flowered in
1824. Twenty-five years later it was detected by Sir J. D. Hooker
and Dr. Thomson on the Khasia Hills in N. E. India, at 4,000
feet elevation, the Indian form differmg slightly in colour from the
Chinese type. For materials for description we are indebted to
the Royal Gardens at Kew, where this Cologyne has been in
cultivation for some years past. The individual flowers are inat-
tractive, but being produced freely in October and November, a
large plant in full bloom at that season forms a pleasing object.
C. flaccida.
Psendo-bulbs clustered, ovate-oblong, angulate, 2—3 inches long. Leaves
petiolate, lanceolate, 7—-10 inches long. Racemes slender, pendulous,
8—12 flowered, the rachis and pedicels pale reddish brown. Flowers
1} inches in diameter; sepals and petals cream-white, the former oblong,
acute, keeled behind, the latter linear-oblong; lip broadly ovate, three-
lobed with three elevated, flexuose central lines, the lateral lobes white,
streaked with red-brown on the inner side, the middle lobe acute,
reflexed with a bright yellow blotch on the disk. Column winged, white
above, red-brown beneath,
Ceelogyne flaccida, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 39 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch. Ccelog.
No. 2. Bot. Mag. t. 3818. Bot. Reg. 1841, t. 31.
Discovered at Noakote, in Nepal, by Dr. Wallich, by whom it
was introduced to British gardens about the year 1829. The flowers,
which appear in the spring months, are slightly malodorous.
C. flavida.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, furrowed, 1—14 inch long. Leaves linear-lanceolate,
C@LOGYNE. 39
acuminate, about 6 inches long, petiolate, leathery, deep green. Peduncles
erect, shorter than the leaves, with about six hard imbricating distichous
scales below the 5—7 flowered raceme. Flowers small, primrose-yellow,
the lamelle of the lip bright yellow; sepals ovate; petals linear; side
lobes of lip oblong-obtuse, intermediate lobe oblong, reflexed ; lamelle
two, large for the size of the flower. Column semi-terete, wingless.
Coelogyne flavida, Hook. f. ex. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Celog. No. 24 (1854).
Discovered by Thomas Lobb on the Khasia Hills, and afterwards
by Cathcart on the Sikkim Himalayas. Our description was taken
from a plant recently received at Mentmore from Darjeeling. The
presence of the hard imbricating scales below the raceme indicates
its affinity to Celogyne barbata and OC. elata, to both of which it
is far inferior in a horticultural sense.
C. Foerstermanni.*
“Rhizome as thick as a condors quill, covered with sepia-brown
sheaths. Pseudo-bulbs cylindrate-fusiform, ribbed. Leaves oblong, acute,
petiolate, 15—18 inches long. Peduncles longer than the leaves, sheathed
at the base by numerous bracts, many flowered; floral bracts linear,
apiculate, nearly equal to the stalked ovary. Flowers equal in size to
those of Celogyne Cumingii; sepals and petals lanceolate, white, the
sepals keeled behind; lip white with a yellow-brown stain on the disc,
three-lobed, the side lobes rounded, the intermediate lobe elliptic, acute,
with three derticulate, longitudinal keels.”—Rchb. f. in Gard. Chron,
see (188%), p. 798.
This is said to be of Sundaic (?) origin, and was introduced by
Messrs. Sander and Co. through their collector Foerstermann.
C. fuliginosa.
Rhizome clothed with brown imbricating scales. Pseudo-bulbs sub-
cylindric, angulate, 2—3 inches long, somewhat distantly placed on the
rhizome. Leaves broadly lanceolate, acute, 5—7 inches long. Racemes
shorter than the leaves, 2—3 flowered. Flowers, of which only one is
expanded at one time, 2 inches across; sepals and petals light brownish
white with a faint rosy tint, the former oval-oblong, the latter linear,
reflexed ; lip oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect, coloured
like the sepals and petals, the middle lobe orbicular-oblong, fringed
at the margin, deep red-brown, and furnished with two crisped, deep
brown raised lines with a shallower one between them. Column clavate,
slender, bent.
Ceelogyne fuliginosa, Lindl. in Loddiges’ Catalogue. Bot. Mag. t. 4440 (1849).
Lindl. Fol. Orch. Celog. No, 31 (1854).
Introduced by Loddiges from Northern India, in 1838, ‘Ten
* Not seen by us,
4.0 C@LOGYNE.
years later it was detected by Sir J. D. Hooker in the Sikkim
Himalayas, on rocks in valleys at 5,000 feet elevation, and shortly
afterwards by the same eminent botanist, in company with Dr.
Thomson, near the summits of the Khasia Hills. The flowers vary
in size and colour; the form figured in the Botanical Magazine* had
ochre-yellow flowers of a larger size than those described above,
for which we were indebted to the Royal Gardens at Kew, where
the species has long been in cultivation. Another plant in the Kew
collection bears flowers with a deeper tinge of rose and the brown
of the lip deeper and spread over a larger area. The narrow linear
petals of this species bring it under Lindley’s sub-section [ilifere,
its nearest allies being C. jimbriata and OC. ovalis; the specific name,
Juliginosa, “sooty,” refers to the dusky front lobe of the lip.
C. fuscescens.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-cylindric, 3—4 inches long. Leaves _ oval-oblong,
tapering at both ends, 7—10 inches long. Racemes nodding, shorter
than the leaves, 5—7 flowered. Flowers not fully expanding, 2—24
inches across vertically, of transparent texture, and of a pale orange-
red colour; dorsal sepal- oblong, acute, keeled behind, arching over the
column; lateral sepals lanceolate, acute, and also keeled; petals linear ;
lip oblong, entire, the lateral margins incurved and bordered with red
on the inner side, the apical half reflexed, the basal half traversed by
three red raised plates which contract to thin converging lines towards
the apex. Column clavate, arched.
Ceelogyne fuscescens, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 41 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch.
Ceelog. No. 26. Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 168. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. III.
s. 3 (1888), p. 168.
var.—brunnea.
Lip obscurely lobed, the lateral lobes spotted and margined with brown
on the inner side; the apical lob echestnut-brown, paler towards the
margin, the raised plates deep orange-red.
C. fuscescens brunnea, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 21. Bot. May. t. 5494. C.
brunnea, Lindl. in Gard, Chron. 1848, p. 71. C. assamica, Rchb. Xen. Orch. II.
Dod Lt els4s 9 7553:19-
As in the case of most of the species inhabiting the rich Ceelogyne
districts in Northern India, Cwlogyne fuscescens was also one of the
discoveries of Dr. Wallich, who detected it during his exploration of
* The figure in the Botanical Magazine represents the inflorescence with three expanded
flowers, two of which were probably added by the artist, as we have no evidence of more than
one flower being expanded at one time in this species.
C@LOGYNE. 4]
the Nepalese Himalayas in 1827—8. Twenty years later it was
gathered by Sir J. D. Hooker im Sikkim, and shortly afterwards on
the Khasia Hills at 3,000 feet elevation. We find no record of the
first introduction of the species into British gardens; it was in culti-
vation at the time Dr. Lindley compiled the monograph of the genus
in his Folia Orchidacea, and it has been occasionally imported since,
specimens for identifivation having been received by us from various
correspondents.
The variety brunnea, which is one of the handsomest of Coelogynes,
is stated to have been in cultivation at Syon House in 1844, and
four years later Dr. Lindley mentions (Gard. Chron. 1848, p. 7) it
as being in other collections, but afterwards became lost. It was re-
introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., about the year 1864, from
Moulmein, through the Rev. C. Parish.
C. Gardneriana.
Pseudo-bulbs cylindric-conical, 5—6 inches long, angulate when old.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 15-—20 inches long, including the rather
long petiole. Racemes shorter than the leaves, nodding, many flowered.
Flowers close-set, not expanding, white with a citron-yellow stain on
the lip; the short pedicels and ovaries sheathed by broad, inflated,
slenna-brown bracts; sepals oblong, keeled, saccate at the base; petals
narrower, linear-ligulate; lip narrowly oblong, bi-saccate at the base,
three-lobed, the side lobes rotund in front, the intermediate lobe re-
flexed, bi-dentate at the tip, and traversed by three elevated lines, of
which the outer two are wavy towards the apex.
_ Coelogyne Gardneriana, Lind]. in Wallich’s Pl. asiat. rar. 1. 33. Id. Gen. et
Sp. Orch. p. 41 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 1 (1854). Paxt. Mag. Bot. VI.
p. 73 (1839). Williams’ Orch. Alb. 1V. t. 153.
Originally discovered by Dr. Wallich, and subsequently detected by
Griffith and by Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr. Thomson on the Khasia Hills,
whence it was introduced to Chatsworth in 1857, by Gibson, who
found it “‘ growing upon trees in moist shady woods, and especially
m immediate proximity to a waterfall, by which it is constantly
bedewed with spray.” It flowered for the first time at Chatsworth,
in December, 1838, the season in which it usually sends forth its
graceful pendulous racemes of milk-white flowers in the glass-
houses of Hurope. It seems to have been subsequently lost, for
no record of its beimg in cultivation occurred till about the year
1874, when the late Mr. Freeman collected it with Vanda ccrulea
and other orchids from the Khasia Hills. The gibbous, almost
42 C@LOGYNE.
saccate base of the sepals, bi-saccate lip, and the nearly closed
flowers clearly distinguish this from every other species of
Celogyne, and constitute its sectional characters. It is named in
compliment to Dr. George Gardner, who, during his travels in
Brazil, 18536—41, made known to science for the first time many
hundreds of plants, including some of the finest of the Brazilian
orchids. Dr. Gardner was afterwards appointed Director of the
Botanic Garden at Peradenia, in Ceylon, where he died in 1849
at the early age of 37,
C. graminifolia.
Rhizome scaly, the scales glossy blackish brown. Pseudo-bulbs ovoid,
angulate, 2 inches long. Leaves linear, exceeding a foot in length, complicate
at base, sub-acuminate, leathery, deep green. Scapes 4—6 inches long,
sheathed at the base with hard, imbricating scaly bracts, 2—3 flowered.
Flowers 2 inches in diameter, on pale orange-red pedicels, the ovaries
ribbed and channelled ; sepals and petals milk-white, the sepals oblong-
lanceolate, the lateral two keeled behind; petals linear-lanceolate ; lip
shorter than the other segments, three-lobed, the side lobes oblong,
with roundish angles, erect, white obliquely streaked with sepia-brown
on the inner side; intermediate lobe sub-quadrate, reflexed, bright
yellow bordered with white on the apical side; lamelle 3, of which
the middle one is the shallowest, all terminating in a blackish brown
line in front. Column clavate, arched, pale orange-red.
Celogyne graminifolia, Parish and Rchb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XXX. (1873), p.
146. Bot. Mag. t. 7006. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 168.
Discovered by the Rev. C. Parish, in Moulmein, in 1865—66; it
also presumably occurs in Assam, and other districts in north-east
India, it having been sent to the Royal Gardens at Kew, in 1887,
from Shillong, on the Khasia Hills. It was, however, in cultivation
in British gardens prior to that date, but from what source the
plants were derived we find no record.
C. lentiginosa.
Pseudo-bulbs placed at intervals of }—1 inch on a stout scaly rhizome,
elliptic-oblong, 2—3 inches long, usually four-angled. Leaves oblong-
lanceolate, acute, 6—8 inches long. Peduncles stoutish, erect, sheathed
below with broad, convolute, green scales, loosely racemose above, about
five flowered; bracts linear-oblong, exceeding the ovary. Flowers 1—1$
inches across; sepals and petals straw-yellow, the former elliptic-oblong,
keeled behind, the latter linear-oblong; side lobes of lip rotund, white
bordered and spotted with red-brown on the inner side, the intermediate
C(BLOGYNE. 48
lobe broadly trowel-shaped, reflexed, orange-brown, bordered with white,
and with three crenate keels, of which the middle one is the shortest.
Celogyne lentiginosa, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Coelog. No. 4 (1854). Bot. Mag. t. 5958.
Rehb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XXX. p. 146.
First introduced by us from Moulmein, in 1847, through Thomas
Lobb, and occasionally imported since from the same locality. Dr. Lindley
described the species from dried flowers only, and from their resem-
blance to those of Clogyne flaccida naturally placed it in the same
section, 7.e., FLaccipm, in which the racemes are pendulous; the
peduncles are, however, erect, so that it belongs to the section
KErecrz. ‘Two forms are known distinguished by colour only; that
described above, which we have assumed to be the type and which
has straw-yellow sepals and petals and a bright orange blotch on
the lip, and that figured in the Botanical Magazine, which has green
sepals and petals, and is inferior in beauty to the other form.
C. Massangeana.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-pyriform, angulate, 3—5 inches long. Leaves stalked,
elliptic-lanceolate, variable in size, the largest 15—20 inches long, and
4—6 inches wide at the broadest. Racemes quite pendulous, 18—24
Ccelogyne Dayana. C. Massangeana,
inches long, pale green with black pubescent hairs sparsely distributed
over the rachis, many flowered; bracts hard, boat-shaped, red-brown,
one-third as long as the pedicel and ovary. Flowers 2—3 inches in
diameter; sepals and petals light buff-yellow, the former lanceolate-oblong,
acute, keeled behind, the latter linear-oblong; lip broadly oval in outline,
cordate at the base, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, whitish externally,
4A. C@LOGYNE.
brown obliquely streaked with yellow on the inner side, the middle lobe
quadrate with a fleshy verrucose brown and yellow disk, below which
are three denticulate keels extending to the base of the lip. Column
triquetral, bent.
Celogyne Massangeana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. X. (1878), p. 684. Fl. Mag. N.S.
t. 373. Williams’ Orch. Alb. J. t. 29. Bot. Mag. t. 6979. .
This species was first described by Reichenbach in the Gardeners’
Chronicle for 1878, loc. cit. supra, but it had been in cuitivation in
several French and other continental collections many years prior to
that date, under the name of Celogyne assamica, a name whose
origin we have been unable to trace, but which may have been given
in the belief that it was the species figured and described in
Reichenbach’s Xenia Orchidacea as. C, assamica, a totally different
plant which must be referred to Lindley’s C. fuscescens brunneda.
Although CO. Massangeana is one of the most generally cultivated of
epiphytal orchids, its native country is virtually unknown; it is reported
to be a native of Assam, but the probability is great that it is of
Malayan origin, like its nearest congeners, C. asperata and CO. Dayana.
It is dedicated to M. Massange de Louvrex, of Baillonville, near
Marche, in Belgium, an enthusiastic amateur of orchids. It is one of the
freest growing of Coelogynes, and its long floral racemes, which appear
at almost all seasons of the year, are developed with unusual rapidity.
C. ocellata.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-pyriform, 1}—3 inches long. Leaves narrowly lanceo-
late, acuminate, 7—10 inches long, narrowed towards the base into a
short channelled petiole. Racemes erect, shorter than the leaves; 5 or
more flowered, the bracts lanceolate acute, reddish brown, sheathing,
longer than the ovaries. Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
milk-white, the former oblong, acute, obscurely keeled behind, the latter
linear-oblong ; lip oblong, with entire margin three-lobed, white with
some oblique orange lines on the inner side of the side lobes, also a
yellow spot bordered with red at the apex, and 3—4 smaller ones at
the base of the middle lobe; disk with three wavy keels that extend
to the base of the lip, and a smaller one on each side of them on the
middle lobe. Column slender, white bordered with orange.
Coeelogyne ocellata, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 40 (1831). Id. Bot. Reg.
1839, misc. No. 25. Id. Fol. Orch. Coelog. No. 18. Bot. Mag. t. 8767. ©.
punctulata, Lindl. Collect. Bot. sub. t. 33.
var.—maxima.
Plant larger in all its parts; racemes longer, 6—10 flowered. Flowers
half as large again as in the type.
C, ocellata maxima, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XI. (1879), p. 524. FU. May. Ns. t. 365.
CHLOGYNE. AD
Originally discovered by Dr. Wallich, in’ Sylhet, some time in the
Ceelogyne ocellata maxima (flower nat. size).
third decade of the present century, but not introduced till 1838,
when it was imported with other Indian orchids’ by Messrs.
Ceelogyne ocellata maxima (raceme reduced),
Loddiges, in whose nursery at Hackney it flowered in the following
46 C@LOGYNE,
year. It was subsequently gathered by Thomas Lobb on the Khasia
Hills, and by Sir J. D. Hooker on the Sikkim Himalayas at 7,000
feet elevation. The variety maxima was first brought imto notice
by Mr. B. S. Willams, "of Holloway, in 1879; as seen in the
collection of Baron Schroeder, at The UDell, it is not only far
superior in beauty to the type, but it is one of the most attractive
of orchids. Celogyne ocellata is a variable species; several inter-
mediate forms between the type and the variety maxima, as represented
by Baron Schroeder’s plant, differing only in the size of their flowers,
have been observed in cultivation, and besides these there has
appeared a variety in which the orange spots on the labellum are
absent,* and another in which the spots are sulphur-yellow without
the orange border. +
C. ochracea.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, four-angled above, 1$—2} inches long,
Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute, 6—8 inches long, tapering below into a
slender foot-stalk. Racemes shorter than the leaves, sheathed below by
imbricating scales, 5—7 flowered; bracts lanceolate, longer than the
ovaries, reddish brown, deciduous. Flowers nearly 2 inches in
diameter, fragrant, milk-white, with some orange-yellow blotches and
reddish streaks on the lip; sepals elliptic-oblong; petals linear-lanceolate ;
lip three-lobed, the side lobes erect, rotund, with denticulate margin
in front, the middle lobe ovate-cordate, reflexed; disk with two
toothleted lamelle. Column slender, dilated upwards.
Ceelogyne ochracea, Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1846, t. 69. Id. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No.
11. Bot. Mag. t. 4661.
var.—conferta.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and flowers smaller in all their parts; in other
respects agreeing with the species, except in the shorter - stalked
ovaries. {
C. ochracea conferta, Rchb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XXX. p. 146 (1873), sub-species,
icon. xyl. t. 30. C. conferta, Parish et. Rchb.
First detected by Dr. Griffith in Bhotan and the Khasia Hills,
and introduced by Mr. Brocklehurst, of The Fence, near Maccles-
field, about the year 1846. The variety conferta was first gathered
by the Rev. C. Parish, in Moulmein, whence it has recently been
* Celogyne ocellata Boddaertiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XVIII. (1882), p. 776.
+ This is believed by some to be the Calogyne nitida of Lindley (Fol. Orch. Celog. No.
12), and is in cultivation under that name.
+Forsam propria species, sed characteres ad separandam speciem idonei nulli inpromptu,
nisi forsan ovaria pedicellata adeo brevia, quod tamen et dispositune loci explicari potest.
—Rchb, in Trans. Linn. Soe, loc. cit. supra.
Cologyne pandurata.
(Drawn in the Royal Gardens at Kew.)
C@LOGYNE. 4.7
sparingly imported; it is one of the most attractive of the small
Coelogynes. Ccelogyne ochracea is sometimes confused with C. ocellata,
from which it may be distinguished by its shorter and _ broader
leaves, by its deciduous bracts, and chiefly by the characters of the
labellum, which has but two keels only, and the apical margin
of the side lobes denticulate and not entire, as in C. ocellata.
C. odoratissima.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, furrowed, #—1 inch long. Leaves linear-lanceolate,
acute, 14—3 inches long. Peduneles filiform, as long as the leaves,
usually three flowered ; bracts narrowly lanceolate, longer than the ovaries.
Flowers about an inch in diameter, fragrant, white with a lemon-yellow
blotch on the lip ; sepals elliptic-lanceolate ; petals narrower, nearly linear ;
lip obcordate, three-lobed with three longitudinal keels, Column elongated,
semi-terete.
Celogyne odoratissima, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 41 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch.
Celog. No. 10. Bot. Mag. t. 5462. Thwaites’ Pl. zeyl. p. 300. C. angustifolia,
A. Rich. Ann. Se. Nat. s. 2, XV. t. 6. - Wight, Ic. Pl. Ind. or. t. 1641.
A native of the Neilgherry Hills in southern India, where it was
detected by Dr. Wight, towards the middle of the present century,
growing on the trunks and branches of trees, and flowering throughout
the rainy season from May to October; it also inhabits the Newera
Ellia and other elevated parts of the central province of Ceylon. It
appears to have been first introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew
in 1863. It is a dwarf, tufted plant with fragrant flowers that may
be cultivated in the cool house during the summer months.
C. pandurata.
Pseudo-bulbs from a stout creeping rhizome, oval oblong, compressed,
4 inches long. Leaves cuneate-oblong, 15—20 inches long. Racemes
nearly as long as the leaves, pendulous, many flowered ; bracts cucullate,
deciduous, as long as the pedicels and ovaries. Flowers among the
largest in the genus, 4 inches across; sepals and petals similar and
sub-equal, linear-oblong, acute, keeled behind, pale green; lip sub-panduri-
form, the side lobes erect, yellow-green streaked with black, the middle
lobe crisped and covered with black warty asperities and traversed by
two longitudinal toothed keels.
Ccelogyne pandurata, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1853, p. 791. Id. Fol. Orch. Ccelog,
No. 7. Bot. Mag. t. 5084. Rchb. Xen. Orch. If. p. 80, t. 121. Van Houtte’s
Fil. des Serres, XX. t. 2139 (copied from Bot. Mag.) Williams’ Orch. Alb. IT. t. 63.
Discovered by Sir Hugh Low in 1852, in Sarawak, where it is
not uncommon, always growing in the hottest jungles on the trunks
of trees in the swampy lowlands adjacent to the coast and river banks,
48 C@LOGYNE.
places that are almost inaccessible during the rainy season. Celogyne
panlurata flowered for the first time in this country in Messrs. Loddiges’
nursery at Hackney, in 1853; it is one of the most remarkable of
orchids, the unusual colour of its large flowers rarely failing to
arrest the attention of the beholder.
C. Parishii.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, obscurely four-angled, 4—6 inches long. Leaves
narrowly elliptic-oblong acute. Peduncles from the apex of the pseudo-
bulbs, sheathed at the base by 6—8 imbricating scales, racemose above,
usually five flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, pale yellow-green,
the lip spotted with black; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, keeled behind ;
petals linear-lanceolate ; lip panduriform, the anterior lobe apiculate, with
undulate margin and with five fringed raised lines on the disk, two of
which are prolonged to the base of the lip. Column semi-terete, bent.
Ceelogyne Parishii, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 5323 (1862).
Sent to Messrs. Low and Co. in 1861, from Moulmein, by
Rev. C. Parish. It is a curious and distinct species, having some
resemblance to Celogyne pandurata, but with very differently-shaped
pseudo-bulbs, from the summit of which the inflorescence is produced,
and not from the base as in that species; it differs also from OC. pan-
durata in the size of the flowers and especially in the structure of
the labellum, the anterior lobe of which is shorter and broader in
proportion to the length, and has five fringed keels on the disk in
the place of the warty crest of CU. pandurata.
C. Rossiana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid or sub-pyriform, much furrowed when old, variable
in size in the cultivated plant, the largest 2—3 inches long. Leaves
lanceolate, acuminate, 10—12 inches long, narrowed below into a slender
petiole, coriaceous. Racemes erect, shorter than the leaves, 7—10
flowered. Flowers 14—2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals milk-
white, keeled behind, the former narrowly oblong, acute, the latter
linear; lip broadly oval, obscurely lobed, the erect side lobes red-brown
on the inner side, the front lobe bright yellow, the disk and_ space
between the side lobes white traversed by three longitudinal crenulate
keels. Column clavate, slender, bent.
Ceelogyne Rossiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXII. (1884), p. 808. Rolfe in
Gard. Chron. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 650.
Imported from Burmah in 1884 by Mr. H. J. Ross, of Castagnolo,
near Florence. We are indebted to the Royal Gardens at Kew for
materials for description,
CELOGYNE. 49
C. Sanderiana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 2—3 inches long, obscurely angulate, much
wrinkled when old. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, petiolate, acute, 12-15
inches long, 2—3 inches broad. Racemes pendulous, as long as_ the
leaves, 5—7 or more flowered, the short stalked ovaries sheathed by
a pale brown, acute, deciduous bract. Flowers among the handsomest
in the genus, 34—4} inches across when spread out; sepals and petals
milk-white, the former lanceolate, acuminate, keeled behind, the latter
similar but narrower; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect,
crisped at the front margin, streaked with red-brown on the inner side,
and with a yellow blotch at the crisped front edge; the intermediate
lobe oblong acute, refiexed and undulate, and with a bright yellow disk
on which are six raised fringed lines. Column triquetral, arched, winged,
Ccelogyne Sanderiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 764.
One of the most recent additions to the genus, and at the same
time one of the most beautiful species in it. It was introduced
by Messrs. Sander and Co., through their collector Forstermann, in
1887. Its habitat has not been divulged.
C. Schilleriana.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, small, somewhat flask-shaped, diphyllous.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 4—5 inches long, narrowed below
into a short petiole invested with imbricating scales. Peduncles from
between the leaves, short, one flowered. Sepals and petals greenish
yellow, the former lanceolate, acute, the latter linear; lip obovate-
oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, cream-white with a red-brown
stripe near the margin, and numerous anastomosing red-brown lines
below it; front lobe spreading with dentate margin, light yellow spotted
with red-purple; disk with three raised lines that extend to the base
of the lip. Column semi-terete.
Coelogyne Schilleriana, Rehb. in Berl. Allg. Gartenz. 1858, p. 189. Id. Xen. Orch.
IT, p. 110, t. 134. Bot. Mag. t. 5072. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XXII. t. 2302.
Introduced by our Exeter firm, from Moulmein, im 1857, through
Thomas Lobb, and dedicated to Consul Schiller, of Hamburg, at
that time the most prominent amateur of orchids in Germany. It
was placed by the late Professor Reichenbach under Pleione, to
which it does not conform. It is still occasionally met with in
collections, where it is easily recognised, even when not in flower, by
its minute, clustered, generally leafless pseudo-bulbs.
C. sparsa.
A dwarf tufted plant. Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, varying in size from that
of a filbert to a walnut, Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 6 inches
§
50 CELOGYNE.
long, with three prominent nerves. Peduncles erect, slender, shorter than
the leaves, 3—5 flowered. Flowers not fully expanding, white with an
orange blotch on the middle lobe of the lip, and some brown spots and
markings on the side lobes; sepals and petals keeled behind, the former
lanceolate, acute, the latter linear; side lobes of lip oblong, intermediate
lobe sub-quadrate, with three raised lines on the disk. Column winged
and hooded,
Coelogyne sparsa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 306.
A pretty floriferous dwarf species, introduced by Messrs. Sander
and Co, from the Philippine Islands in 1882, through their collector
Roebelen. The specific name sparsa, ‘‘sown or scattered,” refers,
according to its author, to the spotted side lobes of the lip.
C. speciosa.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, angulate, 143—3 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 9—15 inches long, with 3—5 prominent
nerves, and narrowed below into a stoutish winged petiole. | Peduncles
short, sheathed by 4—6 imbricating bracts, usually two-flowered.
Flowers among the largest in the genus, with pedicel and ovary very
short, ribbed and twisted; sepals and petals 2 inches long, pale yellow-
brown, the former oblong, acute, and keeled behind, the latter linear; lip
larger than the other segments, nearly oblong in outline, three lobed,
and traversed longitudinally by two fringed crests, the side lobes erect,
entire, pale brown externally, clouded and reticulated with deep brown
on the inner side, as is the space between the fringed crests; the front
lobe white, slightly reflexed, denticulate, undulate and with a shallow
sinus in the apical margin. Column clavate, bent, winged, whitish.
Coelogyne speciosa, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 39 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch. Coelog.
No. 27 (1854). Bot. Reg. 1847, t. 23. Bot. Mag. t. 4889. C. salmonicolor, Rchb. in
Gard. Chron. XX, (1883), p. 328. Chelonanthera speciosa, Bl. Bijdr. p. 384 (1825).
var.— albicans.
Flowers larger than in the type, the lip being 3 inches long; sepals
and petals light yellowish green; lip white, the front lobe very pure,
the side lobes freckled with red-brown on the inner side and between
the fringed crests. Column white.
C. speciosa albicans, supra.
This remarkable Ccelogyne was first detected by the Dutch
botanist Blume, in the early part of the present century, on the
Salak Mountains, in Java, at an elevation of 3,000—5,000 feet, and
who published a description and drawing of it in his Bijdragen
(Contributions to the Flora of Dutch India), under the name of
Chelonanthera speciosa, a name that no longer has a place in orchid
nomenclature, the genus Coelogyne, to which the plant unquestionably
CELOGYNE. hl
belongs, having been founded by Lindley two years previously on
the well-known C. cristuta. It was first introduced into Huropean
gardens by our Exeter firm in 1846, through ‘Thomas Lobb, who
gathered it in the locality in which it had been first discovered by
Blume. As a species it is slightly variable in the size and colour
of its flowers, the most distinct deviation from the type as figured
in the Botanical Register for 1847, that is known to us being the
variety described above, which appeared amongst a recent importation
brought to one of the London sale-rooms.
The minute hairs forming the fringe of the crest of the lip are
among the most beautiful microscopic objects imagimable, and which
must be seen to be appreciated. These hairs are sometimes simple,
sometimes dichotomously branched, but in every case are terminated
by a cluster of unicellular stellate expansions of even greater
delicacy than the pappus of many Composites.
C. testacea.
**Pseudo-bulbs oblong-ovate, varying in size, compressed and angled.
Leaves broadly lanceolate, acute, petiolate, with three principal ribs.
Racemes clothed with leafy imbricated scales at the base, drooping,
bearing 8—10 sub-distichous flowers; bracts large, ovate, brown, con-
cealing the ovary. (Flowers 1—134 inches across vertically); sepals and
petals nearly uniform, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, sometimes apiculate,
pale clayey white, sub-patent; lip broad-oblong, recurved, three-lobed, white
spotted and blotched with brown, the side lobes rounded, short; terminal
lobe very obtuse, slightly waved, having four elevated lines fringed
with glandular hairs. Column terete, compressed, dilated and winged
on each side above.”—Botunical Magazine.
Coelogyne testacea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. 34. Id. Fol. Orch. Ccelog,
No. 3. Bot. Mag. t. 4785.
Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges from Singapore, in 1841. It was
in cultivation in the Royal Gardens at Kew thirteen years later, but
seems to have disappeared from British collections shortly afterwards,
and we find no record of its having been re-introduced since. It is
surpassed in attractiveness by its near congeners, Celuyyne
Massangeana and OC. Dayana.
C. tomentosa.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, elongate, 2—8 inches long, of a dull deep pea-green
colour. Leaves petiolate, variable in shape, 9—12 inches long, the
broader ones obovate-lanceolate, with 3—5 prominent nerves, the narrower
a2 C@LOGYNE.
ones oblanceolate, acute. Racemes pendulous, the rachis and_ pedicels
roughly tomentose, reddish brown, and bearing 15—20 flowers; bracts
oblong-acute, shorter than the ovaries. Flowers 2—2% inches in diameter ;
sepals and petals light orange-red, the former lanceolate, acute, keeled
behind, the latter linear-lanceolate; lip obovate in outline, three-lobed, the
side lobes erect, oblong, rounded in front, white streaked obliquely with
red on the inner side; the intermediate lobe sub-quadrate, apiculate,
traversed by three toothed keels that extend to the base of the lip.
Column clavate. arched, winged above the middle, whitish.
Ceelogyne tomentosa, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ceelog, No. 5 (1854). Rehb. in Gard.
Chron. 1873, p. 843.
Ccelogyne tomentosa.
Ceelogyne tomentosa was first described by Dr. Lindley, m 1854,
from an herbarium specimen at Kew, gathered a few years previously
by Thomas Lobb, who gave no locality. Nothing more was known of
it till 1873, in which year it flowered in the collection of Mr. A. D.
Berrington, at Pant-y-Goitre, near Abergavenny, who had received it
from Borneo, whence it has been occasionally but very sparimgly im-
ported since. The tomentose rachis and dark-coloured flowers clearly
distinguish this species from its congeners, among which it is one
of the handsomest.
Sup-cenus PLEIONE.
Pleione, Don. Prod. Fl. Nep. p. 36 (1825).
The Pleiones are alpine plants inhabiting the lower and middle
Himalayan zones, where they have a vertical range of 2,500—10,000
feet, also the summits of the Khasia Hills, and the mountains of
Arracan and Moulmein at 3,000—7,000 feet elevation. Most of the
CELOGYNE, 533)
species are abundant in their respective habitats growing on moss-
covered rocks and banks, and covering the lower part of the trunks
of lofty trees, sometimes in partial shade, sometimes fully exposed.
As horticultural plants they are highly valued on account of the
brilliant effect produced by masses of their delicately-coloured flowers
in the autumn and winter months; the flowers are, however, of
comparatively short duration. Besides the species described in the
sequel, two others are still imperfectly known to science, Calogyne
(Pleione) diphylla, and OC. (Pleione) javanica, the first gathered by
Griffith on the Khasia Hills, and the second by Zollinger near
Tijkoya, in Java. The Pleiones are familiarly known as “ Indian
Crocuses.””
The following characters are common to all the cultivated
species :—
The pseudo-bulbs are clustered, of small size, often of peculiar form
and sometimes mottled with black; they are of annual duration only.
The /eaves are solitary and deciduous in most of the species,* falling
off before the flowers are developed.
The peduncles, one or two from the base of each pseudo-bulb, are
enclosed in imbricating bracts of which the upper one is the longest,
and which soon shrivels, leaving the peduncle naked; they are one
sometimes two flowered; the flowers, especially the labellum, are of
brighter and more delicate tints that are seen in the true Ccelogynes.
The sepals and petals are narrow and spreading; the lip nearly oblong
when spread out, more or less rolled over the column at the base and
traversed longitudinally by 5—7 fringed keels.
The structure of the flower of Pleione is, however, essentially that
of Coelogyne, and presents no character whatever by which the two
may be generically separated.
Cultural Note-—The Pleiones in their native habitats live under
climatic and other conditions} which, with the exception of temperature,
* In Celogyne Hookeriana the leaves persist till after the fading of the flowers.
+ In whatever locality the Pleiones are found wild, the temperature of that locality has
what in gardening phraseology is called an intermediate range, and which varies according
to the altitude of the locality. Thus the temperature of the Himalayan zone at the lower
limits of the Pleiones ranges from 18°—27° C. (65°—80° F.), while at the higher limits in
the Pleione humilis and P. Hookeriana localities the range is 5°—8° C. (10°- 15° F.) less,
which is very nearly the summer temperature on the summits of the Khasia Hills, the
winter temperature being somewhat lower. On the Arracan Mountains, at the altitude at
which P. Reichenbachianaw grows, Colonel Benson estimated the average temperature at
18°—21° C. (65°—70° F.)—-(Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 796.). The hygrometric condition of all
these localities is excessive compared with the climate of England. In Sikkim the atmosphere
is at or near the saturation point during six months of the year, the other six months are nearly
rainless ; on the Khasia Hills the rainfall is one of the heaviest known, and on the mountains
of Arracan and Moulmein it ranges from 200 to 250 inches annually; the dry season
lasts about three months (December—February) ; vegetation is then dormant,
54 C@LOGYNE.
cannot be’ even approximately imitated artificially ; the cultural routine
here formulated is thence, in a great measure, founded upon experience
derived from observation of the behaviour of the plants under the
altered conditions of their environment in the glass houses of Europe.
The pseudo-bulbs should be re-potted about a fortnight after they have
flowered, that is to say, set in shallow pans in a compost of two-thirds
fibrous peat, and one-third chopped sphagnum, to which a little leaf-mould
and sand should be added.* The pans should be filled to one half of
their depth with broken crocks, for drainage, upon which it is usual to
place a layer of sphagnum for the two-fold purpose of keeping the com-
post damp and preventing its sifting through the drainage. The remainder
of the pan should be filled to within half an inch of the rim with
compost, in which the bulbs should be placed with their roots half an
inch below the surface; the spaces between the bulbs, and between
them and the rim should be covered with living sphagnum for retaining
moisture. The pans should then be suspended near the roof-glass of
any house in which an intermediate temperature is maintained, and
water withheld till the plants commence growing, or given only in
sufficient quantity to keep the surface sphagnum alive. As the roots and
foliage develop, the waterings must be more frequent and more copious,
and may be supplemented occasionally by a little weak liquid manure.
Pleione lagenaria, P. precox and its variety Wallichiana may then have a
light position in the Cattleya house. P. Reichenhachiana and P. maculata
require a little more heat. P. humilis and P. Hookeriana, coming from a
high alpine region, should be placed close to a ventilator, or in a cooler
house. When the foliage begins to turn yellow, the waterings must be
diminished in frequency and quantity till only sufficient is given to keep
the bulbs plump. While in flower, the Pleiones may be kept in the
Cattleya house or in the cool house, provided the temperature at no time
descends below 7° C. (45° F.)
Coelogyne (Pleione) Hookeriana.
“Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, smooth, $—1 inch long. | Leaves 1—2 inches
long, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, finely plaited. Flowers 2—2% inches
across the petals, rose-purple with a paler lip blotched at the apex with
brown-purple ; sepals and petals variable in breadth, elliptic-lanceolate,
acuminate, spreading ; lip convolute and cylindric as far as the lateral lobes
extend, then expanded into a small, retuse, terminal lobe; disk with
several slender crested lamellae. Column slender, expanded at the tip.”
—Botanical Magazine.
Ccelogyne Hookeriana, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ccelog. No. 87 (1854). Bot. Mag. t. 6388.
* Some cultivators prefer a smaller proportion of peat, and substitute fibrous loam with a
small quantity of dried cow manure.
Celogyne (Pleione) humilis.
C(BLOGYNE. 513)
var.—brachyglossa.
Lip shorter and more open than in the type, white with a light yellow
disk on which are some brown spots; sepals and petals pale rose.
C. Hookeriana brachyglossa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 888.
Discovered in 1849—50 by Sir J. D. Hooker, in the Sikkim
Himalayas, at elevations ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 feet, and
where it is common on mossy banks. ‘Two varieties were recognised
by the discoverer, distinguished from each other by the form of their
labellum, one occurring in the lower part of the range of the species
(7—8,000 feet), and the other in the higher part (9—10,000 feet),
That described and figured in the Botanical Magazine, which may be
regarded as the type, is from the lower range, and was introduced in
1877 by Mr. Elwes, the author of the splendid monograph of the genus
Lihum. The other, from the higher range, is a more recent introduction,
and was named brachyglossa by the late Professor Reichenbach,
from materials supplied to him from the rich collection of Sir Trevor
Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge.
C. (Pleione) humilis.
Pseudo-bulbs flask-shaped, 1—2 inches long, ribbed, deep green.
Leaves oblanceolate, acuminate, 6 inches long. Flowers 2—3_ inches
across; sepals and petals linear-lanceolate, white tinted with pale llac ;
lip oval-oblong, convolute at the base into a short tube, open in front,
emarginate and fringed with long white hairs; disk with 6—8 fringed
veins, between which are amethyst-purple lines, the marginal area white
spotted with amethyst-purple. Column slender, clavate, winged, bent
near the apex.
Coelogyne humilis, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 438 (1831). Fol. Orch. Ccelog.
No. 41 (1854). Bot. Mag. t. 5674. Pleione humilis, Don. Prod. Fl. nep. p. 37
(1835). Paxton’s Fl. Gard. IT, t. 51.
sub-vars.—albata (Gard. Chron, III. s 3 (1888) p. 392), flowers
white with light purple radiating lines and two orange spots on the
lip; tricolor (Williams’ Orch. Alb. III. t. 102), the lines between the
fringed veins of the lip orange-brown, the marginal area spotted with
the same colour, and with two yellow stains near the apex.
Native of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhotan, at 7,000—8,000 feet eleva-
tion, growing among moss in shady places, and sometimes on the
lower parts of the trunks of lofty trees; also of the Garrow and
Khasia Hills. It was originally discovered at the beginning of this
century by Dr. Buchanan Hamilton in the first named region, and
subsequently it was gathered by Griffith near Santagong in Bhotan,
56 C@LOGYNE.
It was first introduced into British gardens by our Exeter firm,
along with Pleione lagenaria, in 1849, through Thomas Lobb, who
found it at Sanahda, on the Khasia Hills.
The sub-variety albata, which differs from the type in colour only,
was imported by Messrs. Sander and Co. in 1887; and tricolor, a
very distinct and handsome form as regards colour first appeared
in Mr. W. Bull’s horticultural establishment in 1880. The flower-
ing season of P. humilis is January— February.
C. (Pleione) lagenaria.
Pseudo-bulbs about an inch long, somewhat bottle shaped with a
rounded protuberance nearly midway between the base and the apex,
green mottled with blackish brown. Leaves narrowly oblanceolate,
7—10 inches long. Flowers 2—3 inches across; sepals and_ petals
narrowly lanceolate, rose-lilac; lip oblong, emarginate, the basal half
convolute over the column, pale rose-lilac externally, striped with purple
on the inner side; the distal half open with undulate margin, purple
Ccelogyne (Pleione) lagenaria.
with paler transverse streaks and blotches and with a white margin;
disk yellow and red with five longitudinal fringed lines. Column
clavate, winged at the apex.
Ceelogyne lagenaria, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 39 (1854). Bot. Mag. t. 5370.
Illus. hort. 1867, t. 510. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XXIII. t. 2386. Pleione
lagenaria, Lindl. in Paxt. #7. Gard. IT. t. 89 (1851). Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t.
17. Jennings’ Orch. t. 47. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 36.
Introduced by our Exeter firm in 1849, through Thomas Lobb,
who discovered it on tne Khasia Hills, where it is said to be re-
C@LOGYNE. 57
stricted to one or two localities of very limited extent. Ever since
its introduction it has been in the highest repute amongst orchid
amateurs on account of its beautiful flowers that are produced in
October and November. The specific name, from lagena, a kind of
jug or flagon, refers to the form of the pseudo-bulbs.
C. (Pleione) maculata.
Pseudo-bulbs nearly bottle-shaped, fully an inch long, the basal two-
thirds cylindric, the apical third conic. Leaves lanceolate, acute, plicate,
6—9 inches long. Peduncles short, sheathed at the base by small
greenish scales, and above them by a larger membraneous bract, one
flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals spreading,
similar and sub-equal, lanceolate, acute, white; lip oval-oblong, three-
lobed, the side lobes narrow, erect, white streaked obliquely on the inner
side with purple, the middle lobe spreading, undulate, with five fringed
longitudinal lamelle that extend to the base of the lip, white with large
purple marginal spots and yellow disk. Column slender, terete, white.
Ceelogyne maculata, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 43 (1831), and in Wall. Pl.
Asiat. rar. t. 53. Id. Fol. Orch. Coelog. No. 40. Bot. Mag. t. 4691. Van Houtte’s
Fl. des Serres, XIV. t. 1470 (copied from Bot. Mag.) Pleione maculata, Lindl. in
Paxt. Fl. Gard. II. t. 39 (1851).
var.—Arthuriana.
Pseudo-bulbs angulate, smaller than in the type. Flowers also smaller
with purple lines on the petals, and with a continuous purple band
around the front margin of the lip.
C. maculata Arthuriana, supra. C. (Pleione) Arthuriana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron.
XV. (1881), p. 40.
Discovered by Dr. Wallich towards the end of the second decade
of the present century on the Khasia Hills, whence it was introduced
by our Exeter firm along with the preceding species, in 1849, through
Thomas Lobb. In the following year it was detected by Sir J. D.
Hooker and Dr. Thomson, also on the Khasia Hills at 4,000—5,000
feet elevation, and in 1852 it was sent to the Royal Gardens at
Kew, from Assam, by Simons. It also occurs in Sikkim at 2,500—3,000
feet elevation. The variety Arthuriana was sent to us in 188] by a
correspondent at Rangoon, who gave no locality, and was dedicated
by Professor Reichenbach to the memory of the late Mr. Arthur Veitch.
The flowering season of Pleione maculata is October and November.
C. (Pleione) preecox.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly flask-shaped, about an inch in diameter, warty,
mottled green and blackish brown. Leaves broadly lanceolate, 9—12
58 CHLOGYNE.
inches long, plaited and petiolate. Peduncles one- sometimes two-flowered.
Flowers 3 inches across vertically; sepals and petals light rose-purple,
the former lanceolate, acute, the latter linear; lip oval-oblong, three-
lobed, the side lobes convolute over the column, pale rose colour, the
front lobe sub-quadrate with fringed margin, and coloured like the sepals
and petals, with a bright yellow disk on which are five denticulate
lamella. Column slender, with two notched wings at the apex.
Cceelogyne precox, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 49 (1831). Id. Fol. Orch. Ceelog.
No. 42. Paxt. Mag. Bot. XIV. p. 7. Pleione precox, Don. Prod. Fl. nep. p. 37
(1825).
var.—Wallichiana.
Peduncles usually one-flowered. Flowers of a deeper colour and with
the veins of the sepals, petals, and convolute lobes of lip usually more
Ceelogyne preecox Wallichiana.
distinctly marked; the front lobe of the lip dentate rather than fringed,
and the teeth of the lamelle of the disk shorter than in the type.
C. precox Wallichiana, Lind. Fol. Orch. Ceelog. No. 42 (1854). C. Wallichiana,
Bot. Reg. 1840, t. 24. Bot. Mag. t. 4496. Pleione Wallichiana, Lindl. in Paxt. FI.
Gard. sub. t. 51 (1851). P. preecox Wallichiana, Jennings’ Orch. t. 47. P. birmanica,
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 840.
First discovered by Dr. Wallich in Sylhet and on the Khasia Hills,
where it was collected by Gibson and sent by him to Chatsworth
CALANTHE. 59
in 1837. It was found by Sir J. D. Hooker in great abundance
during his exploration of the Sikkim Himalayas in 1849—50, on
the ascent to Darjeeling, and on the Tonglo at 9,000 feet elevation,
growing ‘‘on the trunks of all the great trees, attaining a higher
elevation than most other epiphytal species,’ * and again sub-
sequently on the Kollong Rock, “a steep dome of red granite that
rises 400 feet above the level of the surrounding ridges of the
Khasia Hills,} and also on the rocks about Nonkreem.{ ‘Twenty years
later the variety was detected by Colonel Benson on the Arracan
Mountains at 2,500—35,000 feet elevation. The range of the species
is therefore very considerable; its flowering season in the glass houses
of Europe is November and December.
C. (Pleione) Reichenbachiana.
Pseudo-bulbs 2—24 inches, cylindric, lobed, and with a conical pro-
tuberance at the apex, green spotted and mottled with blackish brown.
Peduncles one- rarely two-flowered. Flowers 2 inches across vertically ;
sepals ligulate, light rosy lilac striated and stained with amethyst-purple
in the middle and towards the apex ; petals narrower and paler in colour;
lip oblong, emarginate, the basal half rolled over the column, white, the
distal half open with ciliate margin, white spotted with purple; disk
with three fringed lamellae. Column slender with three notched wings
at the apex.
Ceelogyne (Pleione) Reichenbachiana, T. Moore in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 1210.
Bot. Mag. t. 5753.
Discovered by Colonel Benson on the mountains near Moulmein,
at 6,000—7,000 feet elevation, and communicated by him to the
Royal Gardens at Kew and to us im 1868. It flowers in February
and March, but it is still very rare in European collections. It was
dedicated at our request to the late Professor Keichenbach of Hamburgh.
CALANTHE.
R. Brown in Bot. Reg. 1821, sub. t. 573. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 249 (1833). Benth.
et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 520 (1883).
Limited as is the number of species of Calanthe suitable for horti-
culture, the genus has, nevertheless, an especial interest for horticulturists
on account of some beautiful forms included in it, that supply an
uninterrupted succession of flowers during the winter months, and
* Himalayan Journals, I. p. 166.
elidel ps 29 Pld iL, speciale
60 CALANTHE.
which have been greatly multiplied during the past few years by means
of hybridisation.
The genus as at present circumscribed includes about forty species
that are widely distributed over the tropical and sub-tropical regions
of the Hastern hemisphere, and occurring also very sparingly in
Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. The Calanthes are
most numerous along the lower Himalayan zone from Assam to Nepal,
and again in Jaya and the neighbouring islands. Northwards they
spread into Japan, whose flora includes four or five species, and
southwards as far as Sydney in New South Waies, which is the
southern limit of C. veratrifolia. The genus is represented in South
Africa by the beautiful C. natalensis, im Mauritius by C. sylvatica,
in the Society and probably other islanas of the Pacific Ocean by
OC. gracillima.
The essential characters of Calanthe consist chiefly in the labellum being
almost always spurred, three-lobed, with the middle lobe notched, and
its claw being adnate to the column, forming either a cylindric tube, or a
broadly turbinate cavity beyond which the column is very rarely produced.
The pollinia are eight, in groups of four each; each group is furnished
with a short caudicle or bipartite gland.*
Dr. Lindley distributed the Calanthes into two sections, “ according
as the spur of the labellum is elongated, or short or quite obsolete,
but the distinction is vague, and not confirmed by more recent obser-
vation.”’+ A more natural sectional division may be made by separating
the epiphytal or sub-epiphytal species of which CO. vestita is a well-
known type, from the terrestrial species of which C. veratrifolia is one
of the best known representatives. ‘The most obvious characteristics
of each section may be thus stated :—
Vestit®. Pseudo-bulbs more or less elongated, angulate, covered with
a grey-green reticulated, membraneous sheath. Leaves large, plicate,
deciduous. Inflorescence hairy, loosely racemose ; bracts usually large,
inflated and as long as the ovaries.
To this section belongs Limatodes rosea, Lindl. and L. labrosa, Rehb. ;
also L. gracile, Lindl. not in cultivation; these differ from Calanthe
vestita chiefly in the base of the lip not being adnate to the column,
although enfolding it. The typical Liimatodes pauciflora of Blume, and
one or two other species, none of which are in cultivation, are now
referred to Phaius.
* The appendages or caudicles of the pollinia resemble the stipes of the Vandex, but they
evidently develop from the pollen itself, and not from the rostellum.,
+ Bentham in Jour, Linn. Soc. XVIII, p. 309.
CALANTHE. 61
VERATRIFOLIZ. Pseudo-bulbs none, or a very small, fleshy or tuberous
rhizome, emitting long cord-like branched roots, Leaves broad and
spreading, persisting longer than one year. Inflorescence densely racemose
or corymbose-racemose ; bracts small, appressed, much shorter than the
ovaries,
Besides the manifest differences in the vegetative organs of the two
sections noted above, there is another well-marked distinction between
them of considerable horticultural importance that has been brought
out by the experiments of the hybridist. These experiments go far to
prove that while the species of the Vestirm group cross freely with each
other and with the mules resulting from such crosses, and while, so
far as the experiments have been carried, the cultivated species of
the Verarrirol1® will also cross with each other, no species or mule
belonging to one of the sections can be induced to cross with any
species or mule belonging to the other.
It is a remarkable fact, too, which has been already referred to under
Phaius, that bi-generie hybrids have been raised between Phaius grandi.
folius and some of the forms of Culanthe vestita, thus proving the two
genera to be very nearly allied, which was indeed surmised to be the
ease long ago by Dr. Lindley, and even by Griffith before him.* This
fact indicates plainly that in the systematic arrangement of the genera,
Phaius and Calanthe should come closer together than they are usually
placed in the best synopses of the Orchide, or at least that they should
be brought under the same sub-tribe; but the reduction of C. vestita
to Phaius vestitus as proposed by Reichenbacht because mules have been
obtained between that species and a Phaius does not appear to us to
be at all justifiable.
The genus Calanthe was founded by Dr. Robert Brown on
Calanthe veratrifolia, with which he became acquainted while investi-
gating the flora of Australia. The name means simply “ beautiful
2)
flower,’ from kado0c¢ (kalos) and dvfoe (anthos).
Cultural Note——Vustire. The species and hybrids comprising this
group should be potted as soon as they begin to start into growth in early
spring. In removing the pseudo-bulbs from the pots the exhausted soil
should be shaken out and the old roots cut off; the pseudo-bulbs
should then be re-potted im a compost of two-thirds fibrous loam and
one-third peat with the addition of a little sand to assist drainage. If
good fibrous loam is not procurable, a compost of three-fourths fibrous
peat and one-fourth sphagnum moss may be substituted with the addi-
* Fol. Orch. Calanthe, p. I.
+ Gard, Chron, 1867, p. 264,
62
CALANTHE.
tion of a little dried cow-manure. When the pseudo-bulbs are potted
singly, which is the usual practice, small pots should be preferred, from
which the plants can be subsequently shifted into others of larger
dimensions if necessary. The pots should be filled to one-half their
depth with drainage consisting of clean broken crocks, upon which may
be placed a layer of sphagnum, and the remainder filled with compost
up to the rim. Water must be given sparingly at first until the new
growths, in the axis of which the pseudo-bulbs are formed, begin to root
freely. As soon as active growth has fairly commenced the plants
must receive frequent and liberal waterings at the roots. At this stage,
when the pots are well filled with roots, many cultivators supplement
the usual waterings with a little weak manure water, applying it about
once a week or less frequently according to the condition of the plants,
As the new pseudo-bulbs approach maturity and the leaves begin to
turn yellow, the waterings must be gradually reduced in frequency and
quantity, till at length when the leaves have fallen and the flower
scapes appear, they must reach the minimum or only just sufficient to
prevent the latter from drooping. After flowering water must be with-
held altogether and the pseudo-bulbs allowed to become dormant; they
will be most effectively brought into this state by laying the pots on
their sides in any dry place such as may be found under one of the
stages of the house in which they are cultivated. Coming from one
of the hottest regions of the globe, the Calanthes of this section require
the temperature of the East Indian house, in which during active growth
they should have a light and airy position; they may also be success-
fully cultivated in a pine stove or a cucumber house.
VERATRIFOLIZ. The same compost may be used for the species and
hybrids belonging to this group as for the deciduous kinds, giviny
drainage to about one-third of the depth of the pot. The re-potting
should be performed in early spring, and as all the cultivated kinds
are vigorous-growing plants that root freely they require ample pot room.
They should receive copious waterings while growing, and even in the
winter months they must at no time be allowed to get quite dry at the
roots. Being evergreen with foliage of stouter texture than that of the
VesTiIT& group, they can endure a greater amount of shade, and they may
also be grown in a somewhat lower temperature such as is maintained in
the intermediate house; for the Japanese species the temperature of an
ordinary greenhouse is sufficient. The flowering season of most of the
tropical species belonging to this group may be prolonged by removing
the plants, as soon as the first flowers have expanded, into a lower
temperature and drier atmosphere.
The Calanthes of this group are at all times liable to ‘the attacks of
brown scale and green fly (aphides); the former attach themselves to
the leaves and may be checked by sponging with soapy water; the
latter settle on the flowers and may be dislodged by fumigating.
CALANTHE. 63
Calanthe brevicornu.
Leaves oval-oblong or lanceolate, petiolate, acute, 9—12 inches long,
Seapes as long as or longer than the leaves, erect, racemose above, many-
flowered. Flowers 1—14 inch in diameter with very short pedicel and
ovary; sepals and petals spreading, brownish purple with a paler mid-
nerve and margin, whitish at the base; the dorsal sepal elliptic-oblong,
acute, the lateral two lanceolate, and at right angles to it; petals
similar to the lateral sepals but smaller; lip sub-panduriform, emarginate,
red-purple margined with white; disk with three raised lines of which
the middle one is the longest, narrow and yellow on the basal side,
much dilated and red in front; spur very short.
Calanthe brevicornu, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 251 (1832). Sert. Orch. t. 9
(1838). Fol. Orch. Cal. No. 4.
First discovered in Nepal, in 1821—22, by Dr. Wallich, from
whose drawing of a plant in situ Dr. Lindley’s plate in the Sertum
Orchidaceum was copied. Many years afterwards it was gathered by
Sir J. D. Hooker in Sikkim, whence it was recently introduced to
the Royal Gardens at Kew. The colour of the flowers is peculiar,
and agrees nearly in this respect with the Japanese Calanthe discolor
figured in the Botanical Register for 1840, t. 55.
C. curculigoides.
Leaves elliptic lanceolate, acute, 12—18 inches long. Scapes half as
long as the leaves, sheathed below by adherent brownish bracts, densely
racemose above. Flowers partially opening, # inch across, pale orange-
yellow with a red blotch on the lip; sepals and petals oblanceolate, acute ;
lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes rotund, erect, the intermediate lobe oblong,
acute, reflexed ; spur hooked.
Calanthe curculigoides, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 251 (1832). Bot. Reg. 1847, t. 8.
Fol. Orch. Cal. No. 10. Bot. Mag. t.6104. Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 349.
First discovered by Griffith im the Malay peninsula, and shortly
afterwards introduced from Malacca by Messrs. Loddiges, in whose
nursery at Hackney it flowered in 1845. It has since been gathered
at Penang, Singapore and other places. It appears to have been
lost to cultivation for many years till its re-introduction in 1873—4
again brought it under the notice of horticulturists. Its dense
raceme of scarcely half-expanded, orange-coloured flowers render it
singular among the cultivated Calanthes. The specific name was
suggested by the resemblance of its foliage to that of some species
of Curculigo.
C. labrosa.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conical, angulate, 2—38 inches long, with a transverse
64
CALANTHE.
depression about an inch below the apex. Secapes hairy, 12—15 inches
high, loosely racemose, 7—10 flowered; bracts oblong, acute, half as
long as the stalked ovaries Flowers scarcely an inch in diameter ;
sepals and petals ligulate, acute, rose-purple, the petals broader than the
sepals ; lip with a wedge-shaped base that is convolute over the column,
and a dilated, undulate blade that is light rose-purple dotted with dark
purple, white at the base; spur filiform, hairy, shorter than the ovary.
Column semi-terete, short, white at the base, light rose at the apex.
Calanthe labrosa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (18838), p. 44. Limatodes labrosa,
Rehb. in Gard. Chron XI. (1879), p 202.
Sent to us in 1878 by a correspondent in southern Burmah, who
gave no locality; it has now almost disappeared from cultivation.
It is noticed in this place chiefly on account of its participation in
the parentage of one of the most distinct race of hybrid Calanthes
yet raised—Calanthe porphyrea, CU, lentiginosa and varieties.
C. Masuca.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, or oval-oblong, acuminate, 9—15 inches long,
narrowed below into a fluted petiole. Scapes 1$—3 feet high, with a
closely-appressed bract at each joint, and terminating in a crowded raceme
of purplish mauve flowers, on slightly twisted pale mauve pedicels
sheathed by a subulate-lanceolate bract ; sepals and petals similar, ovate-
oblong, acuminate ; lip deeper in colour than the other segments, three-
lobed, the basal lobes oblong, sub-faleate, the intermediate lobe transversely
roundish oblong, emayginate ; spur slender, as long as the ovary, furrowed
on one side, bifid at the tip; crest reddish brown, three-lobed. Column
very short.
Calanthe Masuca, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 249 (1832). Fol. Orch. Cal. No. 17
(1854). Bot Reg. 1844, t. 37. Bot. Mag. t. 4541. C. emarginata, Wight, Ic. pl.
Ind. or. t. 918. Bletia Masuca, Don. Prod. Fl. nep. 30.
Native of the lower Himalayan ranges of Nepal and Sikkim, also
of the Neilgherries in the extreme south of India and in the
Ambagamowa district in Ceylon, at 2,000—2,500 feet elevation. It
was introduced by Messrs. Rollisson, in whose nursery at Tooting
it flowered for the first time in this country in 1842.
C. natalensis.
“eaves elliptic-lanceolate acuminate, 8—12 inches long and 3—5
inches broad, narrowed into a concave petiole. Scapes longer than the
leaves, terminating in a pyramidal raceme, 6—8 inches long. Flowers
1—14 inches in diameter, pale lilac with a darker, redder lip, or with
the sepals and petals white suffused with lilac towards the margin only ;
sepals ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; petals rather shorter and _ broader ;
lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes small, oblong, obtuse and curved ; mid-
CALANTHE. 65
lobe broadly obcordate ; disk with a cluster of prominent tubercles at the
base and a few smaller ones along the medium line towards the notch at
the end; spur slender, incurved, as long as the ovary. Column very
short.”— Botanical Magazine.
Calanthe natalensis, Rchb. in Bonpl. 1856, p. 322. N. E. Brown in Gard. Chron.
XXIV. (1885), pp. 78, 136. Bot. Mag. t. 6844. C. sylvatica natalensis, Rchb. in
Linnea, XIX. p. 374. C. sylvatica, Hemsley in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 636.
A handsome species with the habit of the well-known Calanthe
veratrifolia, recently introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew from
King William’s Town, in South Africa, near which it grows in “ marshy
places in woods and forests”; it was, however, known to science many
years previously. By some botanists CO. natalensis is regarded as a
geographical form only of a species widely distributed over a broad
region of the eastern hemisphere, stretching in an oblique direction
from Cape Colony to Japan, and of which OC. sylvatica, a native of
Mauritius and Bourbon, is the type. We prefer, however, following Sir
J. D. Hooker and Mr.N. H. Brown in accepting it as a distinct species,
especially as the typical CO. sylvatica is not believed to be in cultivation
at the present time. 0. natalensis is the only known Calanthe
inhabiting South Africa.
C. pleiochroma.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, plaited, 12—18 inches long. Scapes
erect, 18—24 inches high, with a pale sheathing bract at each joint,
and terminating in a loose, many-flowered, pyramidal raceme. Flowers 14
inches in diameter, pale mauve suffused with white; sepals and petals
elliptic-oblong, acuminate ; lip shorter than the other segments, three-lobed,
the side lobes oblong, the intermediate lobe broadly obcordate, emarginate
with a violet spot in front of the orange-red calli.
Calanthe pleiochroma, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 938.
Introduced by us from Japan, and flowered for the first time in our
Chelsea nursery in May, 1871. Its nearest affinities are Calanthe
versicolor and CU. natalensis, and like them it may hereafter be
reduced to varietal rank as a geographical form of C. sylvatica.
C. rosea.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conical, elongated, angulate, 4—5 inches long, with a
transverse depression or neck about mid-way between the base and apex, and
sheathed at the base by large acuminate scales. Leaves broadly lanceolate,
prominently nerved. Scapes about a foot high, pubescent, 7—12 or more
flowered. Flowers about 2 inches across vertically, light rose suffused
with white, and with a deeper stain on the inner side of the conyolute
lobes of the lip; sepals and petals lanceolate, acute, with a depressed
F
66 CALANTHE.
median line; lip convolute at the base into a short tube; blade oblong,
retuse at apex; spur whitish, shorter than the stalked ovary, at the base
of which is a lanceolate acuminate bract.
Calanthe rosea, Benth. in Jour, Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 309 (1881). Limatodes rosea,
Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I1/. t. 81 (1852). Fol. Orch. Limatodis, No. 2 (1854).
Bot. Mag. t. 5312. Van Houtte’s Il. des Serres, XXII. t. 2294.
First detected by Thomas Lobb in Moulmein about the year 1850,
and sent by him to our Exeter nursery, where it flowered for the
first time in the following winter; it was rediscovered about ten
years afterwards in the same province by the Rev. C. Parish, who
sent plants to Messrs. Low and Co. It is better known in gardens
under its original name of Limatodes rosea than that under which
it is described above, and although a beautiful orchid, it is not
now often seen on account of its being surpassed in the beauty of its
flowering by Calanthe Veitchii x and other hybrids, in whose parentage it
has participated, and which also have a more robust constitution. The
propriety of reducing it to Calanthe is thus shown by Mr. Bentham :—
“The facility with which Limatodes rosea can be made to hybridise
with Calanthe vestita has been given as an instance of ready
hybridisation between two distinct genera; but the fact appears to
be that Limatodes rosea itself has all the characters of Calanthe,
and is indeed a species very nearly allied in every respect to
Calanthe vestita.’*
C. striata.
Stems formed of the sheaths enveloping the bases of the leaves, 2—6
inches high, Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, 6—10 inches long, nar-
rowed below into a long grooved petiole. Scapes stoutish, erect, 15—20
inches high, loosely racemose above, 10—15 flowered. Flowers 14—2
inches in diameter; sepals and petals brownish red, striated, bordered
and tipped with yellow, pale yellow at the very base, the dorsal sepal
oval-oblong, the lateral two oblong-lanceolate; the petals narrow, lnear-
spathulate; lip three-lobed, bright yellow, the side lobes dolabriform or
semi-ovate, the intermediate lobe obcordate, emarginate, with three raised
plates that are reduced to shallow keels in the middle, the outside two
again enlarged in front of the cavity formed by the union of the lip
with the column; spur incurved, half as long as the ovary. Column
terete, short, pale yellow.
Calanthe striata, R. Br. in Bot. Reg. 1821, sub. t. 573. Lindl..Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p- 251 (1832). Fol. Orch. Cal. No. 29. Franch. et Sav. Enum. Pl. jap. Il. p.
24, Bot. Mag. t. 7026. C. bicolor, Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 9. (1888). C. Sieboldii,
regel’s Gartenfl. 1869, t. 635. Limodorum striatum, Banks, Ic. Kempf. t. 3.
* Jour. of Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 309.
CALANTHE. 67
This plant has been known to science since the beginning of
the seventeenth century, through a drawing by Kempfer, the first
European naturalist who visited Japan, which he did in the capacity
of physician to the Dutch embassy to that country in 1690. It
does not appear to have been in cultivation in European gardens
till the middle of the present century, when it was sent to Dr.
Lindley by a nurseryman of Ghent. Since then “it has been
found by all collectors in the woods near the town of Nagasaki,
and by some at Kanagawa.’ It is said to be a very variable
species, the variation occurring in the lobing of the labellum, and
in the colour of the flowers. We are indebted to the Royal
Gardens at Kew for materials for description.
OC. Textorii.
Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, plaited and petiolate as in Calanthe
veratrifolia. Scapes robust, 24 or more inches high, pubescent with an
acute sheathing bract at each joint and at the base of each pedicel.
Flowers 14 inches across vertically, on white pedicels arranged in a
corymbose raceme; sepals oval, apiculate with three longitudinal nerves,
white ; petals smaller, obovate with one nerve, white stained with pale
mauve-purple, afterwards wholly white; lip four-lobed, the basal lobes
linear-oblong, oblique, white, the apical lobes larger, oblong, stained with
mauve-purple that becomes paler with age. Callus tubercled, at first
brick-red, afterwards ochre-yellow.
ee Textorii, Miquel. Prod. p. 156, ex. Franch, et Sav. Enum, Pl. jap. II.
p. 26.
Introduced by us in 1877 from Japan through Mr. Charles Maries.
There is so little to distinguish it from the widely distributed Calanthe
veratrifolia, that it may hereafter be reduced to a variety of that
species.
C. tricarinata.
Leaves broadly oval or oval-oblong, plicate, 5—6 inches long. Scapes
erect, pubescent, as long as the leaves, loosely racemose along the distal
half, few flowered. Flowers an inch in diameter; sepals oval-oblong,
acute, whitish tinted with pale green and with some rose-pink stains ;
petals narrower, spathulate, acute, the basal half whitish, the apical
dilated half stained with rose-pink ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes large,
spreading, hatchet-shaped with the outer margin toothed, rose-purple
bordered with white; the front lobe much smaller, oblong with a deep
notch in the anterior margin and three white keels on the disk, rose-
68 CALANTHE.
purple bordered with white; spur obsolete. Column white stained with
rose.
Calanthe tricarinata, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 252 (1832). Fol. Orch. Cal.
No. 1 (1854). Franch. et Sav. Enum. Pl. jap. Il. p. 26.
First discovered by Wallich in Nepal, in the early part of the
present century, and many years afterwards by the Russian botanist,
Maximowicz, in Japan,* from which country it was introduced by us in
1879, along with Calanthe Textorii. It is by no means an inattractive
species, easily distinguished from every other cultivated Calanthe by
the absence of the spur of the labellum.
C. veratrifolia.
A robust plant with spreading ovate or oblong-lanceolate strongly
ribbed leaves, 18—24 inches long, that spring from a stoutish slowly
creeping rhizome. Scapes erect with an acuminate bract at each joint
and a smaller one at the base of each pedicel, and terminating above in
a dense corymbose raceme of white flowers. Flowers 2 inches in
diameter ; sepals obovate-oblong with a small green apiculus; petals
obovate-spathulate, apiculate; lip quadripartite, the basal lobes oblong,
spreading, the anterior lobes usually broader, but sometimes equal to
them, divergent; callus tubercled, yellow; spur slender, straight, half as
long as the ovary.
~ Calanthe veratrifolia, R. Br. in Bot. Reg. 1821, sub. t. 578. Jd. t. 720 (1823).
Lindl. Fol. Orch. Cal. No. 25. Griffith, Ic. pl. Asiat. t. 283. Bot. Mag. t. 2615
Benth. Fl. Austr. VI. p. 305. Fitzgerald, Austr. Orch. I. part 4. C. comosa, Rehb.
in Linnea, XIX. p. 374, ex. Hemsley in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 6386.
C. Petri, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), p. 326. C. colorans, Rehb. in Gard.
Chron. XXIV, (1885), p. 360. Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 218. C. australis, Hort.
var.—macroloba.t
Flowers larger, with the basal lobes of the lip broader than in the
common form.
C. veratrifolia macroloba, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), p. 690.
var.—Regnieri.t
Flowers snow-white with a pale yellow lip, the basal lobes of which
are nearly semi-lunate, and the calli simpler.
C. veratrifolia Regnieri, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I]. s. 3 (1887), p. 70.
Calanthe veratrifolia is the species upon which the genus was founded,
and the first Calanthe that was introduced into British gardens. The
earliest mention of it as a horticultural plant occurs in the Botanical
Register for 1823, in which year it flowered in Mr. Colville’s nursery
at Chelsea, whither it is believed to have been sent by Allan
Cunningham, from Sydney, along with Dendrobium speciosum and other
Australian orchids. It is spread over an immense region in the far Hast,
“ In grassy woods near Lake Conoma in the Island of Jesso, + Not seen by us,
CALANTHE. 69
of which the limits are not very easily defined, but which extends
from New South Wales to Japan in one direction, and from the
Feejee Islands to Southern India in the other. Among the stations
Calanthe veratrifolia,
within this region in which it has been detected, Illawarra
(N. 8. Wales),* Rockingham Bay and Moreton Bay in Queensland,
Amboyna, Java, Cochin China, Ceylon, and the Neilgherry Hills have
" In New South Wales it is usually found near the banks of streams growing in decayed
vegetable matter of so loose a texture that the plants may be pulled from the soil without
digging. —Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 722.
70 CALANTHE.
been especially mentioned. Over so vast a range it is found to be
remarkably constant, but some geographical forms have been recognised
that deviate from the Australian type, although in very trivial characters
that may be disregarded without inconvenience; the two varieties
described above are the most recent that have been brought under
notice. The specific name veratrifolivm was given to this orchid
from the resemblance of its foliage to that of Veratrum nigrum, a
Lilaceous hardy plant, native of central Europe, and frequently seen
in the herbaceous borders of old English gardens.
C. vestita.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conical, bluntly angulate, 3$—5 inches long, pale
greenish grey striated. Leaves appearing after the flowers, broadly
lanceolate, acuminate, 18—24 or more inches long, narrowed below into
a channelled and winged petiole and prominently ribbed beneath. Scapes
sub-erect or nodding, 24—36 inches long, very hairy, racemose from near
the base, many flowered; bracts large and conspicuous, ovate lanceolate
acuminate, nearly as long as the stalked ovaries. Flowers 2—3 inches
across vertically, milk-white with a yellow striated blotch on the lip
immediately in front of the column; sepals and petals spreading, the
former oval-oblong, apiculate, the latter obovate-oblong, obtuse ; lip flat,
three-lobed, the side lobes obliquely oblong, obtuse, the front lobe broadly
obcordate with a deep cleft in the apical margin; spur slender, decurved,
greenish.
Calanthe vestita, Wall. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 250 (1832). Fol. Orch. Cal.
No. 35. Bot. Mag. t. 4671. Van Houtte’s F/. des Serres, VIIT. t. 816 (copied from
Bot. Mag.) Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 29. Cytheris Griffithii, Wight, ic. pl. Ind. or.
t. 1751. Preptanthe vestita, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit, 1853, p. 493.
sub-vars.—ygigantea (Williams’ Orch, Alb. V. t. 211. Revue de Vhort Belge,
1889, p. 121, grandiflora), plant and flowers larger in all their parts, the
spot on the lip orange-red; rubro-oculata (Paxt. Mag. Bot. XVI. p.
129. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1873, t. 751.), the blotch on the disk of the
lip red-purple.
var. —Regnieri.
Pseudo-bulbs more elongated and with a transverse depression or neck a
little above the middle. Seapes erect, the flowers smaller than in the type,
with the lip less deeply lobed, which is rose colour, with a crimson-purple
blotch at the base that is also spread over the claw and part of the column.
C. vestita Regnieri, supra. C. Regnieri, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883). p.
274. The Garden, XXIV. (1883), t. 397.
sub.-vars.—Sander’s, rosy carmine, deeper in colour than Calanthe
Veitchii; Stevens’, white with a small rose-coloured blotch on the
disk of the lip; Williams’ (Orch. Alb. HT. t. 134), the petals
CALANTHE. 71
and lateral sepals pencilled with rose-carmine; the lip deep carmine
with a crimson-purple blotch on the disk that is spread over the
column.
var.—Turneri.
Pseudo-bulbs as in the variety Regnier’ but somewhat smaller ; scapes
erect, the flowers like those of the sub-variety rubro-oculata, but
appearing later in the season.
C. vestita Turneri, supra. OC. Turneri, Hort.
sub.-var.—ninalis, flowers wholly white.
To that indefatigable and zealous Indian botanist Dr. Wallich,
whose name appears so frequently in these pages, science is also
indebted for the first discovery of this beautiful Calanthe, it having
Calanthe vestita rubro-oculata.
been detected by him at Tavoy in ‘'enasserim soon after the
annexation of the province in 1826. Later it was gathered by
Griffith at Mergui in the same province, but it was not till 1848
that it was introduced into Huropean gardens, when Dr. Kane, of
Exmouth, sent from Moulmein to our Exeter firm two of the
forms described above, viz., that with the yellow spot on the lip,
usually regarded as the type, and its sub-variety with the red-purple
spot. Shortly afterwards these two forms and the variety Twrneri,
named in compliment to the late Mr. J, A. Turner, of Pendlebury,
near Manchester, one of the most ardent orchid amateurs of that
time, were sent to Exeter from the same locality by Thomas Lobb.
ta CALANTHE.
The variety Regnieri is a comparatively recent introduction from
Cochin-China by M. Regnier, of Paris, whose first plants were
offered for sale at Stevens’ Rooms in the spring of 1883; it is
found to be the most variable of all the vestita forms as regards
the colour of the flowers. The specific name, vestita, “clothed,” was
suggested by the long shaggy hairs that clothe the flowering stems.
The flowering season of Calanthe vestita and its varieties extends
from the beginning of December to the end of February in the
followmg order: first the type and its sub-varieties, then Twurneri,
and lastly Regnieri, but with the last two the order is sometimes
inverted, and sometimes their flowering is contemporaneous.
HYBRID CALANTHES.
The crossing of Calanthes was among the earliest experiments in
the hybridisation of orchids made by Dominy, who succeeded, in 1856,
in flowering Calanthe Dominii, which he had raised from C. Masuca
x CU. furcata, a species that has long since disappeared from cul-
tivation. This was followed by OC. Vettchii, raised by him from
C. rosea x OC. vestita, which flowered for the first time in 1859.
It is a curious fact that notwithstanding the high estimation in which
O. Veitchii has always been held by horticulturists as a winter-
flowering orchid, a period of twenty years elapsed before another
hybrid was added to the group to which it belongs, the next acqui-
sition being VU. Sedenii, raised by the indefatigable hybridist after
whom it is named. By this time, however, muling among Calanthes
of the Vustirm section was being undertaken by many amateur culti-
vators, notably by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., Mr. Norman Cookson,
Mr. Charles Winn and others, so that since the first flowering
of CU. Sedenii in 1878, hybrids and crosses have appeared in
almost embarrassing profusion. Nor has the beauty of the seedlings
and the interest attending the raising of them alone contributed to
bring about these results; the comparatively short period in which
the seedlings can be brought into flower, has afforded a stimulus
to the same end. The capsule of Calanthe usually ripens in three
to four months, and the seed takes from two to three months more
to germinate; the seedlings, under favourable circumstances, will
flower in the third or fourth year, one of the shortest periods known
in the experience of orchid hybridisation.
CALANTHE. 73
As a natural consequence of the raising of numerous hybrids by
different operators from so limited a number of species as are available
in the VestiT# section, progenies from crossing two of these species, or
one of them with one of the varieties of Calanthe vestita have been
obtained by more than one operator, each of whom has named his own
productions independently of the others, and hence the same, or nearly
the same form is cultivated under different names, Till all the forms
so named can be brought together and compared, and their differences
or identity can be shown, we adhere to the course mainly followed in
this work, of recognising one name only for seedlings raised from the
same cross, adopting the name first published in the horticultural press.
Slight differences in colour may always be expected, even among the
same progeny, and especially when one of the parents is itself a hybrid ;
in such cases distinctive vernacular names are often applied for garden
use at the pleasure of the raiser, but such names can, of course, have no
place in scientific nomenclature.
Vustit# Hysrins.
Calanthe Aurora.
C. vestita Regnieri X C. rosea.
Flowers nearly as in C, vestita Regnier’, bright rose, the sepals and
petals paler towards their base, the tube of the lip dark carmine.
Calanthe Aurora, supra.
Raised by Mr. Charles Winn, of Selly Hill, Birmingham.
C. Barberiana.
C. vestita Turneri nivalis « C. vestita.
Pseudo-bulbs intermediate between those of the two parents, slightly
constricted at about one-third of their length from the apex. Flower
pure white with a small yellow stain on the lip.
Calanthe Barberiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XV. (1881), p. 136.
Raised by Mr. J. T. Barber, of Spondon, Derby. Very near this is
Calanthe casta x, of the Burford Lodge collection.
C. bella.
C. vestita Turneri x C. Veitehia.
Flowers as large as the best Veztchii forms; sepals and petals delicate
light rose suffused with white, the rose colour more developed in some
places than in others; lip similarly coloured and with a rose-carmine
spot at the base.
Calanthe bella, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XV. (1881), p. 234.
Raised by Seden at our nursery.
74 CALANTHE.
C. Hallii.
C. vestita x C. Veitehit.
Flowers white with the exception of the tips of the lateral sepals
which are pale green and a light cream-yellow stain on the disk of the
lip. The two front lobes of the lip are small and distinct from those
in either parent.
Calanthe Hallii, Hort. Hall. ;
Cultivated in the collection of the late Mr. Hall, of Upper Tulse
Hill, Camberwell.
C. lentiginosa.
C. labrosa x C. Veitehii.
Flowers intermediate in size between those of the two parents; in
form nearly like Calanthe labrosa, especially the lip, the claw of which
is adnate to the column, forming with it a wide-mouthed funnel, the
Calanthe lentiginosa carminata.
blade obscurely four-lobed with crisped margin, convolute over the
column at the base; in colour white with a faint flush of pale rose
at the base of all the segments, the base of the lip spotted with bright
rose.
Calanthe lentiginosa, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 44.
sub.-vars.—vosea, light rose with deeper spots on the lip; carminata,
rose-carmine, the side lobes of the lip toned with scarlet.
Raised by Seden at our nursery. The sub-variety carminata is the
richest coloured hybrid Calanthe yet obtained.
C. porphyrea.
C. labrosa x C. vestita rubro-oculata.
Flowers more nearly in form like those of the seed than of the
pollen parent, with the lip more open, sub-orbicular, three-lobed ; spur
=
CALANTHE, 75
broad, whitish ; sepals and petals carmine-purple, the lip paler, white at
the base, spotted with carmine-purple.
Calanthe porphyrea, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 76.
Raised in the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. at Burford
Lodge. It is one of the handsomest of hybrid Calanthes, easily
distinguished from the preceding by its differently formed and differently
coloured labellum,
C. Sandhurstiana
C. rosea X C. vestita rubro-oculata.
Flowers as in Calanthe Veitchii as regards form; deep rose-carmine,
the sepals somewhat paler than the petals and the lip with a deeper
spot at the base.
Calanthe Sandhurstiana, Goss. and Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XV. (1881), p. 391.
C. burfordensis, Hort. Lawr. and probably C. sanguinaria, Rchb. in Gard. Chron.
XXV. (1886), p. 331.
Raised by the late Mr. P. H. Goss, of Sandhurst, Torquay. One of
the best coloured of the Calanthe Veitchii group of hybrids. It differs
but little from the following except in colour, but being derived from a
different parentage we keep it distinct. A variety with paler flowers is
in cultivation at Burford Lodge under the name of C. amabilis.
C. Sedenii.
C. Veitchii x C. vestita rubro-oculatu.
Flowers nearly as in Calanthe Veitechii, but of a deeper colour, clear
rose-carmine with a deeper blotch surrounded with white at the base
of the lip.
Calanthe Sedenii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, IX. (1878), p. 168. ©. Alexandri,
Hort. Cookson.
Raised by Seden at our nursery, where it flowered for the first time
in 1878, and subsequently obtained from the same cross by Mr. Norman
C. Cookson, of Wylam-on-Tyne. One of the best of the rose-coloured
Calanthes.
C. Veitchii.
C. rosea xX C. vestita.
Pseudo-bulbs 7—9 inches long, elongated as in Calanthe rosea, but
much more robust, with a depression or neck at about one-third of
their length from the base. Flowers nearer those of (C. rosea but
with a four-lobed lip as in C. vestita less deeply cleft, bright rose
with a white spot at the base of the lip, the basal lobes of which
are rolled inwards towards the column, and not adnate to it.
Calanthe Veitchii, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1859, p. 1016. Bot. Mag. t. 5375.
Regel’s Gartenjl. 1873, t. 751. Fl. Mag. t. 280. Jennings’ Orch. t. 48. Williams’
Orch. Alb. I. t. 31.
76 CALANTHE.
sub.-vars.—alba, flowers wholly white; versicolor, flowers variable, some
rose, some white, others with one or more of the segments rose, and
the remainder white.
Raised by Dominy at our Exeter nursery in 1856, the first hybrid
of the Vestir# section obtained, and one of the most useful and
popular of winter-flowering Calanthes; it is the type of a group of
hybrids in all of which Calanthe rosea has participated in the paren-
tage, either directly or mediately through C. Vevtehiit, The white
form was also originally raised by Dominy, unknown to himself at
Calanthe Veitchii.
the time, at our Exeter nursery, whence it was sold to Mr. Wentworth
Buller, of Strete Raleigh, Devonshire, for the typical form; at the dis-
persion of Mr. Buller’s collection, it passed into the hands of the late
Mr. John Day. The white form has since been raised by Mr. J. T.
Barber, Mr. Norman C. Cookson (C. Cooksoni/), and by Sir Charles
Strickland, Bart.*
VERATRIFOLIZ HyYBRIDs.
Calanthe Dominii.
C. Masuca x C. furcata.
A robust plant with the habit of Calanthe Masuca. Flower stems
nearly as in C. Masuca, and terminating in a large corymbose, many-
flowered raceme. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, intermediate between
those of the two parents, light mauve-purple suffused with white, the
lip deeper in colour than the other segments and with a yellow three-
toothed callus at its base.
Calanthe Dominii, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1858, p. 4. Bot. Mag. t. 5042.
* Gard. Chron. VII. s. 3 (1890), p. 182.
ARUNDINA. "7
This Calanthe, the only hybrid in the Verarrirotrm section known
to us, will always be regarded with interest as being the first hybrid
orchid that flowered, although not the first seedling raised by hand. It
flowered for the first time at Exeter, in October, 1856, and was in due
course submitted to Dr. Lindley for examination and naming. He
accordingly named it after our then foreman, Mr. Dominy, “in order to
put upon permanent record the name of the first man who succeeded in
the operation of hybridising orchids,” *
ARUNDINA.
Blume, Bijdr. p. 401 (1825). Benth. et Hook. Gen, Plant. III. p. 521 (1883).
Arundina includes about six species that are spread over eastern
Asia from southern China to the Malay Archipelago, and also over
parts of India and Ueylon. It is most nearly allied to Calanthe, from
which the spurless labellum that enfolds the column at its base, and
the reed-like leafy stems chiefly distinguish it. The most obvious
characters of the genus will be readily understood from the description
of A. bambusceefolia given below, which has large handsome flowers, and
is occasionally met with in orchid collections. Another showy species,
A. densa, sent from Singapore by Cuming, to Messrs. Loddiges, in
whose nursery at Hackney it flowered in 1842, seems to have been
long since lost to cultivation ; and a third, A. speciosa, the species upon
which the genus was founded, said to be very handsome, has not yet
been introduced; the other species known to science have smaller
and less showy flowers.
The generic name Arundina, “reed-like,”’ refers to the slender reed-
like stems, common to all the known species.
Arundina bambuseefolia.
A terrestrial plant. Stems terete, erect, as thick as an ordinary writing
pencil, 2—4 feet high, pale green and leafy above. Leaves linear-ianceolate,
acuminate, J—12 inches long, gradually smaller upwards, the upper ones
reduced to sheathing bracts. Peduncles terminal, short and few flowered,
Flowers 2—24 inches across; sepals and petals rosy lilac, the former
narrowly lanceolate, the latter ovate-oblong, acute; lip broadly oval-
oblong, obscurely three- lobed, the side lobes coloured like the sepals
and petals, convolute over the column, recurved in front where they are
of a deeper colour; the intermediate lobe open, bipartite, deep purple ;
disk white, fleshy, with two undulated lamelle that are prolonged to
* Gard. Chron, 1858, p. 4.
78 DIACRIUM.
the base of the lip, and a third shallower and shorter one between them.
Column slender, clavate, narrowly winged on each side of the stigmatic
cavity, pale purple, Anther two-celled; pollinia eight, four in each cell,
disk-like, compressed, pale yellow.
Arundina bambuseefolia, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 125 (1831). Bot. Reg.
1841, misc. No. 5. Wight, Ic. pl. Ind. or. V. t. 1661. Williams’ Orch. Alb.
TIT, t. 189.
This pretty orchid first became known in the early part of the present
century through Dr. Roxburgh, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden
at Calcutta; it was subsequently noted by Wallich, Griffith and other
Indian botanists. It is a native of N. KH. Bengal, Assam, and north
Burmah, and was first introduced into British gardens by Messrs.
Loddiges, in whose- nursery it flowered for the first time in 1841.
Cultural Note-—A compost of fibrous peat and loam, such as is used for
terrestrial orchids with slender stems, the Sobralias for example, is the
most suitable. The drainage of the pots should be ample, and water
freely supplied during the growing season. A light position in the
East India house should be given to the species described above.
SOB*TRI BET 2a.
Inflorescence nearly always terminal. Pollinia in one or two series of
4 each, those of each series lying side by side, ovate, laterally compressed,
and connected by a pollinary appendage in the form of two linear lamine
often uniting into one, and ascending from the base of the lower or single
series along their outer edye; the upper series, when present, descending
from the upper end of the lamina, and often smaller than the lower
series.*
DIACRIUM.
Benth. in Jour. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 312 (1881). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III.
p. 526 (1883).
The three or four species, or marked varieties of one species, now
referred to Diacrium, were made sectional by Lindley under Epiden-
drum, but ‘‘ the peculiar bi-cornute labellum which is neither adnate
*Bentham in Jour, Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 311.
DIACRIUM. 79
to, nor parallel with the column, gives the flower a very different
aspect from that of the true species of Epidendrum, and cannot be
included in them without doing violence to the generic character.’”’*
They are natives of the West India Islands and Central America,
of which one only, the typical species described below, is generally
cultivated in the orchid collections of Great Britain. A second form,
under the name of EHpidendrum bigibLerosum, was cultivated many
years ago by Consul Schiller, of Hamburg, and has within the last
few years been introduced into British collections from the valley of
the Magdalena, where it occurs in the damp jungle that limes the
river-side; it is simply a miniature form of the type as regards its
flowers.
The name Diacrium is obscure; it is probably derived from duaxpiote
(diakrisis), “a separation,” presumably referring to the separation of
the lip from the column.
Diacrium bicornutum.
Stems fusiform or sub-cylindric, 6—9 or more inches high, sheathed
by the scarious bases of the fallen leaves. Leaves usually three or four
from the summit of the stems, oblong-lanceolate, 6—9 inches long,
Diacrinm bicornutum.
acute or emarginate, very leathery, Peduncles terminal, a foot long,
sheathed at each joint by a membraneous, acute bract, and bearing at
its extremity a short raceme of 3—5 or more fragrant flowers.; Flowers
2—2} inches in diameter; sepals and petals spreading and slightly con-
_* Bentham in Jour. Linn. Soc. XVIJ1. p. 312. A glance at the figure of the column and lip
given in the text will at once confirm the justice of this remark.
+ In exceptionally rare instances, 12—20 flowers. Gard. Chron, III. s. 3 (1888), p. 746,
80 EPIDENDRUM.
cave, pure white, the sepals oval-oblong, the petals broadly oval, acute ;
lip smaller than the other segments, sessile and at a right angle to the
column, white, dotted with purple, three-lobed, the side lobes oblong,
oblique, the middle lobe lanceolate, acute; crest fleshy, two-lobed, the
lobes horn-lke, erect, yellowish. Column broad, semi-terete above, winged,
white with some purple spots and markings at the base on the inner
side,
Diacrium bicornutum, Benth. in Jour. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 312 (1881). Rolfe in
Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 44, icon. xyl. Epidendrum bicornutum, Hook. Bot.
Mag. t. 3332 (1834). Paxt. Mag. Bot. V. p. 245 (1838). Schomb. FI. Brit. Guiana,
III. p. 907. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ep. No. 82, Jennings’ Orch. t. 21. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. IV. t. 157.
First introduced by Messrs. Shepherd, of Liverpool, in 1833, from
Trinidad, where it is found growing on rocks or small islets so
close to the sea that they must often be bathed by salt spray;
it flowered for the first time in this country in the collection of
Earl Fitzwiliam, at Wentworth, near Rotherham, in April of the
following year, which is its normal season of flowering in the glass
houses of Europe. Some years later it was detected by Sir Robert
Schomburgk in Demerara, where it grows on the trunks of trees on
the banks of the river; the flowers of the Demerara plant are said
to differ from the Trinidad type, in having the petals spotted with
purple like the lip. It has also been gathered in Tobago and other
West India islands.
Cultural Note.—This orchid has frequently proved disappointing, a
circumstance partly due, we have no doubt, to the difficulty of importing
it in sound condition. Its hollow stems are inhabited by small ants,
which find ingress through a cleft at the base that invariably occurs in
the new growths under cultivation, and probably also in a wild state ;
they are prone to decay from within, and frequently crack during trans-
mission, and in however small a degree they may be so affected, the plants
never get well established in the glass houses of this country, and die
in the course of two or three years after importation. With thoroughly
sound plants the case is more hopeful; teak baskets are usually pre.
ferred, and as they require but a very small quantity of compost, a
good drainage can always be secured. The compost should consist of
the usual proportions of sphagnum and fibrous peat, with which many
cultivators mix some pieces of charcoal, The habitat of the species
indicates a high temperature and moist atmosphere, and these conditions
are therefore necessary, especially while the plant is growing,
on
EPIDENDRUM. 8]
EPIDENDRUM.
Linn. Gen. p. 272, No. 688 (1737). Id. ed. VI. p. 464, No. 1016 (1764). Lindl. Fol. Orch.
(1853). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 529 (1883).
The “father of modern botany,” Linnzeus, referred all the tropical
epiphytal orchids which he knew and which were about thirty in all,
to Epidendrum ; but these consisted of species that had been brought
from India and Africa as well as from South America and Mexico,
and therefore included forms that differed widely from each other.
This simple classification soon failed to meet the requirements of
science, so that even before the eighteenth century closed, his country-
man, Oloff Swartz, began to lay the foundation of a more scientific
- classification of the tropical Orchideze by separating from Hpidendi um
cochleatum, E. ciliare and fh. nocturnum, which he retained under
Epidendrum, the most divergent of the other Linnean species, and
founding new genera upon them; and as additions were constantly
being made to the Orchidez by the discovery of new species, the
process was continued by succeeding botanists, notably by our own
distinguished countrymen Dr. Robert Brown and Dr. John Lindley,
especially the last named, during whose life-long labours a large
number of new genera were established, and most of the older ones
became tolerably well circumscribed, including the Linnean Epidendrum,
but which even in Lindley’s time had become the most extensive genus
in the Order. As elaborated in the Folia Orchidacea published in
1853, Epidendrum then included over three hundred species, but
since that time numerous additions have been made, so that upwards
of four hundred species good and bad are now known to science.
A genus so extensive and varied must necessarily present much that
is perplexing both to the scientist and to the horticulturist; hence
to meet the exigences of a progressive science like botany it is not
surprising that an occasional revision should be called for, whence it
happens that species previously included have to be removed, and others
formerly regarded as generically distinct have to be added. Some
such changes have been found necessary in the case of Epidendrum,*
and have therefore resulted in corresponding changes in nomenclature.
As instances of separation we may cite H. bicornutum (Hook.) and its
near ally and perhaps variety LE. bigibberoswm (Rchb.) ‘The first named
*This genus has been twice revised since the publication of Lindley’s Folia Orchidacea
in 1853, first by Reichenbach, in Walper’s Annales Botanices, 1861—5, and secondly by
Bentham, in the Genera Plantarum, 1883. We have followed the last-named revision,
G
82 EPIDENDRUM.
and two other allied forms were made sectional by Lindley, but are now
raised to generic rank by Bentham under the name of Diacrium, the
best known or type being that described in page 79. Instances of
addition occur in the Barkerias, but they are made _ sectional.
Reichenbach has indeed merged all the Cattleyas into Hpidendrum,
but in this he stands alone.*
Nearly one-half of the known species of Epidendrum have been
introduced into gardens in the course of the past hundred years,
but scarcely one-third of these or one-sixth of the whole are
considered to be of any horticultural merit; the remainder consists
chiefly of species with inconspicuous flowers, often of dingy colours
and sometimes of such robust growth that they may be looked
upon as being among the coarsest weeds of the orchid world; it
should be noted, however, that the flowers of many of them are
delightfully fragrant. The following diagnosis, abridged from the
Genera Plantarum, includes all the most important floral characteristics
of Epidendrum.
The inflorescence is terminal with few exceptions.
The sepals are free, equal and spreading, but sometimes reflexed.
The petals are similar and sub-equal, often a little narrower than the sepals.
The //p has an erect claw more or less adnate to the column, appressed
to it only in a few species; the blade is spreading and usually deeply lobed.
The colwmn is often narrow and semi-terete, sometimes with two small
wings or auricles.
The pollinia are four, ovate or flattened, two in each anther cell,
where they are separated by a septum or partition.
The capsule is ovoid or oblong with six prominent ribs, sometimes winged.
Nevertheless the essential character of Kpidendrum and that by
which a flower is most easily recognised as belonging to the genus,
consists in the lip being appressed or more or less united to the
column. With the vegetative organs of Epidendrum the case is
not so simple, for throughout the genus, even as it now stands,
there exist remarkable differences in habit, and it is upon these
differences chiefly that the sectional divisions of the genus have
been founded; the extent of the attachment of the lip to the
column being also regarded as an important character for the same
end. As the sectional divisions have a practical use in the opera-
tions of the cultivator, we here give the leading features of each
as enunciated by Bentham.
* Walp. Ann. Bot. vol. VI. p. 311, et seq. and Xen. Orch. II. pp. 27—36,
EPIDENDRUM. 83
I. Barkeria, Stems either scarcely or at all thickened, or forming
narrow spindle-shaped pseudo-bulbs, 2—4 (rarely more) leaved at the
top. Lip shortly adnate to the base of the column.
This section includes the Barkerias of Knowles and Westcott, and
Epidendrum Skinneri.
IJ. Encycrrum. Stems usually more or less thickened into oval or
elongated pear-shaped pseudo-bulbs that are 2—3 leaved at the top.
Lip adnate to the base of column to less than half its length.
The species in this section are very numerous, and were classified
by Lindley into three series, thus—(1) Holochila, labellum quite entire
as in Epidendrum Brassavole, EH. vitellinum, E. prismatocarpum, etc.
(2) Sarcochila, labellum thickish and minutely toothed as in EF. glaucwm,
E. ochraceum. (3) Hymenochila, labellum three-lobed, petal-like, as in
E. atropurpureum, E. nemorale, E. dichromum, ete.
Ill. Avznizeum. Stems more or less thickened into elongated spindle-
shaped pseudo-bulbs, 1—2 (rarely 3) leaved at the top. Lip adnate to
the column to the apex of the latter.
This includes two sub-sections—(1) Schistochile, labellum_ tri-partite,
or more or less three-lobed, as in EH. ciliare, E. falcatum. (2) Holochila
(Benth.), Osmophytuwm (Lindl.), labellum quite entire as in E. cochleatum,
E. inversum, ete.
IV. Evepmpenprum. Stems cylindric, reed-like, 3—5 feet long, leafy ;
leaves distichous and alternate. Lip adnate to the column the whole
of its length.
This is the largest of the sectional divisions, and includes most of the
species with densely racemose and paniculate inflorescence. These have
been arranged by Bentham into ten series, distinguished chiefly by the
habit of the plant and the form of the inflorescence ; the most important of
these series, in a horticultural sense, are the third (Nutantes), including £.
enemidophorum, E. Cooperianum, and the sixth (Amphiglottidee ), including
E. cinnabarinum, E evectum, E. radicans, E. «xanthinum, etc., ete.
VY. PsmantHemMum. Stems leafy, thickened into spindle-shaped pseudo-
bulbs Inflorescence produced from the base of the stem, not terminal
as in the other sections.
This section includes one very distinct species only—£. Stamfordianum.
Geographical distrihution—No genus of epiphytic orchids, Dendrobium
perhaps excepted, is spread over an area so vast and continuous as
Epidendrum. The species are scattered over well-nigh the whole of the
South American Continent from the southern tropic to the isthmus;
they are also abundant in Central America, the West India Islands,
and Mexico. ‘Three species, Hpidendrwm cochleatum, HE. tampense, and
EH. conopseum, occur within the territories of the United States; the
last named is frequent on evergreen trees near the coast from Louisiana to
84. EPIDENDRUM.
Port Royal in South Carolina ; it is therefore the most northern epiphytal
orchid known in the western hemisphere. Of the four hundred described
species that are spread over this great region, by far the greater
number have been gathered in elevated localities, especially on the
Andes from Bolivia northwards to the isthmus, and their continua-
tion through Central America to the Mexican plateau, where and
throughout the West Indies the Epidendra are among the commonest
of orchids, in some places forming immense tufts that literally
strangle the trees to which they attach themselves. So far as at present
known they are less abundant within the Brazilian territories, but
several are reported from the Organ Mountains and the Serras of
Minas Geraes. ‘Throughout the mountain districts they usually occur
at a moderate elevation like the Cattleyas and Lelias, but there are
some remarkable exceptions—thus it is said of WH. frigidum, “
singular plant with stems a foot and a half high, densely covered
with leaves and bearing racemes of small pale rose flowers, grows
on wet rocks at but little distance from perpetual snow at the
height of 13,000 feet, both on the Sierra Nevada of Merida’ in
Venezuela and the volcano of Pasto in Peru.* While a great
number of the species are restricted to localities of limited extent
there are some as H. ciliare, H. fragrans, and HE. vuriegatum that
are distributed over an enormous area, and others again lke H.
frigidum mentioned above, which although not common have been
gathered in localities widely remote from each other.
Cultural Note.—The greater number of the species described in the
following pages have been introduced either from the mountain regions
of South America, where they occur at elevations and live under climatic
conditions similar to those of the New Granadian Cattleyas, or from the
elevated plateau of Mexico and Guatemala, where they are found under
nearly the same conditions as Lelia anceps and its immediate allies L.
autumnalis, L. rubescens, &c. The cultural treatment of the Epidendrums is
thence easily deducible from a knowledge of their habitat, or more compre-
hensively from their sectional classification, thus—those species included
in the AuLizeum and EvrpipENDRUM sections, and which have cylindric
or fusiform stemst may be associated for cultural purposes with the
Cattleyas of the labiata group, that is to say, they should receive the
same cultural treatment as those Cattleyas; and those included in the
Encyciium, and which have ovoid pseudo-bulbs, and all the Barkerias may
* Lindley, Fol. Orch. Ep. No. 286.
+ Epidendrum cnemidophorum and EL. Stamfordianum, although having fusiform stems,
being natives of the mountains of Guatemala should be grown with the Mexican Leelias,
a
EPIDENDRUM. 85
be cultivated in the same house and under the same conditions as the
Mexican Lelias. No cultivator need be under any apprehensions of
failure from adopting the sectional divisions as a basis for cultural
purposes as here suggested; the classification of the Epidendra sketched
above is so simple that no one of ordinary intelligence would scarcely
fail to assign to any species brought before him, its correct sectional place.
As we have given the cultural treatment of the Cattleyas and Lelias
in detail under their respective headings, those details need not be
repeated here.
Epidendrum alatum.
Encyciium. Pseudo-bulbs pyriform, 83—4 inches long, di-triphyllous.
Leaves lorate, leathery, 12—15 inches long. Peduncles erect, purplish,
longer than the leaves, paniculate, many flowered. Flowers fragrant,
2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar, linear-spathulate with
revolute margin, the basal half pale greenish yellow, the distal half brownish
purple; the side lobes of the lip sub-quadrate, erect, pale yellow with
a few red streaks at the base; the middle lobe broadly deltoid, undulate,
light yellow bordered with orange and traversed longitudinally by several
lines of minute purple hairs.
Epidendrum alatum. Batem Orch, Mew. et Guat. t, 18 (1839—43). Lindl. Fol. Orch.
Ep. No. 53. E. calochilum, Bot. Mag. t. 3898. EE. longipetalum, Lindl. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard, I, t. 30 (1850). HK. formosum, Klotzsch, Allg. Gart. Zeit. 1853, p. 201.
Discovered by Mr. G. Ure Skinner in 1837, in Honduras, growing
m company with Hpidendrum Stamfordianum; afterwards detected
by Hartweg, in Guatemala. It has since been frequently imported
with other Central American orchids.
KE. arachnoglossum.
EvEPIDENDRUM. Stems cylindric, 3—-5 feet high, leafy above. Leaves
sessile, ovate-oblong, obtuse, 3—4 inches long. Peduncles almost entirely
invested with closely adherent scarious bracts and terminating in a dense
many-flowered nodding raceme, Flowers on greenish crimson pedicels an
inch long, rich magenta-crimson, except the orange-yellow fleshy disk of
the lip; sepals and petals simuar, elliptic-oblong; the petals with toothed
margin, the sepals entire; lip three-lobed, each lobe spreading and
fimbriated, the middle one with a deep cleft in the anterior margin. Crest
consisting of four bright orange central teeth, with a smaller white
one on each side and a broad denticulate plate in front.
Epidendrum arachnoglossum, Rchb. ex. André in Revue Hort. 1882, p. 554,
Discovered by M. Edouard André, in 1876, on the volcano of
Puracé, in southern New Granada, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, in
limited numbers, growing upon trees in company with Kpidendrum
paniculatum. M. Andre was also the introducer of the plant, and
the first to flower it in Europe. Owing to the slow elongation of the
86 EPIDENDRUM.
rachis after the lowermost flowers have expanded, the raceme continues
in bloom four or five months.*
U
Arac
In the garden of Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, at Ferriéres-en-Brie, France, July, 18
PHALNOPSIS., 13
PHALAANOPSIS.
Blume Bijdr. p. 294 (1825). Id. Rumphia IV. p. 52, t. 199 (1848). Benth. et. Hook.
Gen. Plant. III. p. 573 (1883).
The sub-tribe of which we are now treating is exceptionally rich
in species that are in high favour with orchid amateurs, and among
them several of the Phalenopses unquestionably occupy the foremost
rank. This is owing, not only to the surpassing beauty and attrac-
tiveness of their flowers, especially of those species included in
Bentham’s section, EHupaatxNopsis, but also to their peculiar form, by
which they may be distinguished at a glance from all other cultivated
orchids. These species and the hybrids derived from them also
produce their flowers in great profusion, and continue long in bloom
at a season when exotic flowers are much appreciated. Besides
these well-known favourites, there are now brought under Phalenopsis
a goodly number of “forms”
whose flowers are of different aspect and
texture, but which conform to the essential characters of the genus
as at present circumscribed, ‘These with the first mentioned group
form a series which connect the genus with Arachnanthe on the
one hand, and with Doritis on the other, a small genus including
about five species, and to which is now referred Phalenopsis Wightii
(Rchb.) In the chain of affinities presented by this series, occasional
interruptions occur that may be bridged over by future discoveries,
but which serve at present to limit sectional divisions. Moreover
the genus has been enlarged by the introduction of several un-
doubted natural hybrids, and by others obtained artificially in the
glass houses of Europe. In its horticultural aspect Phalaenopsis
therefore presents a very varied and interesting group of species
and hybrids, not less remarkable for the range of colour than for
the variety in form and texture observable in the flowers.
The following diagnosis includes all the most important floral
characteristics of Phalaenopsis.
The sepals are free and spreading
The petals are similar, or much broader and then contracted at the
base, rarely narrower.
The labellum is attached to the apex of the short foot of the column,
or continuous with it; it is spurless, spreading, or at a small angle with
the column.*
*Throughout the genus the labellum is of very complex structure, exceedingly difficult
to describe in words.
14 PHALANOPSIS.
The column is semi-terete, straight or slightly curved, and produced at
the base into a short foot.
The pollinia are sub-globose, waxy, usually of a deep orange-red, and
attached to the gland by a long slender caudicle.
The capsule is sub-cylindric, almost fusiform, with six furrows
in EvpHaLznopsis; angulate with the perianth segments persistent in
STAUROGLOTTIS.
In their vegetation the Phalenopses are dwarf epiphytal herbs that
attach themselves to the stems and branches of large trees, generally
in shade, always in proximity to water, whether as running streams,
the deltas of rivers, or close to the sea-shore. A few species, as
Phalenopsis Lowi, P. Parishii, and P. Esmeralda, are deciduous in
their native home, and grow on the branches of small bushes and
even on limestone rocks.
The stems are very short and are sheathed by the bases of the leaves.
From their base are produced numerous flexuose, aérial rvots, that in
most of the species of Phalenopsis proper are compressed, rugose, of a
dull brown or greyish hue, and cling with extraordinary tenacity to the
surfaces over which they creep. In .other species the roots are cylindric,
smooth, somewhat slender, at first green, changing with age to a greyish
white; roots with characters intermediate between these are- also of
frequent occurrence.
The leaves, always few in number, are distichously arranged as in the
allied genera, but the arrangement is often more or less apparently
distorted, owing to the shortness of the stems on which they are
close-set. They are usually of ovate, oblong, or obovate-oblong form,
often very large, leathery in texture, and of a glossy green, but in a
few species mottled with grey.
The peduncles are either simple and few flowered, or branched and
many flowered, in the latter case sometimes attaining a considerable
size; the bracts are usually small, ovate, and appressed to the base of
the ovary.
A morphological peculiarity that occurs in the roots and peduncles
of Phalenopsis has here to be noticed. Both organs are proliferous,
that is to say, adventitious buds are produced by them, which, under
favourable circumstances, ultimately develop into young plants that may
be detached from their parent; the rate of development is, however,
often extremely slow. Proliferous roots have been observed on
Phalenopsis Stuartiana, P. Schilleriana, and P. deliciosa; of the
observed instances, the proliferation has occurred most frequently in
the first named species, of which a specimen with a miniature plant
on one of its roots, and having two tiny leaves, was brought under
the notice of the Orchid Conference at South Kensington, in May,
1885; a similar growth has been observed on the roots of P,
PHALENOPSIS, ibs,
Schilleriana ; the observed case in P. deliciosa, a species that is no
longer in cultivation, at least in Great Britain, rests on the
authority of the late Professor Reichenbach, who mentioned it in
one of his communications to the Orchid Conference.* We find no
record of proliferation occurring on the roots of any other species of
Phalznopsis, but the phenomenon has been noticed in other genera,
in Cyrtopodium, in Saccolabium,t and especially in our native Birds’
Nest orchid, Neottia Nidus-avis, which was observed by Dean
Herbert so long ago as !833,{ by Vaucher, a German botanist, in
1841, and subsequently by others,
Proliferation of the peduncle is a more frequent occurrence; it
always takes place at one of the nodes, usually that immediately
below the lowermost flowers when the inflorescence is racemose, or as
before the lowermost branch when paniculate.§ Many of the species
of Phalenopsis in cultivation produce proliferous peduncles, but the
range of observation has been too restricted, and the _ recorded
instances too few to admit of the formulating of any general law
that pervades the phenomenon, Moreover the cultivators of these
choice plants, as a rule, cut off the peduncles as soon as the flower-
ing is over, as their retention on the plant would greatly weaken it,
either by proliferation, or by continuous flowering, and even cause it
to perish. The most frequently observed causes of proliferation of the
peduncle have occurred in Phalenopsis Liiddemanniana, P. Schilleriana,
P. Stuartiana, less frequently in P. rosea, P. Aphrodite, P. intermedia.
The most common case of successive branching of the peduncle after
the first flowers have fallen occurs in P. amabilis.||
Phaleenopsis affords a conspicuous example of the rapid enlargement
of a genus through the activity of the orchid collectors of the present
time in searching out new species and varieties, and through the further
multiplication of forms by the skill of the hybridist in the glass
houses of Europe. Only one species was known to Linneeus,
which was an_ herbarium specimen sent to him by Osbeck, and
to which he gave the name of Hpidendrum amabile (1753),
(Phalenopsis amabilis, Bl.), and this was the only one known to
science for nearly a whole century, till Cuming discovered a
*Report of the Orchid Conference in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society.
p. 18. + Idem.
" erm of Botany and Gardening, fide A. D. Webster in Gard. Chron, XXIII. (1885),
§ See fig. in Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1888), p. 389.
\| Proliferation of the peduncle in other genera have been observed in Oncidiwm abortivum
by Mr. Swan (Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 554); in Angrecum Leonis by another corres-
pondent (Id. IV. s. 3 (1888), p. 515); and in Phaius grandifolius after the stem had been
cut off and thrown under the stage (Idem).
16 PHALHENOPSIS.
second species in the Philippine Islands in 1838, which by an
unfortunate error Dr. Lindley referred to the P. amabilis of Blume,
but from which it is clearly distinct. Ten years later a third
species, /. rosea, was sent to our Exeter firm from the Philippine
Islands by Thomas Lobb, who also sent with it P. intermedia,
since proved to be a natural hybrid between P. Aphrodite, Cuming’s
discovery, and P. rosea. During the next fourteen years the number
of species from various sources had increased to eleven, up to the
time when the genus was monographed by Reichenbach in the
first part of his Xenia Orchidacea II., which he published in 1862.
Twenty years later, when revising the Orcuiprm for the (lenera
Plantarum, Mr. Bentham estimated the number of species at
fifteen, but so rapidly were additions made between 1875—55,
that Mr. Rolfe enumerates thirty-four species in his revision of the
genus published in the Gardeners’ Chronicle in 1886; but as this
number includes three or four that must be reduced to varieties or
synonyms of other species, and one or two others that are
undoubted natural hybrids, the actual number of known species
may be fairly estimated at about thirty, two-thirds of which are in
cultivation.
Mr. Bentham admitted but two sectional divisions, which are thus
distinguished :—
EvupHaLmnopsis. Petals much broader than the sepals, and contracted
at the base; lip with two antenne-like appendages at the apex, but which
are sometimes reduced to small teeth.
The included species are amabilis, Aphrodite, Sanderiana, Schilleriana,
Stuartiana, and the hybrids in the parentage of which these species have
participated.
Srauroctortis. Petals equal to, rarely smaller than the sepals; the
middle lobe of the lip entire,* without the apical appendages of
EUPHALENOPSIS.
This section includes amethystina, Boxalli, Cornu-cervi, Liiddemanniana,
Mannii, maculata, Marie, Parishit, rosea, speciosa, sumatrana, tetraspis,
violacea and others known to science but not in cultivation.
Besides those enumerated above, there are two other interesting species
in cultivation that cannot properly be included in either section, viz.,
Phalenopsis Lowti and P. Esmeralda. Myr. Bentham included the first
named in EvpHaLmnopsis, but it differs from all the species in that
section in two important characters, viz., the absence of the apical
* In three species notched at the apex, fide Rolfe in Gard. Chron, XXVI, (1886), p. 276,
7 x > ; 4
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PHALENOPSIS. Live
appendages of the lip, and in having a curious proboscis-like rostellum ;
moreover its leaves are deciduous in its native home, and generally so
under cultivation in the glass houses of Europe. P. Esmeralda, which
would otherwise be included in Stavroctortis, is singular in having a
pair of slender linear appendages on the claw of the labellum. To meet
these obvious deviations from the other sectional types Mr. Rolfe has
proposed two new sections for their reception, PrososcrprorpEs for P. Low77,
in reference to the curious elephant’s-trunk-like appendage of its column,
and Esmeraupa for the species of that name.*
The generic name Phalznopsis is derived from paAawa (phalaina),
“a moth,” and ofc (opsis), “the appearance.’ It seems to have
been suggested to the Dutch botanist, Blume, by the fancied resemblance
of the flowers of Phalenopsis amabilis (P. grandiflora, Lindl.), the
species upon which the genus was founded, to some of the tropical
moths while on the wing, in the same manner that our native species
of Ophrys have received the popular names of Fly Orchis, Bee Orchis,
Spider Orchis, etc., from the supposed resemblance of their flowers
to those familiar insects.
Geographical Distribution. — The geographical distribution of the
species of Phaleenopsis will be best understood from an inspection of
the accompanying map, on which are inscribed the names of all the
species whose habitats are known. By far the greater number of these
are insular, and the few that occur on the mainland of the Asiatic
continent are, with two exceptions, natives of the south-eastern pen-
insula, and are always found at no great distance from the sea shore.
All the species included in the section EupnaL"nopsis are natives of the
Philippine Islands, except the type, Phalenopsis amabilis, which has
a wide range in the Malay Archipelago. On the mainland one species
occurs in Cochin China, two in Moulmein, one, P. Cornu-cervi, in the
delta of the Irawaddy, and thence southwards as far as Java and other
islands in the Malay Archipelago, and one, P. Mannii, an outlying
member of the genus, is found in Assam, living under different
climatic conditions and environment from all its congeners.t With the
exception of the last-named species, it is thence seen that the genus
is spread over a region lying between the 15th parallel of north and
the 8th parallel of south latitude, and between the 95th and 125th
meridians of east longitude, and therefore within what is geographically
* Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 276.
t A sub-variety of Phalenopsis Parishii also occurs in Assam, but not in the same locality
as P. Mannii.
c
18 PHALENOPSIS.
termed the equatorial zone. We have already described in some detail,
under Dendrobium, the climatic phenomena of this zone, the most
salient characteristics of which may be conveniently repeated here,
since, under similar conditions, most of the species of Vanda, Aérides,
and other members of the sub-tribe SarcanruEex live, notably those
species that are in high estimation amongst cultivators of orchids.
The temperature of the equatorial zone is remarkable for its uniformity
throughout the year, the extreme range of the thermometer from the
lowest to the highest, at Batavia for example, rarely if ever exceeding
15° C. (27° F.), while at other stations it is considerably less. The
highest day temperature is usually 33°—365° C, (90°—905° F.), while
it seldom falls below 21°-—24° C, (70°—75° F.) at night, the coolest
hours being just before sun-rise. The annual rainfall is modified by
local circumstances; in the Malay Archipelago and the southern
Philippines it ranges trom 80 to 90 inches; in these islands the
atmosphere is nearly always saturated with moisture, and, owing to
the great weight of vapour which its high temperature enables it to
hold in suspension, a very slight fall in the thermometer is accompanied
by the condensation of a large absolute quantity of atmospheric vapour,
so that copious dews and heavy showers of rain are produced at
comparatively high temperatures and low altitudes.* In Moulmein
the annual rainfall is much greater than in the Malay Archipelago,
and is distributed over ten months of the year, the remaining two
months, from about the middle of January to the middle of March,
being rainless; in the Andaman Islands, which are still nearer the
equator, the dry season rarely exceeds four or five weeks; in Cochin
China the climatic phenomena approach those of the Malay Archipelago,
except that there is a decidedly dry season of about two months’
duration. Within the equatorial zone the sea and land breezes are
among the most prevalent and constant of the aérial currents, and
within their influence nearly all the finest species of Phalaenopsis live.
The northern Phihppines, Moulmein, and southern Burmah being
within the sphere of the monsoons, the atmospheric disturbances in
those countries are more violent at certain seasons of the year.
Cultural Note.—The introduction of species of Phalenopsis from the
neighbourhood of the equator to the high latitude of Great Britain,
to be cultivated in artificially heated glass houses, has been one of the
* Wallace’s Tropical Nature, p. 15.
PHALENOPSIS. 19
most difficult cultural problems horticulturists have been called upon to
solve. The most accurate knowledge of the environment of the species
in their native home affords, at best, but a subordinate aid to the
solution of that problem, for an attempt to imitate the conditions
under which they grow wild would simply prove impracticable, apart
from the great difference in the climatic phenomena of places
situated in latitudes so far removed from our own. A few instances
quoted from authentic sources will make this clear. In north Borneo,
Phalenopsis amabilis (P. grandiflora, Lindl.) grows high up on trees
screened from the sun by a leafy canopy, deluged with rain for more
than half the year, and constantly fanned by cool sea breezes.* In
strong contrast to this, P. Low?ti grows on limestone rocks that rise
suddenly out of the delta of the rivers Gyne, Ataran, and others in
Tenasserim, where the country surrounding these hills is under water
the greater part of the year, and where, during the dry season, the
plants are literally scorched, nothing remaining but the roots.t Again,
in contrast to both the preceding cases, P. tetraspis grows suspended
from the branches of Mangrove trees, a few feet above water along the
swampy shores of the Andaman Islands;{ and P. Stwartiana has been
observed on the coast of Mindanao, growing on the branches of trees so
close to the sea that it can scarcely fail to be washed by the salt spray
during a storm. It is thence evident that the conditions under which
Phalenopses can be grown successfully in this country can only be
ascertained from experiment and from observations, extended over a long
period, of the behaviour of the plants under the altered circumstances
in which they are placed. The experiments, at first necessarily of an
empirical character, have now extended over more than half a century,
and the results derived from them may be fairly reckoned among the
best achievements of the horticultural skill of the present day, for
Phalenopsis may now be said to be firmly established in European gardens.
It will be directly inferred from the geographical distribution of the
genus that the Phalenopses require a higher average temperature than
the majority of the cultivated orchids, and to meet this requirement
a separate house or compartment of a house is, when practicable,
especially devoted to them. A low-pitched house is almost invariably
preferred, but in the constructive details much diversity prevails, one
cultivator preferring one kind of arrangement, another another kind,
each affording some advantages that secure for it a preference. The
most prominent instance of the successful cultivation of these plants
known to us is at Tring Park, the seat of the Right Honourable
Lord Rothschild; a general description of the house in which they are
grown will thence serve better than any form of construction that we
* Burbidge, Gardens of the Sun, p. 52.
+ Major-Gen. E, S. Berkeley in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 280,
tIdem. II. s. 3 p. 74,
20
PHAL®PNOPSIS,
can suggest. The Phalenopsis house at Tring Park is a_half-span,
and being the inner division of a long range facing south, no cold air
from the opening of outer doors can enter it. The floor is 2 feet below
the surface of the ground, and there are front and back beds covered
with slate slabs; the front bed for the smaller plants averages 24 feet
from the roof-glass, the back bed for the specimen plants averages 44
feet from the roof. The house is heated principally by hot-water pipes
in the pathway, and by two 4-inch pipes in each of the covered
beds; in addition to these there are two l-inch hot-water pipes both
along the front and along the back, placed as near the roof as possible.
Ample ventilation is provided for along the whole length at top; the
shading is effected by means of a roller blind, and on hot, bright
days with the addition of an upright canvas screen 10 feet high,
placed immediately in front of the house, and which can be set up
and removed at pleasure. The plants are for the most part cultivated
in upright teak cylinders, the potting material being that described
infra. Many of them have been thus cultivated for ten years, and
have not only flowered in a_ satisfactory manner, but have greatly
increased in size.
The cultural routine practised by the most experienced growers of
Phaleenopsis may be thus formulated :—
Temperature.—Phalenopses usually commence their season’s growth
in March, at which time the temperature of the house should be
gradually raised till the end of April, when the night temperature
should not be allowed to sink below 21° C. (70° F.), and the
day temperature should range from 24°—27° C. (75°—80° F.),
according to the brightness of the weather. These temperatures
should be maintained till the middle of November, from which time
they should be gradually diminished up to the end of the year, when
the plants enter upon their resting season, which continues till about
the end of March. During this season, the night temperature should
range from 15°—18° C. (60°—65° F.), according to the state of the
weather, raised in the daytime to 18°—21° C. (65°--70° F.), or
even a little higher on bright days.
Watering.—This must be regulated according to the season, as Phala-
nopses grow naturally in an atmosphere that is nearly always saturated
with vapour. The humidity of the house during the growing season
must be maintained to near the saturation point; this is effected chiefly
by “damping down,” that is to say, by sprinkling with water all the
available surface within the house from which it will evaporate freely,
as the floors, side-walls, stages, ete.; this should be performed at least
three times a day in sultry weather. During the winter months the
“damping down” may be restricted to once a day, or so often as is
sufficient to counteract the drying effect of the hot-water pipes, and no
more water should be applied direct to the plants than is sufficient to
PHALANOPSIS. 21
keep the surface sphagnum alive and moist. . When water is applied
direct, it should be poured on the sphagnum only, never on the foliage
of the plants.
Ventilation and Shading.—No very precise directions can be given for
ventilating the Phalenopsis-house. Air should be admitted during the
growing season, whenever the external temperature is sufliciently high to
allow of its being done without risk ; this is best effected by means of the
lower ventilators, which should always be placed close to the hot-water
pipes, that the air may be warmed by them during its ingress. The
necessity for providing as much ventilation as is practicable, where so high
a temperature has to be constantly maintained, is one of the most serious
cares of the cultivator. The shading of the house, too, requires unceasing
vigilance, especially during the growing season, when the sensibility of
the leaves to direct sunlight is most apparent, for if exposed to it but
for a short time when the sun is powerful, they soon lose their rich
glossy colouring, and get a scorched, unhealthy appearance from which
they seldom recover.* Generally speaking, shading must be regulated
according to the season and the brightness of the weather. During the
winter months little or no shading is necessary.
Potting, etc.—Phalenopsis may be grown in pots, baskets, or cylinders
made of teak-wood rods, or even on blocks of wood and rafts. Baskets
and cylinders made of stoutish rods are preferred by many cultivators
for the species of EvupHaLaNopsis, as their roots can thence cling to
the rods in the same way as they cling to the bark of trees in their
native home; but they are not free from objections, the greatest of
which is that as soon as the wood begins to decay the roots of the
plants will not cling to it. For species of the section STauRoGLortis,
which are mostly of smaller size, the pot, basket, or cylinder should
be fiiled to three-fourths of its depth with clean, broken crocks for
drainage, and on the top of these many cultivators place horizontally
some straight pieces of charcoal; but we have long discoutinued the
use of this substance from our inability to detect the shghtest
advantage derived from it. The remaining space should be filled with
living sphagnum, and the plant placed in the centre, raised above the
level of the rim by means of the sphagnum, and some smaller broken
crocks mixed with it to promote drainage. It is usual to suspend
the basket from the roof.
Should the atmosphere of the Phalenopsis-house be allowed to get
dry, thrips will multiply with great rapidity, and soon disfigure the
*“The robust growth of Phalenopsis amabilis (LP. grandiflora, Lindl.) astonishes all who
see the plant growing in its native habitat for the first time, and how tightly the plants
are lashed upon the trunk or branch on which they grow. Here, high up in mid-air and
under a fierce sun, all the leaves are occasivnally scoiched off, or diied off by sun and
wind during an exceptionally dry monsoon; but the plant's energy sull lives in its roots,
which, securely lashed to the bark of trees, remain firm and strong, and uo svoner does
the wet season arrive than leaves and flowers are produced as if by magic.”—F. W. B. in
The Garden, XXIV. (1883), p. 560.
22
PHALZENOPSIS.
foliage of the plants; the washing of the leaves with a sponge dipped
in tepid water is an efficacious remedy that should be used as often as
thrips are detected. A moderate fumigation may also be used with
good results, provided the operation is performed when the foliage is
dry. The house should be fumigated towards evening, and again on
the following morning before it is ‘damped down.” Cockroaches
occasionally gnaw through the thick roots of vigorous-growing specimens,
and should be got rid of. Slugs lurk in the fresh sphagnum, and grow
with surprising rapidity, and with corresponding voracity; they should
be assiduously sought for and destroyed, as the mischief they do is
sometimes irreparable.
Synopsis OF SpecIES AND VARIETIES.
Phalesnopsis amabilis.
Leaves broadly obovate-oblong, 6—12 inches long, sometimes attaining
greater dimensions under cultivation, the smaller leaves emarginate, the
larger ones mucronate. Peduncles of variable length, green tinged with
dull purple, ascending or arching, panicled, but sometimes racemed, many-
flowered. Flowers 3—4 inches across the petals; sepals and petals white,
the dorsal sepal elliptic-oblong, the lateral two lanceolate-oblong, oblique ;
petals very broad, sub-rhomboidal, contracted at the base ; lip three-lobed,
the side lobes incurved towards the column, clawed, sub-quadrate, rounded
on the apical sides, yellow at the base, spotted with red on the claw;
the front lobe linear-hastate, with two basal auricles and two long apical
tendrils, curled inwards ; crest two-lobed, yellow spotted with red. Column
short, sub-clavate.
Phalenopsis amabilis, Blume, Bijdr. p. 294, t. 44 (1825). Id. Rumphia, IV. t. 194
and 199. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 213 (1832.) P. grandiflora, Lindl. in Gard.
Chron. 1848, p. 39, icon. xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 5184. De Puydt, Les. Orch. t. 34.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 277. Epidendrum amabile, L. Sp. Pl. ed. I. p. 953 (1753).
Cymbidium amabile, Roxb. Fl. Ind. III. p. 457 (1832).
Var.—aurea.
Peduncles greenish yellow. Flowers usually larger than the typical
form, with broader sepals and petals; the front half of the lateral lobes
of the lip, with the entire front lobe, including the cirri, light yellow.
P. amabilis aurea, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 212. P. grandiflora
aurea, Warner’s Sel. Orch. IT. t. 7. Sander’s Retchenbachia I. t. 11.
The botanical history of this lovely orchid is sketched by
Mr. R. A. Rolfe in the second volume of the Gardeners’ Chronicle of
1886, p. 168, from which we extract the following :—
It appears to have been first discovered in the island of Amboina,
by Rumphius, who gave a description and figure of it under the
name of Angrecum album majus, in his Herbarium amboinense, which
: pa il i ne
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is
os
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Phalenopsis amabilis.
hrodite.
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PHALHENOPSIS. 7
he published in 1750. Two years later it was detected by Osbeck, on
New Island, at the western extremity of Java, and specimens preserved
by him were sent to Linneus, who described the plant in the first
edition of his Species Plantarum, published in 1753, under the name
of Epidendrum amabile.* In 1798 it was introduced from the Moluccas
to the Hast India Company’s botanic garden at Calcutta, as we are
informed by Dr. Roxburgh, who, when compiling his Flora indica,
published many years later, removed it from Epidendrum and placed
it under Swartz’s genus, Cymbidium, to which it is much more nearly
allied. We next hear of it through Dr. Horsfield, who found it in
1809 in the district of Patjitan, on the south coast of Java, and again
some years later, through Dr. Blume, who detected it on the small
island of Nusa Kambangau, and who founded upon it the genus
Phalenopsis, which he published in 1825; in that genus it is doubtless
destined to remain.
The merit of introducing Phalenopsis amabilis to British gardens
is due to Thomas Lobb, who sent plants from Java to our Exeter firm
in 1846; it flowered for the first time in this country in September
of the following year, in the collection of Mr. J. H. Schroeder, at
Stratford Green, on which occasion it received the name of Phalaenopsis
grandiflora from Dr. Lindley, a name that cannot be retained, for
reasons stated under P. Aphrodite, infra, Since its introduction by
Lobb, P. amabilis has been gathered in various parts of the great
Malayan Archipelago. All the collectors sent out by our firm into
that region mention it, and all agree in reporting that it is found
close to the sea-shore, sometimes high up on the trunks of lofty trees,
sometimes much lower down, even in positions where it was scarcely
beyond the reach of the salt spray. Burbidge found it in Labuan and
north Borneo, and noticed that the Bornean differed from the Java
form in its thinner leaves, less vigorous growth, and in the other
characters described above under the variety aurea. Curtis detected
it in north Celebes, where its flowers are smaller than the Java
form; and Burke met with a small-flowered variety in south-east
New Guinea, growing on the thick aérial roots of the Screw-pine
(Pandanus). The geographical distribution of P. amabilis is there-
* The type specimen sent by Osbeck to Linnzeus is still in an excellent state of preservation
in the Linnean Herbarium at Burlington House. For an inspection of this most interesting
specimen we are indebted to the courtesy of the officers of the Linnean Society.
24 PHALENOPSIS.
fore very extensive; it is, so far as at present known, the most
widely distributed of all the species of EKupHaLmnopsts.
P. amethystina.
Roots flattened towards the apex. Leaves oblong-cuneate, 3—4 inches
long., 1—1} inch broad. Peduncles simple or branched, longer than the
leaves, few-flowered. Flowers comparatively small; sepals and _ petals
white, the former obovate-oblong, the lateral two adnate at their base
to the foot of the column, the petals a little smaller than the sepals,
oblong-spathulate ; lip bright amethyst-purple, striated and margined
with white, three-lobed, the side lobes spathulate-oblong, the apical
margin denticulate, the front lobe shortly clawed, broadly obcordate,
with a semi-lunar sinus in the anterior margin; crest with two
divergent teeth. Column short, anther beaked.
Phalenopsis amethystina, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 602. Id. 1870,
p. Lifvel, icon, xyl:
Vaguely stated to be of Sundaic origin, probably Java or Sumatra.
It flowered in the collection of Mr. C. Stead, at The Knoll, near Leeds,
in 1870, and in the Royal Gardens at Kew, in November, 1888 and
following years. It is a dwarf, elegant little plant, flowering in the
late autumn. We are indebted to the Royal Gardens at Kew for
materials for description.
P. Aphrodite.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, variable in size, 8—15 inches long, 2—34 inches
broad, of a uniform deep green above, purplish beneath. Peduncles
2—3 feet long, arching, green mottled with dark purple, sometimes
racemed, sometimes loosely panicled, many flowered. Flowers 24—3}
inches across the petals; sepals and petals white, the upper sepal oblong,
obtuse, the lateral sepals ovate-falcate, acute, keeled behind; petals
rhomboidal, as broad again as the sepals; lip three-lobed, the claw and
basal area of the side lobes pencilled and spotted with purple and
with a pale yellow stain on each side; the side lobes clawed, broadly
oval, ascending and incurved; the front lobe hastate with very acute
basal angles, and bearing at the apex two long recurved crumpled cirri ;
crest bi-lobate, the lobes toothed at the apical end, yellow spotted with
red. Column short, terete, white; anther beaked.
Phalenopsis Aphrodite, Rchb. in Hamb. Zeit. 1862, p. 35. Id. Xen. Orch.
II. p. 6. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 212. P. amabilis, Lindl. (not
Blume) in Bot. Reg. 1838, t. 34. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VII. p. 49 (1840). Van Houtte’s
Fl. des Serres, I. t. 36. Bot. Mag. t. 4297.
var.— Dayana.
The purple markings of the lip extend over a_ greater area,
including the front lobe, which has a broad median, and marginal
lines of the same colour.
P. Aphrodite Dayana, supra, PP. amabilis Dayana, Williams’ Orch. Alb, J.
t. 11 (1882).
PHALANOPSIS. 25
var.—gloriosa.
Differs but little from the variety Dayana, except that the leaves
are of a lighter green, the red on the front lobe of the lip more
diffused, and its claw white.
P. Aphrodite gloriosa, supra. P. gloriosa, Kchb. in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888),
p. 554. The Garden, XXXV. (1889), t. 697.
This Phalznopsis was first sent from Manila, by Cuming, in 1837,
to Messrs. Rollisson—one plant only surviving the voyage—in whose
nursery at Tooting it flowered in the autumn of that year, and was
figured by Dr. Lindley in the Botanical Register, under the name of
Phalenopsis amahilis, in the erroneous belief that it was the same
species as that upon which Blume had founded the genus thirteen
years previously, but which was not then in cultivation. And when
in 1847 the true P. amabilis, of Blume, was sent to our Exeter firm
by Thomas Lobb, Dr. Lindley, although recognising it as distinct
from the P. amabilis figured in the Botanical Register, failed to correct
the mistake he had fallen into respecting the Manila plant, and
gave the name of P. grandiflora to Lobb’s introduction. Through
this unfortunate error, the substitution of grandiflora for the true
amabilis has been perpetuated to the present time, notwithstanding
that Reichenbach had noted and corrected it so long ago as
1862.* A comparison of the accompanying woodcuts of the two
species shows that they differ essentially in the form of the labellum,
and also in some minor particulars; P. Aphrodite is _ further
distinguished from P. amabilis by the deeper glossy green of its
leaves, that are also purplish beneath.
In its native home Phalcenopsis Aphrodite is spread generally over the
islands of Luzon, Mindoro, and the adjacent small islands; and
although the inroads made upon it by collectors have resulted in
the removal of an immense number of plants in the aggregate, it
is still abundant in those localities.
The two varieties described above, which were introduced by
Messrs. Low and Co., differ but little from each other; Dayana
appeared many years ago in the collection of the late Mr. John Day,
at Tottenham; gloriosa is a comparatively recent imtroduction.
*Xen. Orch. Orch. IL. p. 6. The error has since been repeatedly pointed out by the
late Professor Reichenbach in Gard. Chron. passim, notably in ILI. (1875) p. 302, sub.
P. leworhoda ; also by Van Houtte in Fl. des Serres, sub. P. Liuddemanniana, t. 1636 ;
by Mr. Nicholson in Dictionary of Gardening, III. p. 92; by Mr. RK. A. Rolfe, in Gard.
Chron. V. s. 3 (1889), p. 88.
26 PHALENOPSIS.
The specific name, Aphrodite, is mythological, and is the Greek
name of the goddess Venus, selected doubtless on account of the
great beauty of the flowers.
P. Boxalli.
Leaves ovate-oblong, 5—6 inches long. Peduncles terete, stoutish, as
long as or longer than the leaves, racemose, 9—12 flowered. Flowers
14 inches in diameter, on slender whitish pedicels sheathed at the base
by a small, acute, green bract; sepals lanceolate, acute, yellow blotched
and barred transversely with red-brown; petals shorter and narrower
than the sepals, linear-oblanceolate ; lip of very complex structure; in
front of the short claw are two reflexed, oblong, whitish plates, repre-
senting the side lobes, each having a cirrus or bristle on the anterior side ;
the front lobe is anchor-shaped, with a pale yellow fleshy plate, having a
purple tooth near its base. Column clavate, with a small rounded wing
on each side of the stigma, reddish brown towards the base, yellow above.
Phalenopsis Boxalli, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, XIX. (1883), p. 274.
Introduced in 1882, by Messrs. Low and Co., from the Philippine
Islands, through their collector, Boxall; it belongs to the section
STavROGLorTis, its nearest affinities being Phalenopsis Cornu-cervi and
P,. Mannii. We are indebted to Baron Schroeder, of The Dell,
Staines, for materials for description,
P. Cornu-cervi.
Leaves oblong, or ovate-oblong, sub-acute, cuneate at base, leathery, bright
glossy green. Peduncles sub-erect or nodding, racemose along the distal
half, the rachis broad and compressed, 7—12 flowered. Flowers 14—2
inches in diameter, expanding in succession from below upwards, three to
five being open at one time; sepals and petals spreading, elliptic-oblong,
acute, yellow-green barred and blotched with red-brown, the petals a
little narrower than the sepals, and the lateral sepals partially falcate,
keeled behind; lip shorter than the other segments, white, clawed, three-
lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect, the front lobe crescent-shaped, hollow,
with an awned callus at the base. Column semi-terete, with two tubercles
at the base.
Phalenopsis Cornu-cervi, Blume et Rchb. in Hamb. Gartenz, 1860, p. 116. Hook.
f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 29. Polychilos Cornu-cervi, Kuhl et Hasselt, Orch. jav.
ed Breda, t. 1 (1827). Lindley, Fol. Orch. Polychilos, No. 1 (1853). Miquel, Fl.
ind. bat. II]. p. 681. Bot. Mag. t. 5570.
The following interesting account of the geographical distribution
of Phalenopsis Cornu-cervi and its environment in situ, communicated
to the Gardeners’? Chronicle by Major-General EH. 8. Berkeley, affords
at least one phase of orchid life in a tropical jungle, of which we still
know too little :—
PHALENOPSIS. 74)
“This curious orchid is found in abundance on the stunted bushes in
the swampy islands at the mouth of the river Irawaddy. In this situation,
being exposed to the sun during the dry season, it loses its leaves, its
roots being kept plump by the night dews, and it consequently has a
distinct resting season. When growing in the shade it has no resting
season, loses none of its leaves, and continues in flower throughout the
year.
** Phaleenopsis Cornu-cervi is found from Akyab (lat. 19° N.) throughout the
whole of Lower Burmah, and southwards down to Tavoy, Mergui, and Perak,
also in Java, occasionally on the hills, abounding in the plains, flourishing
luxuriantly in the dense shade of the forest, where it is protected from
dry winds. In 1870 the Bamboos in the jungle between Pegu and
Shoagun flowered, and, as is the habit of many Bamboos, the clumps
died and rotted down, thus rendering it possible to penetrate into a forest
which had been closed for years. The few scattered trees growing in
the Bamboo jungle were Mango trees; the trunks of these trees were
found covered with huge masses of P. Cornu-cervi, growing in the densest
shade, where they had been unmolested for many years. The plants
presented masses of leaf growth of extraordinary vigour, and bore such
quantities of flowers as would delight an English orchidist; this was the
solitary orchid found in this shady forest. Unfortunately, the deciduous
variety, which bears comparatively very poor flowers, is that which survives
the journey to England, the large evergreen form found in the jungle
being too soft to travel.”
Besides the localities indicated in the foregoing extract, our
collectors Curtis and Burke detected this orchid growing on trees on
the limestone hills of Sarawak. ‘They noted that in this district
the flowers are variable in colour, some being prettily marked, while
the majority are pallid and _ inattractive.
The specific name, Cornu-cervi, is literally “stag’s horn,’
suggested probably by the flattened rachis of the inflorescence.
P. Esmeralda.
Roots stoutish, white, radiating on all sides from the base of the
short stems. Leaves oblong or elliptic-oblong, acute, 5—8 inches long.
Peduncles usually deep green, but sometimes spotted with blackish
purple, slender, erect, 15—20 or more inches high, racemose along the
---. distal half, many flowered. Flowers about an inch: in diameter, on
short pedicels spirally arranged round the rachis; sepals and_ petals
varying in colour in different plants from amethyst-purple to pale lilac
or almost white, the dorsal sepal and petals oval-oblong, acute; the
lateral sepals ovate-cblong, and more acute than the dorsal one ;_ lip
three-lobed, the lateral lobes roundish, erect, varying in colour from
deep purple to pale mauve, but sometimes orange-red and brownish red 3
28 PHALENOPSIS.
the intermediate lobe generally deep purple, oblong, acute, with a
bi-lamellate crest, below which is an oblong disk with two cirri on the
basal side. Column slender, terete above, the stigmatic cavity large,
elliptic in outline; anther beaked.
Phalenopsis Esmeralda, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. II. (1874), p. 582. Rev. hort.
1877, t. 107. Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 358. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 321. Hook.
f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 31. P. antennifera, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XI. (1879),
p. 898. Id. XVIII. (1882), p. 520. P. Regnieriana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. II.
S
. 3 (1887), p. 746. P. Buyssoniana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1888),
p. 295.
Introduced from Cochin China in 1874 by M. Godefroy, of
Argenteuil, near Paris, who found the plant in two localities on
the island of Pluquoc in the Gulf of Siam, growing on isolated
rocks in the midst of a small thicket of coniferous trees; and in
Cambodia, between Pursat and Phnum-Bat, also growing upon bare
rocks, in no instance upon the trunks of trees. During the
dry season the plants lose their leaves, and all vegetation on the
rocks, on which they grow, disappears. It has since been gathered
by Curtis on one of the Langkawai islands, where it grows in
peat and sand at the foot of trees.
Phalenopsis Esmeralda is distinguished from every other cultivated
species of Phalenopsis by its erect, many-flowered racemes, the
flowers of which vary considerably in colour in different plants, and
especially by the presence of two cirri at the base of the lip and
not at the apex as in HupHaL#nopsis, a character that separates the
species both from that section and from Sraurociorris. Although
the flowers are comparatively small, they are often brilliantly
coloured, and being produced in the late summer and autumn
months, they render the species a useful one in the orchid house at
that season. The colour variations are too numerous to admit of
separate notice; among them must be included the three forms
quoted in our literary references that were admitted by Reichenbach
to specific rank, but which we have reduced to synonyms.
P. Lowii.
Stem none, roots numerous, spreading. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 2—4
inches long, acute or emarginate, deciduous. Peduncles slender, sub-
erect or arching, dull purple and green, 10—15 or more inches long,
loosely paniculate upwards, usually few flowered, but in strong plants
many flowered. Flowers 14—2 inches in diameter; sepals elliptic-oblong
with a pale purple keel behind, the lateral two with the inner margin
reflexed, white with a faint flush of amethyst-purple on the basal half ;
PHALSNOPSIS, 29
petals three times as broad as the sepals but coloured like them,
sub-rhomboidal, the outer margin rotund; lip three-lobed, the side lobes
erect and resembling two incurved horn-like bodies that are white
with a yellow spot; the middle lobe deep purple, oblong, with two
small teeth at the base and a_ raised mid-line that is dilated and
thickened near the apex. Column curved, pale purple and convex above,
concave beneath; anther with a long beak reflexed at the apex some-
what resembling an elephant’s trunk.
Phalenopsis Lowii, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 214. Id. Xen. Orch. II.
p. 189, t. 151. Bot. Mag. t. 5351. Warner's Sel. Orche in atl Dee van
Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XVIII. t. 1910. The Garden, IX. (1876), t. 14. Gard.
Chron. II. s. 8 (1887), p. 745, icon. xyl. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 30.
P. proboscidioides, Parish in lit. ad Low, fide Rehb.
Phalenopsis Lowii.
A lovely species discovered by the Rev. C. S. Parish, in Moulmein,
Burmah, through whom it was introduced by Messrs. Low and Co.
in 1862. Major-General H. S. Berkeley, who has seen Phalcnopsis Lowti
in its native home, writes in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1887 (I. s. 3,
p. 279) :—
“This plant loses all its leaves in its native habitat immediately
after flowering. It grows on limestone rocks, and on the branches of
small bushes growing in the crevices of the rocks. The surrounding
country is under water the greater part of the year, and the rainfall
is excessive; by the end of November the country dries up, and in
January the flower stems and leaves have withered, nothing remaining
but the roots; these cease to grow, but are kept plump by the heavy
dew that falls at night. The resting season is short, as showers fall
in Mareh when the plants at once begin to put forth fresh leaves.
This species grows on the north-east side of the limestone hills, and
30 PHALZXNOPSIS.
is thence protected from the effects of the afternoon heat of a tropical
sun. During the rains the limestone rocks are covered with many
beautiful annual Balsams and tuberous Begonias; this will give a hint
to the gardeners of the kind of moist heat required to grow Phalenopsis
Lowitt in perfection.”
P. Luddemanniana.
Leaves not usually more than three—five on one plant, oblong or
oval-oblong, 6—9 inches long and 2—3% inches broad. Peduncles
procumbent, as long as the leaves, 5—7 or more flowered. Flowers
2 inches in diameter; sepals and _ petals elliptic-oblong, the sepals
chestnut-brown with some narrow, pale yellow transverse streaks and
Phalenopsis Liiddemanniana.
whitish margin, the basal half with a broad amethyst-purple median
band; the petals smaller than the sepals, bright amethyst-purple with
whitish margin and with some chestnut-brown spots towards the
apex; lip clawed, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, oblong, retuse and
two-toothed at the apex, white with some light purple stains, and
with a bright yellow lobule in front; the intermediate lobe fleshy,
obovate-oblong, keeled above, bright amethyst-purple with a pale
margin, and with some erect white bristles along the keel. Column
terete, white, stained with light purple, anther beaked.
Phalenopsis Liiddemanniana, Rchb. in Mohl. et Schl. Bot. Zeit. 1865, p. 146.
Id. in Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 410. Bot. Mag. t. 5523. Van Houtte’s Al. des
Serres, XV1. t. 1635 (copied from the Bot. Mag.). Rev. hort. 1872, t. 390.
Florist et Pomol. 1865, p. 257.
sub-vars.—delicata (Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 434), the clustered stripes on
the sepals and petals narrow, the amethyst-purple confined to the very
PHAL ENOPSIS, Si
base 5 hieroglyphica (Gard. Chron, II. s. 3 (1887), p. 586), sepals and
petals cream-white covered with small cinnamon spots and markings ;
ochracea (Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 434), the stripes on the sepals and
petals light ochre-yellow; pulchra (Gard. Chron. IV, (1875), p. 36),
upper part of sepals and petals port-wine colour, the inferior part, as
well as the lip and column, amethyst-purple, the transverse bars nearly
obliterated,
Introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., in 1864, from the Philippine
Islands, where it is abundant in the neighbourhood of Manila,
and named in compliment to the late M. Liiddemann, a well-known
orchidist of Paris, who was the first Huropean cultivator to bring
the plant into bloom. ‘The variability in the colour of the flowers of
this species has been observed from the time of its first introduc-
tion ; the sub-varieties described above being among the most
distinct. Our illustration represents a richly coloured form in the
collection of Baron Schroeder at The Dell.
P. maculata.
A diminutive plant. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 2 —4 inches long. Peduncles
ascending, as long as, or longer than the leaves, few flowered. Flowers
4—#? inch in diameter; sepals oval-oblong, acute, cream-white,
with three—five red-brown transverse blotches; petals similar but
narrower; lip fleshy, three-lobed, the lateral lobes angular, erect, white
spottel with red-brown, and with a small yeilow callus on the inner
side; the intermediate lobe convex with a raised median line above,
bright red. Column terete, white.
Phalenopsis maculata, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p. 134.
Introduced by us in 1880, from Sarawak, in Borneo, through
Curtis, who found it on the limestone hills at an altitude of
1,000—1,500 feet, growing on damp, almost bare rocks under the
shade of large trees, many of which are loaded with tufts of
Phalenopsis Cornu-cervi. It is one of the smallest of the genus.
P. Mannii.
Leaves variable in size, the largest obovate-oblong, or oblanceolate-
oblong, sub-falcate acute, 6—8 inches long, 14—2 inches broad. Peduncles
as long as, or longer than the leaves, usually with two—three short
branches, 10—15 or more flowered. Flowers about 2 inches across
vertically ; sepals and petals golden yellow barred and blotched with
chestnut-brown, linear-oblong, acute with slightly reflexed margins, the
lateral sepals falcately curved, the petals narrower and shorter than the
sepals; lip of peculiar form and structure, shorter than the other
w
ho
PHALSNOPSIS,
perianth segments, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, oblong, truncate,
light yellow; the front lobe also light yellow, anchor-shaped, saccate at
the base, the flukes of the anchor pubescent and denticulate ; in front
of the side lobes is an erect, purplish tooth, and behind that is a slender
upright plate terminating in two divergent cirri. Column clavate with
two tooth-like protuberances at the base, golden yellow stained with red
on the side opposite the lip.
Phalenopsis Mannii, Rehb, in Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 902. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind.
Vilesp:) 30:
Discovered in 1868 by Mr. Gustav Mann, a gentleman in the
service of the Indian Forest Department. No locality is given with
Reichenbach’s description, but as the plant has since been received
from Assam its habitat is thence known. So far as at present
known, Phalenopsis Mannii* is an outlying member of the genus,
living at a higher altitude and under climatic conditions that differ
from those under which all the other species have been found.
Cultural Note.-—This Phalenopsis is successfully cultivated by My.
Richard Maries, in his nursery at Mythop, near Lytham, Lancashire.
Mr. Maries informs us that the plants are grown in baskets, with a
drainage of broken crocks and charcoal, upon which sphagnum alone
is placed. The baskets are suspended near the glass of a span-rvofed
house, exposed to the full light of the afternoon sun, where in winter
the temperature is not more than 7° C. (45° F.), and even lower in
very cold weather. The plants continue in flower for upwards of
three months.
P. Marie.
Leaves deflexed, narrowly obovate-oblong, 6—10 inches long, bright glossy
green. Peduncles as long as, or longer than the leaves, usually
branched, few flowered. Flowers distant, 14—2 inches in diameter, on
short, slender, pale pedicels; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal,
oval-oblong, obtuse, yellowish white, with 4—5 broad, chestnut-brown,
transverse bands and an amethyst-purple stain at the base; lip shorter
than the other segments, three-lobed, the lateral lobes narrowly oblong,
erect, incurved towards the column, white with a purple stain in the
middle, and a yellow lobule on the anterior side; the intermediate
lobe fleshy, bright amethyst-purple, obovate-oblong, with a recurved spur
at the base, keeled above, the keel clothed with white hairs. Column
terete, anther beaked.
Phalenopsis Marie, Burbidge in lit ad nos. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I7. t. 80. Bot.
Mag. t. 6964.
A handsome species, closely allied to Phalcenopsis Ltiddemanniana
* Perhaps not strictly isolated from all its congeners ; a sub-variety of Phalewnopsis Parishiti
has been gathered by Lobb, Mann, and Keenan in Assam.
Co
er)
PHALENOPSIS.
and P. sumatrana, first detected in 1878 by Mr. F. W. Burbidge,
Superintendent of Trinity College Botanic Garden, Dublin, while
travelling for us in the Malay Archipelago. He found it in Sulu,
the largest of a group of small islands lying between north-east
Borneo and Mindanao, growing on the hills at a considerable
elevation, where it appears to be rare, as only four plants were
found by its discoverer, who named the species in compliment to
his wife. Some years later it was imported by Messrs. Low and
Co. from the neighbouring island of Mindanao, where it is more
plentiful, and where it was subsequently gathered by our collector,
David Burke, on the hills near the south-east coast; in this locality
it grows on the trunks and branches of trees always in dense shade,
which seems essential to its well-being.
P. Parishii.
A diminutive plant with flattened, fleshy roots. Leaves elliptic or
elliptic-oblong, 2—4 inches long, of an uniform deep green. Racemes as
long as the leaves, 5—9 flowered. Flowers ? inch in diameter ; sepals
and petals white, the dorsal sepal oblong, the lateral two broader, ovate-
oblong; petals obovate; lip “with a short claw bent at right angles to
the limb,” three-lobed, the lateral lobes very small, horn-like, bent back-
wards, yellow spotted with purple; the front lobe almost triangular, bright
rose-purple: crest semi-lunate with a fimbriate outer margin, white
with a yellowish brown centre, below this is “a linear appendage, pro-
jecting forwards and divided to near the base into four slender filaments,”
Column white, spotted with purple on the anterior face.
Phalenopsis Parishii, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1865, p. 146. Id. in Gard. Chron. 1865,
p. 410. Id. Xen. Orch. IT. p. 144, t. 156. Id. in Saunders’ Ref. Bot. I. t. 85. Bot.
Mag. t. 5815. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 31.
Introduced from Moulmein in 1864, by Messrs. Low and Co.,
through the Rev. C. 8. Parish, after whom it is named. It had,
however, been discovered twenty years previous to that date by our
collector, Thomas Lobb, during his mission to Assam, in 1849—50,
and where it has since been gathered by Mann and Keenan; the
Assam plant is said to differ from the Moulmein type in the colour of
the flowers, especially the labellum. In Moulmein it is generally
found on the branches of trees covered with moss, where it is subject
to great heat and moisture during the growing season; in the dry
season it loses its leaves.* The structure of the lip of the orchid is
very singular, and quite unlike that of any other species known to
us; it is also motile upon the slightest pressure being applied to it,
* Major-General E. S. Berkeley, in Gard, Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 280,
D
34. PHAT.ENOPSIS.
P. rosea.
Leaves oval-oblong, 4—6 or more inches long, usually notched at the
apex Peduncles racemose or paniculate, ascending and pale green as
far as the lowermost flower or branch ; slightly zigzag, thickened, and dull
purple along the rachis, which is nodding, many-flowered, continuing to
lengthen and produce flowers for many weeks in succession. Flowers
14 inches in diameter; sepals oblong, acute, white with a light rose-
purple stain in the middle; petals narrowly rhomboidal, with a larger
and deeper stain than on the sepals; lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes sub-
spathulate, incurved, light rose-purple, with 4—5 longitudinal dark purple
streaks on the inner side; the intermediate lobe shortly clawed, ovate,
acute, brown at the base, the blade bright rose-purple; crest two-lobed,
bright yellow spotted with red. Column terete, stained with rose-purple ;
anther beaked.
Phalzenopsis rosea, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1848, p. 671. icon. xyl. Id. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard. IT. t. 72 (1852). Bot. Mag. t. 5212. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XVI.
t. 1645. Jennings’ Orch. t. 27. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 268. P. equestris,
tchb. in Linn. XXII. p, 864 (1849). Id. Xen. Orch. IT. p. 4.
var.—leucaspis.
Flowers somewhat smaller, with shorter and broader segments; sepals
pale rose-purple mottled with white; petals and lip deeper in colour
than the sepals; callus whitish with yellow-brown dots.
P. rosea leucaspis, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 276. PP. equestris
leucaspis, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XV. (1881), p. 688.
This is the commonest of the Philippine Islands’ Phalenopses ; it
is abundant in the hot valleys and along the streams in the
neighbourhood of Manila, and is spread generally over the island
of Luzon, often associated with Phalenopsis Aphrodite and P.
Schilleriana. It was introduced in 1848 by our Exeter firm, through
Thomas Lobb. The variety is said to have first appeared in the
collection of M. Pescatore, at St. Cloud, near Paris, soon after the
introduction of the species.
P. Sanderiana.
Leaves oblong or ovate-oblong, 6—10 inches long, 24—4 inches broad,
usually dark green, but occasionally more or less spotted and marked with
grey, which sometimes disappears with age. Peduncles 20—30 inches
long, pale greenish purple spotted with white, terminating in a loose
7—12 or more flowered raceme.* Flowers 3 inches in diameter ;
sepals oval-oblong, the upper one light rose-pink, the lateral two
paler and mottled with white; petals shortly clawed, the blade very
broad, sub-rhomboidal and coloured like the upper sepal; lip three-
* Probably branched in the stronger plants.
SY)
Crt
PHALMNOPSIS.
lobed, the lateral lobes broad, sub-orbicular, incurved over the column,
the apices nearly meeting, white, faintly spotted with pale rose
externally, with a yellow blotch at the base on the inner side; the
front lobe hastate, curved upwards at the apex, which is_ prolonged
into two flexuose, incurved tendrils an inch long, the blade white
with some longitudinal purple streaks at the base; crest bilobate, each
lobe bidentate at the tip, bright yellow spotted with red. Column
terete, white with a rose-purple stain at the apex.
Phalenopsis Sanderiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 646. The
Garden XXIV. (1888), pl. 407. Godefroy’s Orchidophile (1885), p. 18. Williams’
Orch, Alb. V. t. 209,
Phalenopsis Sanderiana alba.
sub-vars.—alba, flowers white with a few light purple spots at the
base of the side lobes of the lip and some yellow spots on the crest ;
marmorata (Gard. Chron. XX. (1883), p. 812), the lateral sepals with
rows of small purple spots at the base, the side lobes of the lip
with three nearly parallel purple lines, the front lobe marbled with
purple ; punctata (Gard. Chron. VII. s. 3 (1890), p. 78), the lateral
sepals spotted like those of Phalewnopsis Stuartiana.
Introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co. from the Philippine Islands
in 1882, through their collector, Roebelin; it was shortly afterwards
36 PHALENOPSIS.
gathered by our collector, David Burke, in the neighbourhood of
Davao, on the south-east coast of Mindanao, where it is associated
with Vanda Sanderiana and Aérides Lawrencee; it has also been
detected on the small island of Serangano, growing on the trunks
and branches of trees close to the sea-shore.
Ever since its first flowering in this country Phalaenopsis Sanderiana has
been generally regarded as a natural hybrid between P. Aphrodite and
P. Schilleriana, and the structure of the flower certainly affords strong
evidence of such an origin; it has the general aspect of P. Aphrodite
with the colour of P. Schilleriana, but lighter and more diffused
over the whole surface; the trowel-shaped front lobe of the labellum
with its apical tendril-like appendages and the side lobes are those of
P, Aphrodite, while the crest is more like that of P. Schilleriana.
If we accept the theory of its hybrid origin, the proper place of
P. Sanderiana would be in the group of natural hybrids of which
P. leucorhoda is the type, and which bears unmistakeable marks of
being derived from the same pair of species. Nevertheless there are
other circumstances attending the environment of P. Sanderiana that
must not be overlooked, of which the most prominent are these :—It
has been brought from a locality remote from the habitat of the
supposed parents, of whose presence in that locality no evidence is
forthcoming ; it has been imported unmixed in considerable numbers,
and not as in the case of undoubted hybrids as isolated plants,
whose appearance among the importations of the assumed parents is
comparatively a rare occurrence. On these grounds, therefore, we recognise
P. Sanderiana as a species in the ordinary acceptation of the term; but
whether species or hybrid it is, without question, one of the most
beautiful of the section to which it hbelongs—EuPpHALENOPSIS.
P. Schilleriana.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, variable in size, and rarely exceeding 3—5 in
number, the largest 12—15 or more inches long, and 4—44 inches broad,
deep dull green, marbled and blotched with grey, the grey blotching
frequently taking the form of irregular transverse parallel bars. Peduncles
sometimes attaining a length of 3 or 4 feet, loosely branched, greenish
crimson mottled with white, with a small deciduous bract at each node,
Flowers 3—3} inches in diameter, but less when the flowers are very
numerous ; sepals and petals delicate rose-purple suffused with white,
the lateral sepals dotted with purple on the inner basal half, the sepals
elliptic-oblong, the petals sub-rhomboidal, twice as broad as the sepals ;
lip clawed, three-lobed, the claw long, white spotted with red-purple ; the
side lobes rounded, oblong, faleate, incurved, white with a yellow
stain spotted with red at the base; the front lobe broadly unguiculate
then cordate, gradually contracted towards the apex, and terminating in
PHALENOPSIS. 37
two incurved appendages like the flukes of an anchor, white or pale
rose-purple, usually dotted with amethyst-purple ; crest a short column
terminating in two spreading lobes, bright yellow spotted with red.
Column semiterete ; anther beaked.
Phalenopsis Schilleriana, Rchb. in Hamb. Gartenz. 1860, p. 144. Id. in
Gard. Chron. 1860, p. 216. Id. Xen. Orch. II. p. 1. t. 101. Warner's Sel.
Orch. I. t. 1 (1862). Jd. 117. t. 5 (splendens). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XV.
t. 1559—60. Jilus. hort. X. t. 348. Bot. Mag. t. 5530. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1868,
t. 581. Jennings’ Orch. t. 15. De Puydt. Les Orch. t. 35. Fl. Mag. N.S.
1877, t. 257.
sub-vars.—/mmaculata (Gard. Chron, III. (1875), p. 429), the spots of
the lip and its crest absent; vestalis (Gard. Chron, XVII. (1882),
p. 330), flowers wholly white.
Phalenopsis Schilleriana.
This superb Phalenopsis was introduced from Manila in 1858 by
the late Consul Schiller, of Hamburgh, in whose collection at
Ovelginne, on the Elbe, it flowered for the first time in Europe, in
the spring of 1860, and to whom it is appropriately dedicated. In
the following year it was imported by M. Porte, a French merchant,
trading in the Philippines, whose plants were acquired by the late
Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, one of which flowered for the
first time in this country in Mr. Robert Warner’s collection at
Broomfield, Chelmsford, in February, 1862. From that time to
38 PHALENOPSIS.
the present Phalenopsis Schilleriana has held a foremost place in
the estimation of orchid amateurs.*
Phalenopsis Schilleriana grows under the same _ conditions as
P. Aphrodite, with which it is sometimes found associated; both
species grow on the trunks and branches of trees, to which they affix
themselves by means of their clasping, flattened roots, often so
high up as to render the ascent both difficult and dangerous. A
small village named Lueban, near Manila, has been for many years past
one of its best known stations, but owing to the frequent inroads
inade upon it, it is now becoming very scarce there.
Besides the sub-varieties described above, which are simply colour
variations, variability has also been observed in the labellum of Phale-
nopsis Schilleriana, especially in the form, size, and colour of the
anchor-like apical appendages of the front lobe. The late Mr. John
Day, who seems to have been the first to notice this variability, has
illustrated it in one of his valuable ‘ Scrap-books” by drawings of
fifteen different forms.
Phalenopsis speciosa.
P. speciosa.
Leaves obovate-oblong, 7—12 inches long, and 24—3 inches broad,
of a uniform bright green, Peduncles drooping, longer than the leaves,
sometimes branched, 9—12 or more flowered. Flowers 2 inches in
diameter; sepals and petals spreading in a stellate manner, amethyst-
purple with a pale margin, the lateral sepals with a yellowish mucro;
* A very fine lot of Phalwnopsis Schilleriana is cultivated at Henham Hall, Wangford, the
seat of Earl Stradbroke.
Phalenopsis Stuartiana.
PHALENOPSIS. 39
the sepals oval-oblong; the petals narrower, elliptic-oblong, acute; lp
shorter than the other segments, three-lobed, the side lobes erect,
oblong, truncate, with an orange yellow protuberance on the inner side,
purple at the base, orange in the middle, white at the apex; the
front lobe fleshy, oblong, with an acute, pubescent keel above,
amethyst-purple. Column white, swollen at the toothed apex.
Phalnopsis speciosa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XV. (1881), p. 562.. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. IV. t. 158. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 30.
sub-vars.—Christiana (Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882) p. 745), sepals and
column rose-purple, petals white ; Imperatrix (Sander’s Reichenbachia II.
t. 51), flowers deep rose-purple with some white markings on the
sepals and petals.
Discovered by Major-General EK. 8. Berkeley growing upon trees,
as he himself informs us, in several of the smaller islands of the
Malay Archipelago, and introduced by him in 1881; it is one of
the handsomest of the species included in the section SraurRoGLortis.
P. Stuartiana.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, 7—12 or more inches long, and 3—4 inches
broad, freekled above with transverse grey blotches, which often disappear
with age, purplish red beneath like those of Phalcnopsis Schilleriana.
Peduncles drooping, of variable length, branched, many-flowered. Flowers
14—24 inches in diameter; sepals elliptic-oblong, the dorsal one white,
sometimes with a few purple dots on the basal half; the lateral two
with a sunk median line, the outer half white, the inner half pale
yellow densely spotted with red-purple; petals much larger than the
sepals, sub-rhomboidal, white, sometimes with a few purple dots
scattered over the basal half; lip three-lobed, with a short, thick,
golden yellow crest, split at the summit into two oblong lobes; the
lateral lobes of the lip obliquely obovate-oblong, the basilar part yellow
spotted with red-purple, the distal part whitish with fewer spots; the
intermediate lobe narrow at the base, suddenly enlarged into a_ sub-
rhomboidal blade with two anchor-like appendages at the apex, light
yellow, sometimes white spotted with red-purple.
_ Phalenopsis Stuartiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron XVI. (1881), p. 748. Id. p. 753,
icon. xyi. 7. and Pomol. 1882, p. 49. Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 237. Bot. Mag.
t. 6622.
sub-vars.—tvelila (Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 200), the side lobes
of the lip with linear red marks, the front lobe with large purple-
chocolate blotches; Baron Hruby’s (Id. XXI. (1884), p. 372), sepals
and petals purple on the back with a white margin; nobilis (Williams’
Orch. Alb. I. t. 39), flowers larger in all their parts with fewer and
larger spots on the lateral sepals and lip; punctatissima (Gard. Chron.
XVII. (1882), p. 44), sepals and petals covered with minute purple
dots in addition to the usual spots on the lateral sepals and _ lip.
4.0 PHAL-ENOPSIS.
Discovered by Boxall near Surigao, in the extreme north-east of
the island of Mindanao in 1881, while collecting Orchids im _ the
Philippine Islands for Messrs. Low and Co., and named in compliment
to the former head of that firm, the late Mr. Stuart Low. It was
shortly afterwards gathered by our collector, David Burke, in the
same locality and around Lake Maynit, in north-east Mindanao, where
it is abundant. Like all the other species of MKupHaLmNopsis, it 1s
always found in close proximity to water, in some places so close to
the sea-shore that it can scarcely fail to be washed by the salt
spray during the prevalence of storms.
P. sumatrana.
Leaves obovate or obovate-oblong, sub-acute, 6—10 inches long.
Peduncles ascending, as long as the leaves, 5—9 flowered. Flowers
about 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal,
ovate-oblong, acute, cream-white barred with red-brown, the petals a
little narrower and more cuneate than the sepals; lip shortly clawed,
three-lobed, the side lobes ligulate-oblong, erect, truncate, the apex
prolonged backwards into a kind of tooth, white with some orange
spots on the inner side; the front lobe fleshy, oblong in outline with
a prominent keel above, with two small erect teeth at the base and
a dense tuft of short, hispid hairs at the apex, white with some purple
streaks on each side of the keel. Column semi-terete, notched at the
apex.
Phalaenopsis sumatrana, Korth. et Rchb. in Hamb. Gartenz. 1860, p. 115. Rchb.
in Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 506, icon. xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 5527. Van Houtte’s F7. des
Serres, XVI. t. 1644 (copied from the Bot. Mag.). P. zebrina, Teijsm. et Binn. PI.
nov. in hort. Bogor. cult. p. 15 (1863). Flore des Jardins des Pays Bas, IV. p. 146.
sub-vars.—Mr. Kimball’s (Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1888), p. 6), sepals
and petals broader, bright yellow with red transverse bands, lip light
yellow; paucivittata (Id. XVII. (1882), p. 628), the red-brown bars on
the sepals and petals fewer and paler, the purple streaks on the lip
darker; sanyuinea (Id. XV. (1881), p. 782), the lateral sepals dark
red-brown with a few yellow-green markings.
The original discoverer of Phalenopsis sumatrana was the Dutch
naturalist, Dr. Korthals, formerly at the head of the scientific staff
commissioned to investigate the natural history of the Dutch
possessions in the Malay Archipelago, who met with it in southern
Sumatra some time prior to 1839. His sketch of it preserved at
Leyden was all that was known of it till it was re-discovered by
Teijsman in 1859 along with P. violacea, in the Sumatrian province
of Palembang, and was sent by him to the Botanic garden attached
PHALNOPSIS. 41
to the University of Leyden, under the name of P. zebrina, where,
under the able management of M. Witte, the Superintendent, it
flowered for the first time in LHurope in 1861, one plant only
surviving the journey. Jt was first imtroduced into this country by
Messrs. Low and Co. in 1864, and flowered for the first time in
the collection of the late Mr. John Day, at Tottenham, in the
summer of the following year. In 1881 it was detected by Curtis,
at that time collecting for us in the Malay Archipelago, in the hot,
damp forests of Palembang, growing on trees overhanging streams
and water- courses, generally on the trunks and much shaded,
sometimes associated with P. violacea.
The two last-named sub-varieties noticed above appeared among
Curtis’ collection. Two others were noticed and named by Teijsman,
but which are now probably lost to cultivation. P. sumatrana
usually flowers in May and June.
P. tetraspis.
Leaves obovate, cuneate, 8—9 inches long and 2—3 inches _ broad.
Peduncles much shorter than the leaves, 3—5 flowered. Flowers 14—2
inches in diameter, ivory-white, the pedicels sheathed at the base by a
small triangular deciduous bract; sepals and petals similar, spreading,
oval-oblong, acute, the two lateral sepals broader than the dorsal one;
lip fleshy, three-lobed, the side lobes ligulate, curved upwards and inwards,
truncate at the free end, yellowish on the outer side; the front lobe
sub-rhomboidal, with a tuft of bristles at the apex; crest sub-conic.
Column swollen at the base.
Phalenopsis tetraspis, Rchb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 146 (1868). Id. in Gard. Chron.
XV. (1881), p. 562. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 30.
Originally discovered by Thomas Lobb, while collecting for us in
Malaysia, who gave no locality, and whose dried flowers were com-
municated by us to the late Professor Reichenbach. The first living
plants received in this country were sent to Mr. William Bull, of
Chelsea, in 1881, by Major-General E. S. Berkeley, who had detected
them in the Andaman Islands, “ growing on Mangrove and other trees
in muddy swamps, at the extreme end of the creeks, where the water
is fresh, and where the plants hang from the branches a few feet
above the water, growing with extraordinary luxuriance.”*
P. violacea.
Leaves variable in size, broadly oval or elliptic-oblong, the largest 6—9
" Gard. Chron. II. s. 3 (1887), p. 74.
42 PHALENOPSIS.
inches long, 83—4 inches broad, bright shining green. Peduncles stoutish,
short, sheathed at each joint by a triangular, acute, pale green, keeled bract,
2—5 or more flowered. Flowers 2—3 inches in diameter, the dorsal
sepal and petals similar, ovate-oblong, mucronate, greenish white with
a bright violet-purple blotch at the base, which sometimes spreads _ to
beyond the middle; the lateral sepals oblong, acute, sub-falcate, with a
depressed mid-line and keeled behind, the inner half violet-purple to
two-thirds of the length, the apical third whitish, the outer half greenish
white ; lip shortly clawed, three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect, truncate,
golden yellow, with a small yellow crest between them that is prolonged
in front into a narrow plate, bifid at the apex; the front lobe bright
violet-purple, obovate-oblong, apiculate, keeled above, and with two small
bristles at the basal end of the keel, concave beneath. Column thickened
at the base, terete above, deep purple.
Phalenopsis violacea, Teijsm. et Binn. Pl. nov. in hort, Bogor. cult. p. 16 (1863).
Flore des Jardins des Pays Bas, IV. p. 129. Rehb. in Gard. Chron. X. (1878),
p. 234. Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 342 (1879). Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p. 145, icon. xyl.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 182. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 29.
Phalenopsis violacea.
sub-vars.—alba (Pl. nov. in hort. Bogor. cult. p. 17), sepals and petals
French-white, the side lobes and crest of the lip yellow, the front lobe
light rose; Baron Schroeder's (Illus. hort. 1885, t. 173. Gard. Chron.
XVIII. (1882), p. 680), the basal half of all the segments brigh purple,
the colour partially broken up into lines; Mr. Bowring’s (Gard. Chron.
XXII. (1884), p. 262), light yellow with a broad purple stain on the
lateral sepals and some purple markings at the base of the petals and
PHALENOPSIS. 43
dorsal sepal; Mr. Murton’s (Id. X. (1878), p. 234), light lemon-yellow
with a purple blotch at the base of the lateral sepals, the base of the
column and middle lobe of the lip stained with the same colour.
Phalenopsis violacea was discovered by Teijsman, near Palembang,
in Sumatra, and was sent by him to the Botanic garden at Leyden
in 1859, and at the same time to the collection of M. Willinck, at
Amsterdam. It was first described in the publication quoted above by
M. Witte, the Superintendent of the Leyden garden, where it flowered
for the first time in Kurope in 1861, and two years later it was again
described by its discoverer in the list of new plants cultivated in the
Botanic garden at Buitenzorg, nm Java; this description is the first
usually quoted by botanists, 'Teijsman being undoubtedly the author
of the name. Nothing more appears to have been heard of it till it
was sent by Mr. Murton, of the botanic garden at Singapore, to
Mr. M. H. Williams, of Tredrea in Cornwall, in whose collection it
flowered in 1878, and later in the same year a plant from the same
source flowered in our Chelsea nursery. Two years afterwards we
received a consignment of plants from southern Sumatra, which had
been collected by Curtis, who found them growing under the same
conditions as P. sumatrana, with which P. violacea is sometimes
associated.
The colour of the flowers of this species varies considerably, especially
as regards the area covered by the purple; besides the sub- or colour
varieties noted above, several others not seen by us have received
distinguishing names,
HYBRID PHALAINOPSES.
The existence of natural hybrids among Phalenopses was first
broached by Dr. Lindley in 1853, when a plant which had been
imported by us from the Philippine Islands along with Phalenopsis
Aphrodite, was found upon flowering to combine the characters of
that species with those of P. rosea; he thence surmised that it
might be a natural mule between them, and he accordingly named
it P. intermedia.* Subsequently other forms bearing marks of
hybridity were introduced from the same rich Phalzenopsis region ;
some of them evidently derived from the same parentage as the
* Paxton’s Flower Garden, III. p. 163.
44, PHALENOPSIS.
first introduced hybrid, others from a different parentage in which
P. Schilleriana may have participated. There is thence in cultivation
a group of supposed natural hybrids, which have originated from
P. Aphrodite, P. Schilleriana, and P. rosea.
Among the experiments undertaken by Seden in _hybridising
species of Phalznopsis one has proved to be of exceptional interest
from a scientific point of view. He fertilised Phalcenopsis rosea with
the pollen of P. Aphrodite, and the resulting progeny was the
P. intermedia, of Lindley. This was the second instance in which
the existence of natural hybrids among orchids has been proved by
direct experiment.* Subsequent crosses between other species have
resulted in adding several beautiful and distinct forms to the list of
cultivated Phaleenopses.
Hybrid Phalenopses thence fall under two headings, the first
comprising those introduced from the habitats of the species from
which they have been derived; the second, those raised artificially
in the glass houses of Europe. In accordance with the course
adopted in this work, the hybrids derived from the same pair of
species are brought under the same name, and deviations from the
first described form are described as varieties of that form.
NATURAL HYBRIDS.
Phalenopsis intermedia.
Leaves as in Phalenopsis Aphrodite, but rarely attaining the dimensions
of the larger ones under cultivation. Peduncles usually paniculate, but
sometimes simple and racemose. Flowers about 2 inches in diameter ;
sepals elliptic-oblong, white; petals also white, sub-rhomboidal, much
broader than the sepals; lip with an incurved white claw spotted with
red, three-lobed ; the side lobes erect, orbicular-spathulate, light amethyst-
purple, the front lobe broadly cordate, with two reflexed cirri at the
apex, reddish purple ; crest two-lobed, yellow spotted with red. Column
terete, amethyst-purple.
Phalnopsis intermedia, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. p. 163, fig. 310 (1853).
P. Lobbii, Hort.
var.— Brymeriana.
Sepals and petals white with light amethyst-purple veins, the lateral
sepals spotted with purple at the base, the petals with a purple stain
* See Masdevallia, p. 72.
PHALXNOPSIS. 45
near the base; the side lobes of the lip light purple streaked with red,
the front lobe red-purple.
P. intermedia Brymeriana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 366. Fl. Mag.
N.S. t. 263.
var.—Portei.
Flowers somewhat larger than the typical form; sepals and_ petals
white with a purple stain at the base of each, the basal area of the
side lobes of the lip light tawny yellow spotted with red, the apical
area amethyst-purple, the front lobe amethyst-purple toned with red.
P. intermedia Portei, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1863, p. 168. Warner’s Sel. Orch. T1.
t. 2. Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 162. P. Portei, Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 370, with figs.
(Cc)
Phalenopsis intermedia.
Phalenopsis intermedia first appeared as a solitary plant among
an importation of P. Aphrodite received by our Exeter firm from
Thomas Lobb in 1852, and this remained the only one known of
this hybrid till two more were brought from the Philippine Islands,
in 1861, by a French trader named M. Porte, and which differed
from the original P. intermedia, and received the varietal name
under which it is described above. Thirteen years elapsed before
another addition was made to the group, and then it was amongst
an importation of Messrs. Low and Co.; one of these plants
flowered in Mr, Brymer’s collection, at Ilsington House, Dorchester,
in the spring of 1876, which differing from the preceding introduc-
tions was named in compliment to that gentleman. Since that date
the typical form and also the two varietics have appeared very
46 PHALENOPSIS.
sparingly amongst importations by different horticultural firms, the
flowers showing some trifling deviation in colour from the first
described forms, such as usually happens among hybrids, whether
naturally or artificially raised. The finest specimen of P. intermedia
we have yet seen is in the collection of the Right Honourable Lord
Rothschild, at Tring Park.
As already stated Phalenopsis intermedia has been raised artificially
by Seden, from P. Aphrodite and P. rosea; the plant raised from
them flowered for the first time in our Chelsea nursery in the
spring cf 1886.
P. leucorhoda.
A supposed natural hybrid between Phalenopsis Aphrodite and P.
Schilleriana. Leaves sometimes wholly green as in the first-named
species, sometimes freckled with grey, but not so much as in P,
Schilleriana, the grey frequently disappearing with age. Flowers as
large as those of P. Aphrodite; sepals and petals white, more or
less stained with rose-purple on the basal half; lip nearly as in P.
Schilleriana, with the apical tendrils of P. Aphrodite, but somewhat
shorter; the side lobes white spotted with red and with a yellow
stain at the front margin; the front lobe white with a yellow stain
at the base.
; a a leucorhoda, Rcehb. in Gard. Chron, III. (1875), p. 301. Fl. Mag. N.s.
var.—casta.
Sepals white, the dorsal one with a light purple stain at the base,
the lateral two with a light yellow stain spotted with red at the
base ; petals wholly white; all the lobes of the lip white with a
yellow stain spotted with red at the base like the lateral sepals, but
brighter; the front lobe, as in Phalenopsis Aphrodite, with the basal
angles less acute and with the apical tendrils broader and shorter.
P. leucorhoda casta, supra. P. casta, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 590.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 229. Sander’s Reichenbachia II. t. 87.
var.—Cynthia.
Leaves as in Phalenopsis Schilleriana ; sepals and petals white
flushed with light rose-purple towards the base, the lateral sepals dotted
with red on the inner basal half; the side lobes of the lip nearly
as in P. Aphrodite, white spotted with purple on the basal half; the
front lobe nearly as in P. Schilleriana, with short, anchor-shaped
apical appendages, white with a yellow stain at the base, spotted and
marked with purple.
P. leucorhoda Cynthia, supra. P. Cynthia, Rolfein Gard. Chron, VII. s. 3. (1890),
p. 132, Id. p. 227.
PHALENOPSIS. 47
Phalenopsis leucorhoda was introduced from the Philippine Islands
by Messrs. Low and Co., in 1874, amongst an importation of the
supposed parents; costa was introduced in like manner about the
same time by the same firm. Several intermediate forms have
since appeared in various collections that bave well nigh bridged
over the not very broad difference that originally separated them.
Cynthia first appeared in the collection of Mr. F. Wigan, at Clare
Lawn, Hast Sheen, where it flowered in the spring of 1890; it was
probably introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., as a Phaleenopsis
in their establishment produced flowers shortly afterwards that were
almost identical with those of Mr. Wigan’s plant.* The influence of
P. Schilleriana greatly preponderates in this supposed hybrid, and it
may possibly have resulted from the reversed cross of that which
produced P. leucorhoda and its variety casta.
The forms we have here described constitute one of the most
beautiful groups of Phalenopses in cultivation.
P. Veitchiana.
A supposed natural hybrid between Phalcnopsis Schilleriana and P.
rosea. Leaves nearly as in P. rosea with a few faint greyish markings
irregularly scattered over the surface. Flowers 2 inches in diameter ;
sepals white with a flush of light purple below the middle; petals sub-
rhomboidal, broader than the sepals, white with a deeper purple stain ;
the side lobes of the lip broadly spathulate, incurved, the basal half
white spotted with red, the apical half crimson-purple; the front lobe
somewhat lyre-shaped, with two straight, pointed teeth at the apex,
crimson-purple. Column purplish.
Phalenopsis Veitchiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 935. Id. XXI. (1884),
p: 270 (brachyodon). Fl. Mag. N.S. t. 213.
This is one of the rarest as well as one of the most distinct of the
natural hybrids. It first appeared as a solitary specimen among one
of our own importations prior to 1872, in which year it flowered
for the first time. It remained the only plant known of Phaleenopsis
Veitchiana till a second was imported by Messrs. Low and Co. in
1883, which differed but little from the first, except in the shorter,
thicker, apical teeth of the front lobe of the labellum.
* Gard. Chron. VII., s. 3 (1890), p. 227.
PHALHNOPSIS.
GARDEN HYBRIDS.
Phalenopsis “F. L. Ames.”
P. amabilis X P. intermedia.
Leaves oval-oblong, bright green. Flowers 3 inches in diameter, with
the general shape of those of P. amabilis; sepals and petals white ;
lip suffused and marked with a peculiar shade of reddish purple; the
side lobes white externally, spotted with light purple at the base on
the inner side, above which the colour runs into lines; the front lobe
is striated with reddish purple in front, and suffused with the same
colour behind; crest yellow spotted with red.
Phalenopsis ‘‘F. L. Ames,’’? Rolfe in Gard. Chron. III. s, 3 (1888), p. 200,
icon, xyl.
Phalenopsis ‘‘F. L. Ames.”
Raised by Seden at our nursery. and this was probably the first time of its flowering in
Gardens at Kew,’
England. Ten years later a plant was presented to the Horticultural
Society of London by the East India Company through Dr. Wallich,
which flowered at Chiswick in 1831. From that time to the present
the species has been uninterruptedly represented in British orchid
collections.
56 SARCOCHILUS.
SARCOCHILUS.
R. Br. Prod. p. 332 (1810). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 575 (1888).
The genus Sarcochilus possesses but a secondary interest for the
cultivators of epiphytal orchids, for although it includes several
beautiful species, these are so poorly represented in British collections
or are known under other names, that the genus is frequently over-
looked by amateurs, and altogether neglected in the popular orchid
hand-books. As reconstituted by Mr. Bentham in the Genera
Plantarum, it includes about thirty species, many of which had been
previously distributed among several genera,* the founders of these
relying chiefly upon the form of the labelJlum and the habit of
the plant, which vary from species to species; but the discovery of
other species modifying the value of these characters, suggested the
propriety of uniting them all under one genus.
The species now included in Sarcochilus are spread over India,
Malaysia, Australia, and the islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The
five described in the following pages are among the best known,
although not often seen in cultivation. The generic name is derived
from oap& capkoc, “flesh,” and yxéAoc, “a lip,” in reference to the
fleshy texture of that organ.
Sarcochilus Berkeleyi.
Stem as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, 3—6 inches high in plants
observed. Leaves spreading, strap-shaped, 5—6 or more inches long,
obtuse or emarginate. Racemes pendulous, longer than the leaves, the
rachis pale green, swollen at the base of the pedicels and grooved along
the interspaces. Flowers crowded, 14 inch across vertically, cream-white
with a purple stain on the labellum; the dorsal sepal and petals broadly
obovate, the former concave, almost galeate; the lateral sepals larger,
oblong, obtuse, spreading ; lip attached to the foot of the column, clawed,
saccate, compressed, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, falcately linear ; the
front lobe with two erect, horn-like processes above, and prolonged below
* Thus: Dendrocolla, Blume, Bijdr. p. 286. Thrixspermum, Lour. Fl. cochinch. Il. p.
519. Ornitharium, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. p. 188. Micropera, Dalz. in Hook. Kew Journ.
Ill. p. 282. Chiloschista, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1522. Gunnia, Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
sub. t. 1699. Camarotis, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 219. Reichenbach (Walp. Ann. VI.
p- 497) brought under Sarcochilus nearly all the species included in the genus by Bentham,
but subsequently removed most of them to Thrixspermum (Xen. Orch. II. p. 120) as being
more ancient than Sarcochilus, a course Mr. Bentham did not adopt, ‘‘ on the very sufficient
grounds that the name is utterly bad in construction, and because the description of the
type is so incomplete that it woul have been impossible to recognise the plant intended by
it.” (Bot. Mag, sub. t. 7044.) :
SARCOCHILUS. 57
into a compressed tube dilated at the apex. Column short, greenish ;
anther beaked.
Sarcochilus Berkeleyi, Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 37 (1890). Thrixspermum
Berkeleyi, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 537.
A very handsome species, discovered by Major-General E. 8S. Berkeley,
as he himself informs us, in several islands in the Malay Archipelago.
It is known in gardens under the name of Thrixspermum Berkeleyi, to
Sarcochilus Berkeleyi.
which genus it was referred by Reichenbach, who first described it ;
but Thrixspermum being now merged into Sarcochilus, Loureiro’s
barbarous name will, it is to be hoped, disappear from orchid nomen:
clature.
58 SARCOCHILUS,
S. Fitzgeraldi.
Stems very short, usually with 3—5 linear-oblong leathery leaves
3—5 inches long. Peduncles slender, drooping, longer than the leaves,
6—9 or more flowered. Flowers an inch in diameter, on white pedicels
(and ovary) sheathed at the base by a small subulate bract; sepals and
petals similar and sub-equal, spreading, oval, obtuse, white densely spotted
with rose-purple towards the base; lip shorter than the other segments,
Sarcochilus Fitzgeraldi.
saccate, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, roundish oblong, white spotted
with rose-purple ; the front lobe small, sub-conical, gibbous below, bright
yellow. Column very short.
Sarcochilus Fitzgeraldi, F. Mul. Frag. VII. p. 115 (1870). Fitzgerald, Orch.
Austral. I, part 2.
One of the rarest and most attractive of Australian orchids. It is
dedicated by Baron Ferdinand von Miiller, Director of the Botanic
Garden at Melbourne, to the excellent monographer of Australian orchids,
Mr. Robert Fitzgerald, of Sydney, who has given the following account
of it:—‘‘ It was discovered by myself in a deep gorge of the mountains,
SARCOCHILUS. 59
at the head of the Billinger river, associated with a strangely proliferous
form of Dendrobium Kingianum and clumps of Sturmia (Liparis) reflexa.
It is found within the spray of the Naroo Falls and the surrounding
streams, in masses, clinging to the dripping rocks and covering the
black basalt with its green roots that stretch for yards over the smooth
surface.’’*
We are indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for materials for
description and illustration.
S. Hartmanni.
Stems about 2 inches long, each with three—five leaves. Leaves hard
and fleshy, linear-oblong, 3—5 inches long, obtuse, sometimes toothed at
the apex. Peduncles stoutish, longer than the leaves, loosely racemose,
many flowered. Flowers $—% inch in diameter, on short white pedicels
spotted with red, and sheathed at the base by a small triangular bract ;
sepals and petals white spotted at the base on both sides with red, the
sepals oval-oblong, the petals similar but narrower; lip shorter than the
other segments, saccate with two falcately oblong erect side lobes that
are white striated with red-purple, and a small conical intermediate one
with a two-lobed orange-yellow callus. Column very short.
Sarcochilus Hartmanni, F. Mul. Frag. VIII. p. 248 (1874). Bot. Mag. t. 7010.
S. rubricentrum, Fitzg. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), p. 88. Id. Orch. austral. II.
part I. Thrixspermum Hartmanni, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. VII, (1877), p. 716.
Native of the mountain woods near Toowoomba, in Queensland,
where it was discovered by the late Mr. Charles Hartmann, an
amateur botanist of that settlement. It was subsequently detected
by Mr. E. Ramsay, F.L.S., at Cairns, in the same colony. Its very
stout, erect peduncles with longer racemes of differently coloured
smaller flowers distinguish it from the closely allied Sarcochilus
Fitzgeraldi.
S. luniferus.
“Leaves in the ordinary state of the plant, none. Roots very many,
3—5 inches long, flattened. Peduncles 1—2 inches long, stout, decurved,
hispidulous, green, purple-spotted with two—three white, ovate, acute
scales. Racemes drooping, many flowered. Flowers } inch in diameter ;
sepals and petals elliptic-oblong, obtuse, yellow spotted with orange-red ;
lip white, saccate with large erect, ovate, obtuse side lobes, a minute
recurved mid-lobe, and two thick ridges on the papillose disk.”
(Botanical Magazine).
Sarcochilus luniferus, Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 7044. Id. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 37.
Thrixspermum luniferum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p- 768. Id. Trans. Linn,
Soc. XXX. p. 136.
* Australian Orchids, loc. cit. supra.
60 SARCOCHILUS.
A pretty and very curious orchid cultivated in the Royal Gardens
at Kew. One of its most noticeable peculiarities is the absence of
leaves in the ordinary state of the plant (a character it possesses in
common with a few other species of Sarcochilus), although a few
small leaves occasionally appear under cultivation. It was one of the
numerous discoveries of the Rev. C. Parish, near Moulmein, and was
introduced to British gardens by Messrs. Low and Co. in 1868. The
specific name refers to the form of the labellum as seen in front.
S. purpureus.
Stems scandent, 2—3 feet long, as thick as an ordinary writing
pencil, and from which are produced numerous white, cord-like, branching
roots. Leaves linear-oblong, 3—4 inches long, sessile, bifid at the apex,
keeled beneath. Racemes longer than the leaves, many flowered.
Flowers crowded, about an inch in diameter, light rose-purple, the
lip a little darker than the other segments; sepals and petals elliptic-
oblong, the lateral sepals adnate to the base of the lip; lp shorter
than the other segments, compressed and narrowed at the base, dilated
towards the apex into a funnel-like tube with a narrow, oval aperture,
below which is a whitish awl-shaped appendage.
Sarcochilus purpureus, Benth. in Gen. Plant. III. p. 576 (1888). Hook. f. Fl.
Brit. Ind. VI. p. 36. Camarotis purpurea, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 219 (1832).
Id. Sert. Orch. t.19. Id.in Journ. Linn. Soc. III. p. 37. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VII.
p. 35. C. rostrata, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 881 (1864), Aérides rostratum,
Roxb. Fl. ind. III. p. 474 (1832).
This pretty orchid first became known to science in the early part
of the present century through Dr. Carey, who cultivated it in his
garden at Serampore in Bengal, whence it was obtained by Dr.
Wallich for the Calcutta Botanic Garden in 1819, and whose excellent
drawing by a native artist was reproduced in Dr. Lindley’s Sertwm
Orchidaceum.* It was subsequently found wild in the forests of
Sylhet and on the Khasia Hills; and from the last-named locality it
was introduced to Chatsworth by Gibson in 1837. It flowered for
the first time in this country in Messrs. Loddiges’ nursery at
Hackney in 1839, Although generally cultivated by orchid amateurs
of the last generation under the name of Camarotis purpurea, it is
but rarely seen in the orchid collections of the present time.
* Still the best coloured plate of this orchid known to us,
AERIDES. 61
AERIDES.
Loureiro, Fl. cochinch. II. p. 523 (1790). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 328 (1832). Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 576 (1883).
The elegant drooping racemes of fragrant, wax-like flowers, and
the comparative facility with which the species can be cultivated
in the glass-houses of Europe, have always secured for Aérides a
large amount of favour from orchid amateurs, so that in most
collections the genus is represented by its most admired species.
From a botanical point of view, however, it must be admitted that
a more perplexing genus as regards the limitation of species is
scarccly to be found throughout the Orcuiprm, for it includes an
unknown number of “forms,” some of them perhaps natural hybrids,
which in many instances approach each other so closely that it is
extremely difficult to define clearly the differences that separate them,
or to determine the specific characters by which the one may be
distinguished from the other, if species they are, but nevertheless
showing some characteristic in habit, in the inflorescence, or in the
colour of the flowers, by which they are recognised as distinct by
horticulturists. Many of these ‘‘forms” fall naturally into groups,
each of which is represented by a well-recognised species that may
be regarded as the type of the group; Aérides odoratum, A.
multijlorum and A. falcatwm are instances of such; around each of
these well-marked species may be grouped a number of forms
that can only be distinguished from the type by characters of
scarcely sufficient value to be considered specific.
The essential characters of Aérides may be thus expressed :—
The sepals are spreading, the lateral two broader than the upper
one, and adnate at their base to the foot of the column.
The petals are similar to the upper sepal, rarely different.
The Jlabellum is affixed to the foot of the column, is three-lobed,
and produced into a spur that is usually turned upwards on the back
of the labellum.
The column is short and thickish, produced more or less at its base
into a foot; the anther is beaked.
In a wild state the Aérides affix themselves to the trunks and
branches of living trees, rarely to dead and prostrate ones. The young
plants are usually erect or ascending, and emit from their base numerous
cord-like roots that creep over the bark or along the cracks and crevices
of it, clinging to the tree with extraordinary tenacity, and holding the
62 AERIDES.
plants so firmly as to enable them to resist any of the ordinary force
of Nature that would affect their stability or cause their displacement.
As the stems continue to lengthen, adventitious roots are constantly
produced from the preceding year’s growth, which attain a great length,
frequently branch, and become pendent by their own weight. These
roots thence form in time a _ tangled, cord-like mass that cannot be
aptly compared with any phase of vegetation seen in our climate.
The annual lengthening of the stem is well marked by the foliage,
which in a wild state is of biennial duration; the roots too that are
farthest removed from the foliage gradually cease to perform their
functions and die off. The inflorescence is produced from the axils of
the leaves of the preceding year, which begin to wither in the short,
dry season that ensues after the growth of the current year is
completed. As the stem of an Aérides lengthens by successive yearly
crowths it gradually deviates from its ascending position, first becoming
more inclined, then taking a horizontal direction, and finally by its
own weight and the weight of its appendages it is brought into almost
an inverted or, if near enough to the ground, a prostrate position,
when its further lengthening is checked or even arrested by the
obstacles it encounters. Nevertheless, the stems of Aérides are virtually
interminate, they would continue to lengthen indefinitely if no physical
obstacles or checks intervened. Stems have been observed from 15—-20
feet long, but long before that length has been attained young shoots
spring from the base of the parent stem, which in time become
independent plants; the stem also produces lateral shoots when a
fracture has occurred, or when growth at the apex has been arrested
by some physical cause. As the leaves wither the stem becomes
lignified, sapless, and gradually loses’ all signs of life beyond a certain
distance below the foliage; probably the life of no part of the stem
under the most favourable circumstances exceeds five years.
Such is the general view of the most obvious period of the life
history of an Aérides in its native home.* Many exceptional cases
are doubtless to be met with, but in none that have come to our
knowledge has the general law been greatly departed from.t Under
the artificial conditions to which the Aérides are subjected in the
glass houses of Europe, some modifications of the general law of
their growth as sketched above are occasionally observable, especially
in the longer persistence of the foliage and prolonged life of the stem.
* The above general view of the life history of an Aérides is also applicable to Vanda,
Saccolabium, etc., and other allied genera, with but some modification, and therefore will not
be repeated under them.
+ Aérides yaponicum is a diminutive species, whose stem probably never exceeds a few inches
in height under the most favourable circumstances ; its life history is, however, essentially the
same as that of other Aérides, j
ABRIDES. 63
The species of Aérides admit of a division into two very distinct
sections according to their vegetation and habit, viz., PLanironr,
in which the leaves are flat, leathery, and spreading, and TrrREriroLtx,
in which the leaves are cylindric, flesny, and grooved in front. Of
the last-named section two species only, Aérides mitratum and A.
Vandarum, are known to us to be in cultivation. All the other
cultivated forms belong to the flat-leaved section, throughout which
a general uniformity of habit prevails, so that the following short
diagnosis of the vegetative organs will serve for all :—
The stems are cylindric, deviating but little in thickness from that
of a man’s little finger, ligneous below, leafy upwards, emitting long,
cord-like, often branched, aérial roots.
The leaves are strap-shaped, keeled beneath, embracing the stem at
their base, obtuse or obliquely two-lobed at their apex, very leathery
in texture.
The inflorescence is lateral, either simple or branched, decurved and
usually longer than the leaves; very viscid in the odoratum group
from a honeyed secretion along the rachis and from the base and foot
of the column,
The flowers are often crowded and inverted, that is, the labellum is
uppermost,* the pedicels are sheathed by a small scale-like bract at
the base.
The genus was founded by the Portuguese missionary and
botanist, Loureiro, upon Aérides odoratwm, which he detected in Cochin-
China some time prior to 1790, the year in which he published his
Flora cochinchinensis. His selection of the name is explained by the
following quaint extract from that work, which would be spoiled
by translating :—“ Mirabilis hujus planta proprietas est, quod ex
sylvis domum delata et in aére libero suspensa, absque ullo pabulo
vegetabili, terreo vel aqueo, in multos annos duret, crescat, floreat et
germinet. Vix crederem nisi diuturna experientia comprobassem.”
The name Aérides is a grammatical form called a patronymic, and
means literally ‘“‘children of the air.’’+
reographical distribution——The Aérides are spread generally over
the Indo-Malayan region, excluding the arid tracts in the north-west
of Hindostan and the dry central plateau of the Deccan, where the
* But owing to the pendulous habit of the inflorescence the flowers ,
in their natural position. ADEs leap peice
: 1 The name itself is unknown in classic Greck, but it is correctly formed from cujp, aépoc,
the air,’’ hence the proper pronunciation is 4-ér-i'-dés.
64 AERIDES.
climatic conditions are unsuitable for orchid life. On the map
illustrating the geographical distribution of Phalenopsis we have also
inscribed the authenticated localities of the most important of the
cultivated Aérides, from which a better idea of the distribution of
the genus will be derived than can be conveyed by verbal description.
From an inspection of the map it will be seen that closely-allied
forms occur in localities remote from each other, a circumstance
that tends far to show that such forms are but geographical
deviations from a common type, and may in some measure account
for the difficulty attending the botanical limitation of the species.
Cultural Note——The Aérides should be cultivated in what is
usually called the ‘‘ East Indian house,” where they may be associated
with other orchids from the Indo-Malayan region, Although the mean
temperature of that region is one of the highest observed in the world,
it is found by experiment that most orchids brought thence to the
high latitude of Great Britain thrive better in the glass-houses of this
country in an average lower temperature than in a temperature raised
by artificial heat to nearly the same mean as that of their native
home. Thus, while the mean temperature for the whole year of parts
of India and Malaysia, in which Aérides abound, is as high as 27° C.
(80° F.), the temperature suited for them in the glass-houses of Great
Britain should not be higher than 21°—24° C. (70°—75° F.) from
March to October, the period durimg which the plants are in active
growth, raised by sun-heat on bright days 6° C. (10° F.) higher, and
reduced 3° C. (5° F.) by night, that is to say, to 18°—21° C.
(65°—70° F.). In the winter months a night temperature of 15°
—18° C. (60°—65° F.), raised a little higher in the daytime is
sufficient. It is well known among cultivators that a high tempera-
ture maintained by fire-heat debilitates, while sun-heat strengthens the
plants, hence a light shading only is necessary during the middle of
the day in the summer months, while from October to March no
shading is required. The ventilation must be regulated according
to the season; the rule is—admit as much fresh air into the
house as possible, and as often as it can be done without draughts
and too rapid a lowering of the temperature of the house. A high
degree of humidity must be maintained during the growing season by
damping down and by the direct application of water to the plants;
in winter the watering must be restricted to just so much as is
sufficient to keep the sphagnum moist and to counteract the drying
effects of the hot-water pipes. Pots are usually preferred, although teak
baskets are used by some cultivators, especially when it is desired to
grow the plants into large specimens; in either case they should be
filled with clean, broken crocks to three-fourths of their depth, the
AERIDES. 65
larger and coarser pieces being placed at the bottom; some cultivators
add pieces of charcoal, but we have never detected any advantage
derived from its use, The drainage should be surfaced with living
sphagnum that must be kept constantly moist. In January, or February
at the latest, the old sphagnum should be removed and replaced by new,
and those plants whose lowermost leaves have withered should be taken
out of the pots and their stems cut back at the base so far as to allow
the fresh leaves to be close to the sphagnum.
Thrips and scale are great enemies of Aérides; the first can be kept in
check by fumigation and the nse of tobacco powder, the latter by
sponging with soft soap dissolved in tepid water.
Synopsis OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES.
Aerides Augustianum.*
“Leaves arching, 6—7 inches long and 1} inch broad, dark green and
unequally bi-lobed at the apex. Racemes arching, a little longer than
the leaves. Flowers of a light rosy shade, 1—1} inch long; sepals
and petals roundish oblong, cbtuse; lip three-lobed, the side lobes falcate,
oblong, rounded, or nearly truncate above, margin entire; the front lobe
much longer, broadly oblong, margins crenulate, apex somewhat bilobed ;
spur longer than the front lobe, nearly straight.” (R. A. Rolfe, in Gard.
Chron. VII. s. 3 (1890), p. 9.).
Aérides Augustianum, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. loc. cit. and p. 233, icon. xyl.
Discovered in the Philippine Islands by M. Auguste Linden, to
whom the species is dedicated, and recently introduced by the
Societé anonyme d’Horticulture Internationale of Brussels.
A. crassifolium.
Leaves 6—7 or more inches long, and 14—2 inches broad, unequally
bi-lobed at the apex. Peduncles longer than the leaves, loosely racemose.
Flowers 1 — 14 inch across vertically; sepals oblong, obtuse, the lateral
two the broadest, bright rose-purple, paler at the base ; petals oval-oblong,
coloured like the sepals; lip three-lobed, the side lobes semi-lunate or
erescent-shaped and coloured like the sepals and petals; the intermediate
lobe broadly ovate, obtuse, deep rose purple, at the base are two keels
that are divergent in front; spur bent, compressed, greenish at the tip.
Aérides crassifolium, Rehb. and Parish in Trans. Linn. Soc. XXX. p. 145 (1873).
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. VII. (1877) p. 596; VIII. p. 492, icon. xyl. Warner’s
Sel. Orch. III. t. 12. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1885, p. 870. Hook. f. Fl, Brit.
Ind, VI. p. 46.
* Not seen by us.
66 AERIDES.
A very handsome species introduced by Messrs. Low and Co.,
from Moulmein, through the Rev. C. S. Parish in 1864, but which
did not flower in this country till several years afterwards, on the
first occasion in 1872 in the collection of the late Mr. John Day,
at Tottenham, and in the following year in that of the late Mr.
Dodgson, at Beardsworth, Blackburn. It is very near Aérides falcaium,
from which it is chiefly distinguished by its dwarfer and more
robust stems, its broader and more leathery leaves, and its looser
racemes of larger and differently coloured flowers.
A. crispum.
Stems usually dull violet-purple along the leafy part. Leaves spreading,
5— 8 inches long, 14—2 inches broad, bi-lobed at the apex with a small mucro
between the lobes. Peduncles 3—5 times as long as the leaves, generally
racemose, but sometimes branched. Flowers among the largest in the
genus, with a pleasant pime-apple fragrance, nearly 2 inches across
vertically, on short, partially twisted grooved pedicels; sepals and petals
white lightly stained with rose-purple behind, and with a faint flush of
the same near the apical end in front, oval-oblong, obtuse, the lateral
sepals larger and the petals smaller than the dorsal sepal; lip three-lobed,
the side lobes small, erect, roundish oblong, white, streaked with rose-
purple on the inner side; the middle lobe broadly ovate, saddle-like,
with serrate margin, rich amethyst-purple, and with a white grooved
callus at the entrance of the saccate base; spur small, horn-like,
compressed. Column white; anther yellowish.
Aérides crispum, Lindl. in Wallich’s Cat. 7319. Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 239,
(1832). Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 55. Bot. Mag. t. 4427. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres,
V. t. 488. Illus. hort. 1857, t. 123. Gard. Chron, 1859, p. 24, icon. xyl.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 45. A. Brookei, Batem. in Bot Reg. 1841, mise.
No. 116. Paxt. Mag. Bot. 1X. p. 145. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, I. p. 42.
var.—Lindleyanum.
Peduncles branched. Flowers somewhat larger than in the type, the
dorsal sepal and petals tinted with light purple, the side lobes of the
lip greenish, the middle lobe rich amethyst-purple bordered with white,
A. crispum Lindleyanum, supra. A. Lindleyanum, Wight Ic. t. 1677. Lindl.
in Jour. Linn. Soc. III. p. 41. ichb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 897.
var.—Warneri,
Leaves ascending, shorter and narrower than in the type. Racemes
longer with smaller flowers; sepals and petals white very faintly
suffused with hght rose-purple ; lip deep rose-purple with a narrow white
margin.
ue crispum Warneri, Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 2938. A. Warneri, Hort.
Aérides crispum was first discovered by Dr. Wallich, in the valley of
Courtallum in the extreme south of India, in the early part of the present
M
(Cajoyuouyy jesouspang yy W013)
“MINIPOFIsseIO sapUay
ndsiio sepuiay
at il de Vices
sundstia sopuay
Cojojuoryy eanupang 94) WO1a)
suUNTpOFIssvAd_ SEPUAV
AERIDES: 67
century, but it was not introduced into British gardens till many
years afterwards. It flowered for the first time in this country in
Sir Richard Brooke’s collection at Norton Priory, in Cheshire, in
1841, on which occasion it received the name of A. Brookei from
Mr. Bateman, who was unacquainted with Dr. Wallich’s herbarium
specimen which had been previously named A. erispum by Dr.
Lindley. The variety Lindleyanum, a very fine form but now rarely
seen, was detected by Dr. Wight on the Neilgherry Hills m_ the
south of India about the year 1850, and was dedicated by him to
the eminent orchidologist as a distinct species. The variety Warnevi,
also a rare form, first appeared in the collection of the late Mr.
C. H. Warner, at Hoddesden, in 1857. To the A. crispum group
may probably be added A. illustre, described by Reichenbach in
the Gardeners’ Chronicle, XVIII. (1882), p. 71, which had been
introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. amongst an importation of A,
crispum.
A. Emerici.
Leaves 9—12 inches long and 1—1} inch broad. Racemes shorter
than the leaves, sub-pendulous, the rachis viscid. Flowers an inch long,
on pale purple, slightly twisted pedicels; sepals and petals broadly
obovate-oblong, white with a light amethyst-purple blotch at the apex
of each; side lobes of lip rounded, erect, spotted with purple inside
at the basal end; the intermediate lobe very small, narrowly oblong,
acute, deep amethyst-purple; spur funnel-shaped, incurved. Column
very short.
Aérides Emerici, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 586. Bot, Mag, t. 6728.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 47.
Discovered by Major-General Emeric 8. Berkeley in the Andaman
Islands and introduced by him in 1882. It is also found on the
small islets to the north of the Andamans known as the Coco
Islands. It belongs to the group of which dAérides odoratum is the
type, and is distinguished from that species chiefly by its longer
racemes of smaller and differently-coloured flowers.
A. falcatum.
Leaves 6—8 inches long and 1}—1% inch broad, glaucescent above,
striated with dark lines beneath. Racemes as long as or longer than
the leaves. Flowers loosely arranged along the rachis, 1} inch long ;
sepals and petals white with a small light amethyst-purple apical blotch,
broadly oval, the lateral sepals broader and the petals narrower than the
68 AERIDES.
dorsal sepal; lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes faleate or crescent-shaped,
spreading, light amethyst-purple; the front lobe broadly obovate, some-
what saddle-shaped, emarginate with denticulate margin, and with two
shallow median keels above, deep amethyst-purple ; spur short, compressed,
greenish.
Aérides faleatnm, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. IT. p. 142 (1852). Rehb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 897. Xen. Orch. I. p. 220, t. 92. Gard. Chron. Ill. s: 3 (1888), p. 744.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 46. A. expansum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII.
(1882), p. 40. A. Larpente, Hort. A. Mendelii, Hort.
var — Houlletianum.
Leaves a little longer and narrower. Racemes_ shorter and denser,
the flowers smaller in all their parts, light tawny yellow with an apical
purple spot on each segment, the margin of the front lobe of the
lip fimbriate rather than denticulate, and the median keels shorter.
A. faleatum Houlletianum, supra. » = :
o= ‘
oJ
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rn
=) ©.
: s
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oot
os
:
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= —
SUIT
Soploy hieceiieiaiaa
AERIDES. real
so far as we are aware, in cultivation. The materials for figuring
were supplied by Mr. Parker, of Hornsey, in whose nursery it
flowered in February, 1857, and this was probably the first occasion
of its flowering in this country.
Aérides Vandarum occurs in the Sikkim Himalaya, at 5,000 feet
elevation; also on the Khasia Hills at 4—5,000 feet elevation, and
in Munipur at about the same altitude. It is thence a sub-tropical
plant, a circumstance of which cultivators should take note.
A. virens.
Leaves 7—10 inches long and 1—1}4 inch broad. Peduncles longer
than the leaves, racemose along the distal two-thirds. Flowers fragrant,
exceeding an inch across vertically; sepals and petals broadly oval,
obtuse, white with a bright purple apical blotch, the lateral sepals broader
and the petals narrower than the dorsal sepal; lip somewhat resembling
a ram’s horn, deeply three-lobed, the side lobes much the largest, oblong,
erect with the outer margin appressed to the column, white spotted with
purple below and around the green-tipped spur; the front lobe small,
oblong, entire, but sometimes bi-dentate at the apex, incurved towards the
beak of the anther, sometimes wholly purple, sometimes white with a
median purple band.
Aérides virens, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No. 48. Jd. 1844, t. 41. Paxt. Fl.
Gard. II. sub. t. 66. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 160. Id. VI. t. 298 (Ellisii).
Introduced in 1845 by Messrs. Loddiges from Java, where it is
one of the commonest of orchids. Around Batavia it has established
itself on the Tamarind trees that were planted by the early Dutch
settlers to shade the roads. During the short dry season these trees
lose some of their foliage, the Aérides are then partially exposed
to direct sunlight, but during the remainder of the year they are
in shade.
Compared with Aérides odoratum, of which 4A. virens is scarcely
other than a geographical form—the leaves are generally (not
always) a little longer and narrower, more distant and more decurved ;
the racemes are longer with the flowers more distantly placed along
the rachis; the flowers are a little larger with larger and brighter
purple spots.
82 RENANTHERA.
RENANTHERA.
Loureiro, Fl. cochinch. II. p. 521 (1790). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 217 (1832). Benth.
et Hook. Gen. Plant. ILI. p. 577 (1883).
Renanthera includes five or six species, natives of tropical Asia
and the Malay Archipelago, of which the two here described are
well known in cultivation.* The only other species known to us
to have been in cultivation, but which seems to have been long
since lost, is Renanthera micrantha (erroneously figured in the
Botanical Register, 1843, t. 41, as R. matutina), which was sent by
Cuming from the Philippine Islands, and flowered at Chatsworth in
December, 1842. The structure of the column, and especially of
the pollinary apparatus of Renanthera, indicates a close affinity with
Aérides and Vanda, to one or other of which most of the species
except the type were in the first place referred, but the different
form of the perianth, more particularly the lateral sepals, which are
usually longer than the other segments and are parallel or nearly
so, clearly distinguishes Renanthera from both those genera. ‘The
“a kidney,’ and anthera, refers to the
kidney-shaped pollinia, but that form is by no means peculiar to
this genus.
generic name, from ren,
Renanthera coccinea.
Stems cylindric, as thick as the little finger, 7—10 or more feet long,
leafy upwards. Leaves oblong, 4—5 inches long, amplexicaul, obliquely
emarginate and very leathery. Panicles from opposite one of the upper
leaves, 2—3 feet long and bearing from 100 to 150 flowers; bracts scale-
like, roundish ovate, brownish red. Flowers 3} inches across, vertically ;
upper sepal and petals linear-spathulate, bright red spotted with yellow,
the petals a little narrower and shorter than the sepal; lateral sepals
clawed, oblong, lobate on the inner side near the base, deep vermilion-
red; lip small, sessile on the base of the column, with a conical saccate
spur beneath, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, truncate, pale yellow
streaked on the inner side with red; the intermediate lobe ovate,
acuminate, reflexed, deep red with a pale yellow bi-lamellate callus at
the base. Column terete, wingless, deep red.
Renanthera coccinea, Lour, Fl. cochinch. Il. p. 637 (1790). Lindl. in Boi. Reg. t.
1131 (1828). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 217. Bot. Mag. t. 2997-8 (1830). Paxt. Mag.
Bot. IV. p. 49 (1838). Warner’s Sel. Orch. II. t. 37. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI.
p. 48.
* The essential characters of the genus will be readily derived from the descriptions of these
two species,
CO
3
KENANTHERA.
This grand old orchid, one of the earliest of the Asiatic epiphytal
species cultivated in the glass-houses of Great Britain, was introduced
some time previous to 1817, but owing to the imperfect treatment
to which it was subjected in those early days of orchid cultivation,
resulting from the crude ideas that then prevailed respecting the
epiphytal character of the plants, it could not be induced to flower
till 1827. In that year Mr. Fairbairn, the gardener at Claremont,
brought a plant into flower by tying moss around the stems, which
he kept constantly moist, and at the same time exposed the whole
Renanthera coccinea.
plant as much as possible to direct sunlight. ‘This is the first
recorded instance of its flowerimg in this country; three years later
it flowered in the garden of Earl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth Woodhouse,
near Sheffield, and subsequently at Chatsworth and in other collections,
the occasion of its flowering being always regarded as an exceptional
one and deserving of especial notice on account of the difficulty of
inducing the plant to produce its gorgeous panicles. Even ai the
present time the difficulty of flowering Renanthera coccinea regularly
84. RENANTHERA.
has not been generally overcome, of which the cultural experience of
it recorded in the horticultural press during the past twenty-five
years affords ample evidence.
Renanthera coccinea is the typical species upon which the genus was
founded by the Portuguese missionary and botanist, Loureiro, who
described it in his Flora cochinchinensis, published in 1790, but in
terms so brief and with such a peculiarity of diction that it was over-
looked by botanists till it flowered in the glass-houses of Europe,
when its extraordinary inflorescence attracted general attention. It is
in high repute in its native country, where it is frequently trained to
verandahs and other suitable places. It is also a great favourite
with the Chinese of the southern provinces of the empire, by whom
it has been assiduously cultivated from time immemorial, and among
whom it is probably an introduced plant; its flowers are frequently
introduced by them into the quaint but generally faithful drawings
which they employ for various artistic purposes.
The only known stations of the plant are the Moscos Islands,
opposite Tavoy and Cochin China.
Cultural Note.—Renanthera coccinea is one of those orchids that require
a special treatment to induce it to flower regularly, and in the numerous
communications to the horticultural press respecting it during the past
twenty-five years there is expressed a general concurrence in its being a
refractory plant, and details are given of the various methods employed
by different cultivators to overcome the difficulty. As our space does not
permit us to quote these various methods, each of which may be suitable
for its own case, we can only refer to one of the most successful
instances known to us,
At Chatsworth this orchid has been successfully cultivated for more
than half-a-century.* The plants are placed on the west side of the large
conservatory fully exposed to the sun after 1 p.m. Pieces of the stems
about a foot long, having a few roots, are attached to poles of the
Silver Birch 8—12 feet long and about 6 inches in diameter with
the bark on; these poles are fixed perpendicularly in a_ border,
no potting material whatever being used for the plants. As the stems
iner ase in leagth the new aérial roots emitted by them soon attach
themselves firmly to the birch poles. From the beginning of May
to the end of September fire heat is dispensed with; the temperature
of the house being entirely controlled by the state of the weather
is thence subject to great fluctuations, thus on bright days it frequently
rises to 32° C. (90° F), notwithstanding the greatest possible amount of
* A plant was acquired in 1836 which flowered two years afterwards, when it was figured in
Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.
RENANTHERA. 85
ventilation is used; in dull weather it sinks to 13° C. (55° F.), while
in changeable weather it will vary as much as 11° C. (20° F.) in the
course of the day. In severe weather the temperature of the house
has been observed as low as 3° C. (36° F.), hence there is an annual
range of nearly 30° C. (55° F.); nevertheless the mean summer
temperature is about 24° C. (75° F.), and that of winter about
8° C. (47° F.). During the summer the plants are syringed three
or four times a day, in winter two or three times a day according
to the weather, or as the birch poles happen to be wet or dry.
Strong and healthy stems flower annually, and occasionally twice a
year, continuing in bloom several months.* The conditions under
which Renanthera coccinea is so successfully cultivated at Chatsworth
are peculiar and scarcely to be attained in less favoured places; the
particulars here given may, however, serve as useful hints to cultivators
of this orchid.
R. matutina.
Stems as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, 2—3 feet high under
cultivation, leafy upwards. Leaves linear-oblong, 4—6 inches long,
very leathery, channelled above, obliquely emarginate or two-lobed at
the apex. Peduncles wiry, flexuose, branched, many flowered. Flowers
bright reddish crimson toned with yellow, changing with age into
orange-yellow, 2 inches in diameter, on slender pedicels that are
coloured like the perianth; sepals and petals similar, linear, acute,
the lateral sepals at first parallel then divergent; lip much smaller
than the other segments, saccate, sub-cylindric, compressed with a
small tongue-shaped reflexed lobule in front. Column very short.
Renanthera matutina, Lind]. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 218 (1832). Rchb. Xen. Orch. I.
p. 90, t. 85 (1855). Miquel, Fl. ind, bat. III. p. 698. Linden’s Pesce. t. 12. Aérides
matutinum, Blume, Bijdr. p. 698 (1825).
Discovered in 1824 by Blume, growing on trees at the foot of
Mount Salak, in Java, and where twenty years later it was re-
discovered by Thomas Lobb, through whom it was introduced by our
Exeter firm in 1846. For many years afterwards it was one of the
rarest of cultivated orchids, but subsequent importations have
caused it to become more generally distributed. Being less refrac-
tory to the cares of the cultivator than Renanthera coccinea, and
being too of more manageable dimensions, it has proportionally
gained in favour. The cultural treatment of f&. matutina is the
same as that of Aérides and Vanda.
* For these particulars we are indebted to Mr. Owen Thomas, the excellent gardener to the
Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth.
86 VANDA.
VANDA.
R. Br. in Bot. Reg. t. 506 (1820). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 215 (1832). Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 578 (1883).
The following synopsis includes all the species known to us to be in
cultivation, and among them are assuredly some of the finest orchids
ever introduced. Seven or eight other species are also known to
science, but none of them can be said to possess any especial attrac-
tion for the horticulturist. Perhaps the most striking feature in
Vanda, from a horticultural point of view, is the remarkable range
of colour observable in the flowers of the different species, and even
in varieties of the same species, surpassing in this respect every
other genus of cultivated orchids. With the exception of the
brilhant red seen in the allied genus, Renanthera, well nigh every
variety of colour is represented throughout the Vandas; the tessela-
tion of the floral segments of the type species and its immediate
allies is also an attractive feature. Another property that renders
the Vandas valuable as decorative plants is the persistency of their
flowers, those of some of the species continuing fresh for upwards
of three months.
The essential characters of the genus are seen chiefly in the form
of the labellum and in its attachment to the column; these characters
may be thus technically expressed :—
The lip is affixed to the base of the column; it is saccate at its
base or obtusely spurred ; the lateral lobes are sometimes large, sometimes
reduced to minute auricles, rarely O; the middle lobe is variable in
form, the disk of which is fleshy and usually ridged or lamellate.
Even when divested of those species which do not conform to
these characters, and which have long been known in gardens as Vandas,
but are now referred to other genera,* Vanda is still a polymorphous
genus whose limits it is difficult to define, and which presents much
that is perplexing to the systematist; thus aberrant forms are seen
in Vanda Sanderiana which has a close affinity with the Arachnanthes,
V. parviflora is better known as an Aérides, V. densiflora and V.
violacea may with equal right be placed under Saccolabium, to which
genus they are, in fact, referred in this work.
In their vegetation the Vandas resemble the Aérides except that
fo)
* See Stauropsis, Arachnanthe, and Saccolabium.
VANDA. 87
there is much less uniformity of habit among them. Some of the
species are slow growing, and never in a wild state attain the dimensions
of their more robust congeners, Vanda tricolor, V. ccrulea, etc., the
most obvious part of whose life-history is essentially the same as an
Aérides. VV. teres is a scandent plant scrambling to the top of high
trees, while V. Hookeriana of similar aspect is of much lower stature,
and creeps over the low jungle growth, or affixes itself to the stems of
a species of Pandanus (Screw-Pine).
No satisfactory sectional divisions of Vanda have yet been established.
Dr. Lindley distributed the species into five sections in his monograph
of the genus in Folia Orchidacea, published in 1853, of which the
first, Fretpra, has by general consent been removed from it. The
remaining four were adopted by Reichenbach a few years later when
revising the genus for Walper’s Annales Botanices, but they are
separated by very artificial characters except perhaps two which Sir J.
D. Hooker has retained in the Flora of British India, viz., EuvanpDa
and Anota, the last of which is chiefly distinguished from the true
Vandas by the more densely flowered racemes, and by the absence of
side lobes in the labellum. A sectional division into flat and round-
leaved species as in Aérides (PLaANniFoLIm and TERETIFOLIZ) breaks
down in V. Amesiana and V. Kimballiana, which are transitional
species as regards the form of their leaves.
The name Vanda was communicated to Dr. Robert Brown, the
founder of the genus, by the eminent oriental scholar and linguist,
Sir William Jones. It is a Sanscrit word of rather wide import,
for it seems to have been used for the common Vanda of Bengal
and north-east India (Vanda Roxburghii), and also for any orchid of
similar habit, as Aérides odoratum; it was also applied to a
parasitical plant, as the Loranthus or Mistletoe. The genus was
selected by Lindley as the type of one of the fundamental (tribal)
divisions of the order (VANDE#).
Geographical distribution. — The geographical distribution of the
Vandas will be best understood by a reference to the map illustrating
that of Phalenopsis and Aérides, to which we have also added
Vanda. Certain peculiarities in the distribution of these genera are
worthy of notice; thus, the Phalenopses are almost invariably
insular or littoral; nearly all the most distinct types of Aérides are
widely dispersed; but the species of Vanda, with the exception of
Vanda parviflora and V. Roxburghii, are very local. It is a curious
fact, too, that where Aérides is abundant a Vanda is to be found
not far off; V. Sanderiana is associated with Aérides Lawrencece in
VANDA.
8
OO
south-east Mindanao; V. lamellata occurs with Aérides Quinque-vulnera
near Manila; V. cerulea grows near Aérides Fieldingii on the
Khasia Hills; V. tricolor is mixed with Aérides virens in Java;
and other instances are indicated on the map.
Cultural Note.—The cultural routine for the majority of the Vandas
is the same as that for Aérides. Special cultural notes are given
under the description of those species that are exceptions to the general
rule.
Synopsis OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES.
Vanda alpina.
Stem but a few inches high and not thicker than a goose’s quill.
Leaves broadly linear, 2—3 inches long, unequally bilobed at the
apex. Peduncles with one—two joints, at each of which is a
scarious bract, one—two flowered. Flowers 14 inch across, vertically ;
sepals and petals light yellow-green, the dorsal sepal spathulate-oblong,
the lateral two ovate-oblong, the petals linear-oblong, all more or less
incurved ; lip fleshy, saccate at the base, three-lobed, the side lobes
triangular, erect, concave, and blackish purple on the inner side; the
front lobe cordate at the base, gently reflexed, and with two horn-like
cirri at the apex, striped longitudinally with blackish purple and lght
yellow. Column short, semi-terete, whitish.
Vanda alpina, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Vanda No. 25 (1853). Rcehb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p- 870 (transcribed from Fol. Orch.). Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 53. V.
Griffithii, Lind]. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. sub. t. 41. Luisia alpina, Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1838, misc. No. 101.
Discovered by Gibson in 1836 at Nungklow on the Khasia Hills,
and introduced by him to Chatsworth in the following year. It was
subsequently detected by Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr. Thomson on
the same hills at 3,500—5,000 feet elevation, where, in the winter
months, hoar-frost is formed on the ground and snow has been
known to fall. It is very near Vanda cristata, of which it may be
only an alpine form, and to which it is inferior in beauty. We are
indebted to Mr. R. Irwin Lynch, Curator of the Botanic Garden,
Cambridge, for materials for description.
V. Amesiana.
Stems but a few inches high. Roots numerous and very thick in
proportion to the size of the plant. Leaves fleshy, semi-terete with a
grooved face, 7—12 inches long, narrowed from the base to the acute
tip. | Peduncles ascending, longer thau the leaves, dull green dotted
with deep purple, racemose, rarely paniculate along the distal half.
VANDA. 89
Flowers fragrant, 14 inch across, on somewhat slender, slightly twisted
angulate pedicels (including ovary) 14 inch long; sepals and petals sub-
similar and sub-equal, oval-oblong obtuse, white with a delicate flush of
light rose-purple ; lip three-lobed, the small basal lobes sub-quadrate
with rounded distal end, white slightly tinted with rose; the inter-
mediate lobe broadly clawed, the blade transversely oblong, emarginate,
reflexed at the sides, and traversed by three thickened longitudinal
central lines, amethyst-purple, much paler, sometimes white at the
margin ; spur saccate, compressed. Column white stained with purple.
Vanda Amesiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887) p. 764; II. p. 586.; V.
(1889) p. 233. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 296. Bot. Mag. t. 7139.
A very pretty recent addition to the genus introduced by Messrs.
Low and Co., in the first instance accidentally (it is said) among
other things, but subsequently followed by a large importation. The
habitat of the species is now known to be on the hills in the
southern Shan States at 4,000—5,000 feet elevation, growing mostly
on rocks fully exposed to the sun, but sometimes on trees in partial
shade.* It flowers in December and January; the temperature at
that season ranging from about 2°—18° C, (86°—65°) in the course
of twenty-four hours, the ground being sometimes quite white with
hoar-frost in the early morning (4—6 am.). In the dry season the
plants are much shrivelled, as the deposit of dew on these hills is
much lighter than in the equatorial zone. It is dedicated to the
Hon. F. L. Ames, of North Easton, Massachusetts, a weil-known
patron of horticulture and an ardent amateur of orchids. Vanda
Amesiana is remarkable for the unusual thickness and number of
the aerial roots produced from the base and lower part of the stem,
apparently at the expense of that organ, which, so far as cultural
experience has yet reached, attains but very limited dimensions.
The rose-purple colourmg of the flowers is very variable, no two
plants producing flowers exactly alike in this respect, being deeper
in some, lighter in others, and even nearly disappearing in the
horticultural variety called alba.
V. Bensonii.
Leaves 7—10 inches long, and }—#? inch broad, obliquely truncate,
and toothed at the apex. Racemes ascending, longer than the leaves,
10—15 or more flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, on white
* This information reached us too late to admit of the habitat of this species and the allied
Vanda Kimballiana which is associated with it, being indicated on the map illustrating the
geographical distribution of the genus.
90 VANDA.
twisted angulate pedicels; sepals and petals similar and_ sub-equal,
shortly clawed with a broadly ovate obtuse blade, yellow or yellowish
green veined and reticulated with chestnut-brown, pale rose or whitish
behind; lip broadly clawed, the claw yellowish above and with a
triangular white auricle on each side; the blade fleshy, convex with
three raised median lines, cordate-oblong, expanding at the apex into
two oblong-faleate lobes, light rose-purple; spur short, funnel - shaped,
compressed. Column light rose-purple.
Vanda Bensonii, Batem. in Bot. Mag. t. 5611 (1866). Rchb. in Gard. Chron.
Sah
1867, p. 180, icon. xyl. Id. Xen. Orch. II. p. 138. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres,
XXII, t. 2329. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 51.
Introduced by us in 1866 through General Benson, who had
discovered it in Lower Burmah, between Prome and Tongu, associated
with Saccolabium giganteum and Ehynchostylis retusa. It occurs on
trees in a deciduous jungle fully exposed to the sun in the dry
season, when the temperature frequently rises to 45° C, (112° F.)
in the shade and when its leaves are often scorched.*
V. cerulea.
Leaves leathery, 5—8 inches long, }#—1 inch broad. Racemes erect
or sub-erect, longer than the leaves, 8—15 or more flowered. Flowers
3—4 inches in diameter, on light blue pedicels 2 inches long, ribbed
and twisted; sepals and petals clawed, the claw of the petals slightly
twisted, broadly obovate, the two lateral sepals longer and broader than
the upper three segments, all of a soft light blue faintly tesselated
with azure-blue; lip much shorter than the petals, linear-oblong, three-
lobed, the side lobes with a short, incurved cusp at the apex; the front
lobe nearly parallel with the column, deep blue, obtuse at the apex,
where there are two small tubercles each with 2—3 thickened ridges
above; spur short, conical, with a bipartite callus at its mouth. Column
white above with a violet stain below the stigma.
Vanda cerulea, Griffith MS. ex. Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1847, sub. t. 30. Lindl. in
Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. t. 36. Id. Fol. Orch. Vanda No. 18. Id. in Journ. Hort. Soc.
Lond. vol. VI. p. 8 (1851), icon. xyl. (Japsus calami cerulescens). Rchb. Xen. Orch. I.
p. 8, t. 5 (1854). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres VI. t. 609 (copied from Paxt. Fl. Gard.)
Linden’s Pesc. t. 29. Illus. hort. 1860, t. 246. Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 18.
Jennings’ Orch. t. 84. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 45. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 282.
Sander’s Reichenbachia II. t. 57. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1890, p. 369. Hook. f.
KL Brits ind) Vileep. ols
This lovely Vanda was first discovered by the excellent Indian
botanist and explorer, William Griffith, in November, 1837, on the
Khasia Hills, growing on large Gordonia trees amidst oaks and pines,
in a locality which he describes as “really delightful, reminding one
much of Hngland.’+ The first published notice of it appeared in
* Gard. Chron, 1870, p. 311. + Private Journals and Itinerary Notes, p. 181.
VANDA, 91
the Botanical Register for 1847, sub. t. 30, where it is described
by Dr. Lindley from a dried specimen sent to him by Griffith.
Three years later it was re-discovered by Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr.
Thomson on the Khasia Hills, and from the Himalayan Journals*
of the first-named distinguished botanist we extract the following
lucid description of its native habitat :—
“Jn the oak woods near the village of Lermai, Vanda cerulea grows
in profusion. The high grassy hills which it inhabits are elevated
from 3,000 to 4,000 feet; the trees on which it grows are small,
gnarled and very sparingly leafy, so that the Vanda is fully exposed to
Vanda cerulea,
sun, rain and wind. There is no moss or lichen on the branches with
the Vanda, whose roots sprawl over the dry rough bark. The
atmosphere is, on the whole, humid, and extremely so during the rains,
but there is no damp heat or stagnation in the air, and at the flowering
season the temperature ranges between 15° and 26° C. (60°—80° F.);
there is much sunshine, and both air and bark are dry during the day.
In July and August, during the rains, the temperature is a little higher,
but in winter it falls much lower.”
* Vol. IT. p. 322.
92 VANDA.
Before, however, these classic journals were published, our energetic
collector, Thomas Lobb, had made his way to the Khasia Hills and
despatched a consignment of plants to our Exeter firm, which
fortunately arrived in good condition. One of the first plants to
flower was exhibited by us at the meeting of the Horticultural
Society of London, held in Regent Street on December 3rd, 1850,
when it was received with marked favour. As a proof of the high
estimation in which this orchid has been and is still held by
amateurs, we need only point to the unusual number of coloured
illustrations of it published in the horticultural periodicals quoted above.
Cultural Note-—Not much can be added to the above description of
the conditions under which Vanda caerulea grows in its native home.
Mr. C. B. Clarke, the excellent Indian botanist, communicates to the
Gardeners’ Chronicle (I. s. 3 (1887), p. 77) the following :—“ In Shillong
station on the Khasia hills, at 5,000 feet altitude, it is not unusual for
8 to 10 degrees (Fahr.) of frost to occur in the month of January. At
this level, and even higher, Vanda caerulea grows very fast and flowers
profusely. It comes into flower in October at the end of the rains
and remains long in flower.” These climatic data therefore afford but a
slender clue to the cultural treatment of the plant, as any approach
to imitating the extensive range of temperature to which it is subjected
on its native hills, and the excessive downpour of rain upon it during
the growing season is simply impracticable in the glass-houses of this
country. The practice of the most experienced cultivators is to give
V. cwrulea the lightest position in the East Indian house during the
period of active growth, usually suspending it in a teak basket near
the roof-glass, and supplying it with abundance of moisture. As soon
as the flowers are ready to expand it is then removed to a cooler and
drier house in whick the range of temperature does not exceed 10°—15* C,
(50°—60° F.).
V. cerulescens.
Leaves 5—8 inches long, ~ inch broad, channelled above and strongly
keeled beneath, two-lobed at the apex, the lobes terminating in spiny
tips. Racemes nearly as long again as the leaves, many flowered.
Flowers 1—14 inch in diameter, on twisted pedicels (including ovary)
14—2 inches long; sepals and petals obovate-spathulate, pale blue ; lip
deep blue, three-lobed, the side lobes small, oblong, the intermediate
lobe obovate, emarginate with deflexed margin and two thickened median
ridges above; spur short, incurved. Column blue; anther yellowish.
Vanda cerulescens, Griffith, Notule, p. 352 (1851). Lindl. Fol. Orch. Vanda, No.
19 (1853). Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1869, p. 491, and 1870, p. 527, icon. xyl. Bot.
Mag. t. 5834. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I. t. 48. Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 256. Hook. f. FI.
Brit. Ind. VI. p. 50.
VANDA, 93
sub-vars.*— Bowall’s (Gard. Chron. VII. (1877), p. 749. Bot. Mag.
t. 6328), sepals and petals paler than in the type, disk of the lip with dark
blue stripes alternating with light ones, and passing into violet-blue at
the apical edge; Captain Vipan’s (Gard. Chron. XXV., p. 752) (1886),
sepals and petals white, lip stained and spotted with lght purple ; Low’s
(Gard. Chron. VIII. (1877), p. 102), sepals and petals light mauve
suffused with white; lip and column amethyst-purple toned with
carmine.
To the energetic Indian explorer, William Griffith, science is also
indebted for the first discovery of this blue Vanda, which, if not so
striking in aspect as the preceding species, is scarcely less worthy of
cultivation. Griffith detected it at Psembo, near Bhamo, in Upper
Burmah, in April, 1837; he made an imperfect sketch of it in situ and
preserved a dried specimen, both of which were sent to Kew. Nothing
more was seen of it for thirty years until Colonel (now General) Benson
re-discovered it on the Arracan Mountains west of Prome, growing
on deciduous trees at 1,000—1,500 feet elevation. A dried specimen
and coloured drawing were communicated by him to Kew in 1867,
and in the following year it was introduced by us through him. It
flowered for the first time in this country in our Chelsea nursery
in February, 1869. The sub-varieties named after Low and Boxall
were introduced in 1877 by Messrs. Low and Co. through their collector,
Boxall, and Captain Vipan’s by the gallant officer whose name it
bears in 1885—6. The usual flowering season of Vanda ccrulescens
is June and July.
V. concolor.
Leaves 7—9 inches long and about an inch broad, obliquely bilobate,
sometimes tridentate at the apex. Racemes ascending, as long as the
leaves, 7—10 flowered. Flowers somewhat distant, 2 inches in diameter,
on rather long, greenish, twisted and ribbed pedicels ; sepals and_ petals
yellow-brown, white behind, obovate-oblong, obtuse, undulate ; lip three-
lobed, the basal lobes oblong, erect, white streaked with red on the
inner side, the front lobe oblong, retuse, constricted at the middle, with
five raised lines on the yellow basal half, the apical half yellow-brown ;
spur short, conic. Column white.
Vanda concolor, Blume, Rumphia IV. p. 49, sub. V. furva (1848). Lindl. Fol.
Orch. Vanda, No. 5 (1853). Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1887, p. 144. V. Roxburghii
unicolor, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3416. V. furva, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844, mise.
No. 42 (not Blume).
* Horticultural forms of the type species presenting no tangible botanical differences
entitling them to rank as varieties (Bot. Mag. sub. t. 6328),
94. VANDA.
Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges prior to 1835, in which year it
flowered in the garden of Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth Woodhouse,
near Sheffield. It is now but rarely seen in orchid collections, the
homely colour of its flowers offering but little attraction to amateurs,
Its habitat is vaguely stated to be China.
V. cristata.
Leaves 5—7 inches long, $—# inch broad, irregularly three-toothed at
the apex. Racemes usually shorter than the leaves, 5—6 flowered.
Flowers 2 inches in diameter on twisted six-ribbed pedicels ; sepals and
petals incurved, of a uniform light yellow-green, the former spathulate-
oblong, the latter narrower, linear-oblong; lip broadly oblong, with two
incurved triangular basal lobes above the short conical spur; the blade
traversed longitudinally by 5—7 thickish raised white lines between
which are deep red-purple stripes, and terminating in front in two lateral
horn-like processes, and a similar smaller one beneath at the sinus
between the other two. Column white.
Vanda cristata, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 216 (1832). Id. Sert. Orch. fig. 3,
in frontisp. Id. Fol. Orch. Vanda, No. 23. Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 48. Bot. Mag.
t. 4304. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1870, t. 680. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 290. Hook.
f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 53. V.-striata, Rehb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 137;
A very distinct Vanda, inhabiting the lower or tropical Himalayan
zone from Kumaon eastwards into Bhotan. It was gathered by
the earlier Indian botanists in various localities along that rich orchid
belt, first in 1818, in Nepal, by Dr. Wallich, who subsequently sent
it to the Royal Gardens at Kew, where probably it flowered for the
first time in Europe, but no date is recorded. It was next found
by Griffith in Bhotan, subsequently by Cathcart in Sikkim, and later
by Falconer near Darjeeling. Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting, in whose
nursery it flowered in 1842, were probably the first to distribute
it among the orchid collections of Great Britain.
V. Denisoniana.
Leaves pale green, 7—12 or more inches long, and about # inch
wide. Racemes shorter than the leaves, few flowered. Flowers 2} inches
across vertically ; sepals and petals more or less reflexed, much undulated,
ivory-white, the upper sepal and petals oblong-spathulate, the lateral
sepals broader, obliquely obovate ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes erect,
rotund, concave on the inner side, and of a purer white than the
other parts of the lp; the intermediate lobe oblong, contracted at the
middle and with an angular sinus in the anterior margin, convex above,
with four—five longitudinal thickened raised lines, greenish white ; spur
VANDA. 95
conical; callus two-lobed, on each side of which is a_ semi-lunate
orange-yellow blotch.
Vanda Denisoniana, Benson and Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1869, p. 528. Bot. Mag.
t, 5811. Illus. hort. 1872, t. 105. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 51.
var.—hebraica.*
“Sepals and petals sulphur-yellow marked with numerous _ spots,
transverse short bars and figures comparable with the Greek letter A;
lip sulphur-yellow, the lateral lobes paler; spur orange inside.”
V. Denisoniana hebraica, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885), p. 39. Williams’
Orch, Alb, VI. t. 248.
Vanda Denisoniana.
Discovered by Colonel (now General) Benson growing in sheltered
and shaded spots on large trees on the Arracan Mountains westward
from Prome, at an altitude of 2,000—2,500 feet, where the mean
temperature is about 21° ©. (70° F.), and the average yearly rainfall
is from 90—100 inches.t It was introduced by us through Colonel
Benson in 1868, and it flowered for the first time in this country
* Not seen by us.
+ Colonel Benson in Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 796, who gives the following further particulars of
the climate of that part of Lower Burmah:—‘‘ These mountains (Arracan) form as it were a
barrier to the south-west monsoon, arresting its force to the eastward, consequently the country
around Prome and Thayetmyo has a considerably drier climate than that about Rangoon and
Moulmein. Thus the rainfall on the Prome or east side is very much less than on the west
side, which is exposed to the full volume of the south-west monsoon coming direct from the
ocean. Although the rainfall on the east side is greatly diminished in intensity, yet rain
clouds hang about the tops of these hills, giving them a watery vapour, an atmosphere in which
these plants (orchids) delight, but without a great deluge of rain,”
OF: VANDA.
in our Chelsea nursery in April of the following year, when it was
dedicated by the late Professor Reichenbach to Lady Londesborough.
The variety, which is a horticultural form of great merit, differing
in nothing from the type except in colour, appeared some years
ago amongst an importation by the late Mr, B. 8. Williams, of
Holloway.
V. Hookeriana.
Stems cylindric, somewhat slender, 5—7 or more feet long in the
wild state, much shorter under cultivation. Leaves like the stems, but
more slender, 2—3 inches long, channelled on the face, and mucronate
at the apex. Peduncles from the upper part of the stem, 2—5 or
more flowered. Flowers 24 inches in diameter, on white, slightly
twisted, obscurely grooved pedicels 1$ inch long; _ sepals obovate-
oblong, the upper one bent forward and much undulated, white faintly
flushed with light purple, the lateral two narrower and keeled behind,
wholly white; petals broadly oval, undulated, white flushed with light
purple and dotted with deeper purple, chiefly on the inferior half; lip
three-lobed, the side lobes triangular-falcate, amethyst-purple with paler
striations; front lobe broadly fan-shaped, itself three-lobed, the lobes
rounded with crenulate margin, white much spotted and marked with
amethyst-purple, the spots and markings aggregated towards the short
claw below which is a two-lobed, white, fleshy crest; spur short, acute.
Column terete, bent, purple above, paler beneath; anther shortly beaked.
Vanda Hookeriana, Rchb. in Bonpl. IV. p. 324 (1856). Id. in Gard. Chron.
XVIII. (1882), p. 488. The Garden, XXIII. (1883), t. 370. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. II. t. 73. Tillus. hort. 1883, t. 484. Sander’s Reichenbachia, If. t. 74.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 50.
This lovely Vanda was anmmaymenoll to Sir W. J. Hooker, at
Kew, by Motley, some time prior to 1856, m which year the herbarium
specimen was examined by the late Professor Reichenbach, and the
species described by him in Seeman’s Bonplandia. There can be but
little doubt, however, that the plant had been previously met with
by Thomas Lobb and Sir Hugh Low, for Mr. Burbidge, who has
also seen it im situ, states that it is common in north Borneo along
rivers and in brackish swamps near the sea. It is_ particularly
abundant along the Tandaram and Limbang Rivers, about twenty
miles from Brunei, and there Lobb, Low and others obtained it,*
but failed to introduce it alive. It was not till 1879 that a very few
living plants at length reached this country, and these were received
by us from a correspondent at Labuan, and were immediately afterwards
* The Garden, XXII. (1883), p. 10. Id. XXXVIII. (1890), p. 72.
Vanda Hookeriana.
VANDA. 97
acquired by Lord Rothschild. None of them could be induced to
flower till September, 1882, but since that date the flowering of
Vanda Hookeriana has been an annual occurrence at Tring.
In Borneo, Vanda Hookeriana is epiphytal, often growing on a
slender-stemmed species of Pandanus above the water or mud fully
exposed to the blazing sun. It has since been discovered in the
district of Kinta, in Perak, in a long valley formed by ranges of
limestone hills, and watered by the Perak River, by Major Frowd
Walker, who has communicated the following particulars of its habitat
to The Garden,} through Mr. B. D. Knox, of Caversham, Reading :—
“The district is thickly studded with marsh; these marshes are full
of thick low jungle not more than 5 feet high, quite or almost destitute
of forest, and therefore exposed to the full rays of the sun. In some
of these marshes Vanda Hookeriana is found creeping over the jungle
growth ; the stems rest on the top of the bushes, and the aerial roots
cling to them. The flowers are always seen on the top of the bushes in
the blazing sun, and are produced all the year round. So common is
this flower in the district that it is called the ‘Kinta weed.’ The
observed temperature in Kinta during the year 1889 ranged from 18°—
36° C. (64°—97° F.), and the rainfall exceeded 150 inches.”
Cultural Note-—At Tring Park Vanda Hookeriana is cultivated in a
house almost entirely devoted to the allied V. teres, and which we have
described in the cultural note relating to that species. For V. Hookeriana
pots 6 inches in diameter at the rim are preferred; the pots are filled
with a mixture of broken crocks and charcoal, and surfaced with
sphagnum moss that is kept constantly saturated. The plants, about
four in number to each pot, are affixed by means of copper wire to a
piece of board 15—18 inches long, 6 inches broad at top, and about
4 inch thick ; the boards with the plants so affixed to them are plunged
to the bottom of the pots, so that the lower part of the stems is buried
in the mixture of crocks and charcoal. The treatment as regards
temperature, watering, etc., is the same as for V. teres, and is given in
detail under that species.
V. insignis.
Leaves 9—12 inches long, and about an inch broad, obliquely incised
and toothed at the apex, strongly keeled beneath. Racemes scarcely
longer than the leaves, 4—7 flowered. Flowers 2—24 inches in diameter,
on white, twisted, grooved pedicels; sepals and petals obovate-spathulate,
bright tawny yellow with dark brown oblong spots that are confluent
at the margins and apex ; lip sub-pandurate, with two short white basal
+ XXXVIIL. (1890), p. 210,
H
98 VANDA.
auricles and two low white ridges between them; blade broadly clawed,
semilunar, concave with entire edge, bright rose purple; spur conic,
compressed, recurved. Column very thick, stained with pale rose.
Vanda insignis, Blume, Rumphia, IV. p. 48, t. 192, f. 2 (1848). Lindl. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard. II. p. 19, icon. xyl. Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 1259. Bot. Mag. t.
5759. Jennings’ Orch. t. 46. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 172.
var.— Schroederiana.
Sepals and petals light yellow shaded with orange; lip cream-white
with two orange lines in front of the spur.
V. insignis Schroederiana, Rchb. in Gard Chron. XX. (1883), p. 392. The Garden,
XXV. (1884), t. 429.
First discovered by Blume in the island of Timor some time prior
to 1848, the date of the publication of Rumphia in which it is figured
and described. It was re-discovered by our collector, Hutton, in 1866,
and introduced by us through him in the following year; it flowered
for the first time in this country in our Chelsea Nursery in the
autumn of 1868. It continued to be very rare in British collections
till re-imported by us in 1882 through Curtis, at that time collecting
for us in the Malay Archipelago. It occurs along the coast of Timor
and the adjacent small island of Semao, and on low hills up to 1,000
feet elevation, growing on low trees where it gets but shght shade,
and flowering in March and April. The variety Schroederiana was
received with Curtis’ consignment, a single plant only; it is a
most remarkable colour deviation from the type, and one of the
handsomest of Vandas; it is now in the collection of Baron Schroeder,
at The Dell.
The Vanda insignis described above should not be confounded with
another Vanda sometimes met witb in cultivation under the same
name, which is but a colour variation of V. tricolor.
V. Kimballiana.
Leaves sub-cylindric, acuminate, 6—9 inches long, channelled down the
face, deep green with a purplish bronzy hue. Peduneles slender, scarcely
longer than the leaves, with a small papery sheath at each of the
joints, and a small, brown, acute bract at the base of the stalked
ovaries, 8—12 flowered; pedicels (with ovary) 1} inch long, obscurely
grooved, very pale purple. Flowers 14— 2 inches in diameter; upper sepal
and petals shortly clawed, obovate-spathulate, white sometimes faintly
flushed with pale purple, and with light purple nerves; lateral sepals
longer than the upper one, oblong, falecate, white; lip three-lobed, the
side lobes oyate-triangular terminating in an incurved, horn-like cirrus,
VANDA. 99
yellowish spotted with red-brown on the inside; the middle lobe
broadly ovate, undulate, crisped and erose at the margin, with three
paralled keels in the middle, amethyst-purple; spur incurved, nearly an
inch long, pale purple. Column white.
Vanda Kimballiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. V. s. 3 (1889), p. 232. The Garden,
XXXVITI. (1890), t. 747. Bot. Mag. t. 7112.
Introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. about the same time as Vanda
Amesiana, to which it is nearly allied; its terete leaves would
also indicate an affinity with V. teres and V. Hookeriana, but the
floral characters differ widely from both. Its habitat is on the hills
Vanda Kimballiana.
in the southern Shan States at 4,000—5,000 feet elevation, where it
is associated with the allied V. Amesiana growing under the conditions
we have described in page 89. It is dedicated to Mr. W. S. Kimball,
of Rochester, New York, one of the most zealous orchidists in the
United States.
V. lamellata.
Leaves 12—15 inches long, $—# inch broad, obliquely bi-dentate at
the apex and strongly keeled beneath. Racemes erect or sub-erect, as
long as the leaves, many flowered. Flowers 1—2 inches in diameter,
light yellow blotched with chestnut-brown; sepals and petals oblong,
obtuse, the lateral sepals the broadest and sub-falcate; lip prolonged
at the base into a short obtuse spur, three-lobed, the basal lobes
auriculate, rotund, erect, white; the intermediate lobe oblong-retuse at
the apex and traversed longitudinally by two raised plates that are
broadest at the middle.
ees lamellata, Lindl, in Bot. Reg. 1838, mise. No. 125, Id, Fol, Orch, Vanda,
NO, 20,
100 VANDA.
var.— Boxalli.
Leaves somewhat longer and narrower than in the type. Racemes
longer and bearing more flowers. Flowers more brightiy coloured ; sepals
and petals cream-white,* the superior half of the broader lateral sepals
also cream-white, the inferior half red-brown, the basal auricles of the
lip white spotted with light purple, the blade rose-purple.
VY. lamellata Boxalli, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIII. (1880), p. 743. Id. XV. (1881),
p- 87, icon. xyl. The Garden, XTX. (1881), t. 287. Williams’ Orch. Alb, VIII.
t. 338
Vanda lamellata Boxalli,
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
The typical Vanda lamellata was first sent to Messrs. Loddiges
from the Philippine Islands by Cuming in 1838, but it is now
very rarely seen in the orchid collections of this country. The
variety, which has flowers of brighter and more showy colours, was
introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. in 1879, through the collector
whose name it bears. Both the type and its variety grow on trees
in the hot damp valleys in the neighbourhood of Manila.
V. limbata.
“Leaves 6—8 inches long and }#—14 inch broad. Racemes as long
as the leaves, 10—12 flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals
and petals nearly equal and similar, spathulate, bright cinnamon colour
within and tesselated, with a golden border, pale and suffused with
lilac externally ; lip three-lobed, pale lilac, produced behind into a short,
conic, obtuse spur; lateral lobes small, rounded; mid lobe quadrate,
* Light yellow in the plate in Williams’ Orchid Album, loc. cit.
if
VANDA. 101
slightly fiddle shaped, obscurely mucronate at the truncate tip; disk
tumid with 5—7 parallel grooves, margins reflexed; claw with a
prominent callus.”—Botanical Magazine.
Vanda limbata, Blume, Rumphia, IV. p. 49, sub. V. furva (1848). Lindl. Fol.
Orch. Vanda No. 13. Bot. Mag. t. 6173. Warner’s Sel. Orch. IIT. t. 9.
A native of Java, where it was detected by Dr. Blume prior to
1848, the date of the publication of Rumphia. It was introduced
to British gardens by the late Mr. B. 8. Williams, of Holloway,
not, however, from Java, but from Paris where he had acquired the
plants figured in the Botanical Magazine and Warner’s Select
Orchidaceous Plants some time previous to their flowering in the
summer of 1874. It is so seldom seen in cultivation that it may be
assumed to be a rare species in its native island.
V. Parishii.
Leaves elliptic-oblong, 6—9 inches long, 2{—3 inches broad, sessile
or sheathing at the base, unequally bi-lobed or emarginate at the apex.
Peduncles stoutish, sub-erect, longer than the leaves, racemose along the
distal half, 7—10 or more flowered. Flowers fleshy, 2 inches in
diameter ; pedicels stoutish, slightly twisted, with a broad subulate bract
at their base; sepals broadly oval-oblong, keeled behind, greenish yellow
spotted with red-brown; petals sub-orbicular, broader than the sepals
but coloured like them; lip with two rounded auricles at the base,
and produced behind into a short gibbous spur; blade sub-rhomboidal
with a raised median line and a conic protuberance at its base, magenta-
purple with pale margin. Column very short and thick, white.
Vanda Parishii, Rehb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 188 (i867). Id. in Gard. Chron. 1870,
p. 890. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I. t. 15. Hook. f. FJ. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 51.
var.—Marriottiana.
As compared with the type the racemes are fewer flowered, the
flowers somewhat smaller but more symmetrical in outline, and with
proportionately broader sepals and petals that are bronzy red toned with
brown, passing into rose-purple towards the base, white at the very
base; the basal auricles of the lip white streaked with rose-purple, the
blade magenta-purple.
VY. Parishii Marriottiana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIII. (1880), p. 7438. Id. XV.
(1881), p. 726. Williams’ Orch. Alb. If, t. 61. N. E. Brown in Gard. Chron, XIX.
(1883), p. 307 (purpurea).
The typical Vanda Parishii was discovered in Moulmein in 1862
by the Rev. C. 8. Parish and shortly afterwards lost; it was re-
discovered in 1870 and imported by Messrs. Low and Co., but it
is still comparatively rare in British collections. The variety, which
is greatly preferred by amateurs, although structurally identical, is a
102 VANDA.
very remarkable deviation from the type as regards colour. It
flowered for the first time in this country in the collection of Sir
W. 4H. Marriott, Bart., at the Down House, Blandford, to whom
it is appropriately dedicated.
V. parviflora.
“Leaves lorate, unequally notched at the apex, and having a mucro at
the sinus beneath. Racemes longer than the’ leaves, many flowered ;
sepals and petals testaceous, spreading, sub-uniform, obovate-spathulate ;
lip three-lobed, the side lobes small, incurved, the middle lobe large,
broadly oblong, dilated and crenate at the apex, white above with
elevated lamelle on the thick fleshy disk that is stained and spotted
with purple ; spur moderately long, obtuse, incurved.”--Lotanical Magazine.
Vanda parviflora, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844, mise. No. 57. Wight, Icon. t. 1669.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 50. V. testacea, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. VIII. (1877),
p. 166. Aérides Wightianum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 288 (1832). Id. in Journ.
Linn. Soe. III. p. 40. Bot. Mag. t. 5138. A. testaceum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p. 238.
This is the commonest and most widely dispersed of all the
Indian Vandas, and in this respect it presents a remarkable exception
to the restricted habitats of most of the other species. It occurs in
the tropical Himalaya from Kumaon castwards into Assam; in
Burmah generally and other parts of the eastern peninsula; on the
western Ghauts from Bombay southwards to Travancore; also in
Ceylon. It appears to have been first introduced into British
gardens in 1844 by Messrs. Loddiges; and it has been since
frequently imported with other Indian orchids; it is best known in
cultivation under the name of Aérides Wightianwm.
V. Roxburghii.
Stems 12—20 inches high under cultivation. | Leaves linear, curved,
very leathery, 5—7 inches long, and }—# inch broad, tridentate at the
apex. Racemes ascending, longer than the leaves, 5—9 or more
flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, on white, grooved, slightly
twisted pedicels; sepals and petals oval-oblong, undulated, pale green
tesselated with brown on the inner side, white behind; lip three-lobed,
produced behind into a conic, obtuse spur, the side lobes small,
lanceolate, acute, white; the intermediate lobe first roundish then
quadrate with a notch in the anterior margin, convex above, violet-
purple, paler towards the base. Column white.
Vanda Roxburghii, R. Br. in Bot. Reg. t. 506 (1820). Bot. Mag. t. 2245 (1821).
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 215 (1832). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, II. t. 11.
Wight’s Icon. III. t. 916. Williams’ Orch. Alb. II. t. 59. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind.
VI. p. 52. Vz. tessellata, Paxt. May. Bot. VII. p. 265 (1840). VV. tesselloides,
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 864 (1864). Cymbidium tesselloides, Roxb, Fl. ind.
IIL. p. 463 (1832).
VANDA. 103
The species upon which the genus was founded and the first
Vanda that was introduced into British gardens. It was cultivated
by Sir Joseph Banks in the early part of the present century, and
flowered for the first time in his stove at Springrove in the autumn
of 1819. It is common in various parts of Bengal, growing upon
different kinds of trees but principally on the Mango (Mangifera
indica); it also occurs on the Concan Hills in the Bombay
Presidency and in Ceylon.
It was named in compliment to Dr. William Roxburgh, one of the
earliest pioneers ot Indian botany and Director of the Botanic
Garden at Calcutta from 1797 to 1814.
V. Sanderiana.
Leaves 12—15 inches long and about an inch broad, complicate at
base, truncate, cuspidate, sometimes unequally two-lobed at apex.
Racemes sub-erect, generally shorter than the leaves, 7—10 flowered.
Flowers flat, 3;—4} inches in diameter, the pedicels and ovary six-
ribbed, twisted, pale brown at the base, passing into light purple
upwards; bracts oblong, acute, pale yellow-green; sepals broadly obovate,
the dorsal one delicate rose colour suffused with white; the lateral
two divergent, somewhat larger than the dorsal one, tawny yellow with
sanguineous red anastomosing prominent veins; petals rhomboid-ovate,
smaller than the sepals, coloured like the dorsal sepal with a tawny
blotch spotted with red on the side next the lateral sepals; lip
small in proportion to the other segments, bipartite, the hypochile
transversely oblong, concave, with an inflexed anterior margin, variable
in colour, usually dull tawny yellow streaked with red on the inner
side ; the epichile shortly clawed, roundish oblong, strongly recurved at
the apex, with three prominent ridges on the disk, reddish brown.
Column very short, buff-yellow.
Vanda Sanderiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 588; XX. (1883),
p- 440, icon. xyl. Williams’ Orch. Alb. JIT. t. 124. Illus. hort. XXXTJ. t. 532.
Rev. hort. 1885, p. 372. Sander’s Retchenbachia II. t. 62. Bot. Mag. t. 6983.
Esmeralda Sanderiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 588 (sub. V.
Sanderiana).
This remarkable Vanda, one of the most appreciable gains to horti-
culture during the last decade, was discovered by M. Roebelin, the
energetic collector of Messrs. Sander and Co., who succeeded, in
1882, in reaching the previously unexplored portion of south-east
Mindanao, where he detected this and the scarcely less remarkable
Aérides Lawrencece and Phalenopsis Sanderiana. Our own collector,
David Burke, also succeeded in reaching the same region a few
months later, and from that time these fine orchids became
104. VANDA.
generally distributed among the orchid collections of Europe and
America. The principal station of Vanda Sanderiana is at Davao
on the south-east coast of Mindanao, at places growing on trees
that overhang the beach, and where the long trailing roots of this
orchid are often within reach of the salt spray. It flowered for
the first time in this country in the summer of 1883 in the
collection of Mr. Lee, at Downside, Leatherhead, since dispersed.
The flowers of Vanda Sanderiana show some striking peculiarities
—their large flat sepals and petals give them the aspect of a
Miltonia, with which genus, however, the affinity is remote; their
partially transverse colouration, combined with other characters, is
more significant and indicates affinity with Arachnanthe Oatheartii.
The absence of the spur to the labellum, and the somewhat different
attachment of that organ to the column places V. Sanderiana on the
verge of the genus, connecting it with Arachnanthe.
V. teres.
Stems terete, as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, several feet long, but
usually much reduced under cultivation. Leaves like the stem, 4—5 inches
long, distichously and alternately arranged at an acute angle to it.
Peduncles from the upper part of the stem only, and from opposite
the leaves, 7—10 inches long, few flowered. Flowers 3—4 inches in
diameter on whitish pedicels that are ribbed and twisted; sepals and
petals pale rose-purple often suffused with white, the sepals spreading
vertically and the petals horizontally; dorsal sepal ovate, obtuse ;
lateral two sub-rhomboidal, obtuse with a hooked apiculus on the
under side near the apex ; petals sub-orbicular, a little larger than the
dorsal sepal and undulate at the margin ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes
roundish, convolute over the column, tawny yellow with bands of red
spots on the inner side; the front lobe with a broad claw and broadly
obcordate blade deeply cleft at the apex, and with the lateral margins
revolute, pale rose-purple; spur funnel-shaped, compressed _ laterally.
Column white ; anther beaked.
Vanda teres, Lindl. Gen. et. Sp. Orch. p. 217 (1832). Id. Fol. Orch. Vanda
No. 16. Bot. Reg. t. 1809 (1836). Bot. Mag. t. 4114. Paxt. Mag. Bot. V.
p. 193. Warner’s Sel. Orch. III, t. 2. Sander’s Reichenbachia, J. t. 27. Hook, f. Fl.
Brit. Ind. VI. p. 49. Dendrobium teres, Roxb. Fl. ind. III. p. 485 (1832).
sub-vars.—aurorea (Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 271), sepals and
petals white faintly suffused with light rose-purple, lip light rose, spur
pale buff-yellow ; candida (Williams’ Orch. Alb. LX. t. 409), sepals
and petals white, side lobes of lip and spur pale yellow, front lobe
white with a faint flush of light rose on the disk.
1
Sanderiana.
Vanda
« \ " $|
\\ x
( Neat ANN
= \
Vanda teres.
VANDA. 105
Vanda teres is widely distributed over north-east India, Assam and
Upper Burmah; it is always found in the hot plains and_ valleys
scrambling over the branches of the largest trees and exposed to
the full glare of the sun. It was first detected by Dr. Wallich in
Sylhet in the early part of the present century, and living plants
were brought by him to England about the year 1829, but none of
them flowered till 1836; in that year it flowered for the first
time in this country in the gardens of the Duke of Northumberland
at Syon House. Several variations in the colour of the flowers
have since been observed, the two described above being the most
distinct that have come under our notice.
Cultural Note.—Vanda teres requires a special treatment to induce it
to flower regularly, and as this orchid is very successfully cultivated at
Tring Park, an outline of the method adopted there will serve better
than any formal directions we can give. The plants are cultivated in
a half-span house almost exclusively devoted to this Vanda; it forms
in fact a compartment of the range in which the Phalenopses are
grown at Tring Park, and has therefore the same aspect, that is, it
faces nearly due south. The floor of the house is sunk 2 feet below
the surface of the ground. A bed, enclosed by brick-work, 34 feet high
and 24 feet wide extends along the north side of the house, heated
by hot-water pipes placed about a foot above the floor of the house,
and about a foot above the pipes is fixed a perforated iron stage
forming the floor of the bed. The bed is thence 18 inches deep from
the top of the brick-work and is filled with broken crocks and charcoal
in the proportion of three-fourths of the former and one-fourth of the
latter; the depth of the bed is increased by a board 6 inches wide
placed on the brick-work, and the layer of crocks and charcoal raised
to within 2 or 3 inches of the top of this board. On these the plants
are arranged in rows about 6 inches apart with an interval of 4 inches
in the row; the space between the rows and plants is filled with fresh
sphagnum 2 inches deep; by these means constant saturation and free
drainage are efficiently maintained. After the plants are established no
shading is used, so that on bright days in summer the temperature
often rises from 38°—52° C. (100°—120° F.) when the ventilators are
closed, and which are only used in the morning. In winter the lowest
temperature is 15°—18° C. (50°—65° F.) During the growing season
the plants are constantly syringed. Another set of plants is cultivated
in the same way on a lower and narrower bed along the south side
of the house, and separated from the higher bed by a_ pathway, on
one side of which is fixed the principal series of pipes for heating
the house.
106 VANDA.
V. tricolor.
Leaves curved, 15—18 inches long, imbricating at base, unequally two-
lobed at apex. Racemes stoutish, ascending or spreading, shorter than
the leaves, 7—10 or more flowered. Flowers fragrant, fleshy, 2}—3
inches in diameter, on angulate, twisted pedicels 2—3 inches long, white
usually stained with pale purple at the base; sepals and petals similar,
varying in different plants from obovate-oblong to orbicular-obovate,
narrowed into a short claw at the base, undulate, leathery, more or less
densely spotted with bright red-brown on a light yellow ground, the
spots arranged in longitudinal rows and often confluent, sometimes
covering the greater part of the surface, white behind; lip three-lobed,
the side lobe sub-quadrate, curved inwards, white; the intermediate
lobe sub-panduriform, deeply emarginate, convex above, with three ridges,
two of which extend to the apical margin, whitish at the base with some
red-brown streaks, the remaining area bright magenta-purple ; spur short,
compressed, white. Column short, much swollen laterally at the base.
Vanda tricolor, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1847, sub. t. 59. Id. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. IT.
t. 42. Id. Fol. Orch. Vanda, No. 10. Bot. Mag. t. 4432 (1849). Van Houtte’s 77.
des Serres, VI. t. 641 (1850). Linden’s Pesce. t. 42. Warner's Sel. Orch. II. t. 39.
De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 48. Williams’ Orch. Alb, II, t. 77. V. suaveolens, Blume,
Rumph IV. p. 49 (1848).
var.—planilabris.
The front lobe of the labellum less convex with the ridges almost
obsolete, the notch in the apical margin shallower, usually magenta-
purple with the apical part much paler, but sometimes light rose-
purple.
V. tricolor planilabris, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Vanda, No. 10. Id. in Paxt. Fl. Garden,
Il. sub, t. 42. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IJ. t. 87.
var.—suavis.
Racemes longer and bearing more flowers; sepals and petals white
with fewer spots that are red-purple; the middle lobe of the lip a
little narrower with the margins more reflexed,* the basal half deep
purple, the apical half paler.
VY. tricolor suavis, supra. V. tricolor, Rchb. in Walp. Ann, VI. p. 866 (1864). V.
suavis, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1848, p. 351. Id. Fol. Orch. Vanda, No. 9. Rehb.
Xen. Orch. I. p. 26, t. 12 (1854). Linden’s Pesce. t. 8. Bot. Mag. t. 5174. Van
Hontte’s Fl. des Serres, t. 1604—5 (1862). De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 47. Jennings’
Orch. t. 23. Gard, Chron. XXII. (1884), p. 237. icon, xyl. Williams’ Orch. Alb.
IV. t. 180. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1886, p. 301.
sub-vars.— Chatsworth (Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 324, sub, V. suawvis),
sepals and petals white densely and evenly spotted with red-purple,
basal half of lip deep purple, apical half much paler; Dalkeith, sepals
and petals pale yellow densely spotted with red-purple in longitudinal
rows with occasional interruptions and irregularities, lip bright red-
purple with some white streaks at the base ; flava (Fol. Orch. Vanda, sub.
* This character is not constant.
VANDA. 107
No. 10), “flowers wholly yellow except a faint violet stain on the lip” ;*
formosa, sepals and petals bright yellow uniformly covered with oblong
red-brown spots arranged in rows that are frequently confluent ; Mr.
Dodgson’s, sepals and petals light amber-yellow more sparingly spotted
with red-brown than in most of the sub-varieties, lip light magenta-
purple; Mr. Gottschalcke’s (Williams’ Manual, p. 608, sub. V. suavis),
sepals and petals white densely spotted with red-purple, lip rose-purple
with white anterior margin; insignis (Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 7), sepals
and petals bright yellow regularly spotted with red-brown, lip rose-
carmine passing into white at the margin; Dr. Patterson’s (The Garden,
Vanda tricolor, var. suavis.
XXIII. (1883), t. 875), sepals and petals cream colour much spotted
with dark chestnut-brown, the spots confluent at the margin, lip magenta-
purple with five slightly divergent white lines at the base, of which
the middle one is the longest; pratewta (Godefroy’s Orchidophile,
1886, p. 301), sepals and petals light sulphur-yellow bordered with pale
rose, and with broad oblong spots scattered over the yellow area.
Vanda tricolor was introduced by us from Java in 1846, through
* This form is unknown to us; that usually cultivated as Vanda tricolor flava has the
perianth segments sparingly spotted with red-brown as represented in the Botanical Magazine,
t. 4432,
108 VANDA.
Thomas Lobb, who had discovered it in the western part of the
island, and where it had been detected probably earlier by Dr.
Blume, who found it growing on the stems of the sugar Palm
(Arenga saccharifera), and who described it under the name of V.
suaveolens in his Rumphia published in 1848, but as Dr. Lindley’s
name has priority of publication, Blume’s suaveolens must sink as a
synonym, It has since been occasionally imported from Java, where
it occurs on the hills in the western part of the island at 1,500
—2,500 feet elevation, growing chiefly on large trees that were
originally planted to shade the now abandoned coffee plantations.
From its first introduction, V. tricolor has been observed to be
very variable in the colour of its flowers, and on account of the
high repute in which this orchid has been held by amateurs, many
distinguishing names have been given to colour deviations from the
type. The most distinct of these are the varieties planilabris and
suavis, which differ from the typical V. tricolor in the characters described
above. Dr. Lindley gave specific rank to suavis, in which he has been
followed by horticultural writers, but as it was long since pointed
out by Sir W. J. Hooker,* there are no structural differences of
sufficient value to separate them specifically. It is always associated
with V. tricolor in its native home, and is imported mixed with it,
but in numbers small in proportion to the type; it was first
introduced by us through Thomas Lobb at the same time as J. tricolor
and was for many years one of the rarest of Vandas in cultivation.
The sub-varieties are more difficult to discriminate, and their nomen-
clature is in great confusion from different forms having received
the same name, and the same form different names in different
collections. Those described above are for the most part from
materials kindly supphed by Baron Schroeder, from his rich collection
at The Dell; and by Mr. Owen Thomas, gardener to the Duke of
Devonshire, at Chatsworth, and which, we believe, accurately
represent the forms originally so named.
V. Vipanii.
Leaves linear, about a foot long, decurved, imbricating at the base,
unequally bi-dentate at the apex. Racemes shorter than the leaves,
5—7 flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter on white, twisted, grooved
* Bot. Mag. sub. t. 5174.
SACCOLABIUM. 109
pedicels; sepals and petals clawed, undulate, broadly oval, the lateral
sepals a little larger, and the petals a little smaller than the dorsal
sepal, dark brown tesselated with pale brown, white behind; lip deeply
three-lobed, the basal lobes roundish, white spotted and stained with
purple; the front lobe cordate at the base, contracted at the middle,
and with a deep sinus in the anterior margin, olive green toned with
brown, sometimes rose-purple; spur conic, short. Column white.
Vanda Vipanii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882). p. 134.
Discovered in Burmah by Captain J. A. Vipan a short time
previous to the publication of the name. It is still a very rare and
little known species in cultivation. The above description was taken
from a plant that flowered in our houses in the summer of 1887.
EXCLUDED SPECIES.
Vanda Batemanii (Lindl.) now referred to Stauropsis lissochiloides (Benth.)
Catheartii (Lindl.) is s Arachnanthe Catheartii (Benth.)
gigantea (Lindl.) 5 Pa Stauropsis gigantea (Benth.)
Lowii (Lindl. ) ss “= Arachnanthe Lowii (Benth.)
SACCOLABIUM.
Blume, Bijdr. p. 292 (1825). Benth. et Hook, Gen. Plant. III. p. 538%(1883).
Saccolabium includes upwards of forty species, most of which are
plants of dwarf habit bearing racemes of small flowers offering but
little attraction to the cultivator. By far the greatest number of the
Saccolabiums inhabit British India, where, in some localities, they are
among the commonest of orchids; a few other species known to
Science are scattered over the Malay Archipelago. Sir J. D. Hooker
has distributed the Indian species, including several previously referred
to Lindley’s Acampe, into seven series each distinguished by some
common character observable in the structure of the flower, or in the
vegetative organs.*
Of the nine species described in the following pages, two, Saccolabium
giganteum and S. violacewm, are aberrant; the first was brought under
Saccolabium by Lindley but afterwards removed by him to Vanda;
* Fi. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 55. All the Malayan species known to us may be referred to one or
other of these series (sections),
110 SACCOLABIUM.
the second was described by him as a Vanda but omitted in his
monograph of the genus published a few years later in the Folia
Orchidacea;+ three belong to the section Catcrorarta of Hooker
(Latilabellate of the Genera Plantarum), characterised chiefly by the
hemispheric sac of the labellum, of which &. caleeolare (Lindl.) is the
type species, but S. bellinum (Rchb.) is the best known in cultivation;
and the remaining four to Sprciosn of Hooker (Genuine of the
Genera Plantarum) which, as the name implies, includes species with
highly coloured flowers, as S. curvifolium, S. ampullaceum, ete.
The characters that mainly distinguish Saccolabium from the allied
genera Rhynchostylis, Aérides, and Vanda, are seen chiefly in the form
of the labellum and its attachment to the column. Under Rhynchostylis
we have stated the characters by which that genus is separated from
Saccolabium ; from Aérides Saccolabium is separated by the column
not being produced into a foot, and the very different form of the
spur or sac of the labellum; from Vanda it is chiefly distinguished by
the form of the perianth segments, especially of the labellum. These
genera, as at present circumscribed, are fairly natural ones ; they, however,
overlap each other at places along the frontier lines that have been set
up between them, so that the placing of the same species under more
than one of these genera by different botanists has been inevitable, and
hence the number of synonyms that occur in the literary references.
The generic name Saccolabium is derived from saccus, “a bag,”
and labium, “a lip,” in reference to the saccate labellum, afterwards
needlessly altered by its author, Blume, to Saccochilus, from oakKoc
and yetAoc, the Greek equivalents for saccus and labium.
Cultural Note-——Coming from one of the hottest regions of the globe,
and where the season of rest of the vegetation of that region is of very
limited duration, the Saccolabiums require the highest temperature
usually maintained in the glass-houses of Europe, and a constantly moist
atmosphere that should approach saturation during the growing season.
Generally speaking the cultural treatment formulated under Aerides is
that best suited for Saccolabium and Rhynchostylis,
Saccolabium acutifolium.
Stem as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, not more than a foot
high under cultivation. Leaves linear-oblong, sub-acuminate, 4—6 inches
long. Racemes much shorter than the leaves, dense, many flowered.
Flowers crowded, fleshy, # inch in diameter; sepals and petals light
greenish yellow spotted with red-brown, obovate-oblong, obtuse, the petals
+ They are retained under Saccolabium by Bentham, Gen. Plant. III. p. 579, but referred to
Vanda by Sir J. D. Hooker, F]. Brit. Ind, VI. p. 53,
SACCOLABIUM. ht
a little the narrowest; lip a sub-globose almost hemispheric sac that is
bright yellow spotted with red, and a small triangular whitish blade
fringed with glandular hairs. Column very short, stained with pale
purple.
Saccolabium acutifolium, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 223 (1832). Id. Sert. Orch.
Frontisp. No. 2. Id. in Journ. Linn. Soc. III. p. 33. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI.
p- 61. 8S. denticulatum, Paxt. Mag. Bot. VII. p. 145 (1840). Bot. Mag. t. 4772.
A native of Sikkim and the Khasia Hills, whence it is occasion-
ally imported with other orchids. It was first cultivated by the
Rev. J. Clowes, of Broughton Hall near Manchester, about the year
1857, and very shortly afterwards it was introduced to Chatsworth
by Gibson. It much resembles on superficial view a miniature
Saccolabium bellinum, to which species it is inferior in beauty.
It is easily distinguished among the cultivated Saccolabiums by its
sharply poimted leaves that are often obliquely twisted.
S, ampullaceum.
Stems short, rarely exceeding 6 inches high under cultivation.
Leaves linear-ligulate, 5—6 inches long, channelled above, keeled
beneath, obliquely truncate and irregularly toothed at the apex.
Racemes erect, shorter than the leaves. Flowers crowded, about 2
inch in diameter, bright rose-carmine, the column white and anther
yellow; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, obovate, spreading ;
lip shorter than the other segments, linear, reflexed, produced at
the base into a cylindric, compressed spur longer than the blade,
at the entrance of which are two rounded protuberances.
Saccolabium ampullaceum, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 17 (1838). Id. in Journ. Linn.
Soc. III. p. 35. Paxt. Mag. Bot. XIII. p. 49. Bot. Mag. t. 5595. Fl. Mag. t. 393
(roseum). Williams’ Orch. Alb, IV. t. 191. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 64.
Aérides ampullaceum, Roxb. Fl. ind. III. p. 476 (1832),
This pretiy Saccolabium became known to science in the early
part of the present century through Dr. Roxburgh, one of whose
collectors detected it in Sylhet some time prior to 1814, the date of
Dr. Roxburgh’s death. It was subsequently gathered by various
Indian botanical explorers in the tropical Himalaya, along which it
occurs at 1,000—3,000 feet elevation from Nepal eastwards. It has
also been reported from Burmah and Tenasserim. The earliest
notice of it as a horticultural plant occurs in Paxton’s Magazine of
Botany for 1847, where is figured one of the plants brought by
Gibson from the foot of the Khasia Hills to Chatsworth in 1837.
Dr. Lindley’s plate in the Sertwm Orehidacewm, although published
nearly ten years earlier, was copied from a drawing in the possession
of the Kast India Company by a native artist. Saccolabiwm ampullaceum
1, SACCOLABIUM.
first became generally distributed among the orchid collections of this
country through an importation of Messrs. Low and Co. about the
year 1865.
S. bellinum.
Stems but a few inches high. Leaves strap-shaped, 7—12 inches long,
bi-lobate at the apex. Peduncles stoutish, 83—4 inches long, recurved,
few flowered. Flowers sub-corymbose, somewhat crowded, fleshy, 14 inch
in diameter; sepals and petals spreading and slightly incurved, similar
and sub-equal, obovate-oblong, yellow blotched with blackish purple ; lip
Saccolabium bellinum.
a sub-globose sac and semi-lunate blade, the sac white with a few purple
spots on the basal concave side, and with a large ochreous blotch in the
centre; the blade two-lobed, papillose or pubescent above, fimbriate-
denticulate at the margin, whitish with an orange-yellow disk, spotted
with purple. Column very short; anther with a short, broad beak.
Saccolabium bellinum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 174. Williams’
Orch. Alb. IV. t. 156. Bot. Mag. t. 7142, Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 61.
Discovered in 1873 by Boxall in Burmah, and introduced by
Messrs. Low and Co, It is the most generally cultivated of the
SACCOLABIUM. Tes
calceolate Saccolabiums, and the handsomest known of all of them.
Botanically it much resembles a large state of Saccolabiwm calceolare,
the type of the section, a species with small, inattractive flowers very
common in the tropical Himalaya; that and 8S. bellinwm may be
regarded as the extremes of a series that are, in part, connected by
S. intermedium and 8. acutifolium.*
S. bigibbum.
“Stem very short. Leaves few, linear-oblong, 3—4 inches long and
1 inch broad, bifid at the apex. Racemes shorter than the leaves,
almost corymbiform, drooping, many flowered. Flowers pale yellow with
faint red markings on the edge of the spur; sepals and petals similar,
spreading, spathulate, obtuse or sub-acute with a broad flat claw; sac
of lip large in proportion to the size of the flower, sub-hemispherical
and laterally compressed; blade broadly triangular with erose and
ciliated margins.”—Botanical Magazine.
Saccolabium bigibbum, Rchb. in Bot. Mag. sub. t. 5767 (1869). Id. Otia Hamburg,
p. 43 (1878). Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 61.
Discovered by General Benson in Lower Burmah and introduced
by us through him in 1868. It is a dwarf plant with light yellow
flowers and is still occasionally imported with other Burmese
orchids.
S. curvifolium.
Stem short and stoutish, ligneous below, sheathed above by the
imbricating bases of the crowded leaves. Leaves linear, 7—10 inches
long, decurved, premorse and bi-dentate at the apex. Racemes erect, many
flowered. Flowers crowded, about an inch across vertically, bright
cinnabar-red ; sepals and petals similar, obovate-oblong, sub-acute ; lip
linear-oblong, truncately emarginate, with a light orange keel and two
tubercles at the base, where it is produced into a slender cylindric
spur, at the entrance of which on each side is a short, roundish, erect
lobe. Column short, cinnabar-red; anther purple.
Saccolabium curvifolium, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 222 (1832). Z//us. hort. XII.
t. 493 (1866). De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 88 (1880). Williams’ Orch. Alb. IIT. t. 107.
Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 65. S. rubrum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 222.
S. miniatum, Bot. Mag. t. 5326 (not Lindl.).
Both the botanical and horticultural history of this plant is somewhat
confused from its having been mixed up with that of Saccolabium
miniatum, a species from Java with flowers of nearly the same
colour and structure. It is certain, however, that S. cwrvifolium
was first made known to science by Dr. Wallich, who discovered
* See Sir J. D. Hooker’s Flora of British India, VI, p. 61.
114 SACCOLABIUM.
it in the early part of the present century in the eastern tropical
Himalaya, where it was afterwards gathered by Griffith and other
indian botanists, and whence it was subsequently introduced into
Huropean gardens. ‘The earliest record we find of its flowering in
this country is in the Botanical Magazine, sub. t. 53826, where it is
stated to have flowered in the Royal Gardens at Kew in the summer
of 1862. It was shortly afterwards imported by Messrs. Low and
Co., and thence became generally distributed among the orchid
collections of Europe. 8S. curvifolium has the most richly-coloured
flowers in the genus; although always of a bright red, they vary
in the shade of colouring from hgbt orange-scarlet to deep cinnabar-
red. The flowering season is May and June.
S. giganteum.
Stem as thick as a man’s forefinger, seldom exceeding a few inches
high under cultivation. Leaves broadly ligulate, 9—12 inches long and
2—3 inches broad, sheathing at the base, unequally two-lobed at the
Saccolabium giganteum.
apex, very leathery, bright green with paler longitudinal lines on both
sides. Racemes drooping, as long as the leaves, Flowers fragrant, on
short white pedicels, at the base of which is a small shrivelled bract ;
sepals oval-oblong, white with a few amethyst-purple spots; petals
narrower, oblong, acute, white with an apical-purple spot; lip oblong,
undulate, produced backwards into a short funnel-shaped compressed spur,
and with three lobes at the free end, of which the lateral two are
rounded and the middle one narrowly oblong, bright amethyst-purple
with darker veins. Column green spotted with purple.
Saccolabium giganteum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 221 (1832). Bot. Mag. t. 5635
(1867). Jennings’ Orch. t. 8. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IT. t. 56. Sander’s Reichenbachia,
I, t. 22. Vanda densiflora, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. sub. t. 42 (1851). Id. Fol.
Orch. Vanda, No, 22 (1853). Gard. Chron. 1862, p. 1194. Van Houtte’s £7. des Serres,
XVII, t. 1765. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 53.
SACCOLABIUM. TES
var.—illustre.
Racemes somewhat longer, with the flowers more loosely arranged ;
the flowers larger and more brightly coloured, especially the labellum.
, ee illustre, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXI. (1884), p. 44. J//us. hort. s. 3,
sub-var.—Mr. Petot’s (Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885), p. 746.
Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1886, p. 163), the perianth segments wholly white.
Saccolabium giganteum first became known to science in the early
part of the present century through Dr. Wallich, who received from
one of his collectors a dried specimen gathered near Prome in Lower
Burmah, Nothing more was seen of it till 1859, when the late
Dr. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester, received some plants from a
friend in Burmah, one of which flowered for the first time in the
bishop’s garden at Farnham Castle in the autumn of 1862. It
continued to be extremely rare till re-introduced by us in 1866,
through Colonel (now General) Benson, who has communicated the
following particulars of its habitat :—
“ Saccolabium gigantewm is not found in Rangoon or Moulmein or
south of that place,* but travelling northwards beyond the extreme
influence of the south-west monsoon, the plant appears first in small
quantities and of small size, but on approaching the drier climate of
Prome and Thayetmyo, where the hot winds blow and where the
thermometer in the dry season is about 45° C, (112° F.) in the shade,
the plant is found in great profusion and luxuriance on trees in a
deciduous jungle, exposed to the rays of a tropical sun, and in most
cases with its leaves scorched.y ”
The variety illustre, of which the varietal characters are not very
clearly defined, is said to have been introduced by M. Linden in
1882-3. The sub-variety is a white-flowered form discovered by the
late Auguste Regnier in Cochin China, and introduced by M. Godefroy,
of Argenteuil, who states in his Orchidophile that Saccolabium
giganteum is one of the commonest orchids of that country, growing
on trees along the skirts of the forest, sometimes on the highest
branches; when in flower its powerful fragrance always makes its
presence known.
S. Hendersonianum.
Stem very short, with 3—5 or more narrowly ligulate, sub-acute,
curved leaves, 3—5 inches long. Racemes erect, as long as the leaves,
* Jd est, within the British territories, + Gard. Chron, 1870, p. 311,
116 SACCOLABIUM,
many flowerel. Flowers crowded, bright rose colour with a paler lip
and spur, on short, pale green pedicels, at the base of which is a
small triangular bract ; dorsal sepal sub-orbicular, concave, the lateral
Saccolabium Hendersonianum.
two larger, obovate-oblong; petals obovate, smaller than the lateral
sepals ; lip reduced to a compressed, cylindric, slightly faleate spur, at
the mouth of which are three small teeth representing the lobes.
Saccolabium Hendersonianum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. IV. (1875), p. 356. Bot.
Mag. t. 6222. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 275.
Imported in 1874 by Messrs. Henderson, of the Wellington
SACCOLABIUM. li?
Nursery, at St. John’s Wood, who gave no locality. In the Botanical
Magazine, sub. t. 6222, it is stated, on the authority of the late
Professor Reichenbach, to have been in Europe ever since 1862.
It has since been gathered in north-west Borneo by Curtis, who
informs us that it prefers the neighbourhood of rivers and streams,
where it grows on trees of Lagerstremia indica, generally in partial
shade, but sometimes fully exposed. In its native home it flowers
very freely, and one of the prettiest floral sights he met with in
that region was a dead, leafless tree overhanging a stream covered
with Saccolabium Hendersonianum in full bloom.
S. miniatum.
Stem very short. Leaves linear, 3—4 inches long, strongly keeled
beneath, imbricate at base, obliquely truncate, or unequally two-lobed at
apex. Racemes erect, as long as the leaves, 1J—15 flowered. Flowers
about # inch in diameter, bright orange-red; sepals and petals ovate-
oblong, acute; lip linear-oblong, obtuse, recurved, produced at the base
into a slender cylindric spur longer than the limb, on each side of the
aperture of which are two small auricles. Column very short; anther
purple.
Saccolabium miniatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1847, sub. t. 26. Jd. t. 58. Miquel,
Fl. Ind. bat. III. p. 692.
Introduced by us from Java in 1846 through Thomas Lobb,
but now very rarely seen in the orchid collections of this country.
Tt is very near Saccolabium curvifolium, from which it is chiefly
distinguished by its smaller size, shorter and narrower leaves, and
its shorter racemes of smaller flowers with differently shaped
perianth segments.
S. violaceum.
Stem as thick as a man’s little finger, rarely exceeding 1LO0—15
inches high under cultivation. Leaves broadly strap-shaped, decurved,
very leathery, 9—12 inches long, 1—14 inch broad, imbricate at base,
unequally bi-lobed at apex, with pale longitudinal striations beneath.
Racemes pendulous, shorter than the leaves, many flowered.
Flowers fragrant, about an inch in diameter, on short grooved pedicels ;
sepals oval-oblong, the lateral two broader than the dorsal one; petals
similar but narrower; both sepals and petals white spotted with
amethyst-purple ; lip amethyst-purple, oblong, undulate, with a small
oblong lobule at the apex, depressed at the middle, below which are
118 SACCOLABIUM.
three broad ridges; spur sub-conic, compressed, green. Column terete,
very short; anther beaked.
Saccolabium violaceum, Lindl. ex. Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 14 (1862—65).
De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 39. Vanda violacea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1847, t. 30.
Saccolabium violaceum (Mr, Harrison’s variety).
sub-var.— Mr. Harrison’s (Bot. Mag. t. 5433. Williams’ Oreh. Alb. V.
t. 236), perianth segments wholly white, column green, anther yellow.
Discovered by Cuming near Manila, and sent by him to Messrs.
Loddiges, of Hackney, about 1840. It is now known to be quite
common throughout the Philippine Islands, always occurring in hot,
damp valleys, often on the Mangroves growing in the swamps
along the coast. The sub-variety was communicated to the Royal
Gardens at Kew in 1863 by Messrs. Low and Co., who imported
it from the island of Pulo-copang in the China Sea (not found on
any map within our reach), and named it in compliment to
Mr. C. H. Harrison, “a gentleman greatly interested in the intro-
duction and cultivation of Indian orchids.’ The nearest affinity of
Saccolabium violaceum is the Burmese SS. gigantewm, from which it
differs chiefly in the form of the labellum. It usually flowers in
the early spring.
EXxciupeD Sprcigs.
Saccolabium Blumei (Lindl.), now referred to Rhynchostylis retusa (Blume.)
celeste (Rchb.) 3 . % coelestis (Rehb.)
guttatum (Lind1.) + - 55 retusa (Blume).
premorsum (Hort.) 53 » ” »
——". er
ANGRAECUM. 119
ANGRAICUM.
Thouars, Fl. des Iles. Afr. tab. 48 (1822). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 583
1883).
The most noticeable character presented by Angrecum on a
superficial inspection of the cultivated species, is unquestionably the
long tail-like spur dependent from the base of the labellum. ‘This
curious appendage is that by which the Angrecums are most readily
recognised by horticulturists, but remarkable as it is, it is also
present in other orchids allied to them, as Cryptopus, Mystacidium, etc.,
and is not thence of itself sufficient for the limitation of the genus ;
other characters must be joimed with it to admit of Angrzcum
being defined in such a way that the included species may form a
natural group; these additional characters are found in the labellum
and column, and may be thus technically described.
The lJabellum is affixed to the base of the column, the lateral lobes
are very small or obsolete, and the blade is spreading and_ usually
entire.
The column is very short and wingless; the caudicle of the pollinia
is flat, single, or double; the rostellum is entire or deeply cleft (two-
lobed).
The caudicle of the pollinia and its gland combined with the
form of labellum afford excellent characters for a sectional division
of the genus, and upon them Mr. Bentham has established the
three following :— *
I.—Macroura. Lamina of the labellum flat, often broad; the pollen
masses each with a distinct caudicle and gland.
This includes Leonts, sesquipedale, and a few others not in cultivation.
I.—Listrostacuys. Lamina of the labellum usually continuous with
the spur, more or less concave at the base and tapering into a point;
the pollen masses attached to distinct caudicles, the glands either
distinct or more or less united.
The species of this section best known in cultivation are arcuatum,
caudatum, Chailluanum, pellucidum, pertusum.
Ill.—-Evaneracum. Lamina of the labellum flat, the caudicle of the
pollen masses narrow, single, and entire.
This section includes articulatum, bilobum, citratum, eburneum, Ellisii,
faleatum, fastuosum, modestum, and many others.
Although of considerable interest from a botanical point of view, the
above sectional divisions have no practical bearing on the cultural treat-
ment of the species included in them.
* Gen. Plant. III. p. 583.
120 ANGRAECUM.
In their vegetation the Angrecums conform to the sub-tribal
characters described at the beginning of this section, but they
vary considerably in habit inter se, thus Angrecum eburneum is one
of the most robust orchids known, while A. hyaloides is one of the
smallest. A. sesqguipedale and A. caudatum are about midway between
them as regards size; and nearly all the other cultivated species
stand, in this respect, between these and A. hyaloides.
The Jeaves in the taller species are strap-shaped, complicate at the
base and truncate or unequally two-lobed at the apex; in the dwarfer
species they are much shorter, usually oval-oblong, or some modification
of that form, obtuse or obliquely two-lobed at the apex; in all the
species very coriaceous in texture, and deep green in colour. The
equitant leaves of Angracum Leonis and the terete ones of A. Scot-
tianum are the most obvious deviations among the cultivated species.
The inflorescence is usually racemose, but in Angrecum fragrans,
A. Germinyanum, and a few other species not in cultivation, the
flowers are solitary. The racemes are few or many flowered, in the
latter case the arrangement of the flowers along the rachis is extremely
formal, being produced from the joints alternately and distichously and
also secund, that is, all turned towards the same side as in A. ecitratwum,
A. pertusum, ete.
A peculiarity occurs in the few-flowered and in some of the many-
flowered racemes that must here be noticed; the apical flower expands
first and the others follow in centripetal order, the lowermost flower
opening last, which is the reverse of what takes place in the racemes
of the best known genera in this sub-tribe. Moreover, the apical flower,
so far as this phenomenon has been observed by us, is the largest,
followed by a gradual diminution of size downwards (Angrecum LEllisii,
A. modestum, A. sesquipedale, etc.).
The generic name is a Latinised form of Angrek, the Malay name
for all orchids of the Aérides and Vanda habit of growth. The
number of species has been variously estimated from twenty-five
to sixty according to the views held by different botanists respecting
the circumscription of the genus. As defined in the Genera Plantarum
the number of the included species at present known to science may
be estimated at fifty.
Geographical distribution. —Nearly one-half of the cultivated
Angreecums are natives of Madagascar, where they and other species
known to science form the most prominent feature of the OrcuipEx
of that great island. Three remarkable species have been introduced
from the Comoro islands, a small group to the north-west of
ANGRAECUM. 121
Madagascar, and several others are known to inhabit the Mascarene
islands (Mauritius, Bourbon). The greater number of the known
species are therefore concentrated within a comparatively limited area ;
these are all insular and presumably quite local. Our information
respecting the dispersion of the species indigenous to the African
continent is still very imperfect. In south Africa (extra-tropical)
seven or eight species occur, including A. arcuatum, all of which are
quite local, while the tropical species, A. Kotshyi, has been reported
from the country of the sources of the Nile and from the
neighbourhood of the Zambesi, places that are upwards of 2,000 miles
distant from each other. Seven or eight species have been introduced
from the west coast of Africa, chiefly from Sierra Leone, of which
four are still in cultivation, including the sombre A. caudatum, and
others are known as herbarium specimens. One of the west African
Angrecums, A. bilobum, has recently been discovered to be represented
by a variety in Zanzibar, separated from the type by the whole
breadth of the continent at its widest part. Two or three species
were discovered by Dr. Welwitsch in Angola, and one by Schimpfer
in Abyssinia. The assumption that the Angrecums may be generally
spread over tropical Africa, where the climatic conditions are suited
to orchid life, thence appears to us to be a perfectly logical one. The
most surprising fact, however, in the geographical distribution of
Angrzecum is the presence of A. falcatum in Japan, a species with all the
essential characters of a true Angraecum, but separated from its congeners
by an interval equal to one-fourth of the circumference of the globe.
Cultural Note.—The geographical stations of the Angrecums and their
environment zn stu, where known, should indicate the cultural treatment
of the plants in the glass houses of Europe. Coming from one of the
hottest regions of the globe, they require the highest temperature usually
maintained in the orchid houses of this country, such as the Kast
Indian house, and where a highly humid atmosphere is kept up during
the growing season, and where shading is used on bright days in summer.
The dwarf species may be grown in teak baskets suspended near the
roof-glass, or, where a pure atmosphere is always available, on a teak
raft surfaced with sphagnum that can be always kept moist. We have
seen the latter method, which appears to be that most natural to the
plants, very successfully practised by cultivators whose houses are situated
beyond the influence of London fog, Although Angrecum arcuatum and
A. falcatum are extra-tropical species they thrive well in the coolest part
of the East Indian house suspended near the roof-glass.
LA? ANGRAECUM.
SYNOPSIS oF SPECIES AND VARIETIES.
Angrecum arcuatum.
Stems 2—5 inches high, about as thick as an ordinary writing pencil,
leafy from the base. Leaves narrowly oblong, 3—4 inches long, very
leathery, emarginate, or unequally bi-lobed at the apex. Racemes as long
as the leaves, few flowered. Flowers white on short green triquetral
pedicels sheathed at the base by a triangular brown bract; sepals and
petals linear-lanceolate, grooved on the face, very acuminate, reflexed,
the sepals broader than the petals; lip similar to the petals but shorter
and more fleshy; spur large for the size of the flower, greenish,
recurved towards the tip. Column very short.
Angrecum arcuatum, Lindl. in Comp. Bot. Mag. II. p. 204 (1836). Id. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard. I. p. 120 (1852). Harv. Thes. Cap. II. p. 5, t. 107 (1863). Bolus in
Journ. Linn. Soc. XIX. p, 338 (name only). Listrostachys arcuata, Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 907.
A native of the Albany district in the extreme south-east of Cape
Colony, growing on low trees and limestone rocks in the neighbourhood
of Graham’s Town, where it was first discovered by the botanical
traveller, Burchell, in the early part of the present century. It was
introduced by us in 1851; it flowers in the spring months.
A. articulatum.
Stem thickish, 3—5 inches high in the cultivated plants. Leaves
oval or obovate-oblong, 3—5 inches long and 1—1} inch broad, emarginate
or obliquely two-lobed at the apex, very leathery. Peduncles stoutish,
pale green, jointed at intervals of about half-an-inch, 9-15 inches long,
pendulous, racemose from near the base. Flowers pure white, about 14
inch in diameter, on short, pale orange-red pedicels; the dorsal sepal
and petals elliptic-oblong, acute, the lateral sepals similar but narrower ;
lip broadly oval-oblong, acute, larger than the other segments; spur
3—4 inches long.
Angrecum articulatum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 73. Sander’s Reichenbachia,
IT, t. 55. A. descendens, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 558.
Discovered by the Rey. W. Ellis during his second missionary
visit to Madagascar. He succeeded in bringing home only three
plants alive, which he cultivated at Rose Hill, Hoddesden, Herts,
where he resided after his return to England, but they were
subsequently acquired by the late Mr. John Day. Materials
for description were supplied to the late Professor Reichenbach
from Hoddesden towards the end of the year 1871, which
is the earliest evidence extant of its flowering in this country.
It continued to be very rare in the orchid collections of
Kurope till recent importations caused it to become more generally
ANGRAECUM. 123
distributed. As distinguished from its nearest congener, Angrcecum
Ellisii, it is a much smaller plant with shorter leaves and somewhat
smaller flowers with a much shorter spur. It flowers in March
and April.
A. bilobum.
Stem 3—5 inches high, as thick as an ordinary writing pencil.
Leaves obovate-oblong, 4—5 inches long, unequally bi-lobed at the apex.
Racemes drooping, as long again as the leaves, 7—10 flowered. Flowers
white, about an inch in diameter, on reddish brown pedicels with a
small acute bract at their base; sepals, petals and lip nearly uniform,
lanceolate, acuminate, the petals a little narrower and the lip a little
broader than the sepals; spur slender, longer than the pedicel and
ovary, pale orange-red. Column short, sub-triquetral.
Angrecum bilobum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 151. Jd. 1841, t. 35.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 904. A. apiculatum, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4159 (1845).
var.—Kirkii.*
Leaves narrower and slightly dilated at the apex. Racemes shorter
with fewer flowers. Flowers with somewhat narrower segments.
A. bilobum Kirkii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 488. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. IV. t. 162.
First discovered by Mr. Bowdich at Cape Coast Castle, on the
west coast of Africa, some time prior to 1840, in which year it
flowered in Messrs. Loddiges’ nursery at Hackney. Four years later
it was introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew from Sierra Leone,
whence it has been since occasionally imported with other orchids.
The variety Kirkii was sent to the late Mr. B. 8. Williams, from
Zanzibar, by Sir John Kirk in 1881. According to the late
Professor Reichenbach it had been previously sent by the German
botanical traveller Hildebrandt from east Africa to the Botanic
Garden at Hamburgh, where it flowered in 1875. ‘The presence
of this species on the two opposite coasts of the African continent,
separated by an interval of upwards of 3,000 miles, is a remarkable
fact in its geographical distribution.
A. caudatum.
Stem as thick as the little finger, 8—12 inches high in plants
observed, leafy from the base and emitting cord-like roots 2—3 feet
long, whose growing points have a glaucous hue unlike any other
cultivated Angrecum. Leaves crowded, broadly strap-shaped, 12—15
inches long and 14 inch broad, recurved, closely imbricating at base,
unequally bi-lobed at apex. Peduncles spreading, or slightly depressed,
* Not seen by us.
124 ANGRECUM.
18—21 inches long, brownish green, jointed, with a short, cylindric,
appressed bract at each joint, racemose and zig-zag along the distal
two-thirds, 5—7 or more flowered. Flowers distant, inverted, 3 inches
across vertically ; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, linear-lanceolate,
acuminate, with slightly revolute margins and incurved tips, olive-green
toned with pale brown; lip clawed, obcordate-cuneate with a green
awl-shaped apical mucro, the claw channelled at the entrance of the
flexuose, pale brown spur that is 8—9 inches long. Column terete,
brown, the rostellum prolonged into an awlshaped red-brown beak ;
the anther also beaked, the beak of the anther shorter than that of
the rostellum and appressed to it.
Angrecum caudatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1844 (1836). Bot. Mag. t. 4870.
Sander’s Keichenbachia II. t. 67. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1887, p. 80. Williams’
Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 358. The Garden, XXXIX. (1891), t. 804. Listrostachys
caudata, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 907 (1864).
A native of Sierra Leone, whence it was introduced about the
year 1834, by Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery at Hackney it
flowered for the first time in this country in August of the
following year. It appears to have been subsequently imported in
limited numbers, as it was generally cultivated by the most pro-
rainent amateurs of the period 1840—60,* among whom it was in
high repute on account of its very curious flowers, of which the
unusual colour, the long tails, and the remarkable sexual apparatus
are striking peculiarities. It has since become quite rare in British
gardens, and at the present time it is represented im but few
collections.
A. Chailluanum.
Stems as thick as the little finger, 6—10 or more inches high.
Leaves linear-oblong, 5—8 inches long, 1$ inch broad, loosely imbricate
at base, unequally two-lobed at the apex. Peduncles as long as the
leaves, drooping, racemose, 6—10 flowered. Flowers milk-white, with a
brownish boat-shaped bract at the base of the stalked ovary ; “sepals,
petals, and lip, all of equal length and similar, narrow, lanceolate-
subulate with slender, acuminate, recurved points; spur slender, flexuose,
4 inches long, greenish.” Column short, with both rostellum and anther
beaked, the beak of the latter the shortest.
Angrecum Chailluanum, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 5589 (1866).
Sent from the Gaboon in West Africa, in 1865, to the Royal
Gardens at Kew by M. du Chaillu, and also from the Nun river
on the same coast by M. Gustav Mann, collector for the Royal
* Mr. James Bateman, Mr. Sigismund Rucker, Mr. George Barker, Mr. John Day, Mr.
J. H. Schroeder, Sir Charles Lemon, and others.
Ae
IN
Bye l
SS Z
Angrecum caudatum.
Angrecum citratum.
ANGRACUM. 125
Gardens. It is near the South African species Angrecum arcuatum,
to which it was at first referred by Dr. Lindley.
A. citratum.
Stems short, rarely exceeding 3—4 inches high in the orchid houses
of this country, with six—ten ovate or ovate-oblong leaves, 3—5 inches
long, and 1—J4 inch broad, acute or unequally lobed at the apex.
Racemes pendulous, 15—20 or more inches long. Flowers #? inch in
diameter, of a uniform French-white or pale straw colour, on short
pedicels, all turned upwards and rather close set (distichous and secund)
along the rachis; sepals broadly obovate, obtuse ; petals elliptic-oblong,
narrower than the sepals; lip with a short claw and_ sub-orbicular,
emarginate, flat blade; spur slender, twice as long as the pedicel.
Column very short and thick.
Angrecum citratum, Thouars, Orch. Iles. Afr. t. 61 (1822) Bot. Mag. t. 5624.
Illus. hort. XX XIIT, t. 592 (1886). Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII, t. 300. Lindenia
V. t. 238. Ridley, in Journ. Linn. Soc. XXI. p. 481.
Although discovered in Madagascar by the French botanist, Du
Petit Thouars,* the founder of the genus, towards the end of the
last century and figured by him in the work quoted above, no
further record or notice of it is to be found till 1865, in which
year a plant whose origin we are now unable to trace, but
which, we believe, was obtained from Mr. Ellis, flowered in
our Chelsea Nursery, and was subsequently figured and described
in the Botanical Magazine. At that time Angraecum citratum was
exceedingly rare in British orchid collections, and continued to be
so till the opening of the Suez Canal afforded facilities for the
more rapid transmission of plants from Madagascar. A. citratum is
abundant in the neighbourhood of ‘Tamatava on the east coast,
occurring on the margins of lakes and swamps, where it grows
chiefly on small shrubs forming the undergrowth of the forest,
often in dense shade, and always where the atmosphere is constantly
saturated with moisture.
The specific name refers to the colour of the flowers (citron-
coloured), but in the glass-houses of Europe the flowers are almost
* The story of the life of Aubert du Petit Thouars is a very singular one, but too long
for insertion here. The primary object of his visit to the Mascarene Islands was to search
for the celebrated navigator La Perouse and his companions, at that time supposed to be
lost ; but owing to many accidents, on his arrival at the Isle of France (Mauritius) he
found himself without friends and without resources ; he accordingly applied to one of the
vich planters in the island for employment, which he obtained, and for which his great
botanical knowledge stood him in good need. He remained on the island ten years,
occasionally making a voyage to Madagascar and other islands. He returned to Paris in
1802, but the results of his botanical Tabours in those distant lands were not published
till 1822.
126 ANGRAECUM.
invariably French-white or very pale straw-yellow. The flowering
season is from February to April.
A. cryptodon.
Stems 1—3 inches high with three—four obovate-oblong leaves, 3 inches
long. Racemes with a russet-brown rachis, pendulous, 8—10 inches
long, few flowered. Flowers 1} inch in diameter, on short reddish
pedicels with all the segments first reflexed, then spreading; sepals and
petals similar, linear-lanceolate, sub-acuminate, the sepals pale orange-
red, the petals white; lip white, sub-cordate, apiculate ; spur slender,
4—5 inches long, pale orange-red. Column white.
Angrecum cryptodon, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIX (1883), p. 807. Ridley in
Journ. Linn. Soc. XXI. p. 482.
A neat dwarf species introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. from
Madagascar in 1882, through their collector, Curnow. It is well
distinguished horticulturally by its russet-brown peduncle and pale
orange sepals and spur. ‘The applicability of the specific name, literally
“concealed tooth,’ is obscure.
A. eburneum.
Stems very robust, 2—4 or more feet high in the orchid houses of
Europe, ligneous below, sheathed by the equitant bases of the leaves
upwards. Leaves ascending, recurved towards the tips, ligulate, 18—24
inches long, 2 inches broad, very leathery, complicate towards the base,
singularly oblique at the apex. Peduneles robust, ascending, as long
again as the leaves, sheathed at each joint by a scale-like bract, racemose
along the distal half, 9—12 or more flowered, Flowers sub-distichous
and alternate, inverted, 3—4 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
similar, spreading, lanceolate, acute, light green; lip broadly cordate,
abruptly acuminate, ivory-white, concave, with a fleshy longitudinal crest
at the base; spur 3 inches long, green. Column very short and _ thick,
pale green,
Angrecum eburneum, Thouars, Orch. Iles. Afr. t. 65 (1822). Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 245 (1832). Bot. Reg. t. 1522. Bot. Mag. t. 4761. Williams’ Orch. Alb.
I. t. 41. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1885, p. 168 (superbum). Ridley in Journ. Linn.
Soc. XXI. p. 480. A. superbum, Thouars, Orch. Iles. Afr. t. 62. Lindl. Gen. et. Sp.
Orch. p. 245. A. Brongniartianum, Linden’s Pesc. t. 16.
var.—Vvirens.
Flowers somewhat smaller, the disk of the lip stained with pale
green.
A. eburneum virens, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 5170. A. virens, Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1847, sub. t. 19. Id. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. p. 25, figs 9 and 10,
The origin of this remarkable orchid is thus stated by Dr. Lindley
in the Botanical. Register for 1832, sub. t. 1522:—“It is not
uncommon in the island of Bourbon, growing upon _ trees,
ANGRAECUM. iy
where it was found both by Colonel Bory de St. Vincent and
by Du Petit Thouars. It was also met with at St. Mary’s,
Madagascar, by the unfortunate Forbes, by whom the only plant
known to exist in Europe (1832) was sent to the Horticultural Society
of London, in whose garden at Chiswick it flowered in November,
1831.” Angrecum eburneum continued to be very rare in British
gardens for a long time afterwards, the only record we find of it
being the figure and description in the Botanical Magazine for 1854
of a plant that flowered in the Royal Gardens at Kew, and which had
been derived from the collection of the Rev. John Clowes. It was
subsequently sparingly imported both from Bourbon and Madagascar;
the Madagascar plant differing from the Bourbon type in its somewhat
more cordate labellum had received specific rank from the founder
of the genus under the name of A. superbum, but this difference
has since been found to be inconstant, and thence scarcely varietal.
The variety virens, which seems to be a small state of the type,
first appeared in Messrs. Loddiges’ nursery in 1847, and again
thirteen years later in the Royal Gardens at Kew; it is probably
now lost to cultivation.
Angrecum eburneum offers a remarkable contrast to all the other
cultivated Angrzcums in the unusual dimensions attained by it even
in the glass-houses of Europe; it is not only the Goliath of its own
genus, but it is a giant among orchids, comparable in size and aspect
with Stawropsis lissochiloides (Vanda Batemanii). Stately as is the
aspect of the plant, especially when in flower, it takes up more
house room than can be often conveniently assigned to it, which
goes far to account for its comparative rarity in the orchid
collections of Great Britain.
A. Ellisii.
Stems as thick as the little finger, 10 inches high in plant observed.
Leaves narrowly oblong, 5—8 inches long and 13—2 inches broad,
emarginate or unequally bi-lobed at the apex, very leathery. Peduncles
18—21 inches long, first arching, then pendulous, racemed along the
distal two-thirds, bearing 12—20 or more flowers on greenish pedicels
springing from a small protuberance on the rachis and sheathed at the
base by a small scaly brown bract. Flowers very pure white, the
apical ones about 24 inches in diameter, those towards and at the
basal end of the raceme somewhat smaller; sepals and petals similar
and sub-equal, elliptic-oblong, acute, the dorsal sepal inflexed at the
128 ANGRAECUM.
apex, the petals and lateral sepals reflexed; lip nearly similar to the
other segments, but broader, elliptic-oblong, acute; spur slender, 6—7
inches long, tinged with pale orange-red.
Angrecum Ellisii, Rehb. in Flora, 1872, p. 278. Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 277,
icon, xyl. Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 191. Ridley in Journ. Linn. Soc. XXI. p. 483.
This very rare and curious Angrecum was discovered about the
year 1854 by the Rey. W. Ellis, durmg his first missionary journey
in Madagascar, and who brought home but three living plants, one
of which shortly afterwards died: he sold the remaining two to the
late Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, one of which was acquired
by Mr. John Day, in whose orchid collection at Tottenham it flowered
for the first time in England. Angrecum LEllisii has since been
sparingly imported, first by ourselves in 1879-80 through Curtis, who
found it growing on the margins of lakes and swamps in partially
exposed places in north-east Madagascar, and later by other firms.
An importation of A. articulatum in 1881 was accidentally sold in
one of the London auction rooms under the name of A. Ellisii,
whence has arisen in some collections a confusion between the two
species. A. Hilisii is a much larger plant than A. articulatwm, with
longer racemes of larger flowers, which, although structurally
very near those of the last-named species, may be easily distinguished
from them by their Gardenia-like fragrance and their much longer
pale orange-red spur.
A. falcatum.
A diminutive plant. Stems 1—2 inches high, each with 3—5 some-
what falcately linear, acute leaves, 2—3 inches long, channelled on the
face, sharply keeled beneath. Peduncles shorter than the leaves, 3—5 or
more flowered. Flowers fragrant, milk-white, about # inch in diameter,
on slender pedicels 2 inches long; sepals and petals similar and equal,
linear-oblong, acute; lip three-lobed, the side lobes minute, tooth-like,
the intermediate lobe narrowly oblong, retuse; spur filiform, curved, as
long as the pedicel.
Angrecum faleatum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 237, in note (1832), sub.
(ceoclades falcata. Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 336 (1881). Limodorum
faleatum, Swartz in Nov. Act. Up. VI. p. 79 (1799). Bot. Reg. t. 283 (1818).
Bot. Mag. t. 2097. &ceoclades falcata, Lindl. Gen. & Sp. Orch. p. 237 (1832).
Franch. et Sav. Enum. pl. Jap. Il. p. 28. Aérides Thunbergii, Miq. Prod. p. 137.
S6 Mokou, XVIII. fol. 24. Orchis faleata, Thunb. FI, jap. p. 26.
The unpretending little orchid described above has an exceptional
interest attached to it, not only from a scientific point of view on
account of its geographical position and from the difficulty experienced
ANGRACUM. 129
by the older botanists in determining its systematic place, but also
in a horticultural sense as being the first Angrecum cultivated in
the glass-houses of Europe, and one of the earliest of the Japanese
orchids ever introduced.
It was detected on the hills near the port of Nagasaki in southern
Japan by Thunberg some time between 1773 and 1778.* So little was
known at that time of the epiphytal orchids that Thunberg at first
referred it to the terrestrial genus Orchis, with which it has but a
slender affinity, but subsequently removed it to Limodorum, a monotypic
genus widely dispersed over the Mediterranean region, to which it is
scarcely more nearly related than to Orchis. In this, however, he was
followed by his countryman Swarz, the greatest orchid authority of his
time, and doubtless owing to the influence of this authority it was
figured both in the Botanical Register (1818) and in the Botanical
Magazine (1819) under the name of Limodorum falcatum. Lindley, was
the first botanist to bring it under Angrzcum, but afterwards removed it
to (Eceoclades, a genus which he had founded upon a Brazilian plant
previously described and figured as an Angrecum,f but now somewhat
doubtfully referred to Eulophia; the other species brought by Lindley
under (Eceoclades were removed by Reichenbach to Saccolabium with
the exception of the little Japanese plant, our present subject, which
he seems to have overlooked. This enlargement of Saccolabium was
sanctioned by Bentham, who, however, rightly restores the Japanese plant
to the genus in which Lindley first placed it. That a species of
Angrecum should be found in a country so remote from its congeners
as Japan, is a phenomenon for which no explanation can be offered.
Angrecum faleatum was first introduced into British gardens by
Dr. Roxburgh, who sent plants to Sir Abraham Hume about the
year 1813, and by whom they were cultivated in a hot-house in
his garden at Wormley Bury, near Cheshunt. It probably became
lost to cultivation for a number of years, till it was re-introduced
by ourselves and other firms from its native country within the
last quarter of a century. Besides the locality in which it was
first detected by Thunberg, it has been reported from Kiu-siu and
Kin-bo-san,
* Carl Peter Thunberg was a Swedish physician and botanist, a pupil and one of the
immediate successors of Linnzus in the Chair of Botany in the University of Upsal. In 1771
he obtained a situation as surgeon to one of the Dutch East India Company’s vessels, and
sailed from Amsterdam for the East. He landed at the Cape of Good Hope and made several
excursions into the interior, and after haying remained at the Cape three winters he sailed in
1773 for Java, and subsequently visited Japan. He returned to his native country in 1779,
and published a Flora japonica in 1784.
+ Bot. Reg. t. 618, t Gen. Plant. III. p. 579,
K
130 ANGRAECUM,
A. fastuosum.
A dwarf plant. Stems 1—2 inches high, with 3—5_ oval-oblong
spreading leaves, 2—3 inches long, with a depressed mid-line, emar-
ginate or unequally bi-lobed at apex. Peduncles short, stoutish, pale
green, 2—4 flowered. Flowers fragrant, 14 inch in diameter, of the
purest white; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, narrowly elliptic-
oblong, acute; lip broader than the other segments, obovate-oblong,
obtuse, with a raised mid-line; spur slender, 3 inches long, that some-
times has a reddish tinge along the distal half.
Angrecum fastuosum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p- 748 and 844;
XXIII. (1885), p. 533, icon. xyl.
One of the discoveries of the French naturalist and traveller, M.
Léon Humblot, through whom it was introduced by Messrs. Sander
and Co. in 1881, but, it would seem, in very limited numbers,
the only plant known to us in cultivation for some years afterwards
being in the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford
Lodge, by whom it was exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society’s
meeting on April 22nd, 1884, presumably the first occasion of its
flowering in England. A recent importation has caused it to become
better known. Like the species last described it is a diminutive
plant, but totally different in aspect, both in its foliage and flowers;
the purity and fragrance of the latter render the species one of the
most admired in the genus.
A. fragrans.* '
“Stems 6—10 or more inches high, as thick as a goose-quill. Leaves
few, towards the top of the stem, lorate, 3—4 inches long, }—? inch
broad, deeply two-lobed at the tip. Peduncles ascending, 2—23 inches
long including ovary. Flowers solitary, 2 inches in diameter, white,
fragrant; sepals and petals linear, spreading and recurved; lip as long
as the sepals, hastately lanceolate, grooved down the centre; spur
slender, longer than the sepals, green. Column very short.”—Botanical
Magazine.
Angrecum fragrans, Thouars, Orch. Iles. Afr. t. 54 (1822). Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. P- 246 (1832). Bot. Mag. t. 7161. Aérobium fragrans, Spreng. Syst. veg. IIL.
p. 716 (1826). Aéranthus fragrans, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 899 (1864).
A species that has been known to science from the early part of
the present century, and at present in cultivation in the Royal Gardens
at Kew, whither it was sent by Mr. Horne, Director of the Botanic
Garden at Pamplemousse, near Port Louis in Mauritius, of which
island it is a native, and also of the neighbouring island of Bourbon.
* Not seen by us.
Angrecum fastuosum.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
i
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.
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pe
epanlen
ANGRECUM. ial
The chief interest attached to the plant will be gathered from the
following extract :—
“The leaves of Angrecum fragrans are imported from Mauritius, and
in a dry state have an odour which much resembles vanilla; it is
sufficient to touch the fresh leaves for the fingers to remain impregnated
with their aroma. In Mauritius, and even in France, a very agreeable
tea is prepared from the leaves, which is used as a digestive, and
even recommended in diseases of the respiratory organs. Mixed with
ordinary tea they impart to it an extremely agreeable perfume.” *
A. fuscatum.
Stem short, not exceeding a few inches high in the cultivated plants.
Leaves oblong-cuneate, 4—5 inches long, obtuse or unequally bi-lobed
at the apex. Racemes flaccid and sub-pendulous, longer than the leaves,
many flowered, the rachis russet-brown tinged with green, the pedicels
springing from a cushion-like out-growth as in Angrecum Ellisii, and
sheathed at the base by a small triangular bract. Flowers 1—1} inches in
diameter, cream-white ; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, lanceolate,
acute; lip broader than the other segments, oblong to beyond the
middle, and then somewhat suddenly acuminate; spur slender, about
three times as long as the stalked ovaries,
Angrecum fuscatum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 488. Regel’s
Gartenflora, 1886, p. 589, t. 1234. Rey. hort. 1887, p. 235, fig. 49.
Introduced by Messrs. Low and Co., from Madagascar, in or
before 1882, in the autumn of which year it flowered in several
collections, both British and continental. It is very near Angrcecum
Hilisii, from which it can scarcely be distinguished except by its
smaller size, its more flaccid and brownish peduncles, and its smaller
flowers, with a much shorter and more slender spur; it also
approaches very closely A. articulatum, but is a little “larger in
all its parts.’ More definite characters are wanting to distinguish
it specifically from either species, between which it is intermediate.
A. Germinyanum.
Stem slender, scandent, 12—18 inches high under cultivation, leafy
along the upper part. Leaves linear-oblong, 2—3 inches long, sessile,
unequally bi-lobed at apex. Flowers solitary, on slender green pedicels
produced from opposite a leaf about half-way up the stem, pure white ;
sepals linear, 2}—3 inches long, from a narrowly lanceolate base ; petals
similar, but shorter and more slender; lip quadrate with rounded angles,
shell-like, suddenly contracted in the middle into a filiform, reflexed tail,
*M. Gobley in Chemical Gazette ex Gard. Chron. 1850, p. 599.
tS? ANGRECUM,
an inch long; spur slender, 3 inches long, greenish white. Column very
short.
Angrecum Germinyanum, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 7061.
A very remarkable species, “discovered in 1886 in the interior
of Madagascar, in the same forests with Phaius tuberculosus and
P. Humblotii,’?’ by M. Leon Humblot, the French naturalist and
traveller, by whom it was sent to Messrs. Sander and Co.; a very
few plants reached this country alive, so that it is still quite rare
in cultivation. It flowered for the first time in England in the
Royal Gardens at Kew, in May, 1888, and is dedicated to Comte
Adrien de Germiny, of Gouville, near Rouen, one of the most
munificent patrons of horticulture in France. The long attenuated
perianth segments of this species easily distinguish it from every
other cultivated Angrzecum.
A. hyaloides.
A diminutive plant. Stems scarcely exceeding an inch in height with
5—7 oval-oblong spreading leaves, obtuse or unequally two-lobed at
the apex. Racemes a little longer than the leaves, 10—15 flowered.
Flowers small, distichous and alternate, transparent white, on short,
white pedicels; sepals, petals, and lip similar and sub-equal, oval-
oblong, acute, the sepals the narrowest; spur slender, as long as the
pedicel.
Angrecum hyaloides, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIII. (1880), p. 136. Godefroy’s
Orchidophile, 1889, p. 347.
The most admired of the minute Angreecums and invariably character-
ised in the horticultural press as ‘
‘alittle gem.” It was introduced by
us in 1879 through Curtis, who discovered it in north-east Madagascar
growing on small shrubs forming the undergrowth of the dense
forest along the low, swampy coast, always in shade. The flowers
are produced in great profusion for the size of the plant, and are
of a delicate, semi-transparent texture, which suggested the specific
name (from vados, crystal).
A. Kotschyi.
Stem short, emitting stoutish, flexuose, grey-brown roots that are
sometimes 20—30 inches long. Leaves few but variable in size and
shape, the largest obovate-oblong, 5—7 inches long, unequally bi-lobed
at the apex and very leathery, the smaller ones narrowly oblong, 3—4
inches long, sub-acute or emarginate. Racemes quite pendulous, 7—10
or more flowered. Flowers white, 14 inch in diameter, on pale red-
brown pedicels 14 inch long; the dorsal sepal and petals ovate-oblong,
Angrecum Kotschyi.
ul
|
ANGRAECUM. 133
acute, reflexed; the lateral sepals longer and narrower, lanceolate, acute,
spreading; lip with a broad claw and sub-rhomboidal, apiculate blade;
spur very long for the size of the flower, slender, twisted, 8—9 inches
long, pale red-brown.
Angrecum Kotschyi, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), pp. 456 and 693, icon.
xyl. Id. XXII. (1884), p. 712. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 179.
The botanical history of this curious Angrecum was sketched by
the late Professor Reichenbach in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, loc.
cit. from which we extract the following particulars :—It was first
discovered in 1838 by ‘Theodor Kotschy, who gave no locality ;
it was next met with by C. J. Meller in 1860, in the valley of
the Shiré river, not far from its junction with the Zambesi. Two
years later it was gathered by Captain Grant in the region of the
upper Nile, whose specimen (imperfect) is preserved in the Kew
Herbarium. In 1876 it was found by the German botanical traveller,
Hildebrandt, on the coast of Zanzibar, and three years later living
plants were sent by Sir John Kirk, the British Consul at Zanzibar,
to Mr. Gerald Walker, who had previously introduced 138 Mendelii ... ose oan es 68
mitratum ... 500 bc 74
AiirIDES— multiflorum 74
affine 5c wee eae : 74 nobile 6 see 500 ee 78
ampullaceum ae . we = DT odoratum ... oa a ome 76
Augustianum _ . 65 Picotianum Sas es one 68
Ballantineanum ... ; 0 78 Quinque-vulnera ... aes 77
Brooket Fe ; 300 66 radicosum .. 506 500 50 77
cornutum as nee : 76 Reichenbachianum ... noc Sct 78
crassifolium \ 4
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24 a (i f) fl yX
Goa Nez — [i Z)
Oncidium Marshallianum.
Introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. in 1865, through their
collector, Blunt, along with Oncidium ecrispwm, from which it may be
distinguished when not in flower by its bright green pseudo-bulbs;
its habitat may therefore be assumed to be on the Organ Mountains,
near Novo Friburgo, in the Brazilian province of Rio de Janeiro,
whence it has since been frequently imported. It is nearly allied to
On. pectorale, introduced many years previously, but now rarely seen,
from which it differs chiefly in the form of its sepals and lip, and
especially in the crest of the last-named organ. Like most of the
members of the sub-section to which it belongs (Tetrapetala-macropetala,
of Lindley), and of which it is one of the handsomest, it is found
to vary in the size and colour of its flowers, which usually expand
in May and June.
62 ONCIDIUM.
It is dedicated to Mr. William Marshall, of Auchinraith, Bexley,
well known as a former exhibitor of orchids. Our illustration
represents a fine form in the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence,
Bart., at Burford Lodge.
A remarkable Oncidium, figured in Godefroy’s Orcehidophile for 1888,
page 47, under the name of On. Mantinii, may here be noticed. It
flowered in M. Truffaut’s horticultural establishment at Versailles in
the previous year, and had been acquired from M. Binot, an orchid
collector at Petropolis in Brazil, with plants of On. ecrispum. It has
the aspect of being a natural hybrid, of which On. Marshallianum is
presumably one parent. Another supposed natural hybrid is figured in
Williams’ Orchid Album, IX. t. 405, under the name of On.
Larkinianum; in this case the characteristics of On. Marshallianum
evidently greatly preponderate.*
On. Martianum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 14--24 inches long, much compressed with
three—four ribs on each of the flattened sides, monophyllous. Leaves
oblong, acute, 5—7 inches long. Scapes panicled, as long again as the
leaves, many flowered. Flowers 14 inches in diameter; sepals and
petals small, yellow barred with chestnut-brown; the dorsal sepal
clawed, sub-orbicular, concave; the lateral two connate at the base,
linear-oblong ;_ petals oval-oblong, apiculate, undulate at the margin;
lip large in proportion to the size of the flower, bright canary-yellow
with some red-brown spots around the crest, three-lobed, the side
lobes roundish oblong, the front lobe shortly clawed, transversely
oblong with a shallow sinus in the anterior margin; crest a triangular
erect plate with two smaller ones on each side. Column wings
triangular, dentate at the outer margin.
Oncidium Martianum, Lind. in Bot. Reg. 1837, sub. t. 1920. Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 74. On. bicolor, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, t. 66.
First discovered by the German botanist and explorer, Dr. Martius,
of Munich, in the Brazilian province of Minas Geraes, and imported
from Brazil by Messrs. Loddiges about the year 1842. We are
indebted to Mr. F. W. Moore, of Glasnevin, for materials for
description.
On. microchilum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid or sub-orbicular, much compressed, 14—2 inches
long, monophyllous. Leaves rigid and leathery, oblong or elliptic-oblong,
* Doubtless other natural hybrids exist among Oncids, including some described in these
pages as species, but the marks of hybridity in any such cases do not appear to be sufficiently
evident to admit of their being classed as mules.
ONCIDIUM. 63
keeled behind, 7-—12 inches long, 24—3 inches broad, sub-acute, com-
plicate at base, slightly glaucous. Scapes robust, issuing from a carinate
inflated sheath, very glaucous, 3—4 feet long, branched along the distal
half, the branches short, few flowered. Flowers 1} inches in diameter ;
sepals elliptic-oblong, keeled behind, the dorsal one broader than the
lateral two, and concave, pale brown with some yellow markings; petals
narrower than the sepals, oblong, obtuse, undulate, incurved, chestnut-
brown (sometimes brown-purple) barred and margined with yellow; lip
three-lobed, the intermediate lobe reduced to a small white protuberance,
with a purple spot; the side lobes rotund, convex, white with some
purple spots at their base; crest somewhat kidney-shaped, tuberculose,
white with yellow and brown spots in front, reddish brown behind.
Column wings triangular, white; anther beaked.
Oncidium microchilum, Batem. in Bot. Reg. 1840, mise. 193. Lindl. in Bot.
Reg. 1848, t. 23. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 21. Saunder’s Ref. Bot. II. t. 122.
Discovered in Guatemala in 1838, and sent to Mr. Bateman by
Mr. G. Ure Skinner, who afterwards communicated to Dr. Lindley
the following particulars respecting its habitat :—
“T first found Oncidium microchilum on the top of the Cuesta of
Puentezuelas, in 1838. It was growing on a bare rock with a quantity
of dead leaves and grass about its bulbs, and its roots woven into the
interstices of the rock; it was very much exposed to the sun, except
during the middle of the day, when a ledge of rock seemed to afford
it a little shade. I afterwards found it in great abundance on the
rocky banks of the river Michatayal. I never saw it except in such
situations, generally exposed and always among rocks. The temperature
generally of the above habitats is about 20° C. (68°—70° F.), and
from being exposed, cold at nights.”
It was subsequently found by Hartweg in the same country.
Although Mr. Bateman received the first living plants sent to
England, it flowered for the first time in the collection of Mr. Harter,
of Broughton, near Manchester, in 1841. Oncidium microchilum is
the only species of the section Microcuiia (Cyrtochilum) known to
us whose habitat is north of the isthmus of Panama; it is remarkable
for the almost obsolete intermediate lobe of the labellum, and for
the variety of colours present in the flowers, which are, however,
variable in this respect.
On. Micropogon.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovoid, 2—24 inches long, compressed with
acute edges, and with 2—3 ribs on each of the flattened sides, mono-
diphyllous, Leaves linear-oblong, rounded at the apex, 4—6 inches long,
64 ONCIDIUM.
Scapes 12—18 inches long, pendulous, racemose, 7—10 or more flowered.
Flowers variable in size in different plants, the largest 14 inches across
vertically ; sepals linear-oblong, acuminate, yellow barred with red-brown,
the lateral two connate at their base; petals clawed, sub-orbicular, bright
canary-yellow ; lip with three sub-equal bright yellow lobes, the lateral
two orbicular, the intermediate one broadly obcordate; crest ‘ tumid,
covered with conical yellow and brown tubercles, margins expanded
and pectinately toothed.” Column wings deltoid.
Oncidium Micropogon, Rchb. in Bonpl, 1854, p. 90. Id. Xen. Orch. I. p. 179,
t. 63, fig. 2. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oacid. No. 40. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1855, t. 136.
Bot. Mag. t. 6971. On. dentatum, Klotzsch ex Rehb. Xen. Orch. loe. cit.
Oncidium Micropogon was first cultivated in Consul Schiller’s garden
at Ovelgdnne, near Hamburgh, in 1853, and two years later it is
mentioned by Reichenbach in his Xenia Orchidacea as being in several
gardens on the Continent. The plants were supposed to have been
imported from Santa Catherina in southern Brazil, and they appear to
have died out within a few years as nothing more was seen of the
species till it was re-introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co. in 1886.
It is very near On. barbatum, from which it is distinguished by its
much larger flowers with differently shaped sepals, petals and crest.
The specific name has nearly the same meaning as barbatum,
“bearded,” from puxpoc, “small,” and toywv, “a beard.”
On. nanum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves from a creeping rhizome, oval-oblong,
3—6 inches long, dull pea-green spotted with red. Scapes decumbent,
panicled, the branches short and few flowered. Flowers ? inch in
diameter ; sepals and petals similar, obovate-oblong, obtuse, incurved,
yellow spotted with red-brown; lip bright yellow, transversely oblong
with two small auricles at the base; crest large for the size of the
flower, two-lobed, the front lobe at right angles to the back one,
Column wings linear, deflexed, and “tipped with a lucid gland.”
Oncidium nanum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. No. 30. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
No. 107. Schomb. Reis. in Brit. Guiana, III. p. 913.
A curious little plant deserving of notice on
account of its richly coloured flowers. It was_ first
discovered by Schomburgk growing on the trunks of
trees on the banks of the Pomeroon River in British
Guiana, and sent by him to Messrs. Loddiges in 1842.
Oncidium nanun,
enlarzed According to Dr. Lindley, it was also detected by
Spruce near the junction of the Rio Negro with the Amazon.
ONCIDIUM. 65
On. nigratum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, 4—5 inches long, compressed, ribbed and
furrowed on the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves broadly lanceolate,
about a foot long. Scapes flexuose, 10—15 feet long, loosely branched,
the branches bearing from five to fifteen flowers. Flowers an inch in
diameter ; sepals and petals linear-oblong, undulate, reflexed, white with
2—3 black-purple blotches on each; lip shorter than the other segments,
pale yellow with a red-brown bar in front of the crest, three-lobed, the
side lobes rotund with revolute margin, the intermediate lobe oblong,
apiculate ; crest many toothed, the teeth arranged in four longitudinal
rows. Column wings narrow, pale yellow,
Oncidium nigratum, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. No. 122 (1851). Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 105. KRchb. in Gard. Chron. XIX. (1883), p. 790.
Discovered by Schomburgk during his exploration of British Guiana,
1840—144, and sent by him to Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery
it did not flower till some years afterwards, but was subsequently
lost. It was re-introduced by us in 1881 through our collector
David Burke, who found it on the southern slopes of the Roraima
Mountain at 5,000—6,000 feet elevation. Although the flowers are
small they are produced in great profusion on the long rambling
panicle, and are among the most distinct in the genus; they have
some resemblance on superficial view to the pretty Odontoglossum
blandum.
On. obryzatum.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, much compressed, 2—3 inches long, ribbed and
channelled on the flattened sides, monophyllous. Leaves linear-oblong,
sub-acute, 6—9 inches long. Scapes scandent, 4—6 feet long, paniculate,
the branches short and few flowered. Flowers about an inch across
vertically ; sepals and petals narrowly spathulate, obtuse, yellow barred
with red-brown on the basal half. Lip auriculate at the base, the blade
broadly clawed, transversely oblong, deeply two-lobed, of a paler yellow
than the other segments; crest a triangular median raised plate with two
teeth in front, one on each side and a cluster of smaller ones behind,
Column wings toothed, prolonged and nearly meeting above the anther.
Oncidium obryzatum, Rchb. in Bonpl. 1854, p. 198. Id. in Gard. Chron. XII.
me p. 456 (dasystalix). Regel’s Gartenjl. 1878, t. 925. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
Very little has been divulged respecting the origin of this Oncid.
It is vaguely stated to be a native of Peru, and that it was first
discovered by Warscewicz about the year 1852. It is not now often
seen in the orchid collections of this country, but we have quite
recently received a fine panicle from Mr. F. W. Moore, of the Royal
F
66 ONCIDIUM.
Botanic Garden, Glasnevin. The specific name, literally ‘refined
gold”—o BpvZov ypuciov—refers to the colour of the flowers.
On. ornithorhynchum.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, compressed, 1—2 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, 7—10 inches long. Scapes pendulous or arching,
longer than the leaves, panicied, many flowered. Flowers about # inch
across vertically, rose-lilac; sepals and petals oblong, the lateral sepals
free and divaricate, the petals broader and undulated ; lip sub-panduri-
form, the lateral lobes with reflexed margins and sometimes of a
darker colour than the rest of the flower, the anterior lobe emarginate ;
crest consisting of five yellow, toothed lamelle, in front of which are
two horn-like teeth. Column wings triangular toothletted; anther
beaked.
Oncidium ornithorhynchum, Hbdt. et Kunth, Nov. Gen. Plant. I. p. 345, t. 80
(1815). Lind]. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 204 (1832). Id. in Bot. Reg. 1840, t. 10. Id.
Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 189. Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 4. Bot. Mag. t. 3912.
Knowles and Weste. #7. Cab. IIT. t. 136.
sub-var.—albiflorwm (Gard. Chron, 1873, p. 503. Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 398),
flowers dull white, the crest of the lip yellow as in the type.
Oncidium ornithorhynchum is a native of southern Mexico and
Guatemala, occurring in several localities but always at a considerable
elevation. It was originally discovered by Humboldt in the beginning
of the present century on the mountains near Valladolid, in the
Mexican province of Michoacan. It was not introduced into British
gardens till 1836, when it was received simultaneously by Mr. Bateman
from Guatemala through Mr. G. Ure Skinner, and by Messrs. Loddiges
from Oaxaca probably through Karwinsky. The white-flowered form
first appeared in the collection of the late Mr. John Day, at Tottenham,
in 1875
The specific name, from povyoc, “a beak,’ and opvifoc, “of a bird,”
refers to the beaked anther, whence this Oncid is sometimes popularly
known as the Bird’s Bill Oncidium, but this character is common _ to
all the species included in Lindley’s sub-section Rostrata as well as to
many others.
On. panchrysum.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovate, much compressed, 24 inches long, mono-
phyllous. Leaves ligulate, sub-acute, 9—12 inches long. Scapes stoutish,
erect, as long again as the leaves, panicled and many flowered. Flowers
of a uniform bright canary-yellow, 14 inches across vertically ; sepals
ovate-oblong, acute, the lateral two free and divergent; petals similar
but broader and obtuse at the apex; lip sub-panduriform, the basal
apilo,
P
Oneidium
ONCIDIUM. 67
lobes rotund, the front lobe transversely oblong, emarginate; crest five
lobed. Column wings obsolete.
Oncidium panchrysum, Lindl.in Journ. Hort. Soc. IV. p. 267 (1849). Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 180 (1855). On. anomalum, Rchb. in Linnea XXII. p. 845 (1849).
Originally discovered by Linden in New Granada in 1842, and
subsequently gathered by Funck and Schlim on the eastern Cordillera,
between Pamplona and Ocafa, at 7,000—8,000 feet elevation. It is
a handsome species with pure yellow flowers, a character expressed
by the name from vay, “all,” and ypiococ, “golden”; it may be
recognised by the delicate glaucescence that covers the green portion
of the scape.
On. Papilio.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong or sub-orbicular, 14—2 inches long, much
compressed, wrinkled, monophyllous. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 6—9 inches
long, 2-24 inches broad, coriaceous, dull green much mottled and
blotched with purplish crimson which is most developed on the under
side. Scapes 2—4 feet long, jointed, with a sheathing acute bract
at each joint, terete from the base to beyond the middle, the upper
portion flattened and ancipitous. Flowers several, produced singly by
successive elongations of the peduncle from the joint immediately below
the ovary, variable in size; dorsal sepal and petals 34—44$ inches long,
linear, slightly dilated towards the apex, dull reddish crimson, yellowish
green at the back; lateral sepals oblong, sub-acuminate, decurved and
undulate, bright chestnut-red with some narrow transverse yellow
markings; lip three-lobed, the side lobes small, rounded, yellow spotted
with red; anterior lobe broadly clawed, sub-orbicular with a shallow sinus
in the front margin, canary-yellow with a broad bright red marginal
band; crest a thickened obscurely three-lobed elevated plate, with two
small protuberances on the basal side, white spotted with red. Column
wings lacerated, much dilated below, and with two cirri above having a
blackish gland at their tip.
Oncidium Papilio, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 910 (1825). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p- 208 (1832). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 197. Bot. Mag. t. 2795 (1828). Td. t.
3733 (1840). Knowles et Westc. Fl. Cab. J. t. 12. Paxt. Mag. Bot. V. p. 175.
Van Houtte’s FU. des Serves, IX. t. 920. Tilus. hort. s. 3, t. 500 (Eckhardtii).
Jennings’ Orch. t. 11 (pictum). Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 279 (majus).
Oneidium Papilio is one of the most remarkable orchids ever in-
troduced into European gardens, not only on account of the singular
appearance of its flowers but also for their scarcely less curious
structure, a peculiarity, however, which they share with the allied
species On. Kramerianum and On. Limminghei already described. The
flowers are not produced in racemes or panicles like those of most
other Oncids, but in the same manner as those of the Saccolabiate
68 ONCIDIUM.
Masdevallias (Masdevallia Chimera, etc.); that is to say—after the
first flower has expanded and which is apparently terminal, a second
flower is produced from the joint immediately below the ovary, and
which usually (not always) expands after the first flower has faded;
in like manner a third flower is produced from the node below the
ovary of the second, then a fourth in the same way; in fact an
indefinite succession of flowers may be produced in this manner till the
plant is exhausted or till some check is applied. The most obvious
structural peculiarities are—the excessive elongation and parallelism
(when first open) of the dorsal sepal and petals, and their dull
coloration, while the lateral sepals are dilated and as_ brightly
coloured as the labellum. The curious glandular appendages of the
column wings are also deserving of notice.
Oncidium Papilio was introduced from Trinidad, in 1824, by Sir
Ralph Woodford, the Governor, who sent living plants to several
collections, one of which flowered for the first time in this country
in the nursery of Mr. Colville, at Chelsea, in the spring of the
following year; but the earliest efforts to cultivate it in glass-houses
in Great Britain do not appear to have been very successful, judging
from the distorted flowers that were first figured. Of the sub-
varieties, of which there are many, none require especial notice
except that known in gardens as majus or gigantewm; this is the
finest of all the Papilio forms, the dorsal sepal and petals sometimes
attaining a length of 5—7 inches.
The bizarre appearance of the flowers suggested the specific name
of Papilio or the Butterfly.
On. pectorale.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, 14-2 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves
linear-lanceolate, 6—8 inches long. Scapes longer than the leaves,
racemose, but sometimes paniculate, many flowered. Flowers 14—2
inches in diameter; sepals oval-oblong, chestnut-brown barred and
margined with yellow, the lateral two connate to about one-half of their
length ; petals similar but larger, chestnut-brown with a narrow yellow
border and a few yellow spots; lip auriculate at the base, the blade
clawed, sub-orbicular, undulate with a cleft in the anterior margin,
bright yellow; crest convex, tuberculose, the tubercles blackish crimson.
Column wings rounded, brown spotted with yellow.
Oncidium pectorale, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 39 (1838). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid, No. 62.
On. Pollettianum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 326.
ONCIDIUM. 69
First cultivated by Mr. Buller, of Downs, near Exeter, in 1838,
who had received it from Rio de Janeiro, whence it was subsequently
imported by Messrs. Loddiges. It seems to have been lost to
cultivation for many years till it reappeared in the collection
of Mr. H. M. Pollett, at Fernside, Bickley, in 1886. This plant
differing in some trivial characters from Lindley’s type, was made
a new species by Reichenbach with the proviso that it might be a
natural hybrid between Oncidiwm dasytyle and On. Gardneri; but
on comparing Mr. Pollett’s specimen with the type preserved in the
herbarium at Kew its identity with Lindley’s On. pectorale was
satisfactorily established.
On. phymatochilum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, compressed, 3—4 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves narrowly elliptic-oblong, 9—12 or more inches long. Scapes
slender, pale green spotted with dull crimson, 3—5 feet long, loosely
paniculate. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, crumpled; sepals and petals
Oncidium phymatochilum.
reflexed, linear, acuminate, pale yellow banded and spotted with brown,
but sometimes ivory-white spotted with orange-red, the petals broader
and the free lateral sepals longer than the dorsal sepal; lip white
spotted with red around the crest, three-lobed, the lateral lobes auriculate,
oblong, obtuse, the intermediate lobe trowel-shaped, with a_ reflexed
70 ONCIDIUM.
acuminate tip; crest triangular in outline, many toothed, the three front
teeth much the largest. Column wings laciniated, white spotted with red.
Oncidium phymatochilum, Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1848, p. 139, with fig. Id, in
Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. sub. t. 18, p. 78 (1850—51), Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 191.
Bot. Mag. t. 5214. Linden’s esc. t. 35. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XXIII.
t, 2465.
A very elegant species, first cultivated by the Rev. John Clowes,
of Broughton Hall, near Manchester, and by Messrs. Loddiges, of
Hackney, about the year 1840, neither of whom left any record of
its origin, which remained unknown to science till its habitat was
revealed by M. Pinel, a French merchant trading in Brazil, who
collected it in the neighbourhood of Novo Friburgo and _ sent
plants to various correspondents in France and Belgium, including
M. Van Volxem of Brussels, one of whose plants was figured in
Linden’s Pescatorea, published in 1860.
Oncidium phymatochilum is a remarkably distinct species both as
regards its flowers and its vegetative organs, and one not likely to
be confused with any other; it has been inaptly compared with
Odontoglossum neevium. The specific name refers to the crest of the
labellum, from gvua, “a tumour,” and ye ioe, a, lip.
On. pretextum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 1$—2 inches long, compressed, diphyllous. Leaves
ensiform, sub-acute, 5—7 or more inches long. Scapes 30—40 inches
long, paniculate, arching. Flowers fragrant, 14 inches in diameter ; sepals
pale chestnut-brown barred with yellow, the dorsal one clawed, obovate-
oblong, obtuse, the lateral two narrower, oblong, connate at their base ;
petals as broad again as the dorsal sepal, wholly brown; lip with a
broad claw, at the base of which are two square yellow auricles; blade
fan-shaped, yellow with a broad brown margin; crest consisting of two
lamina that are confluent behind, and two projecting lobes in front, all
warted, light yellow spotted with brown. Column wings rounded,
yellow and red.
Oncidium pretextum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 1206. Id. XV. (1881),
p. 720. Id. in Regel’s Gartenfl. (1887), p. 1. t. 1238. Bot. Mag. t. 6662.
First discovered by the Danish botanist, Dr. Warming, in Lagoa
Santa,* and afterwards in the province of Sido Paulo, in southern
Brazil, by Mr. E. D. Jones who sent it to Mr. J. H. Wilson, of
Liverpool, in 1873; it was shortly afterwards imported by ourselves
from Rio de Janeiro.
* Not found on any map to which we have access.
ONCIDIUM. 71
Oncidium preetectum has been occasionally confused with On. curtum,
to which it is nearly allied, but from which it may be distinguished
by its different crest, by its narrower lateral sepals which are connate
at the base only, and sometimes by its smaller flowers which are
usually of a duller colour. The specific name refers to the brown
marginal band of the lip, and was suggested by a similar ornament
on the Roman toga.
On. pubes.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-cylindric, tapering, 2—2 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves narrowly oblong-lanceolate, 3—5 inches long. Scapes 15—24
inches long, panicled, the branches distichous and alternate, gradually
shorter upwards; bracts small, subulate. Flowers about an inch in
diameter, variable in colour, red-brown barred and spotted with yellow ;
dorsal sepal and petals clawed, obovate, obtuse, incurved ; lateral sepals
connate into an oblong blade, bifid at the apex; lip three-lobed, the side
lobes linear, reflexed, the intermediate lobe broadly obovate, emarginate,
red-brown bordered with yellow ; crest tuberculose, pubescent, toothed in
front. Column wings oblong, sub-falcate, obtuse.
Oncidium pubes, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1007 (1826). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch, p. 199
(1832). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 70 (1855). Bot. Mag. t. 3926 (flavescens).
On. bicornutum, Bot. Mag. t. 3109 (1831).
A species of somewhat singular aspect, originally discovered by
Descourtilz in the forests near Bananal, in the Brazilian province of
Minas Geraes.* It was introduced by the Horticultural Society of
London, in 1824, through David Douglas, who brought it from
Rio de Janeiro. Seven years later it was sent to Mrs. Arnold
Harrison, of Aigburth, near Liverpool, by Mr. William Harrison,
who had gathered it in woods 60 miles inland from Rio; it
was afterwards found by Gardner and by Miers on the Organ
Mountains; it is doubtless dispersed over a considerable area in
southern Brazil. The specific name refers to the soft villous hairs
around the margin of the stigma.
On. pulchellum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves radical, usually in pairs or in fours,
equitant, linear-lanceolate, 3--5 or more inches long, acutely keeled
behind, Scapes slender, erect, 12—15 inches high, racemose or loosely
paniculate, 12—20 or more flowered. Flowers an inch across vertically,
white with a flush of rose on all the segments; dorsal sepal ovate,
* Ex Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 70.
~I
bo
ONCIDIUM.
cuneate, concave, the lateral two connate into an oblong, spathulate
blade, bidentate at the apex and concealed by the lip; petals like
the dorsal sepal; lip sub-quadrate, four-lobed, the lobes rounded and
nearly equal; crest three-lobed, in front of which is an ochreous spot.
Column wings ovate-oblong, rose-pink.
Oncidium pulchellum, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 2773 (1827). Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 206 (1832). Id. in Bot. Keg. t. 1787 (1836). Id. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I.
sub. t. 338. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 31.
First discovered by Mr. C. S. Parkes in Demerara growing on
trees, who sent it to the Liverpool Botanic Garden, where it
flowered for the first time in this country in June, 1827. Many
years afterwards it was detected by Schomburgk on the southern
slopes of the Roraima, growing on sandstone rocks and flowering in
November. It is also a native of Jamaica, where it has been
gathered by several botanists. Although one of the prettiest of the
small Oncids it is not often seen in cultivation.
Oncidium pulchellum is one of a small group of species dispersed
over the West Indies and neighbouring parts of Central and South
America, distinguished by the absence of pseudo-bulbs and by their
rigid equitant leaves, that is to say—the front surfaces of the leaf
on each side of the mid-nerve are brought into contact and grow
together except at their edges, the leaf then often resembles a
reaping-hook with a groove along the back.*
On. pulvinatum.
Pseudo-bulbs orbicular-oblong, compressed, 1$—2 inches in diameter,
monophyllous. Leaves rigid, erect, oblong, acute, 9—12 inches long
and 2—3 inches broad. Scapes slender, flexuose, 5—7 or more feet
long, loosely paniculate. Flowers very numerous, an inch in diameter ;
sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, clawed, oval-oblong, the upper
sepal concave and bent forwards, the basal half red-brown, the apical
half yellow; lip three-lobed, light yellow spotted with red, the side
lobes rotund with fimbriate margin, the intermediate lobe transversely
oblong, emarginate; crest a circular papillose cushion, whitish spotted
with red. Column wings rounded.
Oncidium pulvinatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, mise. No. 115. Id. 1839, t. 42.
Id. in Paxt. Fl.-Gard. IJ. icon. xyl. No. 126. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid, No. 118:
First cultivated by Mr. Richard Harrison, of Aigburth, Liverpool,
who received it from his brother William at Rio de Janeiro in
1838, and he probably obtained it at Novo Friburgo, its known
* The section Equirantia of Lindley and Bentham.
ONCIDIUM. 1
habitat. It closely resembles Oncidium divaricatum
in habit and aspect, but is distinguished from that
species by its differently shaped labellum, the crest
of which is entire (not lobed).* Like On. divaricatum
it is one of the most tractable of Oncids under
cultivation. Oncidium puivinatuin
(slightly diminished).
On. pumilum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves from a creeping rhizome, oblong, acute,
2—4 inches long, rigid, erect. Scapes as long as or longer than the
leaves, paniculate, the branches short, and the flowers small and crowded.
Sepals and petals minute, oblong-spathulate, obtuse, yellow spotted with
red-brown ; lip three-lobed, yellow, the side lobes the largest, roundish
oblong, the intermediate lobe sub-quadrate, truncate; crest bipartite, the
two parts divergent, each consisting of two parallel ridges. Column
wings oblong, acute, decurved.
Oncidium pumilum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 920 (1825). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p- 205. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 106. Id. in Paxt. FI. Gard. II. icon. xyl. No.
132. Bot. Mag. t. 3581.
A curious little plant first cultivated by Dean Herbert at Spofforth,
Yorkshire, in 1825, whither it had been sent from Rio de Janeiro
by one of his correspondents who had found it growing
on the trunk of Bombax Ceiba near Botofogo. It
has since been gathered in several localities in the
neighbourhood of Rio, where it forms large tufts on
the trunks of Crescentia and other trees. We are
indebted to Mr. O. O. Wrigley, of Bridge Hall,
Oncidium pumilum
Bury, Lancashire,:for materials for description. This (enlarged).
species should not be confused with Oncidiwm nanum, which has
larger flowers with a different labellum and crest.
On. pyramidale.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 1—2 inches long, compressed, diphyllous. Leaves
linear-ligulate, 5—8 inches long, dark dull green. Peduncles erect or
nodding, 12—15 or more inches long, panicled, many flowered. Flowers
an inch in diameter, bright canary-yellow with some red spots and
markings on all the segments; sepals and petals reflexed, the sepals
linear-oblong, keeled behind, the lateral two free; the petals broader,
oval-oblong; lip sub-panduriform, the basal lobes roundish-oblong, the
front lobe obcordate, emarginate; crest whitish, consisting of about ten
* See page 31,
74 ONCIDIUM.
small teeth. Column with two narrow ascending wings that meet above
the anther; anther beaked.
seein pyramidale, Lind]. in Ann, Nat. Hist. XV. p.384. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
0. 98.
A species rarely seen in British gardens, and of whose origin
scarcely anything appears to be known beyond the simple fact that
it was first discovered by Hartweg in woods near Pasto in southern
Colombia in 1842. We are indebted to Mr. O. O. Wrigley for
materials for description.
On. raniferum.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, oblong, 1—2 inches long, tapering upwards,
compressed, furrowed, diphyllous. Leaves linear, grass-like, 5—8 inches
long. Scapes as long as the leaves, sparingly branched, many flowered.
Flowers small but showy, bright yellow, the crest of the lip orange-
red; sepals and petals reflexed, oblong; lip three-lobed, the side lobes
linear-oblong, spreading, the front lobe broadly obovate with the anterior
margin obscurely crenulate; crest large for the size of the flower,
consisting of an oblong obscurely bipartite cushion curiously tubercled.,
Column wings very narrow.
Oncidium raniferum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1920 (1837). Jd. 1838, t. 48. Id.
Fol. Orch. Oucid. No. 194. Bot. Mag. t. 3712.
First introduced from Brazil in 1837 by Mr. Knight, our predecessor
at the Royal Exotic Nursery, and shortly afterwards found by
Gardner on the Organ Mountains, whence it has since been occasionally
imported with other orchids. It was aptly characterised by Sir W. J.
Hooker as “‘a sprightly little orchidaceous plant.’ The specific name,
a fanciful one, meaning “ frog-bearing,” was suggested by the curious
form of the crest which somewhat resembles the figure of a frog
couchant. We are indebted to Mr. F. W. Moore, of Glasnevin, for
materials for description.
On. reflexum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 14 inches long, compressed, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 6—8 inches long. Peduncles slender,
straggling, 24—30 inches long, pale green mottled with dull crimson,
sparsely branched along the distal half. Flowers 14 inches across
vertically ; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, linear-oblong, acute,
undulated and reflexed, light yellow-green barred with dull red-brown,
the lateral sepals free and divaricate; lip large and spreading, three-
lobed, bright gamboge-yellow with some red spots on and around the
crest; the basal lobes roundish oblong with revolute margins; the front
lobe broadly clawed, transversely oblong with a sinus in the anterior
ONCIDIUM. 75
margin; crest with about ten tubercles of nearly equal size, Column
wings hatchet-shaped, denticulate; anther beaked.
Oncidium reflexum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1920 (1837). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
No. 158. Rechb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 93, t. 36, fig. 1. On. pelicanum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1840, misc. No. 216. Jd. 1847, +t. 70. On. cruentum, Hort. Low.
A native of southern Mexico, first detected by Count Karwinsky
about the year 1832, and introduced shortly afterwards through him
by Messrs. Loddiges. Some years later it was received by Mr.
Bateman from the Botanic Garden at Munich, under the name of
Oncidium pelicanum, and is figured as such in the Botanical Register
for 1847. It was afterwards imported by Messrs. Low and Co., and
distributed by them under the name of On. cruentum.* On. refleruwm
is a bright coloured species frequently met with in orchid collections.
On. Retemeyerianum. +
* Pseudo-bulbs nearly obsolete. Leaves cuneate, oblong-acute, more
or less keeled on the inferior side, very thick with a purplish hue.
Peduncles stout with a few distant acute sheaths, purplish dotted with
green, racemed, many flowered; bracts acutely triangular, one-third to
one-half as long as the stalked ovary. Flowers fleshy, about 2 inches
in diameter; sepals and petals oblong, apiculate, pale yellow with light
chocolate-brown spots, the petals a little broader than the sepals; lip
constricto-pandurate, deep purplish violet, yellow around the crest which
consists of two pairs of blunt tubercles and an ‘interjected’ central one.
Column wings rounded, bent downwards, yellow.”—Saunders’ Refugiwm
Botanicum.
Oncidium Retemeyerianum, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1856, p. 513. Id. Xen. Orch. III.
p. 43, t. 218. Saunders’ Ref. bot. II. t. 74 (1869). Belg. hort. 1872, t. 14, p. 152.
Rolfe in Gard. Chron. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 294.
Described as a very curious species, distinct in the colour and
substance of its flowers, that first appeared in the garden of Herr
Retemeyer at Bremen, in 1856, and in the following year in the
nursery of M. Chantin at Paris. Ten years later it was sent to
the late Mr. Wilson Saunders from Mexico, and thence its native
country became known; it has subsequently been sent from that
country to several horticultural establishments, both in Hngland and
on the Continent. It belongs to the Sarcoptera group of Oncids,
and has therefore for its allies the better known Oncidiwm Lanceanum
and On. Cavendishianum, but anomalous in some of its characters.
* Fide the late Mr. John Day in Scrap Book No. 10. It is highly probable that Oncidiwm
Sunereum of the Mexican botanists La Llave and Lexayza is the same species as On. reflexum
described above, but their description is too vague to render the identity certain.
+ Not seen by us.
76 ONCIDIUM.
On. sarcodes.
Pseudo-bulbs variable in size, sub-fusiform, compressed, 4—6 inches long,
di- rarely tri-phyllous. Leaves oblong, acute, complicate at base, 6—10
inches long. Scapes slender, dull purple freckled with pale green, 3
feet long, branched along the distal half, the branches short, few flowered.
Flowers 1$—2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals chestnut-brown
bordered with yellow, the dorsal sepal obcordate, concave, the lateral
two smaller, obovate-oblong, keeled behind; petals obovate, obtuse with
undulate margin; lip bright yellow with a few red-brown spots around
the crest, three-lobed, the side lobes small, oblong with reflexed margin,
5
the front lobe transversely oblong with undulate margin; crest an
oblong plate lobed in front, and with a tooth on each side near the
middle, light yellow dotted with brown. Column wings sub-triangular.
Oncidium sarcodes, Lindl. in Journ. Hort. Soc. IV. p. 266 (1849). Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 84 (1855). Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VI. p. 237, with fig. Warner’s
Sel. Orch. I. t. 28. Illus. hort. s. 8, t. 165 (1874). Lindenia, V. t. 234. On.
Rigbyanum, Paxt. Mag. Bot. XVI. p. 257 (1850).
Although one of the most admired of Oncids, and one that is
generally cultivated, the records of the botanical and _ horticultural
history of Oncidium sarcodes are of the slenderest description. It
was first received by the Horticultural Society of London in April,
1849, from Mr, P. N. Don, and from that time to the present its
precise habitat does not appear to have been divulged. The im-
portations are received from Rio de Janeiro, and the plants are
said to be collected in the neighbourhood of Noyo Friburgo, on
the Organ Mountains.
The specific name sarcodes (sapxwonc), “ flesh-like,’ refers to the
peculiar red-brown of the flowers.
On. Schlimii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, much compressed with acute edges, and with 2—3
ribs on each of the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves narrowly
lanceolate, 8—12 inches long. Scapes slender, flexuose, 4——5 feet long,
loosely paniculate. Flowers exceeding an inch in diameter, very
numerous ; sepals and petals yellow, with 2—3 red-brown blotches; the
dorsal sepal and petals similar and equal, spreading, clawed, oblong,
obtuse; the lateral sepals narrower, linear-oblong; lip with two basal
auricles and a two-lobed reniform blade that is broadly clawed, yellow
with a red-brown band around the crest, which consists of 9—-10 teeth,
of which the central one is the most prominent. Column with two
small rounded wings helow the stigma, and a spreading toothletted one
on each side of it that is produced upwards into a horn-like cirrus ;
anther beaked.
Oncidium Schlimii, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. II. p. 168 (1852). Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 128.
Oncidium sareodes.
AN
ONCIDIUM, aig
A native of the eastern Cordillera of New Granada near Ocaiia,
where it was detected by Linden in 1842 at 3,000—4,000 feet
elevation,* and where some years later it was gathered by Schlim,
by whom probably it was introduced into European gardens; it was
first cultivated in this country by Mr. Brocklehurst, of The Fence,
near Macclesfield. The flowers of this Oncid are brightly coloured
and produced in great profusion; the curious column wings and
beaked anther well distinguish the species. We are indebted to
the Royal Gardens at Kew for materials for description.
On. serratum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, 4—5 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves
narrowly lanceolate, 9—15 or more inches long. Scapes_ flexuose,
5—7 or more feet long, distantly branched, many flowered. Flowers
3 inches across vertically, on pedicels 2 inches long, sheathed at their
base by an ovate-lanceolate pale bract about $ inch long; sepals
clawed, the dorsal one sub-orbicular, crisped at the margin, chestnut-
brown with a narrow yellow border; the lateral two ovate-oblong,
deflexed and then curving upwards and sideways like a saddle; petals
like the lateral sepals but shorter, more crisped, and indented at the
apex, chestnut-brown to two-thirds of their length, the apical third
bright yellow; lip much smaller than the other segments, linear-spathulate,
reflexed with two small hatchet-shaped basal lobes, purplish brown ;
crest a central white projecting plate with two acute teeth in front
and a notched plate on each side. Column wings dagger-shaped,
ascending, red-brown.
Oncidium serratum, Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 48 (1838). Id. Paxt. Fl. Gard. II.
p. 126, with fig. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 6. Gard. Chron. 1850, p. 279, with fig.
Bot. Mag. t. 5632.
This singular Oncid was first made known to science by Matthews,
who sent a rude copy of an old Spanish drawing from Peru
(Ecuador?) to Sir W. J. Hooker, at Kew, about the year 1888.
It was first cultivated in Europe by M. Pescatore, of La Celle,
St. Cloud near Paris, who sent the flower to Dr. Lindley in 1850,
from which the woodcut in Paxton’s Flower Garden was taken. It
has since been occasionally imported from the Andes of Ecuador.
The flowers are of remarkable form and very difficult to describe ;
when first open the petals cling together by the interlocking of
their crispation, so that they cannot be easily separated.
* It is stated in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 42, that Oncidiwm Schlimii has
been imported by Messrs Charlesworth and Shuttleworth in a batch of Odontoglossum cirroswm,
that is to say, 800—1,000 miles distant from the Ocaiia locality.
78 ONCIDIUM.
Oncidium serratum is the type species of a group of Oncids
belonging to the section Muicrocutta, characterised chiefly by the
elongated lateral sepals, the dorsal one being almost orbicular, the
curiously crisped petals which often cling together when first open,
and by the dagger-shaped column wings. ‘The group includes On.
trifurcatum, Laindl.,* On. trilingue, Lindl.,t On. tetracopis, Rchb.,t
On. plagianthum, Rehb.,|| On. eryptocopis, Rchb., On. ludens, Rehb.,§
On. lamelligerum, Rehb., On. monachicum,** Rchb., On. chrysodipterum,
nobis, and probably others, whose specific characters have not been
sufficiently defined to admit of their being technically distinguished
the one from the other. Till authentic materials can be brought
together for a more critical examination and comparison, it is
perhaps safest to leave them as they are, although they all bear so
strong a likeness to each other as to form a race of Oncids that
might be included under one species, the different forms representing
the different links in a chain of affinities too close to be rent asunder
by separate specific names. Moreover, the habitats of all occur within
a limited area on the Hcuadorean Andes, and most, if not all of
them have been imported with On. serratum.
On. sessile.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, 8—4 inches long, much compressed, with
about three rounded ribs on each of the flattened sides, diphyllous.
Leaves ensiform, acute, 8—15 inches long, the whole plant of a pea-
green colour. Scapes 12—24 inches long, branched along the distal
half, the branches somewhat distant, alternate, spreading. Flowers
numerous, 14 inches in diameter, canary-yellow with the basal half of
the sepals and petals dotted with red-brown; sepals and petals oblong,
obtuse, undulate, the dorsal sepal a little the broadest, the lateral
two spreading nearly parallel with the petals; lip three-lobed, the side
lobes roundish oblong, the front lobe larger, transversely oblong, deeply
emarginate ; crest sub-conic, oblate, tuberculose, white dotted with red.
Column wings narrow, denticulate.
Oncidium sessile, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. J. t. 21 (1851). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
No. 174 (1855). Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 228.
A native of Caracas and northern Colombia. It was _ first
discovered on Santa Martha by Purdie, who sent it to the
Duke of Northumberland, in whose gardens at Syon House it
* Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 4. ; Paxte HlaGard. Ul te oo. t Gard. Chron. 1878, p. 915.
|| Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 915.
§ Id. XXIII. (1885), p. 756. ** Gard, Chron, XIX. (1883), p. 368, with fig,
ONCIDIUM. 79
flowered in 1851. It has since been occasionally imported from
Caracas with Cattleya labiata Mossie. The specific name was
suggested by the absence of the stalk or wnguis in the sepals and
petals, so generally characteristic of Oncids.
On. sphacelatum.
Pseudo-bulbs nearly oblong, compressed with acute edges, 4—6 inches
long, di-triphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, somewhat rigid, 15—24 inches
long. Seapes 3—5 feet long, mottled with dull purple, much branched,
the branches short. Flowers numerous, brightly coloured, exceeding
an inch in diameter; sepals and petals narrowly oblong, undulate,
reflexed at the tip, dark chestnut-brown barred with yellow; lip
sub-panduriform, golden yellow with a red-brown band in front of
the crest; crest a fleshy plate, three-lobed in front, toothed at the
sides. Column wings small, oblong, depressed.
Oncidium sphacelatum, Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 48 (1838). Id. Bot. Reg. 1842.
t. 30. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 151. On. Massangei, Morren in Belg. hort. 1877,
p. 124.
A handsome species, well known as one of the most useful of
Oncids in a horticultural sense, being of easy culture and constantly
flowering during April—June. It was first collected for the Horti-
cultural Society of London in southern Mexico by Hartweg, in 1840,
and shortly afterwards it was received from Honduras by Messrs.
Loddiges, in whose nursery it flowered for the first time in this
country in February, 1841. It was next sent from Guatemala by
Sai.
)
pay’
Jy
Oncidium sphacelatum.,
Mr. G. Ure Skinner to Mr. Bateman and other amateurs, and has
doubtless been in cultivation ever since. A peculiarity by which
Oncidium sphacelatum may be recognised is seen in the bud just
before expansion ; the points of the sepals and petals are here always
bent back like five recuryed horns. The specific name sphacelatum
80 ONCIDIUM.
(non-classical) is a fanciful one derived from opaxkeAoc, tremor”
or “agitation.” *
On. sphegiferum.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly oval, almost orbicular, 1—14 inches in diameter,
much compressed, monophyllous. Leaves elliptic-oblong, 6—8 inches
long, leathery, pale green. Scapes 3—4 feet long, panicled, many
flowered. Flowers about an inch in diameter, bright orange with a
reddish stain at the base of all the segments; sepals and_ petals
clawed, the former oval, the latter oblong, apiculate; lip sub-
pandurate in outline, the basal lobes rounded with denticulate margins,
the front lobe transversely oblong, emarginate, of a lighter orange than
the sepals and petals; crest oblong, cushion-like, minutely papillose.
Column wings narrowly oblong.
Oncidium sphegiferum, Lindl in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. 23. Id. Paxt. Fl. Gard. II.
icon. xyl. No. 124. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 117. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. III.
s. 3 (1888), p. 716.
First introduced from Brazil by Messrs. Loddiges
in 1842—3, but we find no further evidence of its
being in cultivation till 1887, when a plant, supposed
to have been imported with Oncidium divaricatum
or On. pulvinatum, flowered in our Chelsea nursery.
An herbarium specimen was gathered by Miers at
Corcovado, near Rio de Janeiro, thus indicating that
its habitat is within the restricted area occupied by
a eee
Oncidium sphegiferum, the members of the Pulvinata group, to which it
belongs.t Its bright orange flowers render it distinct among the
cultivated Oncids.
On. stramineum.
“Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves 6—8 inches long, oblong-lanceolate,
sub-acute, contracted into a short, stout petiole, very rigid, thick and
coriaceous. Panicle stout, inclined or drooping, more or less branched.
Flowers crowded, # inch across, white speckled with red on the lateral
sepals, lip and column; sepals and petals widely spreading, almost
orbicular, the dorsal sepal concave; lip very shortly clawed, lateral lobes
oblong, obtuse, faleately recurved; middle lobe broadly stalked, kidney-
shaped, smaller than the lateral lobes; warts of the crest two on each
side, more or less confluent. Column with broad wings.”—Botanical
Magazine.
Oncidium stramineum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, misc. No. 68. Id. 1840, t.14. Id.
Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 123. Bot. Mag. t. 6254.
* In the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1842, p. 382, Dr. Lindley calls it the scorched Oncidium,
t See Oncidium divaricatum, p. 34,
ONCIDIUM. . 81
One of the first orchids collected by Hartweg for the Horticultural
Society of London during his mission to Mexico and Central America,
1837—42. He sent it from Vera Cruz in 1837, but as the plant
was found in company with Berberis tenuwifolia and other temperate
forms, the true locality is probably on the eastern slopes of Orizaba
at 3,000—4,000 feet elevation, one of the richest tracts of vegetation
in Mexico. It belongs to a small sub-section of the genus (Pauci-
tuberculata of Lindley) including Oncidiwm cheirophorum, On. hians,
On. Warneri, and one or two others in which the crest consists of
an even number of tubercles, 2—4.*
Although a pretty and distinct species with whitish or straw-
coloured flowers with a pleasant primrose fragrance, it is now but
rarely seen in cultivation.
On. suave.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 3 inches long, compressed, ancipitous, with 2—3
shallow ribs on each of the flattened sides. Leaves linear, acuminate,
6 or more inches long. Peduncles slender, 18—21 inches long, paniculate,
the branches short, distant and few flowered. Flowers fragrant, exceeding
an inch in diameter; sepals and petals uniform, narrowly lanceolate,
acute, reflexed at the tip, dark sepia-brown, obscurely keeled behind ; lip
bright yellow blotched with red-brown around the crest, three-lobed,
the side lobes oval-oblong; the intermediate lobe broadly clawed,
transversely oblong, emarginate; crest five-toothed, the central one much
the largest. Column wings large, hatchet-shaped, bright yellow.
Oncidium suave, Lind]. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No. 22. Id. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. IT.
fig. 135. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 161. On. Wendlandianum, Rehb. in Bonpl. II.
p- 91 (1850). On. macropterum, A. Rich. Orch. Mer. t. 32, On. lanceans, Hort. Sand.
Cat. p. 46.
First imported from Mexico by Messrs. Loddiges through Deppe
in 1835, and subsequently gathered by Schiede, Galeotti and other
Mexican collectors in the neighbourhood of Oaxaca. We are indebted
to Mr. F. W. Moore, of Glasnevin, for materials for description.
On. superbiens.
Pseudo-bulbs elongate-ovate, 3—4 inches long, compressed, monophyllous.
Leaves broadly linear, almost ensiform, 12—15 or more inches long.
Scapes flexuose, 4—5 or more feet long, branched at irregular intervals,
the branches usually short and few flowered; bracts boat-shaped, sub-
acute, # inch long. Flowers 3—3} inches in diameter; sepals clawed,
wavy, reddish brown tipped with light yellow, the dorsal one somewhat
* The predominating number throughout Oncidium is five.
ONCIDIUM.,
Cc
bo
trulliform with a cordate base, the lateral two ovate, obtuse; petals
similar to the lateral sepals but smaller -with a shorter claw, more
undulate and reflexed at the apex, light yellow barred with brown on
the basal half; lip plum-purple, “trulliform, auricled, shortly clawed
with a raised tubercled yellow fleshy crest towards the base and a
prominent acute tubercle on each auricle.” Column yellow and brown
with a small ascending auricle on each side of the stigma.
Oncidium superbiens, Rchb. in Linnea, XXII. p. 843 (1848). Id. in Gard. Chron.
1872, p. 904. Lindl. Fol, Orch. Oncid. No. 9. Bot. Mag. t. 5980. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. VI. t. 276. On. undulatum, Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIIT. t. 868 (not of Lindl.)
Oncidium superbiens.
One of the handsomest of the Muicrocnma Oncids, almost rivalling
the handsome On. macranthum in the size and varied colouring of
its flowers. It is a native of the eastern Cordillera of New Granada
at 8,000—9,000 feet elevation; it was first detected by Purdie,
about the year 1843, on Santa Martha, and by Fiinck and Schlim
between Pamplona and Ocaiia, in 1847. It was introduced by us
in 1871, and flowered for the first time in this country in our
Chelsea nursery in the spring of the following year.
On. tectum.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovoid, compressed, an inch long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-ligulate, acute, 3—-5 inches long. Peduncles slender,
ONCIDIUM. 83
18—24 inches long, sometimes racemed, oftener panicled, the branches
zigzag and few flowered. Flowers # inch in diameter, bright canary-
yellow with 1—2 red-brown bars on each segment; sepals linear-
oblong, acute, the lateral two free; petals broader, oval-oblong; lip
with two rounded basal lobes and a_ transversely oblong deeply
emarginate blade; crest a nearly circular disk with many tubercles,
those at the circumference tooth-like. Column wings bipartite, the
lower halves spreading, the upper halves prolonged and meeting above
the anther.
Oncidium tectum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 780.
A species now rarely seen in other than Botanic gardens, intro-
duced by us from New Granada, in 1874, through Gustay Wallis,
who did not give the locality of this or indeed of any of his
discoveries. The zigzag growth of the branches of the inflorescence is
here more conspicuous than in any other Oncidium known to us.
The applicability of the specific name is obscure.
On. tetrapetalum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves in tufts of 4—5 or more from a
creeping rhizome, fleshy, triquetral with acute edges, equitant at the
base, channelled on one side, 3—6 inches long. Scapes erect, dark
purple, 18—24 inches high, racemose, or sparingly branched, many
flowered. Flowers an inch across vertically; sepals and petals clawed,
broadly oblong, sub-acute, undulate, keeled behind, the lateral sepals
connate and concealed by the lip, bright chestnut-red barred and
marked with yellow; lip broadly clawed, with two horn-like basal
auricles and a _ transversely reniform, emarginate blade, white with a
red blotch in front of the crest, which consists of seven tubercles,
three in front and four in two pairs behind, all pointing forwards.
Column wings somewhat scimitar-shaped, pale rose dotted with yellow.
Oncidium tetrapetalum, Wild. Sp. Plant. IV. p. 112, ex. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p- 198 (1832). Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 36. On. pauciflorum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 198. On. tricolor, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4130 (1844). On. quadripetalum,
Sw. in K. Vet. Acad. Stockh. Nya. Handl. XXI. p. 240* (1800).
A very pretty species that was known to science in the last
century, and which during the last sixty years has been frequently
introduced into British gardens, but like most of the equitant
Oncids has proved a refractory subject under cultivation. It is a
native of the West Indies and adjacent countries on the American
continent, Jamaica, Dominica, Mexico, Cumana (Venezuela) being
* This is therefore the oldest name of this species, but being a mongrel word, half Latin,
half Greek, it was rejected by the older botanists.
84 ONCIDIUM.
among the recorded stations of this plant. It varies somewhat in
habit and still more so in the colour of its flowers, and has received
several names in consequence.
On. tigrinum.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-globose, compressed, 3—4 inches in diameter, di-
triphyllous. Leaves linear-oblong, obtuse, folded at the base, 9—12
inches long. Scapes robust, erect, 24—36 inches high, loosely panicled ;
bracts small, subulate, appressed. Flowers about 3 inches across verti-
cally, fragrant; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, narrowly oblong,
undulate, reflexed at the tip, bright yellow heavily biotched with brown ;
lip large and spreading, almost flat, wholly yellow, broadly clawed, the
basal lobes small and rounded, the blade transversely and broadly oblong,
emarginate ; crest consisting of two short ridges and a large central one,
terminating in three blunt teeth. Column wings ear-shaped.
Oncidium tigrinum, La Llave et Lex. Nov. Veg. Descript. p. 36 (1825). Lindl.
Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 203 (1832). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 157. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. IIT. t. 137. Rev. hort. 1889, p. 176. Sander’s Reichenbachia, II. pl. 88.
On. Barkeri, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 48. Id. in Bot. Reg. 1841, misc. No. 174.
Paxt. Mag. Bot. XIV. p. 97. Illus. hort. I. t. 2. Odontoglossum tigrinum, Lindl.
Fol. Orch. Odont. No. 10 (1852).
var.—splendidum.
Pseudo-bulbs smaller and monophyllous, both pseudo-bulbs and _ leaves
changing with age to a bronzy purplish brown. Peduncles shorter,
usually racemed and fewer flowered. The sepals and petals are more
reflexed, and the claw of the lip somewhat broader.
On. tigrinum splendidum, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 5878. Van Houtte’s FV. des
Serres, XVIII. t. 1825. On. splendidum, A. Richard, fide Rehb. in Gard. Chron.
1870, p. 1218. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 33. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 373.
Sander’s Reichenbachia, LI. t. 78. Godefroy’s Orchiduphile, 1891, p. 304.
var.—unguiculatum.
Panicles looser and the flowers smaller; the sepals and petals some-
times spotted, not barred; the claw of the blade of the lip longer and
narrower.
On. tigrinum unguiculatum, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 157. On. unguicu-
latum, Hort.
This fine Oncid was first made known to science by the Mexican
botanists, La Llave and Lexarza, who gave a description of it in
their Novarum Vegetabilium Descriptiones, published in 1825.* It
was first cultivated in this country by Mr. Barker, of Birmingham,
who introduced it from Mexico in 1839 or 40; it forms the subject
of the last plate in Lindley’s superb work, Sertum Orchidaceum, under
the name of Oncidium Barker’, in compliment to the introducer,
* That portion of it devoted to orchids is called Opusculum Orchidaceum.
Oncidium tigrinum, var. splendidum.
\\
ONCIDIUM. 85
Lindley at that time failing to identify it with La Llave’s Oncidium
tigrinum. The habitat given by the Mexican botanists is the Irapean
Mountains, not far from Valladolid, but a recent attempt to collect
it there seems to have failed.* According to Lindley it was after-
wards gathered by Ghiesbreght in Michoacan,t and many years later
it was found by Roezl near Colima, on the mountains skirting the
Pacific coast.t
The variety splendidum first became known to the French botanist,
Achille Richard, through a dried specimen, probably communicated
to him by Galeotti; its introduction into French gardens is due to
the late M. Quesnd, of Havre, who received plants from Guatemala
about forty years ago,§ some of which he distributed among his
friends, including M. Herment, of Caen, in Normandy, whence this
gentleman’s name became erroneously associated with its introduction.
It does not appear to have found its way into British gardens till
some years afterwards, the earliest occasion of its flowering in this
country being in the collection of Lord Londesborough, at Norbiton,
in the spring of 1870. It continued to be very rare for many
years till a recent importation by Messrs. Sander and Co. has
caused it to become generally distributed. Usually described in the
horticultural periodicals as a species, it has but the slenderest claim
to such a distinction, the characters relied upon to separate it from
Oncidium tigrinwm being chiefly the pseudo-bulbs and leaves, which
are certainly distinct in aspect, but show no difference that might
not have been brought about by local environment.|| The variety
unguiculatum, in which the structural deviations from the type as
seen in the flowers are more conspicuous than in the variety
splendidum, finds less favour with amateurs than either; it 1s
occasionally imported with the species. On. tigrinwm and its varieties
flower in the winter months and continue a long time in bloom.
Oncidium tigrinum is called by the country people of Mexico Flor
de Muertos, or “Flower of the Dead,’ in accordance with a custom
that has prevailed in the country almost from the time of its first
* Reichenbachia, II. p. 87.
+ Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 157.
+ Belg. hort. XXXII. (1882), p. 100.
§ Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1891, p. 304.
|| More convincing than anything we can say on this point is a comparison of the various
coloured plates quoted in our literary references.
86 ONCIDIUM,
occupation by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, by which all
the most conspicuous native orchids have been associated with their
religious observances.
On. triquetrum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves in tufts of 3—4 or more, linear, acute,
3—5 inches long, fleshy, triquetrous, the angles very acute, channelled
on one side. Scapes slender, longer than the leaves, terminating in a
10—15 flowered raceme. Flowers an inch across vertically; sepals
broadly lanceolate, acute, purplish green, the lateral two connate and
together equal to the dorsal one, bidentate at the tip; petals ovate,
undulate, white tinged with pale green and spotted with purple; lip
cordate-ovate with two rounded basal auricles, white spotted and streaked
with purple; crest small, sub-globose, orange-yellow. Column wings
oblong with the outer margin crenulate.
Oncidium triquetrum, R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. 2, vol. V. p. 216 (1813—15).
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 205 (1832). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 30. Bot. Mag.
t. 3393.
One of the prettiest of the equitant Oncids, although lke its
congeners and from the same cause it is but rarely seen in British
gardens. It was originally introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew
by Admiral Bligh from St. Ann’s, in Jamaica, in 1793; and again from
the same island, to which so far as at present known it is confined,
by Mr. Horsfall, of Liverpool, about 1833, by whom plants were
distributed among the orchid collections at Wentworth, Chatsworth,
etc. It is very near Oncidium pulchellum, from which it is easily
distinguished by its very differently-shaped labellum.
On. trulliferum.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, much elongated, 4—7 inches long,
di-triphyllous, brownish green. Leaves variable in size, narrowly oblong
or lanceolate-oblong, narrowed at the base, sub-acute, 6—9 or more inches
long, 1—2 inches broad. Scapes about 2 feet long, loosely panicled
along the distal third. Flowers nearly an inch across vertically, on
short, slender pedicels, sheathed at the base by a minute auricular
bract; sepals and petals bright yellow barred with red-brown, oval-
oblong, obtuse, the dorsal sepal the shortest and concave, the lateral
two free and divergent; lip bright yellow, broadly clawed with two
rounded basal auricles and a trowel-shaped blade with serrulate margin ;
erest primarily three-lobed, each lobe much warted and toothed, the
front lobe somewhat saddle-shaped, yellow, the posterior two divergent
and spotted with red-brown. Column wings narrow; anther beaked.
Oncidium trulliferum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1839, t. 59. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
No. 190. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1877, t. 922.
ONCIDIUM, 87
“Originally imported from Brazil by Messrs. Loddiges, in whose
nursery it flowered in September, 1838.” ‘This is all that has been
published respecting its origin, and we find no precise habitat
attached to herbarium specimens. Its native home is doubtless in
the rich Oncidium region lying to the north and west of Rio de
Janeiro, We are indebted to the Royal Gardens at Kew for materials
for description.
On. unicorne.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, compressed, 2—8 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 5—-9 inches long. Scapes erect or
inclined, as long again as the leaves, pale glaucous green, loosely
panicled above. Flowers # inch across vertically ; sepals lanceolate, the
lateral two connate almost to the apex, pale greenish or reddish
brown; petals broader, oblong, undulate, red-brown tipped with light
yellow, both sepals and petals reflexed; lip with a fleshy claw and
sub-panduriform emarginate blade, of which the basal half is red and
the apical half yellow; crest prolonged into an incurved reddish horn
as long as the column. Column slender, wingless, but with the
characteristic swelling below the stigma.
Oncidium unicorne, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1837, misc. No. 76. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid.
No. 71. Rcehb. in Gard. Chron, XIV. (1880), p. 652 (pictum). On. monoceras,
Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 3890.
First imported by Messrs. Rollisson from Rio de Janeiro in 1839,
and shortly afterwards sent from that city by Mr. Hunt to the
Duke of Bedford, in whose collection at Woburn Abbey it flowered
in January, 1840. It has been reported from several localities in
southern Brazil; it was detected by Gardner on the Organ
Mountains, afterwards by Regnell in Minas Geraes, and later by
Weir in Sao Paulo.
On. urophyllum.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves equitant, ensiform, curved, 4—6 inches
long, acuminate, dull dark green. Scapes slender, drooping, 18—24
inches long, dull brownish crimson, loosely panicled, many flowered.
Flowers about an inch in diameter; sepals and petals yellow, blotched
with chestnut.brown, the sepals linear-acute, the Isteral two connate
almost to their apex; the petals obovate, apiculate; lip three-lobed,
canary-yellow, the basal lobes small, obovate; the front lobe clawed,
broadly reniform with a sinus in the anterior margin; crest red and
white, consisting of eight teeth arranged somewhat in quincuncial order,
Column wings dolabriform, spreading,
Oncidium urophyllum, Lind. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 48 (1838). Id. Bot, Reg. 1842,
t. 54. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid, No. 33. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. IX. s, 3 (1891), p. 701.
88 ONCIDIUM.
First cultivated by Messrs. Loddiges in 1840—41, who informed
Dr. Lindley that it had been imported from Brazil, which, however,
is an error, as the plants cultivated in the Royal Gardens at Kew
were received from the West Indian Island of Antigua, the only
authentic habitat of the plant yet known. It is one of the equitant
Oncids with tail-like leaves that suggested the specific name, from
ovpa, “a tail,” and pvAXov, “a leaf.” We are indebted to the Royal
Gardens at Kew for materials for description.
On. varicosum.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, compressed, furrowed, 3—4 inches long, di-
rarely tri-phyllous. Leaves ligulate-lanceolate, 6—9 inches long. Scapes
nodding, glaucous, 3--5 feet long, flexuose and branched beyond the middle.
Flowers variable in size, attaining their maximum in the variety Rogersit ;
sepals and petals small and inconspicuous, dull yellow barred with pale
red-brown ; dorsal sepal oval, concave; lateral sepals connate to beyond
the middle, obovate; petals narrowly oblong with crisped margin ; lip
very large, bright yellow, sometimes with a red-brown blotch in front
of the crest, the basal auricles roundish, the blade transversely and
broadly reniform, 2—3 lobed; crest consisting of “two triple teeth one
standing before the other, and of a little ring of varicose veins placed
on each side of it.” Column wings oblong, denticulate.
Oncidium varicosum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1920 (1837). Id. in Journ.
Hort. Soc. Lond. V. p. 143 (1850). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 79.
var.—Rogersii.
Panicles much larger and more spreading. Flowers the largest of all
the forms of Oneidium varicosum, the blade of the lip fully 2 inches
across, and made four-lobed by three deep clefts in the anterior margin.
On. varicosum Rogersii, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1870, p. 277, with fig. Fl. Mag.
1870, t. 477. Florist and Pomol. 1870, p. 25. Warner’s Sel. Orch. If. t. 31.
Jennings’ Orch. t. 29. Belg. hort. 1878, p. 172.
Oncidium varicosum first became known to Dr. Lindley about the
year 1837, through a specimen in the herbarium of Dr. Martius,
which had been gathered in Brazil by Prince Maximilian, of Wied
Neuwied. It was introduced to European gardens by M. de Jonghe,
of Brussels, through Libon, who had rediscovered it in 1846 growing
on the trunks of large trees in the neighbourhood of Yta, in the
province of Sao Paulo. M. de Jonghe, in 1848, presented a plant
to the Horticultural Society of London, which flowered in the
Society’s garden at Chiswick in the following year, the first occasion
of its flowering in this country. The variety Rogersii first appeared
.
the collection of Dr.
ever seen in cultivation ;
ONCIDIUM.
89
Rogers, of Hast Grinstead, who exhibited
at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in November
Oncidium varicosum.
1868, when it was generally recognised as one of the finest Oncids
so ihe
Se
. \\ \
ak
4 fy | \\\
ill tl
iS.
Oncidium varicosum var. Rogersii
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
a swollen vein,” was suggested by the
specific name, from varer
ring of varicose veins around the crest of the labellum.
On. viperinum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, obscurely four-angled, an inch long
“ore > x ay
Leaves linear-oblong, acute, 2 inches long, pea-green
: Flowers about an inch
erect, 5—7 or more inches long,
in diameter; sepals and petals small
few flowered.
undulated,
much
it has always been extremely rare
diphyllous.
Peduncles slender,
pale red-brown
90 ONCIDIUM,
barred with light yellow; the upper sepal elliptic-oblong, ineurved, the
oo ) P} 5)
lateral two free; the petals oblong, reflexed ; lip canary-yellow, with two
I if o d d
small rounded basal auricles and a large transversely oblong, emarginate
blade; crest very complex, mainly a fleshy bipartite protuberance toothed
and warted, and with two small teeth on each side. Column wings
small, rounded.
Oncidium viperinum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 197 (1832). Id. Fol. Orch.
Oncid. No. 77. On. confragosum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, misc. No. 92.
Originally discovered by Tweedie in the early part of the present
century, growing upon dead trees in Uruguay, in the neighbourhood
of Montevideo. Coming from the same country as Oncidium bhifoliwm,
which it much resembles in habit, Dr. Lindley aptly compared it
with that species, from which it is distinguished by its differently
shaped pseudo-bulbs, its longer peduncles bearing smaller flowers
with a different lip, and especially by its crest. The curious form
of the latter, which Lindley fancifully likened to a cluster of
young vipers’ heads as seen in profile, suggested the specific name.
On. volvox.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, 2—4 inches long, compressed, ribbed and
furrowed on the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves narrowly ligulate,
sub-acute, 8—12 inches long, complicate at base. Scapes very slender,
brownish, flexuose, 3—5 feet long, with a minute whitish bract at
each joint, branched at short intervals, the branches 2—3 flowered.
Flowers an inch in diameter; sepals and petals similar and equal,
linear-oblong, obtuse, undulate, yellow much spotted with red-brown to
two-thirds of their length, the lateral sepals free and spreading parallel
with the petals; lip sub-panduriform, the basal lobes roundish oblong,
convex, bright yellow; the front lobe with a short broad claw,
transversely oblong, emarginate, canary-yellow with a red-brown band
around the crest, paler beneath; crest consisting of a central raised
plate bidentate at the apex, and with 5—7 teeth on each side in two
uneven rows. Column wings narrow.
Oncidium volvox, Rchb. in Bonpl. II. p. 13 (1854). Id. Xen. Orch. I. p. 234, t. 99,
No.1. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 156.
Discovered by Wagener in the vicinity of Caracas, and sent by
him to Herr Keferstein, in whose collection at Halle, in Germany,
it flowered for the first time in Europe in 1854. We find no record
of its first introduction into British gardens. The above description
was taken from a plant that flowered in our houses in the autumn
of 1891, and about the same time we received an inflorescence from
Mr. I. W. Moore, of Glasnevin. The specific name refers to the
twining, convolvulus-like axis of the inflorescence.
ONCIDIUM. 91
On. Warscewiczii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed with acute edges, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves ligulate-cuneate, complicate at base, 7-10 inches long. Scapes
15—21 inches long, rendered ancipitous by opposite and alternate
sheathing bracts, 1O—15 or more flowered, the floral bracts triangular,
acute, keeled, as long as the stalked ovaries. Flowers 14 inches across
vertically, of a uniform golden yellow; dorsal sepal and petals oval-
oblong with undulate margin; lateral sepals connate almost to the
apex, concave above, two-keeled beneath; lip with a long and narrow
claw, at the base of which are two small auricles, the blade sub-
orbicular, bilobed with an apiculus in the sinus between the lobes;
erest five-toothed. Column wings narrow.
Oncidium Warscewiczii, Rehb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 693. Id. in Gard. Chion.
1871, p. 560, and I. (1874), p. 48. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 56. Lindenia, II.
t. 88. On. bifrons, Lindl. in Gard. Chron, 1857, p. 84, fide Rchb. in. Gard. Chron.
1871, p. 675.
Originally discovered by Warscewicz on Chiriqui, in Veragua,
growing upon oaks at 8,000—10,000 feet elevation, where the
temperature often sinks to 5° C. (41° F.). It was imported by us
from Costa Rica in 1870. It is one of the most distinct Oncids
ever introduced, for although somewhat resembling in its large
spathaceous bracts Oncidiwm bracteatum from the same region, the
flowers are very different in shape and colour.
On. Warneri.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-conical, 14 inches long, green spotted with dull
purple, diphyllous. Leaves linear, grass-like, 5—6 or more inches long.
Seapes slender, erect, racemose, 8—12 flowered. Flowers small but
showy, about an inch across vertically; sepals and petals variable in
colour, sometimes pale brown, sometimes yellow stained and _ streaked
with purple towards their base; the sepals narrowly elliptic-oblong,
the lateral two free; the petals similar but a little shorter and broader,
also apiculate; lip bright yellow, four-lobed, the basal lobes rotund,
the anterior lobes smaller, oblong, divergent; crest oblong thickened at
the posterior end and with a shallow sunk line. Column wingless.
Oncidium Warneri, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 125 (1855). Odontoglossum
Warneri, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1845, mise. p.54. Jd. 1847, t. 20.
A remarkable Oncidium, more interesting perhaps in a_ botanical
than im a horticultural sense. The labellum of the flower affords a
striking instance of the polymorphism of that organ in Oncidium,
but its simple crest is more that of an Odontoglossum; the absence
of the “ears” or column wings would also bring it within that
genus or even Miltonia; the protuberance at the base of the column
92 ONCIDIUM.
in front, however, indicates its true place. It was first exhibited
by Mr. C. B. Warner at a meeting of the Horticultural Society
of London in May, 1845, and had probably been imported by Messrs.
Loddiges from Mexico. We received materials for description from
the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge,
and from Mr. F. W. Moore, of Glasnevin.
On. Wentworthianum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, 3—4 inches long, compressed, furrowed,
often barred and spotted with brown, diphyllous. Leaves ligulate,
acute, 9—12 or more inches long. Scapes flexuose, several feet long,
branched, the branches distant, slender, the longer ones again branched
and many flowered. Flowers an inch or more in diameter; sepals
and petals yellow blotched with red-brown except on the apical area,
linear-spathulate, undulate at the margin, the two lateral sepals free
and divergent; lip with two rounded pale yellow basal lobes, and a
transversely oblong two-lobed blade, denticulate at the margin, yellow
with some red-brown spots around the crest; crest triangular, toothed
at each angle, with a smaller tooth on each side and two more in
front of the apical angle. Column wings narrow.
Oncidium Wentworthianum, Batem. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 194. Id. Orch.
Mex, et Guat. t. 39. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 195. Id, Paxt. Fl. Gard. II.
icon, 127.
One of the numerous discoveries of Mr. G.
Ure Skinner in Guatemala. He detected it
on the mountains of Santa Rosa in 1839 and
sent it to Mr. Bateman, in whose collection at
Knypersley it flowered in the following year; it
was subsequently sent to the Horticultural Society
of London from the same country by Hartweg.
It was named in compliment to Earl Fitzwilliam,
whose collection of orchids at Wentworth, near
Rotherham, was at that time one of the finest
in England.
Oncidium Wentworthianum.
On. Widgrenii.
Pseudo-bulhs oblong, thickened at the middle, 2 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves narrowly oblong, acute, 4—5 inches long. Scapes slender, sub-erect
or nodding, about a foot high, racemed or panicled, 12—15 or more flowered.
Flowers about an inch in diameter, brightly coloured; sepals yellow with
narrow transverse red-brown bars, the dorsal one oblong-cuneate, obtuse,
the lateral two linear-oblong, connate at the base; petals like the dorsal sepal,
but wholly red-brown and undulate at the margin; lip with a long claw,
ONCIDIUM. 93
three-lobed, the side lobes linear, incurved, yellow, the front lobe roundish,
emarginate, red-brown; crest consisting of a large number of tubercles
running down the centre from the base to the front lobe. Column with two
large incurved wings and a small apical hood.
Oncidium Widgrenii, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 50. Rolfe in Gard. Chron.
V.s. 3 (1889), p. 557.
This is probably a very rare species, with a restricted habitat. Prior to
1889 nothing was known of it beyond an herbarium specimen gathered
by Widgren in the Brazilian province of Minas Geraes, preserved at
Kew, and the description and note in Lindley’s Folia Orchidacea. In the
year mentioned, Mr. Draper, gardener to the Marqu's of Londonderry, at
Seaham Hall, near Sunderland, sent the inflorescence of an Oncidium to
Kew for identification, and shortly afterwards supplied us with the
materials from which our description was taken, and which were identified
for us by Mr. Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium. Mr. Draper states that
the plants came from the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro. It is a
handsome species with bright-coloured flowers that should be sought for
by the collectors of Brazilian orchids.
On. xanthodon.*
**Pseudo-bulbs narrow-ovoid, much compressed, 5 inches long, mono-
phyllous. Leaves 18—24 inches long and 2—2% inches broad, narrow
linear-obovate, acute. Scape very slender, 6—8 feet long, much branched,
twining, greenish brown; branches slender, flexuous ; bracts ovate-lanceolate,
4 inch long; ovary and pedicel together nearly 2 inches long. Flowers
14 inches in diameter, of a rich chocolate-brown with golden crisped and
crenate edges; sepals and petals very similar, waved and reflexed, clawed ;
blade broadly ovate, rounded or almost hastate at the base ; lip smaller and
narrower than the petals; basal portion irregularly quadrate, sessile, two-
lobed at the apex; disk prominent with several tubercular calli which are
yellow, shining, and viscid; blade spathulate, recurved, acute. Column
short, curved like the letter S, with small lateral wings at the apex.”—
Botanical Magazine.
Oncidium xanthodon, Rebb. in Gard, Chron. 1868, p. 1338. Bot, Mag. t. 5756.
Introduced in 1868 from the Ecuadorean Andes by Messrs. Backhouse,
of York. Although closely allied to Oncidium serratum, and originating
in the same region as the group of Oncids noticed under that species,
the plate and description in the Botanical Magazine show that it is
sufficiently distinct to require separate notice, and that it is one of the
series of serratum affinities that will doubtless retain its specific
rank,
* Not seen by us.
94
ONCIDIUM.,.
On. zebrinum.
Rhizome almost as thick as the little finger, sheathed by the persistent
whitish bases of the fallen scales that are lanceolate and at first brownish.
Pseudo-bulbs produced from the rhizome at intervals of 4—6 inches, ovoid-
oblong, compressed, 4—5 inches long and 2 inches broad at the widest,
diphyllous. Leaves ligulate, acute, 10—15 inches long. Panicles flexuose,
7—10 or more feet long, the branches short and few flowered. Flowers
14 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, narrowly
oblong, much undulated, reflexed at the apex, white with 5—7 zebra-like,
Oncidium zebrinum.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
transverse, red-brown stripes; lip smaller than the other segments, sub-
quadrate at the base, oblong-triangular, reflexed, white spotted with red-
brown; crest oblong, tuberculated, bright yellow sometimes marked with
red, Column wings reduced to two small teeth.
Oncidium zebrinum, Rchb. in Bonpl. II. p. 12 (1854). Id. Gard. Chron. 1872,
p. 1855, with fig. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Oncid. No. 16. Bot. Mag. t. 6138. Odonto-
glossum zebrinum, Rchb. in Linnea, XXII. p. 849 (1849). Lind. Fol. Orch. Odont.
No. 40.
MILTONIA. 95
Native of the Cordillera of Venezuela, in the province of Caracas,
where it was discovered, probably by Moritz, in 1847, and whence it
has been sent to Europe, dried or living, by various collectors. It
flowered for the first time in England in Mr. Bull’s nursery at Chelsea,
in September, 1872. The species is readily distinguished by its long,
creeping rhizome, more marked in this respect than any other Oncid
known to us; also by its white zebra-striped flowers, which much
resemble those of an Odontoglossum.
MILTONIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1976 and t. 1992 (1837). Id. Fol. Orch. 1853. Benth. et Hook.
Gen. Plant. III. p. 563 (1883).
Miltonia is one of the comparatively few genera of orchidaceous
plants of which the whole of the included species are more or less
worthy of cultivation, and it is here accordingly monographed in its
entirety. In addition to the handsome species long cultivated in
gardens as Miltonias, a group of orchids whose flowers are of exceptional
beauty are now included in the genus, but which have hitherto been
generally known as Odontoglossums; these, however, conform so much
more closely to the generic characters of Miltonia than to those of
Odontoglossum that they are unhesitatingly referred to the former
genus by botanists, and accepted as such by many horticulturists.
The genus Miltonia, in this enlarged sense, is on the whole a natural
one that may be conveniently retained both in scientific classification
and for garden use, although there are difficulties in technically defining
its limits.*
The relationship subsisting between Miultonia, Odontoglossum and
Oncidium has been already noticed in the introductory notes to the
synopsis of those genera, but in treating of Miltonia we are brought
into contact with another genus, Brassia, which although separated
from Miltonia by fairly well-expressed characters, and the included
species of which are usually recognised by horticulturists by the very
distinct aspect of their inflorescence, nevertheless follows so closely
* Reichenbach monographed Miltonia, as far as it was then known, in his Xenia Orchidacea,
vol. I. p. 128, published in 1855, but removed the whole of the species, together with those of
Brassia, to Oncidium, when compiling his Synopsis of the Orchide for Walper’s Annales
Botanices, vol. VI. published in 1863, placing both series between Lindley’s sub-sections
Integrilabia and Pulvinata.
96 MILTONIA.
after Miltonia that the two genera merge into each other in Miltonia
flavescens, which may, with almost equal right, be referred to either.
It will be convenient in this place to recapitulate briefly the
characters by which Miltonia is chiefly separated from the closely
related genera just mentioned—
From Odontoglossum.—By the short column, the wings of which are
very narrow and usually entire. By the sessile labellum affixed to the base
of the column and spreading from it at a considerable (usually a right)
angle, the crest of which is either obsolete or reduced to a few short
raised lines.
From Oncidium.—By the absence of tumidity in the column below
the stigma. By the sessile and almost entire labellum destitute of a
tuberculated or toothed crest. sy the floral segments being nearly
always in one plane, in many of the species quite flat, the lateral
sepals being always free.
From Brassia.—By the winged or auriculate column. By the broader
and shorter sepals and petals that are not elongated (except in Miltonia
flavescens) into linear acuminate segments.
In their vegetation the Miltonias conform to Odontoglossum, under
which the vegetative organs have been fully described. It should
be noted, however, that a deviation from the usual dark green that
prevails throughout Odontoglossum is observable in many of the
species of Miltonia. Thus—in Miltonia spectabilis and other Brazilian
species the pseudo-bulbs and foliage are of an ochreous yellow
tint, in M. Roezlii and other Colombian species they are of a pallid
hue, and in M. vewillaria they are glaucescent, characters which serve
as distinguishing marks of those species.
The genus was founded by Dr. Lindley on WMiltonia spectabilis
and dedicated to the late Earl Fitzwilliam (Viscount Milton), “one
of the oldest and most zealous friends of Natural Science in this
country.” It includes fourteen species, two supposed natural hybrids
and one artificial hybrid raised in European gardens.
Geographical Distribution—The geographical distribution of the
Miltonias is somewhat peculiar and analogous in a restricted sense
to that of the Cattleyas, for they occur in two regions of South
America, separated from each other by an interval of upwards of
3,000 miles. One group of species is confined to a limited area
in southern Brazil in the immediate neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro,
and another group is restricted to northern Ecuador and Colombia.
One (Miltonia Endresii) has its station in Costa Rica, and the
MILTONIA, 97
precise habitat of one (M. Schroederiana) has not been divulged,
but is vaguely stated to be Central America. Very little too has
been divulged respecting the habitats of the Brazilian species and
of their environment in situ, but coming from the neighbourhood
of Rio de Janeiro, the climatic conditions under which they live
are known by analogy and from cultural experience to be much
the same as those described under Cattleya at page 3. ‘The
Colombian species are found on the Cordilleras at 1,000—6,000 feet
elevation,* where the atmosphere is very humid throughout the
year.
Cultural Note—The cultural treatment of the Miltonias, so far as
regards the potting, watering, and ventilation, is essentially the same as
that formulated under Odontoglossum (page 10—11). The Miltonias,
however, grow under climatic conditions somewhat different from those
under which the greater part of; the Odontoglots are found, especially in
respect of temperature, and this circumstance has to be taken into
account in their cultural treatment. Moreover the climatic conditions
under which the Brazilian species live in their native home are not
quite the same as those of the Colombian species, for their seasons are
opposite ; hence for cultural purposes the Miltonias arrange themselves
into two groups.
All the members of the Brazilian group, that is to say, anceps, candida,
Clowesii, cuneata, flavescens, Regnelli, Russelliana, and spectabilis with its
numerous varieties and the two supposed natural hybrids of Brazilian origin,
require an intermediate temperature such as is maintained in the Cattleya
house, where it ranges throughout the year from 13° to 20° C. (55°—
70° F.) by fire-heat, with such increments by sun-heat as circumstances
admit, the higher temperatures being of course attained in summer
when the plants are in active growth, and when they should be liberally
supplied with water. On warm bright days the Miltonias must be
shaded from the direct rays of the sun during the middle hours of the
day, but at other times they should receive as much light as_ possible.
Miltonia spectabilis and its varieties being plants with creeping rhizomes
are usually cultivated in shallow pans with about an inch of compost —
about their roots which should at no time be allowed to get dry.
Of the Colombian Miltonias that have pallid pseudo-bulbs and foliage,
vexillaria, Phalenopsis and Endresii require a temperature of 10°—13° C.
(50°—55° F.) by fire-heat, allowing it to rise by sun-heat during the
growing season to 15°—20° C. (60°—70° F.); but too great a deviation
from the mean should be avoided. These readings correspond nearly
with Cattleya temperatures, but as this group of Miltonias is found to
* Miltonia Roezlii and M. Warscewiczii in the lower and hotter zone, and M. vewillaria and
MM. Phalenopsis in the higher zone, occasionally associated with Cattleyas.
H
98 MILTONIA.
thrive better under a more equable temperature throughout the year than
under the wider range allowed to Cattleyas, it is the practice of many
cultivators to place them with, or under the same conditions as Cattleyas
during the winter months, and to remove them to the Odontoglossum house
in the summer. Miltonia Roezlii requires more heat and more shade, and
may be cultivated in pans suspended near the roof-glass of the warmest
house. M. Warseewiezii also requires more heat and shade than either
the Brazilian or Colombian species except M. Roezlii. M. Schroederiana
is a rare species of which we have had no cultural experience. All
the Colombian Miltonias are naturally found in shady and moist
situations ; under cultivation therefore the supply of moisture must not
be intermittent, but simply varied in amount according to the season of
the year. Those with pallid pseudo-bulbs and leaves are particularly
liable to the attacks of thrip and red-spider, and the freeing of the
plants from these pests is one of the most onerous duties of the
cultivators of them,
SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES AND VARIETIES.
Miltonia anceps.
“ Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, 2—3 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-oblong, sub-acute, 4—6 inches long. Peduncles longer
than the leaves, two-edged, sheathed by long, alternate, compressed
bracts, one flowered. Flowers 2—2$ inches in diameter; sepals and
petals similar, oblong-lanceolate with recurved tips, yellow-green ; lip
sub-panduriform, white with 2—3 purple longitudinal streaks on the
disk, in front of which are a few purple spots; basilar lamellae two,
with a small tooth between them. Column wings purple.”—Botanical
Magazine.
Miltonia anceps, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 7 (1853). Rchb. Xen. Orch. TL.
p. 56, t. 21. Bot. Mag. t. 5572. Odontoglossum anceps, Klotzsch in Allg. Gartenz.
1851, p. 250. Oncidium anceps, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 758 (1868).
Originally introduced by Messrs. Loddiges from Brazil, and sub-
sequently, about the year 1850, it was sent to Herr Jenisch’s
collection at Flotbeck, near Hamburg, by Allardt. It was re-
introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. in 1864, through their collector
Blunt, and flowered in Mr, Bateman’s collection at Knypersley in
the spring of the following year. We find no record of its habitat
nor any notice of its having flowered in this country since the last
mentioned date.
M. candida.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, elongated, compressed, 3—4 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-oblanceolate, acute, complicate at base, 9—15 inches long.
MILTONIA. 99
Peduncles stoutish, 15—20 inches long, 3—5 flowered. Flowers 3 inches
in diameter; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, narrowly oblong,
apiculate, chestnut-brown tipped and spotted with yellow; lip roundish
obovate with undulate margin, convolute into a broad funnel like tube,
white with two light violet-purple blotches on the disk, and with 5—7
raised lines that are slightly divergent, of which the two next the
middle one are more prominent than the others. Column with a narrow
wing on each side of the stigma.
Miltonia candida, Lindl. in Bot. Reg, 1838, misc. No, 29, and 1845, sub. t. 8.
Id. Sert. Orch. t. 21. Id. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 9. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VI. p. 241.
Bot. Mag. t. 3793 (flavescens). Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 132, t. 54 (Jenischiana).
Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 200 (grandiflora). Oncidium ecandidum, Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 763 (not Lindl.)
Miltonia candida.
Long known as one of the handsomest of the Brazilian Miltonias,
but of which nothing has been recorded of its habitat or of its
discovery. It flowered for the first time in this country (imperfectly)
in Messrs. Loddiges’ nursery in 1838. According to Sir William
Hooker it was originally imported from Brazil by the Karl of Arran,
by whom it was communicated to the Royal Botanic Garden at
Glasnevin, whence were derived the materials for the plate and
description in the Botanical Magazine. The species is slightly variable
in the colour of its flowers which are produced in the autumn
months.
100 MILTONIA.
M. Clowesili.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly ovate-oblong, compressed, attenuated upwards,
3—4 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, 12—18 inches long.
Peduncles nearly as long again as the leaves, racemose along the distal
half, 7—10 flowered. Flowers 2—8 inches in diameter; sepals and
petals similar and sub-equal, lanceolate, acuminate, chestnut-brown barred
and tipped with yellow; lip sub-panduriform, produced at the apical
margin to an acuminate point, the basal half violet-purple the distal half
white ; crest consisting of 5—7 raised lines of unequal length that are
sometimes white, sometimes yellow, of which the middle one is the
broadest, and the two next to it are the longest. Column wings very
narrow, entire.
Miltonia Clowesii, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 34 (1839). Id. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 3.
Bot. Mag. t. 4109. Paxt. Mag. Bot. 1X. p. 241. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 180.
Regel’s Gurtenfl. IIT. t. 160. Belg. hort. 1876, p. 174. Odontoglossum_ Clowesii,
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1839, misc. 153. Brassia Clowesii, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844,
mise. p. 7. Oncidium Clowesii, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 760 (1863).
sub-var.—castanea (Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 30), sepals and petals chestnut-
brown, paler towards the tips, stained with plum colour at the base; lip
wholly plum-purple, shaded with maroon at the base, paler at the apex.
Miltonia Clowesii was first detected by Gardner in a ravine of the
Organ Mountains, and sent by him to the Rev. John Clowes, in
whose garden at Broughton Hall, near Manchester, it flowered in
the autumn of 1839. It has been occasionally received since from
correspondents in Rio de Janeiro and the adjacent province of Minas
Geraes. The sub-variety castanea, which is a very handsome form,
that was first noticed by Reichenbach many years ago, recently
reappeared in our houses, when the above description was taken.
M. cuneata.
A robust plant with a stoutish creeping rhizome. Pseudo-bulbs ovate-
oblong, compressed, 3—4 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves narrowly
lanceolate, acute, 9—15 inches long. Peduncles as long again as the
leaves, erect, racemed above, 5—8 flowered; bracts triangular, acute,
glumaceous. Flowers 24—3 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar,
oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, with recurved tips and undulate margin,
chestnut-brown tipped with lght yellow and sometimes with a few
yellow streaks near the base; lip white with a long narrow claw and
sub-quadrate, undulate blade, on the disk of which are two slightly
divergent raised plates that are sometimes spotted with rose. Column
wings narrow, denticulate.
Miltonia cuneata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844, misc, No. 28. 7d. 1845, t. 8. Id. Fol.
Orch. Milt. No. 8. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 131. Zllus. hort. 1860, t. 237. Williams’
Orch. Alb. I. t. 46. M. speciosa, Klotzsch in Allg. Gartenz. XVII. p. 129. Oncidium
speciosum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 761 (1863).
MILTONIA. 101
The first notice of Miltonia cuneata occurred in 1844, at which date
it was cultivated by Messrs. Rollisson at their nursery at Tooting;
many years afterwards it was sent to M. Verschaffelt’s horticultural
establishment at Ghent by a French correspondent, M. Pinel, from
Brazil. Beyond this not a scrap of information is forthcoming
respecting its habitat, its discoverer, or the date of its introduction.
M. Endresii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 14—2 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 9—12 inches long, pale green. Scapes
as long as the leaves, slightly compressed, pale green, 3—5 flowered ;
bract small, acute, appressed. Flowers flat, 24 inches in diameter, on
rather long pedicels, white with a light red-purple blotch at the base of
each segment; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, oval-oblong, acute,
the dorsal sepal apiculate; lip broadly panduriform, the basal lobes small,
roundish, the front lobe with a shallow sinus in the anterior margin ;
crest semi-lunate, produced into three short keels in front, pubescent,
bright yellow. Column wines very narrow, light rose-purple.
Miltonia Endresii, Nicholson, Dict. Gard. II. p. 368 (1886). Odontoglossum .
Warscewiczii, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 692. Id. Gard. Chron. III. (1875) p. 270.
Id. Xen. Orch. I. p. 208, t. 81. Bot. Mag. t. 6163. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Odont. p. 24.
This is one of the rarest species of the genus; it was discovered
by Warscewicz about the year 1849 on the Cordillera of Veragua, at
4,500—6,000 feet elevation, growing upon leguminous trees; it was
detected by its discoverer only in two localities, in both of which
the plants appeared to be very restricted in numbers. Twenty-two
years afterwards it was re-discovered by Wallis while collecting plants
for M. Linden, but who failed to introduce it into HKuropean gardens.
It was not till 1873, when it was found by Endres while collecting
plants for us in Central America, that its introduction was at length
effected under very difficult circumstances. The first introduction
consisted of a single plant only, and a very small one too, all the
others collected with it having perished during transmission; but two
years later Kndres succeeded in bringing home a few plants, one of
which flowered in our Chelsea nursery in 1875. As a species it is
distinct, its systematic place being between M. Phalcnopsis and
M. Roezlii.
M. flavescens.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, 4—5 inches long, compressed, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-ligulate, about a foot long. Scapes longer than the leaves
102 MILTONIA,
sheathed by distichous and alternate pale brown membraneous bracts,
the floral bracts linear, acuminate, longer than the pedicels. Raceme
7—10 flowered; sepals and petals linear-oblong, acute, 2 inches long,
straw-yellow, the petals a little broader and_ shorter than the sepals ;
lip shorter than the other segments, ovate-oblong, acute with undulate
margin, slightly contracted below the middle, white streaked and marked
with red-purple on the basal half, which is also pubescent and traversed
by 4—6 radiating lines. Column wings obsolete.
Miltonia flavescens, Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 48 (1839). Id. in Bot. Reg. 1845,
sub. t. 8. Id. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 6. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 129. Regel’s
Gartenfl. 1890, t. 1328. Cyrtochilum stellatum, Lind]. Sert. Orch. t. 7 ©.
flavescens, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1627 (1833). Oncidium flavescens, Rehb. in
Walp. Ann. VI. p. 757 (1863).
Originally discovered by the French traveller and naturalist, Des-
courtilz, in the early part of the present century, near Bananal, in
the Brazilian province of Minas Geraes, and subsequently gathered
by Regnell, Miers, and other botanists in southern Brazil. It was
introduced in 1832 by Mr. William Harrison, a British merchant
residing at Rio de Janeiro, who sent plants to his brother Richard
at Aigburth, Liverpool. In a horticultural sense the species is not
in high repute, but it is botanically interesting as connecting Miltonia
with Brassia, it differing from the last named genus in litle except
the stellate arrangement of the sepals and petals, which are nearly
of equal length, and the long acuminate bracts.
M. Phaleenopsis.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, 1—1} inches long, pale green, mono-
diphyllous. Leaves linear, 5—9 inches long, complicate at base, tapering
at apex, pale green, Scapes shorter than the leaves, 3—5 flowered.
Flowers flat, 2—2% inches in diameter; sepals and petals white, ‘the
sepals oval-oblong, acute, the petals broader, elliptic, obtuse; lip four-
lobed, the basal lobes short, rotund, white with some light purple
streaks ; the anterior lobes larger, sub-quadrate, white blotched with light
purple; crest with three small blunt teeth, on each side of which is
a yellow spot. Column wings very short.
Miltonia Phalenopsis, Nicholson, Dict. Gard. II. p. 369 (1886), with fig. M.
pulchella, Hort. ex Batem. Odontoglossum Phalenopsis, Rehb. in Bonpl. II.
p- 278 (1854). Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 844. Linden’s Pesc. t. 44. Warner’s
Sel. Orch. I. t. 30. Batem. Monogr. Odont. t. 3.
This was the first of the group of Colombian Miltonias distinguished
by their large flat flowers and pallid foliage that was introduced
into Kuropean gardens, it having been sent to M. Linden’s horti-
cultural establishment at Brussels by Schlim, in 1850. Its principal
station igs on the western slopes of a branch of the eastern
MILTONIA. 103
Cordillera, almost parallel with the River Magdalena, near Ocajia ; it
grows chiefly on the trunks and branches of trees in more or less
shade, and always in humid situations at 4,000—5,000 feet elevation ;
it also occurs in the Carara district under similar conditions, but at
a lower elevation.
Miltonia Phalznopsis.
M. Regnelli.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 2—3 inches long, pale yellow-
green, diphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, acute, about a foot long.
Peduncles as long as, or longer than the leaves, 3—5 flowered. Flowers
flat, 2—3 inches across vertically; sepals and petals white, sometimes
faintly tinted with rose towards their base, the sepals oblong-lanceolate,
apiculate ; the petals broader, elliptic-oblong, acute ; lip broadly obcordate,
obscurely three-lobed, light rose streaked with rose-purple and with a
white margin; crest consisting of 7--9 radiating pale yellow lines, of
which the three central ones are the most prominent and most brightly
coloured. Column wings narrow, prolonged upwards.
Miltonia Regnelli, Rehb. in Linnea, XXII. p. 851 (1848). Id. Xen. Orch. I.
p. 133, t. 47, icon. xyl. Lindl. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 5 (1853). Bot. Mag. t. 5436.
De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 26. Godelroy’s Orchidophile, 1889, p. 113 (purpurea 2),
M. cereola, J/lus. hort. XII. t. 446 (1865). Oncidium Regnelli, Rechb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 760 (1863).
4
sub-vars.—purpurea (Fl. Mag. 1870, t. 490. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IL.
t. 72), sepals and petals light rose-purple margined with white, lip rich
104 MILTONIA,
magenta-purple with darker veins and reticulations, lines of the crest
white, except the middle one which is bright yellow.
A beautiful species discovered by Dr. Regnell in 1846 in the
Brazilian province of Minas Geraes (it is said), but not introduced
into European gardens till some years afterwards, its first appearance
bemg at a horticultural exhibition held at Hamburgh in September,
1855; the plant had been brought from Santa Catherina in Brazil.*
The species had, however, been previously detected in the same
province by Devos, the discoverer and introducer of Lelia purpurata,
but who failed to send living plants to Europe on account of the
length of time occupied, in those days, in the transmission of plants
from Brazil to Belgium. A few years after its first appearance in
Hamburgh it was communicated by Gautier to M. Verschaffelt, of
Ghent, in whose nursery it flowered in 1865, when it was figured
in the Illustration horticole under the name of Miltonia cereola. The
sub-variety, a very striking one, was introduced in 1869.
Miltonia Regnelli comes nearer to the Colombian Miltonias than
any of the Brazilian species, a circumstance the more remarkable as
it is geographically the most remote.
M. Roezlii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 2—2% inches long, pale green,
monophyllous. Leaves linear, acute, 9—12 inches long, pale green.
Seapes shorter than or as long as the leaves, rather slender, 2—5
flowered. Bracts subulate-lanceolate, shorter than the pedicels. Flowers
quite flat, 3$—4 inches across, white with a purple blotch at the base
of each petal, and an orange-yellow disk at the base of the lip; sepals
obovate-oblong, acute; petals similar but broader; lip broadly obcordate
with an angular sinus in the anterior margin, a small horn-lke auricle
on each side of the base, and three raised lines on the disk with
two small teeth in front of them. Column wings obsolete.
Miltonia Roezlii, Nicholson, Dict. Gard. II. p. 369 (1886). Rev. de l’Hort. Belg.
1891, p. 132. Odontoglossum Roezlii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 1303, with fig.
Id. Xen. Orch. II. p. 191, t. 182, fig. 1. Bot. Mag. t. 6085. Batem. Monogr. of
Odont. t. 80. Fl. Mag. x.s.t.90. The Garden, X. (1876), t. 31. Williams’ Orch.
Alb TI. t. 64. Sander’s Reichenbachia, II, t. 69. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1886,
p- 27, icon. xyl.
sub-vars.—alha (Fl. Mag. ns. t. 164), flowers wholly white except
the yellow disk of the lip, which is paler than in the type; Warnham
Court, flowers large, the purple blotch on the petals larger and shaded
with maroon.
* Fide Rehb. in Xen. Orch. I. p. 134.
MILTONIA. 105
The following particulars relating to the first discovery of this
beautiful plant were communicated to M. Godefroy, of Argenteuil,
by the late Benedict Roezl :—
“Towards the end of March, 1873, I was going down the little
river Dagua which flows into the Pacific Ocean. Like all the streams
which flow into the ocean from the western Cordillera of New Granada,
Miltonia Roezlii alba.
the current is rapid. I had reached to about ten miles from the outlet
when my attention was arrested by the trunk of a tree that was being
borne along down the stream upon which was an orchid, quite unknown
to me, in full bloom. I immediately requested my negro to secure the
treasure, a matter of considerable difficulty owing to the strength of the
current. He at length succeeded in detaching the plants, three in
number, from the log, and which proved to be a new species of Miltonia
(Odontoglossum), allied to Miltonia vevillaria and M. Phalenopsis.
106 MILTONIA,
Some months later, the plant (sic), with other novelties, was acquired
by Mr, William Bull, of Chelsea, for 250 franes.” *
Such in substance is Roezl’s own account of the discovery of this
plant that deservedly bears his name, of which it may be remarked
that the locality given is not found on any map to which we have
had access, and that the plants in cultivation have, with the above
exception, been brought from the valley of the Cauca, on the
eastern or opposite side of the western Cordillera.
Chesterton was the next collector to detect it; he brought some cases
of plants in good condition to our nursery in 1877, but, more suo,
did not divulge the true locality in which they had been gathered.
He was closely followed by Roezl’s nephew, Francis Klaboch, who
sent some plants to Europe in the following year; since then it has
been frequently imported. Its habitat is now known to be in the
province of Antioquia, on the slopes of the hills near the river Atrata,
a tributary of the Cauca, growing on trees and rocks mostly in
shade at 1,000—2,000 feet elevation, sometimes associated with
Oncidium Kramerianum.
M. Russelliana
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 2—3 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves narrowly lanceolate, 6—9 inches long. Scapes 15/—24 inches
long, green mottled with dull purple, ; bracts sheathing, acute, pale
brown, $ inch long, the floral ones shorter. Racemes 5—9 flowered ;
flowers 2—24 inches in diameter when spread out; sepals and petals
similar, oblong-lanceolate, acute, reddish brown tipped with pale yellow ;
lip cuneate-oblong, retuse, apiculate, the lateral margins sub-sinuate, the
basal two-thirds rose-lilac, the apical third white or light yellow; disk
with three raised lines, of which the middle one is the shortest, the
lateral two dilated in front into two erect plates. Column wings ovate,
acute, yellow.
Miltonia Russelliana, Lindl. Sert. Orch. sub. t. 48 (1840). Id. in Bot. Reg. 1845,
sub. t. 8. Id. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 4. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VIT. p. 217 (1840). Rehb.
Xen. Orch. I. p. 131. Oncidium Russellianum, Lindl. in Bot, Reg. t. 1830 (1836).
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 761 (1863). Kegel’s Gartenjl. 1880, t. 1012 (pallidum).
Introduced to the Woburn collection in 1835 from Rio de Janeiro,
and named in compliment to the Duke of Bedford. The only habitat
we find recorded is Tejuco, in the province of Rio de Janeiro. Our
description is from a plant that was in the Downside collection, since
dispersed; it is one of the least attractive of the Miltonias, not
now often seen.
* Orchidophile, 1883, p. 476.
MILTONIA. 107
M. Schroederiana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, 14—2 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves
linear-oblong, acute, 5—7 inches long. Scapes erect, longer than the
leaves, racemed above, 7—9 flowered; bracts small, acute, glumaceous.
Flowers fragrant, 24 inches across vertically; sepals and petals with
revolute margins, linear-oblong, acute, chestnut-brown tipped and marked
with light yellow; the sepals keeled behind, the lateral two divergent
and a little longer than the dorsal one, the petals falcately turned
towards the dorsal sepal; lip sub-pandurate, the basal half nearly oblong,
rose-purple, the apical half sub-quadrate, apiculate, convex above, muilk-
white ; crest consisting of three protuberances with a shallow raised line
on each side of them. Column white above, yellow in front, the wings
very narrow.
Miltonia Schroederiana, supra. Odontoglossum Schroederiana, Rehb, in Gard.
Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 364. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 382. Sander’s
Reichenbachia, II, t. 96.
Miltonia Schroederiana.
A very handsome species imported from Central America by
Messrs. Sander and Co. some time prior to 1885, in January of
which year a plant was exhibited by Baron Schroeder at the Royal
Horticultural Society’s meeting; it is still very rare in British
gardens. We are indebted to Baron Schroeder for materials for
figuring and description.*
* The plant described by Reichenbach in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1882, Vol. XVIL.,
p. 700, under the name of Odontoglossum Schroederianum, and which is also in Baron
Schroeder’s collection at The Dell, is a true Odontoglot, and quite distinct from that described
under the same name in the Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1887, vol. I. s. 3, p. 364, which is the
Miltonia figured and described above. Both in Williams’ Orchid Albwm, IX. sub. t. 382,
and Sander’s Leichenbachia, Il. sub. t. 96, the two are confused together.
108 MILTONIA.
M. spectabilis.
Rhizome stoutish, creepmg, scaly, as thick as a goose-quill. Pseudo-
bulbs produced from the rhizome at short intervals, ovate-oblong, com-
pressed, 3—4 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, 4—6 inches
long, both pseudo-bulbs and leaves usually of an ochreous yellow
hue. Scapes as long as the pseudo-bulhbs and leaves, sheathed by
alternate, imbricating ancipitous bracts, and a larger one embracing the
ovary, one flowered. Flowers nearly flat, 3 inches in diameter; sepals
and petals lanceolate-oblong, acute, the petals a little the broadest, white
or cream colour, sometimes tinged with rose towards the base; lip large,
spreading, obovate-orbicular, vinous purple with 6—8 longitudinal veins
of a deeper shade, the margin white or pale rose; crest tri-lamellate,
the lamelle terminating in small erect plates, usually yellow. Column
wings sub-triangular, rose-purple.
Miltonia spectabilis, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1976 (1837). Jd. t. 1992. Id.
1845, sub. t. 8. Id. Fol. Orch. Milt. No. 1. Bot. Mag. t. 4206. Paxt. Mag. Bot.
VII. p. 97. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 129. Jilus. hort. VI. t. 216. The Garden,
XXAXT. (1887), t. 593. Macrochilus Fryanus, Knowles and Weste. Fl. Cab. II. t. 45
(1837). Oncidium spectabile, Rehb, in Walp. Ann. VII. p. 759 (1863).
var.—Moreliana.
Flowers usually larger than the type and very distinct in colour ;
sepals and petals plum-purple; lip bright rose-purple with deeper veins
and reticulations.
M. spectabilis Moreliana, Henfrey’s Gard. Mag. Bot. III. p. 41, with fig. Van
Houtte’s Fl. wes Serres, X. t. 1008. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 27. Lindenia, II.
t. 105. Williams’ Orch, Alb. VIII. t. 364. M. Moreliana, Warner’s Sel. Orch. J.
t. 32. Fl. May. n.s. IID, t. 143, Jennings’ Orch. t. 37. M. spectabilis purpureo-
violacea, Bot. Alag. t. 4425.
sub.-vars. (distinguished by colour only).—bicolor, flowers white with a
large plum-purple blotch at the base of the lip; lineata (Lindenia, II.
t. 62), lip with 7—9 purple lines radiating from a blotch of the same
colour at the base to the margin; radians (Rehb. Xen. Orch. I.
p. 130. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 164), flowers white with six
club-shaped purple rays on the disk of the lip; rosea (Illus. hort.
1867, t. 524), flowers light rose with purple longitudinal lines on the
lip; virginalis (Illus. hort. 1869, t. 573), flowers white with a broad
wedge-shaped purple blotch at the base of the lip.
Miltonia spectabilis, as already stated, is the species on which the
genus was founded and, with the exception of M. flavescens, which
previous to the introduction of M. spectabilis had been referred to
Cyrtochilum and M. Russellianum, which had been figured and
described as an Oncidium, it is one that has been longest known
to science and to horticulture, and yet up to the present time its
precise habitat is known only to the orchid collectors at Rio de
Janeiro. Lindley imdeed states that it was gathered by Weddell
MILTONIA. 109
on the Serra de Estrada, but no such locality is to be found on
any modern map of Brazil within our reach. Thus in the case of
three of the longest known and finest of the Brazilian Miltonias,
spectabilis, candida, and cuneata, the dates of their discovery, the
names of their discoverers, and their precise habitats are virtually
unknown.
Miltonia spectabilis.
The subject of our present notice was originally sent to the
Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society from Brazil, in 1835,
by a Mr. Fry, and was dedicated to that gentleman by Knowles and
Westcott in their Floral Cabinet under the name of Macrochilus Fryanus,
but as this name was published one month later than Dr. Lindley’s
Miltonia spectabilis in the Botanical Register, it cannot be accepted.
lt flowered for the first time in this country in Messrs. Loddiges’
110 MILTONIA.
nursery at Hackney in 1837, and a little later in the same year in
Mr. George Barker’s collection at Birmingham. It has been frequently
imported since, and among these importations have appeared from
time to time the various forms described above. The variety
Moreliana is one of the most remarkable colour deviations from the
typical form to be found among orchids ;* it was sent to M. Morel,
of St. Mandé, near Paris, in 1846, by his Brazilian correspondent,
M. Porte, and was shortly afterwards cultivated by Messrs. Knight
and Perry, our predecessors at the Rvoyal Exotic Nursery. All the
sub-varieties noted above are decidedly handsome, and most of them
well-marked horticultural forms.
The estimation in which JMiltunia spectabilis is held, has found
expression in the unusual number of coloured plates of it and its
varieties that have appeared in the horticultural periodicals at intervals
from the date of its first flowermg in this country down to the
present time.
M. vexillaria.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, keeled beneath, imbricate at base,
distichous and alternate, usually 6—8 to one growth, the lower two
shorter than those above, and the upper two partially enclosing at their
base a flattened oval-oblong pseudo-bulb 1$—24 inches long, which is
monophyllous at the apex, the whole plant of a glaucous pea-green
colour, Scapes usually two from each pseudo-bulb, but sometimes three
or more, slender, arching, 12—20 inches long, racemed, 4—7 flowered.
Flowers variable in size and colour, 3—4 inches across vertically, usually
light rose-colour, but often varying from rose-carmine to almost
white or white flushed with lght rose; sepals and petals similar and
sub-equal, obovate-oblong; lip flat, sub-orbicular, two-lobed in front, and
with a small ovate ascending auricle on each side at the base; crest
yellow, two-lobed at base, prolonged in front into three short teeth.
Column wings obsolete.
Miltonia vexillaria, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 327 (1881). Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant, I1f. p. 563 (1883). Nicholson, Dict. Gard. II. p. 369, with fig.
Sander’s Reichenbachia, I. s. 2, t. 29. Odontoglossum vexillarium, Rehb. in Gard.
Chron. 1867, p. 901; 1872, p. 667; 1873, pp. 580 and 644 with figs. Id. Xen. Orch.
IT. p. 190, t. 182. Bot. May. t. 6037. Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 73. Batem. Monogr. Odont.
t. 29. Jennings’ Orch. t. 36. Illus. hort. XX. t. 113. Revue hort. 1876, p. 390.
Warnrer’s Sel. Orch. 11. t. 38. Belg. hort. XXX. p. 257. Van Houtte’s #7. des
Serres, XX. t. 2058.
* The reader will here doubtless call to mind the equally remarkable variety of Vanda
Parishii called Marriottiana.
MILTONIA, 111
var.—Leopoldii.
Sepals and petals recurved beyond the middle, rose suffused with
white ; lip concave, of a deeper rose than the other segments, and with
a deep blood-red blotch at the base, of triangular shape, having a broad
cusp at the apex and two short lateral rays.
M. vexillaria Leopoldii, Hort. et supra.
var.—rubella.
Flowers smaller than in the original type and appearing later in the
year, rose-pink, the sepals and petals bordered with white, the lip with
a large white space in front of the yellow disk.
M. vexillaria rubella, supra. Odontoglossum vexillarium rubellum, Hort. Od.
vexillarium Klabochianum, Hort.
var.—stupenda.
Flowers the largest of the species yet seen, vertical diameter 5 inches,
breadth of the labellum 3$—4 inches; colour light rose suffused with
white.
M. vexillaria stupenda, supra.
sub-vars. (distinguished by colour only).—alba (Williams’ Oreh. Alb. V.
t. 227, syn. Mr. Measures’ var. syn. Fairy Queen), pure white, some-
times with a faint roseate tinge at the base of the sepals and petals ;
albicans, white with a few red streaks in front of the pale yellow disk
of the Jabellum; Herr Lehmann’s (Gard. Chron, XIII. (1880), p. 586),
sepals and petals rose, the lateral sepals with three dark stripes, the
white area of the labellum also striped; lewcoglossum (Gard. Chron.
XIV. (1880), p. 296), sepals and petals light rose, lip white; Mr. Cobb’s,
sepals and petals light rose passing into white at the margin, lip white
with three small orange-yellow lines, at the base of which the middle
one is the longest; Mr. Hiil’s (Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880), p. 296),
rose with two purple lines on the lateral sepals and three at the base
of the labellum, which is dotted with purple; Mrs. H. Ballantine,
sepals white, petals with the central area rose-pink, lip rose-pink with
a narrow white margin and with a white transverse band in front of
the yellow disk; M. Wiéot’s (Gard. Chron. XVII. (1882), p. 826),
white with two short purple lines on the lateral sepals and three in
front of the yellow disk of the labellum; rosea (Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII.
t. 848), bright rose with a narrow white zone in front of the yellow disk
of the labellum; rubra (Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 461), deep rose, the lip with
darker veins and with three divergent blood-red streaks in front of the
yellow disk; Sander’s (Gard. Chron. X. s. 3 (1891), p. 394), sepals
white flushed with light rose, the lateral two with dotted crimson lines
near the base, petals light rose, lip with a sanguineous triangular blotch
with several thick lines radiating from it; superba (Gard. Chron. XVI.
(1881), p. 3¢4. Wilhams’ Orch, Alb. IV. t. 171. Lindenia V. t, 201,
2, MILTONIA.
syn. Lawrenceana. Gard. Chron. XXII. (1884), p. 396), rose-pink, the
lateral sepals with 1—2 red-purple streaks near the base, the lip with a
large triangular rayed blotch at the base, of maroon-purple toned with
red and bordered with a zone of the purest white.
This popular and charming Miltonia is supposed to have been
originally discovered by Bowman, while collecting plants in New
Granada in 1866—67, and where he shortly afterwards succumbed
to the climate and fatigue. This belief is strengthened by the
Miltonia vexillaria,
following passage that occurs in his letter of October 14th, 1867, to
the late Mr. James Veitch, giving an account of his journey across
New Granada from Buenaventura to Bogota:—‘ Another good plant
is the scarlet Odontoglossum; this is the brightest I have yet seen
among orchidaceous plants.’ From the route taken, it is probable
that he met with the plant, assuming that the extract refers to
Miltonia vevillaria, in some locality on the western slopes of the
coast Cordillera, but where it is comparatively rare. It first became
MILTONIA. 113
known in a tangible form through a dried flower brought to a
British horticultural firm under circumstances amusingly related by
Reichenbach in his first announcement of the species,* but which
was not followed by its immediate introduction. Im the meantime
it had been re-discovered by Wallis while collecting plants im New
Granada for M. Linden, but he too failed to introduce it into
European gardens. Disappointment also attended Roezl, who was
commissioned in 1871 by M. Linden to collect it in the locality in
which it had been found by Wallis, but from the delay and diffi-
culty of transmission the plants were all dead when they reached
Belgium. Enough, however, had by that time transpired to excite
a most lively interest in the plant, and an ardent desire to see it
blooming in the plant houses of Hurope. With the slenderest scrap
of information then available, Chesterton, early in the year 1872,
undertook at our request to endeavour to seek it out and to bring
a consignment home. ‘That he succeeded in bringing it to England,
and its flowering for the first time in our houses in the spring of
1873, are well-known facts in its history. The interest awakened by
its actual presence in our midst and the general admiration accorded
to it soon caused it to become a favourite with amateurs of
orchids.
The veil of mystery that so long shrouded this lovely plant during
its early history has since been torn away, and we are now in pos-
session of ample details respecting its habitat and the conditions
under which it grows in its native home. For this valuable in-
formation, science and horticulture are in a great measure indebted
to one of the ablest observers of orchid life in the Andean region
who has ever lived and travelled in it, Herr F. C. Lehmann, the
German Consul in that country, from whose communication to the
Berlin Gartenflorat we extract the following details :—
The southern limit of Miltonia vexillaria is on the western slopes of
the snow-capped “ Huarmi-Ureu,” and the voleano of Coatacachi, in the
provinces of Esmeralda and Imbabura, in northern Ecuador ; here and on
the western slopes of the voleanie peaks of Chiles, Cumbal, and
Mallama, in southern Colombia, occur the varieties Lehmanni, albicans,
and Measuresiana (alba supra). The species thence spreads northwards
along the central mountain region and the western slopes of the West
* Gard. Chron. 1867, p. 901.
+ Jahrgang 38 (1889), p. 350.
114
MILTONIA,
Cordillera, as far as the sources of the rivers Sinu and San Jorje, in
the province of Antioquia, in North Colombia. Over this region it
occurs in greater or less quantity in isolated patches. Among the best-
known stations are the central Cordillera, between Frontino and
Sonson, on the Tavallones de Cali, the undulated plateau of Popayan,
and the western slopes of the volcanos of northern Ecuador. The
whole region in which MMiltonia vexillaria grows is well defined and
similarly bounded. With one exception, the variety albicans which
occurs at 4,000—4,600 feet elevation on the river Cuaiquer, the lower
and higher limits of M//tonia verillaria are almost everywhere about
4,750 and 6,500 feet above sea-level. The average mean temperature of
the year between these limits fluctuates between 16°5°—19°5° C. (62°—
67° F.), that of the variety albicans 20°—21° C. (68°—70° F.); the
extreme daily range when the mornings are clear and the days bright
is from 12° C. (53° F.) minimum, to 25° C. (77° F.) maximum:
Generally speaking, Miltonia vevillaria is found isolated in places
influenced by local climatic conditions, being most abundant at its
medium altitude; it always occurs on the borders of the denser
mountain forests which have below them either open or park-hke
stretches covered with low bushes or coarse savannah grass, and above,
the extremely humid and almost impenetrable and luxuriant forests that
cover the Cordilleras at that altitude. The characteristic hygrometric
peculiarity of the whole region over which Miltonia vexillaria is spread
is, that it is constant nearly throughout the year; even in what is
called the dry season the air is only relatively less humid. The daily
changes in the weather may be thus summarised:—During the dry
season the day breaks clear, but soon after sunrise a thick mist settles
over the forest till about 10 a.m ; it then ascends higher, and the rays
of the sun begin with difficulty to penetrate it; the air is then filled
with a bluish mist that shuts out the distant view. A light shower of
rain falls in the afternoon about 2 o’clock, which often continues till
evening, when it gives place to a thick mist. During the rains there
is generally a light wind blowing towards the mountains from the lower
river valleys. In the rainy season the circumstances are nearly the
same, except that the rain is more copious, the drops. heavier, and the
showers of longer duration. At times the rain is continuous for several
days in succession; the atmosphere is then at the saturation point.
Of the varieties described above scarcely anything has been divulged
respecting their origin. Herr Lehmann, indeed, states that rubella
is a geographical form first gathered by Wallis in 1876, and sub-
sequently by himself, but gives no locality; Leopoldi and stupenda
are
both very distinct forms whose origin is unknown to us. The
colour variations or sub-varieties are innumerable, often gliding into
each other by insensible gradations so that it is almost futile to
MILTONIA. 118 3
designate them by name; those designated above are fairly distinct
and may without difficulty be identified. This variability in colour
is, however, one of the greatest excellencies of the species in a
horticultural sense, and the large groups of Miltonia vewillaria now
to be seen in many of the orchid collections in this country afford
in their flowering season, May and June, one of the most attractive
floral sights that can be produced from among the Orcumex.*
M. Warscewiczii.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, 4—5 inches long, 1 inch broad,
monophyllous. Leaves linear-oblong obtuse, 5 -7 inches long. Scapes
exceeding in leneth the pseudo-bulbs and leaves, usually panicled but
sometimes racemed, many-flowered ; bracts acuminate, shorter than the
ovary. Flowers somewhat crowded, 2 inches across vertically ; sepals
and petals similar and sub-equal, oblong-spathulate, undulate, brownish
red, sometimes yellow, sometimes white at the tip; lip broadly oblong
with a medium cleft in the anterior margin, rose-purple with a red-
brown disk and white margin, white at the very base where there
are two small yellow teeth. Column wings rounded, red-purple.
Miltonia Warscewiezii, Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 132 (1855). Id. in Gard. Chron.
1867, p. 277; V. (1876), p. 894; VII. (1877), p. 202. Bot. Mag. t. 5843. Williams’
Orch. Alb. V. t. 216. Oncidium fuscatum, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 763 (1863).
Van Houtte’s F/. des Serres, XVIIT. t. 1831. Illus. hort, X XJ. t. 156. Odonto-
glossum Weltonii, Hort.
Miltonia Warscewiczii.
A very handsome species originally discovered by the German
* The enormous inroads constantly being made upon Miltonia vevxillaria by orchid collectors
in New Granada would seem to threaten its extinction were it not that the extensive geogra-
phical area over which it is dispersed affords an assurance that it exists in quantity too large to
be sensibly diminished by that means, except in particular localities, for a long time to come.
Moreover, the reproductive power of the plant is so great as to secure its perpetuation against
adverse influences. Herr Lehmann estimates that about 75 per cent. of the flowers produce
capsules in a wild state with germinating seeds ; the seeds easily and quickly germinate, but
many of the young plants perish.
116 MILTONIA.
botanist, Poeppig, who detected it in 1830 on the Peruvian Andes,
near Cuchiro.* It was next found by the Polish traveller and
collector, Warscewicz, who brought to Europe dried specimens from
which the plant was first described, and the species was accordingly
dedicated to him. It was introduced to European gardens by Linden
in 1868, through Wallis, probably from New Granada, in which
country it had been detected by Purdic many years previously.
Quite recently it was found by our collector, Burke, growing on
small trees and shrubs close to the ground and on moss-covered
stones at 2,000—3,000 feet elevation, near the Rio Verde, in the
province of Antioquia. A plant exhibited at a meeting of the
Royal Horticultural Society im October, 1869, was probably the first
that flowered in this country. Miltonia Warscewiczii is the only
species in the genus yet known with a panicled inflorescence, the
flowers of which vary considerably in colour in different plants.
HYBRID MILTONIAS.
Supposed Naturat Hysrips.
Two Miltonias of supposed hybrid origin have appeared among the
importations of the Brazilian species. The hypothesis of this origin
rests upon the presence of characters in the floral and, in a less
degree, in the vegetative organs of the offspring that are evidently
blendings of the characters of the corresponding organs of the pre-
sumed parents in the manner described below.
Miltonia Bluntii.
Pseudo-bulbs from a creeping rhizome as in Miltonia spectabilis, and
bearing two apical leaves of larger size than usually seen in that
species Scapes sheathed by ovate-lanceolate bracts and terminating in
a few-flowered raceme. Flowers nearly as large as those of M. spectabilis ;
sepals and petals stellate, whitish yellow with some red-brown blotches
in the central area, the sepals lanceolate, the petals broader and _ less
acute; lip obcordate with the side margins depressed, the apical part
much undulated and white, the basal part purplish crimson as in
M. Clowesti.
Miltonia Bluntii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XII. (1879), p. 489.
* We give this on the authority of the late Professor Reichenbach (Xen. Orch. I. p. 132),
whose evidence was an imperfect specimen in Pceppig’s herbarium. ‘‘ Eamdem speciem seu
valde aflinem, jam diu novimus ex herbario Poppigiano sed statu deplorabili.”
——— a
MILTONIA. Lib,
var.—Lubbersiana.
Flowers larger than the original form, about 4 inches across vertically ;
sepals and petals light yellow with broad close-set purplish brown bars
and blotches, and an a purple stain at the base; the basal area of
the lip purple with several red-brown lines, the apical area much lighter.
M. Bluntii Lubbersiana, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, II. s. 3 (1887), p. 649. Godefroy’s
Orchidophile, 1890, p. 176.
ie Ali Ul 2
Miltonia Bluntii, var. Lubbersiana.
A supposed natural hybrid between Miltonia spectabilis and M.
Clowesti, in which the first named greatly preponderates in the vegeta-
tive organs and the latter in the colour of the flowers, the segments
of which are intermediate between the two. The original form was
sent to Mr. Richard Bullen, of the Woodlands Nursery, Lewisham, from
Rio de Janeiro, in 1879, by Blunt, formerly orchid collector for
Messrs. Low and Co, The variety, which is among the handsomest of
118 MILTONIA.
Miltonias, appeared in 1887 in the nursery of M. Peeters at St. Gilles,
b) e
Brussels, and is named in compliment to M. Lubbers, Curator of the
, ] )
Botanie Garden of that city.
M. festiva.
Rhizome, pscudo-bulbs and leaves as in Miltonia spectabilis. The
2—3 flowered peduncles sheathed with ancipitous bracts as in that
species, but shorter; sepals and petals nearly as in M. flavescens, light
yellow; lip more that of JL spectabilis, but with an acute apex, light
purple.
Miltonia festiva, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, 1868, p. 572.
A supposed natural hybrid between Miltonia spectabilis and M.
flavescens. 1t was sent for identification to Professor Reichenbach in
1865 by M. Liiddemann, of Paris; a few years later it appeared in
Messrs. Low’s nursery at Clapton, and in 1877 a plant flowered in our
Chelsea nursery. Since that date we find no evidence of its being in
cultivation.
GARDEN Hyprips.
The only hybrid Miltonia raised artificially that has yet flowered
is that here described, and which has been obtained by two
operators from the crossing of the same pair of species, first by
M. Bleu, of Paris, Secrétaire Général de la Socicté nationale de~
? Horticulture de France, and secondly by ourselves.
Miltonia Bleuana.
M. vevillaria x M. Roezlit.
Vegetative organs nearly as in Miltonia vewillaria. Flowers 3— 4
inches across vertically ; sepals and petals intermediate, the former wholly
white, the latter white with a rose-purple stain at the base; lip also
intermediate, having the broader obcordate form of M. Roezlit and the
apical sinus but not so deep, of M. vevillaria, white with a fan-
shaped rayed red-brown blotch in front of the yellow disk which is also
intermediate in shape between that of the two parents.
Miltonia Bleuana, Gard. Chron. VY. s. 3 (1889), p. 208. Lindenia, IV. t. 176.
Sander’s Reichenbachia, I. s. 2, t. 32. Williams’ Orch, Alb. [X. t. 412 (splendens).
M. Bleui, Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1889, p. 45. Id. Miltonopsis Bleui, p. 145,
with fig.
sub-var. — aurea (Orchidophile, 1889, p. 145, with fig.), flowers white with
a faint flush of light rose at the base of the petals, and with the
yellow disk at the base of the lip somewhat enlarged.
The seeds obtained by M. Bleu from his cross were sown in April,
1884, and the first flower expanded early in January, 1889. Seden’s
cross was effected a little later; the seeds were not sown till January,
BRASSIA. 119
1885, and the first flower of the progeny did not expand till the Spring
of 1891. In the clearer atmosphere and warmer climate of Paris
M. Bleu succeeded in raising more seedlings in a shorter time than we
did, and they also showed some differences in colour, infer se, among
which that noted above is sufficiently distinct to have a name for
garden use.
Miltonia Bleuana.
(From the Chelsea cross.)
BRASSIA.
R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2, V. p. 215 (1813). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 212
(1833). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. II]. p. 564 (1883).
The Brassias occupy but a subordinate place, in a horticultural
sense, in the group of genera to which they are nearest allied.
This is owmg to the absence generally of the bright colours and
varied tints which render so many of their congeners among the
Oncidiums and Miltonias so highly appreciated by the cultivators of
120 BRASSIA.
orchids. But although the flowers of most of the Brassias are of
a homely and inattractive hue, there are not wanting forms in which
strong colour contrasts are present, as in Brassia Antherotes and
B. Keiliana tristis; and in most of the cultivated species the flowers
are more or less pleasantly fragrant.
The botanical relationship between Brassia and Miltonia has been
already stated.* Its affinity to Oncidium is also very close, from
which, as Lindley long since pointed out, ‘‘there is nothing in
reality that separates it except its very short earless column and
entire bilamellate lip combined with elongated» lateral sepals.” +
Nevertheless, there is a distinctness in the inflorescence by which
the species can be recognised as Brassias at a glance, and which
affords characters sufficiently definite to admit of the genus being
retained. These characters may be expressed thus—
The scapes are always racemed and of a definite length, comparable
with that of the leaves; the bracts are short and inconspicuous in all
the cultivated species, except in Brassta MWeiliana.
The sepals are long, linear, acuminate, and often tail-like.
The petals are similar, but shorter and narrower, and are placed either
at a small angle to the dorsal sepal or turned towards it in a falcate
manner,
The lip is sessile at the base of the short wingless column, entire,
usually flat, bilamellate at the base, and about the same length as
the petals.
The vegetative organs of the Brassias conform nearly to the Miltonias
and to many of the Oncidiums; the pseudo-bulbs are mono-diphyllous, the
leaves below them in the new growths are few, the lowermost being
reduced to scales.
The genus was founded by Dr. Robert Brown on _ Brassia
maculata, and named in commemoration of Mr. Brass, a_ skilled
botanical draughtsman who collected seeds, plants, and dried
specimens on the Guinea coast and in South Africa for Sir Joseph
Banks and others in the early part of the present century. Upwards
of twenty species haye been published, some of which are but little
known, and in others more definite characters are wanting by which
they may be technically distinguished from each other.t They are
* See page 95.
t Folia Orch. Brassia, p. 1. In Walp, Ann. VI. p. 765, Reichenbach has brought all
the Brassias under Oncidium.
+ Some of the Brassias hitherto regarded as species approach each other so closely in
structural details that they have been surmised to be geographical forms of one widely
dispersed type.
BRASSIA. Lot
all natives of tropical America, of which the greater number are
dispersed over the West Indian Islands and the adjacent parts of
Guiana, Venezuela, and New Granada; three or four are reported
from Guatemala and Costa Rica, two from the Peruvian Andes, and
one is vaguely stated to be a native of Brazil.
Cultural Note.—There is scarcely any group of orchids that has
proved more tractable under cultivation than the Brassias. All the
introduced species grow freely under the treatment usually given to the
warmer Oncids, the routine for potting, watering, shading, &c., being
the same. As the Brassias are usually found growing on trees in
shade, attention must be given to the shading of the plants especially
on bright days in the summer months; the supply of water must be
constant, but regulated as to quantity according to the season. The
temperature is indicated by the geographical stations of the species; thus
the West Indian and Central American kinds may be grown in the East
Indian house, but many cultivators prefer an intermediate temperature
such as is maintained in the warmest position in the Cattleya house.
For those species whose native homes are on the Cordilleras of South
America an intermediate temperature is undoubtedly the best.
Brassia Antherotes. :
“Racemosa; sepalis caudatis, petalis bene brevioribus, labello oblongo
acuminato antrorsum dilatato antice bene acuminato, callo baseos ligulato
antice connato basi dilatato ampliato intus puberulo velutino, linea
angulata utringue anteposita.”—H. G. Reichenbach, fil, in Gard. Chron.
Pa (1879), p. 782.
Flowers deep yellow, the sepals and petals blotched with blackish
purple, the lip spotted with the same colour in the central part and
on each side of the crest.
Brassia Antherotes, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. loc. cit. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV.
te ll59:
Discovered by the brothers Klaboch on the Andes of Colombia,
and probably introduced by them. It was cultivated by the late
Provost Russel, of Falkirk, in 1879, which is the earliest notice we
find of its flowering in this country. It is one of the richest
coloured Brassias known, but still very rare in gardens.
B. brachiata.
Pseudo-bulbs from a stout ligneous rhizome, ovoid-oblong, compressed,
3—5 inches long. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 9—12 inches long.
Scapes 2—3 times as long as the leaves, dull purple mottled with pale
green, terminating in a 7—10 flowered raceme. Flowers among the
largest in the genus; sepals 6 inches long, light yellow-green with 2—3
brown-purple spots near the base; petals about two-thirds as long as the
LMP BRASSIA.
sepals, with 10—15 spots near the base; lip light yellow, the basal
half oblong with revolute margins, and spotted with dark green flattened
warts; the apical half cordate, acuminate with but few warts; crest
bilamellate, elevated at the apex, white spotted with orange.
Brassia brachiata, Lindl. in Benth. Plant. Hartweg, p. 94 (1839). Id. in Bot.
Reg. 1843, misc. No. 2, and 1847, t. 29. Id. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 8. Linden’s
Pesce. t. 31. Oncidium brachiatum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 768.
One of the discoveries of Hartweg during his mission to Central
America for the Horticultural Society of London, 1838—43. He
detected it near the Hacienda de la Laguna, in Guatemala, and
it was probably introduced through him; it flowered for the first
time in this country in Messrs. Rollisson’s nursery at Tooting, in
1843. It is very near Brassia verrucosa, of which, in fact, it is a
gigantic form, but at the same time one of the finest in the genus.
B. caudata.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, 3—4 inches long and 1 inch broad. Leaves
oblong-ligulate, 7—9 inches long. Scapes as long again as the leaves,
7—10 flowered; sepals and petals light greenish yellow with large
dark brown spots on the broader basal portion, the dorsal sepal about
3 inches long, the lateral two prolonged into slender tails as long again
as the dorsal one; petals about one-third the length of the dorsal
sepal: lip oblong with an acuminate tip, light yellow with some red-
brown spots in front of the short bilamellate crest, which is white
spotted with orange.
Brassia caudata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. X. t. 832 (1824). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p. 212 (1833). Id. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 5. Bot. Mag. t. 3451 (1835). Epidendrum
caudatum, Linn. Sp. pl. p. 1349. Oncidium caudatum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 766.
This species is botanically interesting as being one of the few
epiphytal orchids known to Linneus, and scarcely less so in a
horticultural sense on account of its being one of the first Brassias
cultivated in this country. It is a native of Jamaica and probably
other West Indian islands, and was introduced by Mr. Lee, of
Hammersmith, about the year 1823. The long attenuated tail-like
lateral sepals, greatly exceeding in length the dorsal one, distin-
guishes this species from most of its congeners.
B. Gireoudiana.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly oblong, much compressed, 3—4 inches long,
2—2} inches broad, mono-diphyllous. Leaves narrowly oblong, acute,
6—12 inches long, leathery, bright green. Scapes as long again as
the leaves, 7—10 flowered; sepals yellow-green spotted with brown
BRASSIA.. 123
near the base, the dorsal sepal 34—4 inches long, the lateral two
415 inches long; petals half as long as the dorsal sepal, the apical
half yellow-green, the basal half brown; lip broadly obovate, apiculate,
light yellow, the basal and central area spotted with brown, the
bilamellate crest orange-yellow.
Brassia Gireoudiana, Rchb. in Allgem. Gartenz. XXII. (1854), p. 273. Id. Xen.
Orch. I. p. 79, t. 32.* Oncidium Gireoudianum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 768.
Discovered by Warscewicz in Costa Rica, and introduced by him
into Germany. It flowered for the first time in Europe in the
garden of Herr Nauen, at Hamburg, after whose gardener, Gireoud,
it is named,
B. Keiliana.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, narrowly ovate, 1$—2 inches long. Leaves
lanceolate, acute, 7—10 inches long. Scapes longer than the leaves,
many flowered; bracts subulate, acute, nearly as long as the pedicel and
ovary; sepals and petals yellow-green spotted with brown on the
broader basal portion, the sepals 24—3 inches long, the petals about
half as long; lip triangular-oblong, contracted at the apex into an
acuminate tail, whitish with some brown spots in front of the two-
keeled crest.
Brassia Keiliana, Rchb. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. 1852, p. 114. Id. in Bot. Zeit. 1852,
p. 761. Id. Xen. Orch. I. p. 126, t. 45 (three forms). Regel’s Gartenfl. 1862, t. 365.
Lindi. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 16. Oncidium Keilianum, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 770.
var.—tristis.
Sepals and petals dark sepia-brown; lip with the apical tail longer
and springing more abruptly from the light yellow blade.
B. Keiliana tristis, Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 126, t. 45, fig. 3. Williams’ Orch. Alb.
VATE t. 347.
Native of the Cordilleras of northern Colombia and Venezuela, at
5,000—7,000 feet elevation. It was first discovered by Wagener in
the province of Caracas, and introduced by him into Germany about
the year 1852; it is dedicated to Hofrath Keil, of Leipsig.
The species is a yariable one, especially as regards the colour of
its flowers; the variety fristis is a very remarkable one in this
respect.
B. Lanceana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, 3—5 inches long, much compressed, ribbed
and furrowed on the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves oblong or
* Reichenbach was of opinion that the herbarium specimen gathered by Mr. G. Ure Skinner
a oe Salvador, and referred by Lindley to Brassia maculata, is the species here described and
gured.
124 BRASSIA.
oblanceolate, acute, 9—12 inches long. Secapes as long as or longer
than the leaves, 7—10 or more flowered. Sepals and petals light
yellow spotted with brown on the basal half, the sepals. 24—3
inches long, the petals half as long; lip oblong, acute, undulate,
cream-white with a few brown spots in front of the white and
orange two-lobed crest.
Brassia Lanceana, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1784 (1836). Bot. Mag. t. 3577 (1837).
Id. t. 3794 (viridiflora ?). Lindl. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 2. Oncidium suaveolens,
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 765.
var.—macrostachya.
Flowers much larger, ‘“ bright yellow slightly spotted with brown ; lip
much paler; lateral sepals very acuminate, three or four times longer
than the lip.”
B. Lanceana macrostachya, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 2. B. macrostachya,
Lind]. Sert. Orch. t. 6.
var.—pumila.
Plant dwarf. ‘Flowers pale yellow stained with dull purple at the
base of the sepals; lip contracted in the middle, yellowish brown at the
base.”
B. Lanceana pumila, Lindl. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 2. B. pumila, Lindl. in
Bot. Reg. 1845, misc. 62.
The type was discovered in Surinam (Dutch Guiana) by Mr.
John Henry Lance, who sent plants to the Horticultural Society of
London, in 1834. The variety macrostachya was imported from
Demerara by Loddiges, in whose nursery it flowered in 1836; it is
probably not now in cultivation; it appears to bear a_ similar
relation to the type as Brassia brachiata to B. verrucosa. The
variety pumila was gathered by Linden in Caracas, and was
cultivated by Mr. Barker, of Birmingham, in 1845; it has probably
since disappeared from cultivation.
B. Lawrenceana.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and inflorescence as in Brassia Lanceana. Sepals
and petals light yellow spotted with brown on the basal half, the
sepals about 3 inches long, the petals half as long; lip oblong-lanceolate,
acute, light yellow; crest two-keeled, truncate in front, white spotted
with orange-yellow.
Brassia Lawrenceana, Lind. in Bot. Reg. 1841, mise. No. 6, andt. 18, Id. Fol.
Orch. Brassia, No. 3. B. cochleata, Knowles and Weste. FJ. Cab. t. 53,* ex Lindl.
Fol. Orch loc. cit. Oncidium Lawrenceanum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 766.
var.—longissima.
Flowers much larger and differently coloured, the sepals 7 inches long ;
sepals and petals orange-yellow with large red-purple blotches on the
* This drawing is so imperfectly executed that it is impossible to say with certainty to which
species the plant it represents should be referred.
BRASSIA. 125
broader basal portion; lp light yellow with a ring of purple spots at
the base; crest two-ridged, slightly pubescent and terminating in
tubercles.
B. Lawrenceana longissima, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 1313. Bot. May.
t. 5748.
The original Brassia Lawrenceana, figured by Lindley in the
Botanical Register, and whose origin is doubtful, was cultivated by
Mrs. Lawrence at Haling Park, in 1840. Knowles and Westcott’s
B. cochleata was sent to Messrs. Low and Co. from Demerara, by
their collector Henchman, in 1839. The variety longissima, if variety
it is, and which immensely surpasses Lindley’s type in size and
colour, is a native of Costa Rica, and flowered for the first time
in this country in Mr. Wentworth Buller’s collection at Strete
Raleigh, near Exeter, in 1868. It is the most remarkable Brassia
known.
Brassia Lawrenceana is only known to us by the figure and description
quoted above, and by which we are unable to distinguish it from
B. Lanceana. The variety longissima is a far more distinct form that
eannot be referred with certainty to B. Lanceanum, and which may
hereafter receive separate specific rank. Its habitat too is very remote
from the supposed origin of Lindley’s type or of Knowles and
Westcott’s B. cochleata.
B. maculata.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, much compressed, smooth, 3—4 inches long,
monophyllous. Leaves narrowly oblong, sub-acute, 6—8 inches long.
Seapes as long again as the leaves, many flowered. Sepals and_ petals
yellowish green spotted with brown on the basal half, the sepals about
3 inches, the petals 2 inches long; lip broadly clawed, cordate, acute,
eream-white dotted with brown-purple; the bilamellate crest orange-
yellow, slightly pubescent.
Brassia maculata, R. Br. in Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2, V. p. 15 (1813). Bot. Mag.
t. 1691. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 212. Id. Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 1. Paxt.
Mag. Bot. VI. p. 5. B. Wrayx, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4003. Oncidium Brassia,
Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 765.
var,—guttata.
“Flowers much smaller and greenish, with the spots distributed pretty
equally over the surface.”
B. maculata guttata, Lind]. in Fol. Orch. Brassia, No. 1. B. guttata, Lindl. in
Pl. Hartw. p. 94.
The species on which the genus was founded and the first Brassia
cultivated in British gardens. I[t was introduced from Jamaica in
the early part of the present century by Sir Joseph Banks, who
presented plants to the Royal Gardens at Kew, where one of them
126 BRASSIA.
flowered in April, 1814. The variety
guitata was gathered by Hartweg in
Guatemala, in 1836—V7.
B. signata.
Pseudo -bulbs ovoid - oblong, com-
pressed, 3—5 inches long, di-triphyllous.
Leaves broadly strap-shaped, sub-acute,
9—12 inches long. Scapes longer than
the leaves, 7—10 or more flowered.
Flowers small for the genus; sepals
and petals bright green spotted with
brown on the basal half, the sepals
2 inches long, the petals shorter and
narrower ; lip oval, shell-like, suddenly
contracted to an acuminate tip, white
with two brown-purple spots in front
of the bilamellate crest, at the base
of which is a yellow spot.
Brassia signata, Rehb. in Gard. Chron.
XVI. (1881), p. 6.
A small-flowered species introduced
in 1881 by Messrs. Backhouse, of which
the habitat is not recorded. The above
description was taken from a plant that
flowered in our houses in May, 1891.
B. verrucosa.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, much compressed,
3—4 inches long, ribbed and furrowed
on the flattened sides. Leaves linear-
Brassly meculals. acute, 9—12 or more inches long.
Scapes as long again as the leaves,
mottled with green and dull crimson, 10—15 flowered. Sepals and
petals light yellow-green with some dark green spots at the base, the
sepals 3—4 inches long, the petals about half as long; lip broadly
clawed, cordate, apiculate, white with numerous dark green flattened
warts on the claw and basal area of the blade; crest two-lobed,
pubescent, orange-yellow with two small white teeth in front.
Brassia verrucosa, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 66. Id. Fol. Orch. Brassia,
No. 9. Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 22. Oncidium verrucosum, Rechb. in Walp.
Ann, VI. p. 769.
A native of Guatemala and probably southern Mexico. It was
introduced by Messrs. Rollisson, in whose nursery at Tooting it
GOMEZA. iar
flowered in April, 1840. The warted labellum well distinguishes
this species from all the cultivated Brassias except B. brachiata, but
this has flowers as large again as those of B. verrucosa.
GOMEZA.
R. Br. in Bot. Mag. t. 1748 (1815). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 565.
A small genus including five or six species, natives of southern
Brazil, having the habit of the smaller Odontoglots, and producing
in winter and early spring drooping racemes of pale yellow or
ercenish flowers that are appreciated for their delightful fragrance.
The genus was founded by Dr. Robert Brown on Gomeza recurva,
a species that was cultivated in the old Apothecaries’ Garden at
Chelsea in the early part of the present century. It commemorates
the name of Bernardino Gomez, a Portuguese physician and botanist.
The generic characters will be recognised from the descriptions of
the species given below which are well known and frequently met
with in orchid collections where they are cultivated on account of
their pleasant fragrance and where they are better known ag
Rodriguezias, Dr. Lindley having wunaccountably confounded them
with that genus.*
Cultural Note-—Coming from the same region and growing, so far as
at present known, under similar conditions as the smaller Brazilian
Miltonias, Miltonia spectabilis, M. jflavescens, &c., the cultural treatment
of those species is also that which has been found to be most suitable
for the Gomezas, and need not therefore be here repeated,
Gomeza Barkeri.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly oblong, 3—4 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves
linear-lanceolate, acute, 5—7 inches long. Scapes longer than the leaves,
loosely racemose, many flowered. Flowers light yellow-green with some
red spots on the lip and an orange line round the stigma; sepals and
petals linear-oblong, undulate, the lateral sepals connate to the middle:
lip ovate-oblong, acute, reflexed; crest two small plates produced in
front into two short raised lines. Column with a small auricle on
each side below the anther.
Gomeza Barkeri, Benth. Gen. Plant. III. p. 566 (1883). Rodriguezia Barkeri
Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3497 (1836). Odontoglossum Barkeri, Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 854 (1864).
* Quite as inexplicable is the placing of them under Odontoglossum by Rei i
Walp. Ann. VI. p. 853. ‘: ‘ ipadiriicae as en
128 GOMEZA.
Introduced from Brazil by Mr. George Barker, of Birmingham ;
it flowered for the first time in this country in the Botanic Garden
of that town in January, 1836. It is the least interesting of the
Gomezas now cultivated.
G. foliosa.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly ovate-oblong, 2—3 inches long, much com-
pressed, diphyllous. Leaves linear, acute, about 6 inches long. Racemes
longer than the leaves, the rachis and pedicels very pale green, the
latter sheathed by subulate, acuminate bracts as long as _ themselves.
Flowers very fragrant, ? inch across vertically ; sepals and petals lght
buff-yellow, the dorsal sepal and petals linear spathulate, undulate ; the
lateral sepals longer, connate at the base; lip much shorter than the
other segments, ovate-oblong, reflexed, light buff yellow with two white
keels on the dise. Column wingless, white with an orange spot below
the stigma.
Gomeza foliosa, Benth. Gen. Plant. III. p. 566 (1883). Pleurothallis foliosa,
Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 2746 (1827). Lodriguezia suaveolens, Lindl. Gen. et. Sp.
Orch. p. 195 (1833). Odontoglossum foliosum, Rchb. in Walp, Ann. VI. p. 854
(1864).
First cultivated in the Botanic Garden of Trinity College, Dublin,
in 1825, whither it had been introduced from Brazil by the Curator,
Mr. Mackay. It is the prettiest and sweetest of the Gomezas; its
fragrance has been compared to that of the violet and cowslip
combined.
G. planifolia.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, about 2 inches long, diphyllous.
Leaves lanceolate, acute, 4—5 inches long, more or less recurved.
Racemes longer than the leaves, the rachis and pedicels whitish, the
bracts acute and shorter than the = stalked ovaries. Flowers light
ereenish yellow, very fragrant; sepals and petals oblong, acute, undulate,
the lateral sepals connate nearly to their tips; lp much shorter than
the other segments, broadly oblong, acute, reflexed with two oblong
tubercles on the disk. Column white with an orange line round the
stigma.
Gomeza planifolia, Benth. Gen. Plant. [II. p. 566 (1883). Rodriguezia plani-
folia, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 195 (1833). Bot. Mag. t. 3504. Odontoglossum
planifolium, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 853 (1864).
Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges about the year 1822. It is
sometimes confused with the preceding species, from which it is
distinguished by its smaller pseudo-bulbs, its broader and_ shorter
leaves, also by the lateral sepals being connate nearly to their tips,
and by its differently shaped labellum. Its pleasant fragrance is its
chief recommendation.
ADA. | 129
G. recurva.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed with acute edges, 2—3 inches long,
di-triphyllous. Leaves linear-oblanceolate, 8—12 inches long. Racemes
as long as or longer than the leaves with a pale yellow rachis; bracts
awl-shaped, nearly as long as the ovaries. Flowers # inch across
vertically, light yellow; dorsal sepal and _ petals oblong-spathulate,
undulate ; lateral sepals connate into an oblong blade deeply bifid at
the apex; lip shorter than the lateral sepals, ovate, acute, reflexed at
the apex and with two short raised plates at the base.
Gomeza recurva, R. Br. in Bot. Mag. t. 1748 (1815). Rodriguezia recurva, Lindl.
Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 195 (1832). Odontoglossum recurvum, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 853 (1864).
The species upon which the genus was founded and which had
been introduced from Brazil to the Apothecaries’ Garden at Chelsea,
where it flowered, probably for the first time in this country, in
1815. It seems to have been subsequently lost. We received the
specimen from which the above description was taken from the
collection of Mr. H. J. Cuming at Foston Hall, Derby, in 1887,
It comes very near Gomeza planifolia, but it is a more robust
plant with larger pseudo-bulbs and leaves, and with longer racemes
of brighter yellow flowers.
ADA.
Lindl. Fol. Orch. 1853. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 506 (1883).
A small genus of which two species are now known, both of
them natives of the Cordilleras of Colombia, and both among the
handsomest orchids of their colour ever brought under cultiva-
tion. The type species is the well-known Ada aurantiaca, which
was discovered upwards of half-a-century ago; the second species
has only been brought to light within the last few years through
the exertions of the excellent orchidologist whose name it bears.
Ada is placed by Mr. Bentham in the small group of genera
belonging to the sub-tribe OncipEx, distinguished by their usually,
not always, monophyllous pseudo-bulbs and by their flowers not
fully expanding.* It is not known to whom the genus is dedicated.
* The group includes Neodryas, Trizeuxis, Ada, Sutrina, Andean genera, and Trigonidium,
chiefly British Guianian, in all about twenty species, some of them very curious, but none,
with the excention of the two Adas, of any horticultural merit.
K
130 ADA.
Ada aurantiaca. .
Pseudo-bulbs in tufts, narrowly ovate-oblong, compressed, 3—4 inches
long, mono-diphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, acute, 7—12 inches long.
Scapes as long as the pseudo-bulbs and terminal leaves taken together,
bracteate, the bracts subulate, acute, sheathing, 4 inch long; racemes
arching, 7—12 or more flowered. Flowers bright cinnabar-red, only
expanding from above the middle; sepals and petals linear-lanceolate,
very acute, with a sunk median line on the face; the petals shorter
and narrower than the sepals and with a purple streak on the median
line; lip half as long as the sepals, narrowly oblong, acuminate, with
two short keels at the base. Column very short, concave below the
stigma.
Ada aurantiaca, Lindl, Fol. Orch. 1853. Bot, Mag. t. 5485 (1864). Tllus. hort.
1872, t. 107. Williams’ Orch. Alb. TI. t. 53. Brassia cinnabarina, Lindl. Fol. Orch.
Brassia, No. 15 (1853). Mesospinidium aurantiacum, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 857 (1864).
This bright-coloured orchid was discovered by the Belgian col-
lector, Schlim, about the year 1851—2 on the eastern Cordillera of
New Granada between Ocaia and Pamplona at 8,500 feet elevation.
It remained unknown to horticulture till the desire to possess the
beautiful Odontoglots from the same region induced the sending of
several collectors.to New Granada at the same time,* and by whom
a few plants of the Ada were sent to Europe in 1853; among the first
of these to flower was one in Mr. Bateman’s collection at Biddulph
Grange, near Congleton, in January, 1864; but the usual flowering
season of established plants is February and March. Frequent im-
portations since the date mentioned above have rendered Ada
aurantiaca one of the best known and most appreciated of cool
orchids.
Cultural Note-—Growing at an altitude and under conditions similar
to those under which most of the Odontoglots from the same region
are found, its cultural treatment is precisely the same as that of the
cool Odontoglots.
Ada Lehmanni.+
“Habit of Ada aurantiaca but more rigid. Leaves arcuate, linear,
acute, coriaceous, dark green more or less marbled with grey blotches,
8—12 inches long. Scapes erect, rather shorter than the leaves, racemes
with 5--8 flowers; bracts lanceolate, acute, shorter than the pedicels.
Sepals and petals sub-similar, linear-lanceolate, acute, somewhat fleshy,
* See Odont. p. 30.
+ Not seen by us.
aurantiaca.
Ada
—— Ah, nak
\y 7 ae, ie -
h
=
IONOPSIS. 131
bright cinnabar-orange ; lip oblong-lanceolate, acuminate with incurved
undulate margins and recurved apex, about three-quarters as long as
the sepals, white except the very fleshy, linear, thickened callus which
is deep orange and extends from the base to near the apex, and on
each side of which is a recurved white hook. Column short, dull yellow
with a pair of large auricles at the base.”—R. A. Rolfe in Gard.
Chron, xX" s. 3° (1891), p. 34.
Ada Lehmanni, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. loc. cit.
“Introduced to Hurope by Mr. F. C. Lehmann, the German
Consul in the Republic of Colombia, and first brought under notice
in September, 1888, by Mr. James O’Brien, of Harrow, who sent
it to Kew for determination. It is a very distinct species, distinguished
from Ada aurantiaca by its more rigid habit, shorter, broader and
darker green leaves which are everywhere marbled with grey, and
by its white lip; it is also a decidedly summer-flowering plant.’
IONOPSIS.
Humboldt et Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 348, t. 83 (1815), Benth. et Hook. Gen.
Plant. III. p. 567 (1883).
A genus of dwarf epiphytes with small, narrow, stiffish leaves
produced in tufts of threes and fours from a creeping rhizome, and
with loose panicles of small but very pretty flowers. The following
characters described by Lindley, distinctly limit the genus :—
The sepals and petals are short and erect, of which the two lateral
sepals form a small bag; the lip is long, reflexed at the upper half
and furnished at the base with four processes, of which two are thin |
membraneous auricles within the edge of the lp, and two much more
fleshy calli within the auricles themselves.*
The species, however, are not so clearly defined, for although nine
have been published, it is highly probable that most of them are
only varieties of two or three widely dispersed types that are spread
over tropical America, including the West Indies, from Mexico to
Brazil. The genus was founded by Humboldt and Kunth on Lonopsis
pulchella, which was discovered by the great traveller in northern
Colombia, near Cartagena, and which is still but imperfectly known
to science. The name is compounded of ‘tov, “a violet,” and ¢yxre,
“the appearance,’ but why so selected, is not at all clear.
* Folia Orchidacea, lonopsis, page 1.
132 IONOPSIS.
Cultural Note-—We have never seen any forms in cultivation besides
the two here described. These are usually attached to small blocks or
rafts, with some sphagnum around their roots and suspended from the
roof of the intermediate house. Like the Oncids of the section
EquirantiA which they much resemble in habit and aspect, the
Ionopses are short lived in the glass-houses of Europe; they have a
tendency to produce flowers out of proportion to the strength of the
plants, and in order to prolong their life as much as_ possible, it is
advisable to apply a check such as is often applied to species of
Phalenopsis, by occasionally removing the incipient inflorescence.
Ionopsis paniculata.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 4—6 inches long, channelled on the
face, keeled behind. Peduncles slender, panicled, 15—20 or more inches
long. Flowers numerous, less than an inch across vertically, on slender
pedicels sheathed at the base by a minute scale-like bract; sepals and
petals white, narrowly oblong, acute, the petals a little the broadest ;
lip clawed, the blade large in proportion to the other segments, rounded
two-lobed, white with a purple spot in front of the small bipartite
yellow callus.
Ionopsis paniculata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1904 (1836). Id. Fol. Orch,
Ionopsis, No. 9. Bot, Mag. t. 5541. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, XXII. t. 2333.
Originally discovered by Descourtilz at the beginning of the
present century in the primeval forests of Sao Paulo, in southern
Brazil. It remained unknown to horticulture till it was imported
by Messrs. Low and Co., in whose Clapton nursery it flowered for
the first time in this country in the autumn of 1864.
I. utricularioides.
Leaves linear, acuminate, curved, 3--4 inches long, green when first
developed, changing with age to dull vinous purple. Peduncles slender,
dull purple, 9—12 inches long, panicled above. Flowers white, some-
times with a small rose-purple spot at the base of the lip, 3 inch in
diameter, on slender pale purple pedicels; sepals and petals collectively
forming a funnel enclosing the column, the sepals lanceolate, the petals
oblong, obtuse, longer and broader than the sepals; lip broadly clawed,
transversely roundish oblong with a deep sinus in the anterior margin,
produced at the base into a short truncate spur, in front of which are
two small tubercles
Ionopsis utricularioides, Lindl. in Collect. Bot. t. 39 (1821—25). Id. Gen. et
Sp. Orch. p. 194. Id. Fol. Orch. Ionopsis, No. 5. I. tenera, Lindl. in Bot, Reg.
t. 1904 (1836).
This is the best, and next to the type the longest known of
ORNITHOCEPHALUS. ha
all the species of Ionopsis.* It is widely dispersed over Central
America from Oaxaca southwards, the West Indian Islands, and the
adjacent littoral of Venezuela. It was first introduced into British
gardens by Sir Ralph Woodford, who sent it from Trinidad with
Oneidiwum Papilio and other orchids to the Horticultural Society of
London, in whose garden at Chiswick it flowered in May, 1824.
We next read of its being cultivated by Sir Charles Lemon at
Carclew in 1836; his plant had been brought from Cuba, and was
figured and described in the Botanical Register under the name of
Tonopsis tenera.t ‘The species is a variable one, but the deviations
from the type do not appear to be sufficiently distinct to require
separate notice.{
ORNITHOCEPHALUS.
Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 127 (1825). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 568 (1883).
A very remarkable genus, of which the most essential character
is the long slender rostellum, to which the equally long caudicle
or stalk of the pollen masses is attached by means of its terminal
glandular disc, the latter organ lying so closely appressed to the
elongated rostellum that the two appear to be but one body. ‘This
extraordinary structure is shown in the accompanying woodcut of
Ornithocephalus grandiflorus, figs. 8, 4, and 5, the largest flowered
species in the genus, and that in which this curious apparatus can
be best seen. About twenty species are known to science, scattered
over tropical America from Mexico to southern Brazil, but all of
them with the exception of O. grandiflorus are diminutive and in-
conspicuous plants of far greater interest to the botanist than to
the horticulturist. Of these species three or four have found their
way into British gardens from time to time. O. ciliatus is mentioned
by Sir Joseph Paxton] as being in cultivation in 1844, “but in no
* It is highly probable that Humboldt’s Jonopsis pulchella and Lindley’s J. wtricularioides
are one and the same species.
t There seems to us to be no doubt that this is only a geographical form of Jonopsis
utricularioides, and we have therefore uuhesitatingly referred it to that species.
{ Lindley has noted five such deviations with the remark that they do not appear to
possess any clear marks of distinction ; they are evidently geographical forms.
|| Mag. Bot. XI. p. 70.
13 ORNITHOCEPHALUS.
way likely to attract notice save by the singularity of its form; and
QO. Oberonia was in the late Mr. Wilson Saunder’s collection at
Reigate in 1869.*
The genus was founded by Sir William Hooker on O. gladiatus,
a native of Trinidad, which was introduced to the Botanic Garden
at Glasgow in 1824;+ the remarkable form of the column and its
appendages suggesting the name which is compounded of ¢epye
opvocg and Kepady, literally “a bird’s head’
Ornithocephalus grandiflorus.
Leaves narrowly oblong, obtuse, 4—6 inches long, 4—6 on one growth,
in the axis of which the small pseudo-bulb is formed. Peduncle
from the axil of the uppermost leaf, longer than the leaves, arching,
racemose, many flowered; bracts small, subulate, acute. Flowers } inch
in diameter; sepals and petals white with a bright green spot at the
base, suborbicular, concave, the lateral sepals the smallest and reflexed ;
lip suborbicular, saccate and strongly keeled beneath, on the short claw
of which is a horse-shoe shaped green callus with a erisped fan-like
prolongation in front. Column white, bent like a swan’s neck, the
rostellum of which is produced into a thread-like appendage _ parallel
with the callus of the lip as far as its anterior margin, and then bent
upwards and inwards, terminating in a small yellow gland.
Ornithocephalus grandiflorus, Lindl. in Ann. Soc. Nat. Hist. IV. (1840), p. 383.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 493. Id. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 168.
Belg. hort. 1884, p. 89.
This is the handsomest species yet known in the genus, and
worthy of a place in the most select collections of orchids. It
was originally discovered by Gardner on the Organ Mountains in
southern Brazil in 1837, and was described by Dr. Lindley shortly
afterwards from Gardner’s herbarium specimen in the periodical
quoted above. Nothing more appears to have been seen of it till
1882, when fresh specimens for identification were sent to Professor
Reichenbach by M. Witte, curator of the University Botanic Garden
at Leyden, and about the same time from M. Liiddemann at Paris ;
two years later it was figured in La Belgique Horticole, and de-
scribed by M. Morren from a plant in the Botanic Garden at Brussels.
A recent importation has caused it to become well known in British
gardens, where it flowers in May and June.
* Gard. Chron. 1869, p. 988.
+ Probably through Sir Ralph Woodford, the Governor,
Ornithocephalus grandiflorus.
(1) side view, (2) front view of flower natural size; (3) column and lip, (4) rostellum, (5) pollinia and caudicle, enlarged.
: ‘ | 12; : en |
: - 1 ) SS, >
: ‘ 7 : -
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:
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, we,
i. t 7 ’
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:
. '
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, ; ‘
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: 5
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'
7 . ‘ j al
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ORNITHOCEPHALUS.,
135
Cultural Note.—No special cultural treatment is required for Ornithoce-
phalus grandiflorus.
indicates an
station
temperature in the
Coming from the Organ Mountains, its geographical
intermediate elass-houses of
Europe with the usual attention to watering, ete, which is given to
other orchids from the same region.
INDEX.
The names in italics are varieties or synonyms; those followed by x are hybrids or
supposed hybrids.
ADA—
aurantiaca ...
Lehmanni .
BRASSIA—
Antherotes ...
brachiata
caudata
cinnabarina
Clowestt
cochleata
Gireoudiana
guttata
Keiliana
Lanceana
Lawrenceana
macrostachya
maculata
pumila
signata te
verrucosa
Wrayee
GoMEZA—
Barkeri
foliosa
planifolia
recurva
Ionopsis—
paniculata ..,
pulchella ...
tenera :
utricularioides
MiLTronrA—
anceps
Bleuana x
Bluntii x
candida
cercola
Clowesii ...
vee
PAGE
130
130
121
122
122
130
100
124
122
125
123
123
124
124
125
124
126
126
125
127
128
128
129
132
131
132
132
98
118
116
98
103
100
MILronrA—
cuneata
Endresii
festiva x
flavescens
Moreliana ... ae 500
Phalzenopsis
pulchella
Regnelli
Roezlii
Russelliana ...
Schroederiana
speciosa ves 500 cee
spectabilis ... 560 300
vexillaria ... abe 500
Warscewiczii ae ond
ODONTOGLOSSUM—
anceps wee 550
Barkeri 560 ae oor
Clowesti
festatum ... “ ves
foliosum ... 086 vee
hemichrysum ao wee
hastatum ... 0 50
Phaleenopsis Soc
phyllochilum a 50)
planifolium ..
recurvum
Roezliz wee ws 500
Schroederianum
tigrinum aes onc
vexillarium...
Warnert ... ae 390
Warscewiczvi
Weltonit au
zebrinum ... aes ate
ONcIDIUM—
altissimum ...
ampliatum ..,
aN
136
OncIDIUM—
anceps ves
anomalum ...
anthocrene ...
aureum
auriferum ... tee
aurosum
barbatum ... awe
Batemanianum
Baueri ane
bicallosum ...
bicolor 600
bicornutum ...
bifolium
bifrons
brachiatum ...
bracteatum ...
Brassia S00
Brunleesianum
cesium
caminiophorum
candidum (J.indl.)...
candidum (Rchb.) ...
carthaginense
Cavendishianum
caudatum vee
Cebolleta ... 0
cheirophorum ae
chrysodipterum ...
chrysomorphum ...
chrysopyramis ...
chrysorapis ... 0
ciliatwm — vse vee
Clowesti sss
concolor...
confragosum
cornigerum ...
crispum
Cresus 306 see
CFUCNLUM — vee eee
eryptocopis ... see
cucullatum ...
CUnecatUm see vee
curtum see sis
dasytyle .. sae
dentatum wn A6b
divaricatum aes
euxanthinum nee
excavatum ..,
falcipetalum 0
Silipes
fimbriatum ... “00
flabelliferum vee
flavescens wa vee
INDEX.
PAGE | ONCIDIUM—
98 flexuosum
67 Forbesii
9 Suscatum
9 gallopavinum
10 Gardneri ...
35 Gireoudianun
10 graminifolium
11 hematochilum
12 Harrisonianum
13 hastatum ..
62 heteranthum
71 hians
14 Huntianum...
91 hyphaematicum
122 incurvum ...
14 insculptum ,..
125 intermediwm
15 iridifolium ...
16 janetrense ...
17 Jonesianum..,
17 juncifolium...
99 Keilianum ...
19 Kramerianum
20 lamelligerum
122 lanceans x.
21 Lanceanum
22 Larkinianum X
23 Lawrenceanum
24 Leopoldianum
25 leucochilum
27 Lietzei aes
11 Limminghei
100 longifolium
25 longipes a
90 loxense aes
26 ludens wee
27 luridum
54 macranthum
75 macropterum
29 maculatum ,.,
29 Mantiniix ...
57 Marshallianum
33 Martianum ,,,
33 Massanget ...
64 microchilum
34 microglossum
35 Micropogon...
35 monachicum
36 MONOCETAS 00
40 nanum
37 nigratum ...
40 NOdOSUM aes
102 NUDIGENWMN 4
OncIpDIUM—
obryzatum ...
Oerstedii
olivaceum
ornithorhynchum ..
pachyphyllum
pallidum
panchrysum
Papilio
paucifiorum ..
pectorale
pelicanum ...
Phalenopsis
phymatochilum
Pinellianum
plagianthum
Pollettianum
pretextum ...
pubes es
pulchellum ..,
pulvinatum..,,
pumilum
pyramidale ...
quadripetalum
ramosum
raniferum
reflexum
Regnelli
Retemeyerianum
Righyanum ..
Rogersti
Russellianum
sanguineum
sarcodes...
Schlimii
serratum
sessile
speciosum
spectabile
sphacelatum
sphegiferum
INDEX.
PAGE ONCIDIUM—
65 spilopterum ... ee
19 | splendidum ... 560
57 stelligerwm ... wes
66 stramineum ,, 500
20 | suave
42 | suaveolens ... 600
66 superbiens ... 200
67 tectum 33 as
83 tetracopis .. was
68 tetrapetalum See
75 tigrinum 50¢
30 tricolor
69 trifurcatum..,
ial | trilingue
78 triquetrum ...
68 trulliferum ..,
70 | undulatum ... OO
File unguiculatum (Klotzsch) ...
rfl unguiculatum (Hort. )
72 unicorne...
73 uniflorum .,. O06
73 urophyllum..,
83 varicosum
| VErTUCOSUM ...
74 | viperinum
74 volvox
103 Warneri a... tes
75 Warscewiczii 500
76 Wendlandianum ...
88 Wentworthianum ,,,
106 Widgrenii x
19 Wraye c00 Sele
76 xanthodon ...
76 | zebrinum =... aes
Ute |
78 | ORNITHOCEPHALUS—
100 | ciliatus -
108 gladiatus ... see
79 grandiflorus .. vee
80 Oberonia ... p00
‘
tie
ere
634.63
V53m
pt.9
A MANUAL
OF
ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS
CULTIVATED UNDER GLASS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
< PART IX.
CYMBIDIUM, ZYGOPETALUM, LYCASTE,
ACINETA, ANGULOA, BIFRENARIA, COCHLIODA,
COMPARETTIA, CYCNOCHES, GRAMMATOPHYLLUM, GALEANDRA,
MAXILLARIA, MORMODES, RODRIGUEZIA, STANHOPEA,
TRICHOPILIA, Ertc., Ere.
JAMES VEITCH & SONS,
Royat Exoric Nursery, 544, Kince’s Roap, CHeEnsEa, S.W.
18.9'3-,
All rights reserved.
PRELIMINARY NOTICE.
THis Manual is being compiled to supply amateurs and cultivators of
exotic Orchids with a fuller account of the principal genera, species
and varieties cultivated under glass, than is contained in the Manuals
hitherto in use.
The rapid extension of Orchid culture during the last quarter of a
century, resulting from the increased taste for and appreciation of this
beautiful and interesting order of plants, has, in our opinion, created
the desideratum which we are now attempting to supply. The prominent
place, too, occupied by Orchids in the columns of the Horticultural
Press, and the surprising amount of practical and varied information
respecting them disseminated through its agency, has also stimulated
the desire to obtain all the leading facts in a condensed form, te which
easy reference may at any time be made.
So numerous are the species and varieties of Orchids at present in
cultivation, and to which additions are constantly being made by new
discoveries and by artificial hybridisation, that the labour attending the
compilation of a Manual sufficiently comprehensive to meet the wants
of cultivators must necessarily demand much time. Moreover, the
present unsatisfactory state of Orchidology, especially in its horticul-
tural aspect and its complicated and unscientific nomenclature, have
rendered the compilation of such a Manual within a stated time almost
an impossibility.
Under these circumstances, and yielding to the solicitations of patrons
and friends, we have decided upon issuing the work in parts, each part
containing a monograph of the cultivated species and varieties of one
of the most important genera, or of a group of genera.
Little explanation of the plan of the work is here needed; the parts
as issued must speak for themselves. We have only to state that in
the scientific classification and sequence of the genera we have followed,
with but trifling deviations, the arrangement of Bentham and Hooker
as elaborated in their Genera Plantarum, the most profound and, at the
same time, the most intelligible exposition of the Orchideze extant. In
the nomenclature of the species, we have adhered to the Laws of
Botanical nomenclature adopted by the International Botanical Congress,
held at Paris in August, 1867.
In the description of the species, we have been compelled to use
occasionally a few technical terms to avoid cumbrous circumlocutions ;
at the conclusion of the work we propose giving a glossary of the
terms so used. In the cultural notes we have quoted temperatures in
the Centigrade scale with the equivalent Fahrenheit readings, in the
hope that the far more rational scale, now almost universally adopted
in scientific investigations, may also come into use in horticulture.
The literary references in italics indicate coloured plates of the species
or variety described.
TRIBE—V ANDH Ai.
Seto ie OLOPALE At.
Terrestrial herbs, rarely epiphyte, with leafy stems often thickened
into pseudo-bulbs. Leaves few, plicately-veined, often narrow. Racemes
simple, rarely branched.*
EULOPHIA.
R. Br. in Bot. Reg. t. 686 (1822). Benth. et. Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p, 535 (1888).
Eulophia includes more than fifty species dispersed over tropical
Africa and the Indo-Malayan region, but very few of them have
been introduced into European orchid collections, and these are
cultivated chiefly in botanic gardens. The genus is noticed here
solely for the purpose of inserting the type species which is a very
handsome one, and, in a horticultural sense, the best Eulophia yet
seen in cultivation.
Eulophia guineensis.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, sub-globose, approaching ovoid, 14--2 inches
in diameter, monophyllous. Leaves elliptic-oblong or linear-oblong, sub-
acuminate, 7—10 inches long, narrowed below into a slender petiole,
one-third to one-half as long as the blade. Scapes stoutish, pale green,
2436 inches long, racemose along the distal half, many - flowered ;
cauline bracts sheathing, 2 inches long; floral bracts much smaller,
linear, acuminate. Flowers 2 inches across vertically; sepals and petals
similar and. equal, and but slightly divergent from each other, linear,
acuminate, twisted, greenish purple, sometimes rose-purple with paler
margin; lip of peculiar shape and structure, three-lobed, the side lobes
small, adnate to the column at their superior margin, and forming with
it a funnel-shaped cavity that is prolonged into a slender spur as long
as the pedicel and ovary; the front lobe large and_ spreading, sub-
*This sub-tribe includes but three genera, viz., Eulophia, from évAogoc, “ handsomely
crested,” in reference to the crest of the type species ; Lissochilus, from Ataade, “smooth,”
and xetAoc, ‘a lip”; and Galeandra, a hybrid word from the Latin galea, ‘‘a helmet,” but
this perhaps from yaXén, and avjo cycpoc, ‘‘an anther,” in reference to the helmet-like cap
of the anther. It is, however, a very natural sub-division of the VANDE®.
B
bo
LISSOCHILUS.
rhomboidal with crenulate margin, light rose-purple with darker veins,
and with a dark purple stain at the base. Column short, much com-
pressed, rounded and purple above, nearly flat and whitish below.
Eulophia guineensis, R. Br. in Bot. Reg. t. 686 (1822). Bot. Mag. t. 2467.
Lindl. Gen. et. Sp. Orch. p. 181. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IJ. t. 89 (purpurata).
The Garden XIX. (1881), t. 277.
Introduced in 1821 from Sierra Leone by George Don, collector
for the Horticultural Society of London, in whose garden at Chiswick
it flowered in the following year. It was also sent to Messrs. Loddiges
in 1822 by George Hawkins, who collected it in Los, one of the
small islands off the coast of Sierra Leone. For materials for
description we are indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., in whose
collection at Burford Lodge this orchid has long been successfully
cultivated, flowering usually in August and September.
Cultural Note—The following details of the cultural treatment of
Eulophia guineensis at Burford Lodge was communicated to The Garden
by the late Mr. Spyers:—‘“‘The plant is potted in a mixture of peat
and sphagnum, but sometimes fibrous peat, charcoal and broken crocks
are used, the pots being half full of drainage. During the growing
season the plant is kept in a shady position in the East Indian house
with liberal supplies of water. When in flower it is moved to a
more airy position in the intermediate house. Being deciduous it does
not require a large amount of water from the time when its foliage
changes colour till the growing season commences again,”*
LISSOCHILUS.
R. Br. in Bot. Reg. t. 573 (1821), Lindl. Collect. Bot. t. 31. Benth. et. Hook. Gen.
Plant. III. p. 536 (1883).
This genus is very closely allied to Eulophia, differing chiefly in
the petals being much larger and usually more brightly coloured
than the sepals; but as this character, as Mr. Bentham remarks,
is observed in some of the Asiatic species of Hulophiat the two
genera may hereafter be merged into one.
Lissochilus is a purely African genus, including about thirty
species, but of these very few are cultivated in European gardens,
those described in the followmg pages being among the most
noteworthy.
Cultural Note.—Being natives of one of the hottest regions of the
world Lissochilus giganteus and JL. Horsfallii require the highest
* The Garden, vol. XIX. (1881), p. 332.
+ Journ. Linn. Soe, XVIII. p., 317.
LISSOCHILUS. 3
temperature available in the orchid houses of Europe. JZ. Krebsii is
a sub-tropical species for which an intermediate temperature is suitable.
They should all be potted in fibrous loam, and treated generally as
recommended for Hulophia guineensis (see supra).
Lissochilus giganteus.
A robust stately plant. Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute, 3—5 feet
long. Scapes erect, 6—8 or more feet high, racemed above the
middle, many - flowered; bracts large, broadly oval-oblong, apiculate,
shorter than the stalked ovaries. Flowers 24-3 inches across the
petals; sepals turned sharply back, spathulate, concave at the apex,
greenish with a faint tinge of rose; petals large, erect, broadly obovate-
oblong, obtuse, light rose-purple ; lip three-lobed, produced at the base
into a broad funnel-shaped spur, light rose-purple with some darker
streaks on the front lobe, the side lobes rounded, erect, the inter-
mediate lobe semi-orbicular, obtuse, with three yellow keels extending
to the base of the funnel. Column semi-terete, bent, white.
Lissochilus giganteus, Welwitsch ex Rchb. in Flora, XLVIII. (1865), p. 187,
and in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 616, with fig. Williams’ Orch. Alb. X.
t. 457.
This is an orchid of gigantic stature and an extraordinary plant
in many respects, affording another illustration of the old adage,
“Semper aliquid novi ex Africé provenit.” It was originally
discovered by Dr. Welwitsch some time prior to 1862 in Angola,
in Portuguese Africa, where it is widely dispersed, and also along
the valley of the Congo. Dr. Welwitsch informed the late Professor
Reichenbach that the plant is occasionally submerged and afterwards
roasted in a soil as hard as _ brick. *
We copy from the Gardeners’ Chronicle the following extract from
Johnston’s “Congo” relating to this remarkable orchid :—
“The hot sun and the oozy mud eall into existence a plant life
which must parallel in rank Iuxuriance and monstrous growth the
forests of the coal measures, and reproduce for our eyes in these
degenerate days somewhat of the majesty of the vegetable kingdom in
bygone epochs. In the marshy spots near the river shore are masses
of that splendid orchid Lissochilus giganteus, a terrestrial species that
shoots up often to the height of 16 feet from the ground, bearing
such a head of red-mauve scented blossoms as scarcely any flower in
the world can equal for beauty and delicacy of form. These orchids
with their light green spear-like leaves and their tall swaying flower
stalks, grow in groups of forty and fifty together, often reflected in
* Gard. Chron. loc. cit. supra. Conditions that would appear to render its cultivation
in the glass-houses of Europe an impossibility ; nevertheless the plant at Burford Lodge
lives and thrives,
4 LISSOCHILUS.
the shallow pools of stagnant water round their bases, and filling up
the foreground of the high purple-green forest with a blaze of tender
peach-like colour.”
The merit of introducing it into European gardens is due to
M. Auguste Linden, who brought it from the Congo in 1887. Its
first flowering in this country at Burford Lodge, in May, 1888,
and subsequent appearance at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural
Society, was an event of unusual interest. We are indebted to
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for materials for description.
L. Horsfallii.
“Teaves lanceolate, narrowed below into a channelled petiole, 2—3
feet long. Scapes as long again as the leaves, terminating in a
somewhat dense, many-flowered raceme; bracts sheathing, ovate-acute ;
sepals lanceolate, acuminate, an inch long, bent backwards, purplish
brown; petals spreading, sub-quadrate, obtuse, white suffused with rose ;
lip funnel-shaped at the base, three-lobed, the lateral lobes large, erect,
rounded, green streaked with crimson-purple, the intermediate lobe ovate,
obtuse, of a deep puce colour, with three whitish elevated ridges on
the disk which extend to the base. Column short, semi-terete, two-
toothed at the apex.”—Botanical Magazine.
Lissochilus Horsfallii, Batem. in Bof. Mag. t. 5486 (1865).
A stately species sent from Old Calabar to Mr. Horsfall, of
Bellamour Hall, Staffordshire, in whose collection it flowered in
October, 1864. It is now probably lost to cultivation, but the
mention of it in this place may help to preserve it from oblivion.
L. Krebsii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid or elliptic-oblong, 1$—3 inches long, marked with
concentric — scars. Leaves about six to each pseudo-bulb, _ elliptic-
lanceolate, acuminate, sheathing at the base, the longest 18—24 inches
long. Scapes stoutish, erect, 4—5 feet high, terminating in a loose
raceme of 20—30 or more flowers, the rachis continuing to lengthen
and produce flowers after the lowermost have expanded; __ bracts
lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the ovaries. Flowers 1} inch in
diameter; sepals spathulate-oblong, apiculate, keeled behind, reflexed,
reddish brown mottled with green; petals broadly oval, obtuse, bright
buttercup-yellow; lp three-lobed, sacecate between the lateral lobes
which are roundish and ascending, red-brown on the inside, yellow
externally ; the intermediate lobe sub-orbicular, emarginate, folded in
the middle, bright yellow with two purple lateral blotches; spur short,
obtuse. Column semi-terete, cream-white.
Lissochilus Krebsii, Rchb. in Linnea, XX. p. 685 (1847). Bot. Mag. t. 5861.
GALEANDRA. 5
var.—purpuratus.
Pseudo-bulbs and flowers larger than in the original form, the sepals
deep purplish brown, the petals and middle lobe of lip bright canary-
yellow, the side lobes chocolate-purple streaked with darker lines.
L. Krebsii purpuratus, H. N. Ridley in Gard. Chron. XXIV. (1885), p. 102.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 259.
Originally described by Reichenbach from specimens sent to Hurope
by the collector whose name it bears. It was introduced to the
Royal Gardens at Kew, in 1867, by Mr. Sanderson, who sent living
plants, along with other species, from Natal.* The variety, which
is superior to the original form as a horticultural plant, was
introduced from Natal in 1885 by Mr. H, A. Heath, F.L.8., who
kindly sent us flowers for description.
GALEANDRA.
Lindl. Illus. Orch. Pl. t. 8 (1830-38), Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 186 (1832). Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 536 (1883).
The Galeandras may, in a restricted sense, be regarded as the
representatives in the western Continent of the EHulophias of Asia
and Africa, for the number of species is scarcely a sixth of that
of Kulophia, and although spread over a considerable area it is a
limited one compared with the range of the LHulophias. The
Galeandras occur sparingly in tropical America, from Mexico south-
wards, none, so far as we know, having been reported south of the
Amazon. The broad funnel-shaped spur of the labellum and _ the
almost sessile pollinia chiefly separate Galeandra from Hulophia.
Cultural Note-—The Galeandras require the same cultural treatment
as that applied to Eulophia and Lissochilus, with unremitting attention
throughout the year to watering, shading, freeing the plants from
insect pests, ete.
Galeandra Batemanii.
Pseudo-bulbs variable, conic or ovoid, elongated, 4—6 inches long,
marked with concentric scars and prolonged at the apex into a deciduous
leafy stem. Leaves lanceolate, acute, 6—12 inches long. Racemes
terminal, many-flowered. Flowers 24 inches long; sepals and petals
similar and sub-equal, bent backwards, spathulate-oblong, acute, variable
in colour, buff-yellow, or green tinted with brown, tawny brown, ete. ;
lip large, sub-orbicular, with a deep cleft in the anterior margin, the
* Bot. Mag. sub. t. 5861.
6 GALEANDRA,
basal half rolled over the column into a tube and prolonged below into
co)
a funnel-shaped spur, usually light yellow; the apical half open, rose-
purple bordered with white. Column semi-terete, pale green.
Galeandra Batemanii, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. XII. s, 3 (1892), p, 431. G. Baueri,
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, t. 49. Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 19.* Paxt. Mag. Bot.
XIV. p. 49. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 649. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 267.
Introduced from Mexico in 1838 by Mr. Barker, of Birmingham,
through his collector Ross, who communicated the following particulars
of its habitat :—
He met with it at a place called Kisatipa, ten leagues from
Melacatapec, growing at the upper end of a dry ravine, terminating
half-way up the mountains in a south-west aspect. The temperature
varies from 20°—25° C. (69°—77° F.) by day, and falls to about
15° C. (59° F.) by night. The mountains surrounding this ravine, that
is, on the north-east side, are covered with a great variety of Orchidea,
whilst on the south side of the ravine there are none to be found.
On the top of the mountains there is a continual mist all the year,
December to February excepted; the atmosphere is particularly moist
and warm.+
It was subsequently sent from southern Mexico to the Horticul-
tural Society of London by Hartweg; it was also detected by Mr.
G. Ure Skinner in Guatemala. The species is named in compliment
to Mr. James Bateman, the veteran orchidologist, by whom it was
first described and figured in his Orchidacee of Mexico and Guatemala.t
The usual flowering season of Galeandra Batemanii is July—August.
This plant has been in cultivation for more than half a century under
the name of Galeandra Bauert, in the erroneous belief that it was the same
species as the original G. Bauert described by Lindley in his Illus-
trations of Orchidaceous Plants. The error originated in Mr. Bateman
having mistaken the Mexican plant discovered by Ross for the same
species as that collected by Martin in French Guiana, a locality, as he
himself observed, 1,000 miles away.
G. Baueri.
“Stems clustered, sub-cylindric or fusiform, 15—20 inches long.
Leaves lanceolate, sharply acuminated, 7—9 inches long. Racemes
terminal, drooping, many-flowered ; bracts subulate, acute, longer than
the pedicels. Flowers 14$—2 inches across vertically; sepals and
petals similar and equal, lanceolate, acute, yellow, sometimes with a
brownish hue; lp infundibuliform, obscurely three-lobed, the side
*The plate here quoted is confused by the introduction of parts of another plant
belonging to a different species.
+ Bot. Reg. 1840, sub. t. 49.
t See Mr. Rolfe’s note in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, loc. cit. supra.
GALEANDRA. 7
lobes rolled over the column into a tube and produced into a long
straight spur; the front lobe spreading, much undulated at the margin,
mucronate at the apex; the tube deep yellow, the front lobe paler
with red-purple lines. Column semi-terete, concealed within the tube.”—
Botanical Magazine.
Galeandra Baueri, Lindl. in Ilus. Orch. Pl. Gen. t. 8 (1832—38). Id. Gen. et
Sp. Orch. p. 187. Bot. Mag. t. 4701 (floribus luteis), G. cristata, Lindi. in
Bot. Reg. 1844, misc. No. 69.
This is a very different species from that cultivated in gardens
under the name of Galeandra Baueri. It was originally collected
by Martin in French Guiana, and on his specimen which is still
preserved in the MLindleyan herbarium now located at Kew, Dr.
Lindley founded the genus, dedicating the type species to Francis
Bauer, a skilful microscopic draughtsman who prepared the drawings
in Lindley’s Illustrations quoted above, and for many other botanical
works published during the first half of the present century. It
was first introduced into British gardens by Messrs. Loddiges in
1840, but did not flower till four years later; we next find it
flowering in the gardens of Syon House in 1853, on which occasion
it was figured in the Botanical Magazine, and subsequently in our
own houses; since then it seems to have disappeared from
cultivation.
G. Devoniana.
Stems tufted, as thick as the little finger at the base, attenuated and
leafy upwards, 18—24 or more inches high. Leaves sheathing at the
base, lanceolate, acuminate, 5—7 inches long. Peduncles terminal, few-
flowered ; bracts sheathing, linear, acuminate, pale brown. Flowers 3—4
inches across vertically; sepals and petals uniform, lanceolate, acute,
brownish green, sometimes striated with light green; lip large, obscurely
three-lobed, the side lobes convolute over the column into a wide tube
that is prodaced into a short deflexed spur, the tube white, spur green ;
the front lobe deflexed, sub-quadrate, with four shallow lamelle on its
disk, white streaked with purple. Column narrowly winged, greenish
spotted with purple.
Galeandra Devoniana, Schomb. ex Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 87 (1838). Schomb.
Reisen. III. p. 912. Paxt. Mag. Bot. VIII, p. 145. Bot. Mag. t. 4610. Warner’s
Sel. Orch. I. t. 37. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 649. Jilus. hort. 1874, t. 176.
Lindenia, II. t. 80 (var. Delphina).
A very handsome species that was first discovered by Schomburgk,
who sent to Dr. Lindley the following particulars respecting it :—
“During our peregrinations we have seen this plant nowhere else
than on the banks of the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon,
8 GALEANDRA.
where in the neighbourhood of Barcellos we found it growing in
large clusters on the trees which lined the river, sometimes on the
Mauritia aculeata, or even on the ground where the soil consisted of
vegetable mould. It was so luxuriant in growth that some of the
large clusters of stems which sprouted from a common root were from
10—12 feet in circumference. The stems were often from 5—6 feet
high ; at the lower part almost of a purple appearance but changing
into green higher up. As the flower is not only larger than the
Galeandra Devoniana.
generality of its tribe, but handsome, I availed myself of this
opportunity of naming it in honour of the Duke of Devonshire, one
of the most successful cultivators of this, one of the most interesting
tribes among monocotyledonous plants.”
It was subsequently detected by the same energetic explorer in
British Guiana, growing on the trunks of trees on the banks of
the river Berbice; and afterwards by Spruce and Wallace in the
GALEANDRA. 8)
same locality in which it was first discovered by Schomburgk, the
first named of whom sent living plants to the Royal Gardens at
Kew in 1851. It is occasionally imported from that locality along
with Cattleya superba and OC. labiata Lldorado.
G. nivalis.
Stems terete, 6—12 inches long, jointed at intervals of about an
inch, the internodes invested with a whitish membrancous sheath.
\
a [i
~
Galeandra nivalis.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
Leaves linear, acute, 5—8 or more inches long. Racemes short, few-
flowered ; bracts linear, acuminate. Flowers 2 inches across vertically;
sepals and petals similar and equal, narrowly oblong, acute, light olive-
green; lip sub-orbicular, rolled over the column into a funnel-like tube
and prolonged at the base into a slender yellow-green spur, white with
10 CYMBIDIUM.
a purple blotch on the disk, below which are two tooth-like tubercles
prolonged into diverging lines to the base.
Galeandra nivalis, Hort. Gard. Chron, XVII. (1882), p. 537, with fig. Zllws. hort.
XXX, (1885) t-. 555.
We find nothing recorded of the origin of this elegant species
nor any authority for the name. It flowered at Burford Lodge in
the spring of 1882, on which occasion it was exhibited at a meeting
of the Royal Horticultural Society and figured in the Gardeners’
Ohronicle. We are indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for
materials for description.
SOLB-TRIBE) CY Mihi DT fee
Terrestrial or more or less epiphyte. Stems foliate, often thickened
into pseudo-bulbs. Leaves usually long and narrow, but sometimes
broader, and plicately nerved. Racemes simple, rarely branched.
Labellum not spurred.*
CYMBIDIUM.
Swartz. in K. Vet. Acad. Stockh. Nya. Handl. XX. p. 236 (1800), pro parte. Lindl. Gen.
et Sp. Orch. p. 161 (1832). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 536 (1883).
The botanical history of Cymbidium is much complicated, and to
follow the changes the genus has undergone since its first
publication lies beyond the scope of this work; we can therefore
only note a few of the most salient points.
The genus was founded by Swartz, the Swedish botanist,t and
published by him at the same time as Dendrobium, Oncidium,
Vanilla, and some others of less interest in a horticultural sense.
Besides three genuine Asiatic species, Swartz included in Cymbidium
three or four others of West Indian origin and three or four from
South Africa, so that the genus was much mixed at the very
beginning. This confusion continued to accumulate till Lindley
dealt with the genus in his Genera and Species of Orchidaceous
Plants, and even there, as he himself records that “‘Cymbidium as
understood in that work is no doubt made up of several very different
* The chief character that separates this sub-tribe from the EULOPHIEa# is the absence of the
spur in the labellum. + See Dendrobium, p. 5.
CYMBIDIUM. Pt
genera, the characters of which, from want of sufficient information,
and the knowledge of a greater number of species, cannot be
positively made out.”* During the existence of the Botanical Register,
Lindley removed many of the anomalies as materials came to hand,
and many years later Reichenbach, in Walper’s Annales Botanices
Systematice, did much to reduce the genus to more natural limits.
It remained for Mr. Bentham to circumscribe it as it now stands,
the principal change made by him being the removal of Lindley’s
Cymbidium elegans and O, Mastersii to the Cyperorchis of Blume.
The essential characters of Cymbidium are thus tersely stated by
Sir J. D. Hooker :—t+
Stem very short, rarely elongate, and pseudo-bulbous. Leaves very
long, narrow, and coriaceous, rarely short. Scape loosely sheathed ;
flowers often large, in sub-erect or drooping racemes.
Sepals and petals sub-equal, free, erect or spreading.
Lip sessile at the base of the column and embracing it upwards,
base concave, side lobes erect, mid-lobe recurved; disk with usually
two pubescent ridges.
Column long and not produced into a foot; anther one- or im-
perfectly two-celled; pollinia 2, deeply grooved or 4, sub-globose or
pyramidal, sessile on the broad strap or gland.
About thirty species are known to science, by far the greater
number of which are dispersed over the Indo-Malayan region and
tropical Australia, ascending to 5,000—6,000 feet on the Khasia Hills,
and even higher on the Himalaya of Nepal and Sikkim; outlying
Species occur in Japan and New Caledonia. Some of the cultivated
species are well known for their stately aspect and the imposing
dimensions they attain.
Cultural Note.—The roots of Cymbidium are thick, fleshy and freely
produced, ample pot-room should thence be provided for their develop-
ment; they should also be allowed good drainage by means of broken
crocks to not less than one-third of the depth of the pot. The
compost should consist of fibrous loam and rough peat in the pro-
portion of two-thirds of the former and one-third of the latter, many
cultivators using in addition a little silver sand to assist drainage,
and. some use chopped living sphagnum in the place of rough peat,
For those species whose habitat is on the Khasia Hills and the
Nepalese Himalaya—C. Devonianum, C. eburneum, C. giganteum, ete.—
an intermediate temperature is found to be most suitable, while the
* Gen, and Sp. Orch. p. 161.
+ Flora of British India, vol. VI. p. 8.
12 CYMBIDIUM.
purely tropical species require more heat. The watering must be
regulated according to the season of the year, the treatment of the
Cymbidiums in this respect being much the same as that of the
VERATRIFOLIZ section of the Calanthes.*
Cymbidium canaliculatum.
“Stems nearly pseudo-bulbous, 1—3 inches long. Leaves linear, acute,
the longest about a foot long. Raceme as long as the leaf, lax
pendulous, many-flowered ; pedicels very slender, together, with the short
ovary an inch long. Flowers coriaceous, 2 inch in diameter; perianth
segments spreading, the petals rather smaller, elliptic-oblong, sub-acute,
concave, brown with green margins; lip shorter than the petals, white
with pinkish blotches, three-lobed, the lateral lobes narrow and small,
the middle lobe ovate, sub-acute; disk with two low ridges. Column
white, blotched with purple.”—Botanical Magazine.
Cymbidium canaliculatum, R. Br. Prod. p. 331 (1810). Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 164. Miiller Fragm. vol. V. p. 95. Bot. Mag. t. 5851. Benth. Fi.
Austr. V1. p. 302.
Cymbidium canaliculatum is somewhat sparingly distributed over
north and east Australia from Arnheim’s Land and Cape York
southwards to Hunter’s River, in New South Wales, where it was
first gathered by Bidwill; the geographical and also the climatic
range of the species is therefore considerable. It was first discovered
by Dr. Robert Brown in the beginning of the present century, near
Cape York, in north-east Australia, and where in 1865 it was re-
discovered by the late John Gould Veitch, who first introduced it
to British gardens.
C. chloranthum.
Leaves ensiform, recurved, 15—20 inches long, sub-acute. Racemes
as long as the leaves, erect or arching, many-flowered. Flowers 2 inches
in diameter ; sepals and petals nearly uniform, spreading, oblong, obtuse,
yellow-green with a few red spots near the base; lip broadly oblong,
three-lobed, the side lobes small, roundish oblong, incurved, red on the
inside ; the front lobe sub-quadrate, yellowish white spotted with red ;
disk with two crenulate lamelle that extend to the base of the lip.
Column semi-terete, yellow stained with red.
Cymbidium chloranthum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No. 102. Id. in
Journ. Linn. Soc. III. p. 29. Bot. Mag. t. 4907. Rchb. in Walp, Ann. VI.
p. 623.
The origin of this is not certainly known; it was first cultivated
by Messrs. Loddiges in 1843, and was reported by them to be a
* See Calanthe, p. 62.
CYMBIDIUM. 13
native of Nepal, but this habitat has not been confirmed by its
discovery in that country since its first introduction. It has re-
appeared at intervals in several orchid collections both in this
country and on the continent, and the plant may still be in
cultivation. It is very near Cymbidium canaliculatum, a circumstance
which suggests an Australian origin.
C. Devonianum.
Stems obscurely pseudo-bulbous, each with 3—5 leaves. Leaves
broadly strap-shaped, acute, 7—12 or more inches long, narrowed below
into a channelled petiole about one-fourth as long as the blade.
Racemes stoutish, as long as the leaves, quite pendulous, sheathed at
the base with 3—5 brown membraneous boat-shaped scales. Flowers
numerous, 1-1} inch in diameter; sepals and petals similar, ovate-
lanceolate, variable in colour, sometimes olive-green spotted with purple,
sometimes buff-yellow streaked with vinous purple, the petals shorter
and more acute than the sepals; lip obscurely lobed, shorter than
the other perianth segments, broad ovate or sub-cordate; the blade
reflexed, sometimes deep sanguineous purple, sometimes light rose-purple
with a darker blotch near each lateral margin. Column bent, with
two small rounded wings, greenish yellow with some red spots at the
apex.
Cymbidium Devonianum, Paxt. Mag. Bot. X. p. 97 (1843). Lindl. in Gard. Chron.
1848, p. 431. Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XY. (1881), p. 375. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV.
t. 170. Hook. f. Fl. Brit Ind. VI. p. 10.
Originally discovered by Gibson on the Khasia Hills, and intro-
duced by him to Chatsworth in 1837, but where it did not flower
till the spring of 1843. Gibson found it growing on the trunks
of decayed trees and in the forks of the branches of old trees
where some vegetable matter had accumulated. It was next
gathered by Sir J. D. Hooker and Dr. Thomson on the Kollong
Rock in the same region, at 5,000 feet elevation. The Kollong
Rock is a very remarkable geological phenomenon; it is scarcely
less interesting from a botanical point of view, on account of the
number and variety of the orchids found on it and in its immediate
vicinity. A brief account of it, extracted from the Himalayan
Journals of Sir J. D. Hooker, may be suitably introduced here :—
“The Kollong Rock is a steep dome of red granite, accessible from
the north and east, but almost perpendicular to the southward, where
the slope is 80° for 600 feet. The elevation is 400 feet above the
mean level of the surrounding ridges, and 700 feet above the bottom
of the valleys. The south or steepest side is encumbered with
14
CYMBIDIUM.
enormous detached blocks, while the north is clothed with a dense
forest containing red tree-rhododendrons and oaks. The hard granite
of the top is covered with matted mosses, lichens, lycopodiums and
ferns, amongst which are many curious and beautiful air plants, as
Eria, Ccelogyne (Wallichiana, maculata and elata), Cymbidium,
Dendrobium, ete., some of them flowering profusely; and though freely
exposed to the sun and wind, dews and frost, rain and droughts,
they were all fresh, bright green and strong, under very different
treatment from that to which they are exposed (1849—51) in the
damp, unhealthy, steamy orchid houses of our English gardens.”*
Cymbidium Devonianum appears to have been very rare in British
gardens for many years after its first introduction till it was
collected by Gustay Mann in Sikkim, and Freeman in Assam,
1868—75. The species is a variable one as regards the colour of
the flower; its usual flowering season is April and May.
C.
eburneum.
Stems obscurely pseudo-bulbous sheathed by the imbricating bases of
the leaves. Leaves 9—15 to each growth, strictly linear, acute, 15—24
inches long. Peduncles stoutish, erect, much shorter than the leaves,
sheathed by about three alternate, lanceolate, finely-acuminated _ bracts,
sometimes one- usually two-flowered. Flowers 3 inches in diameter, very
fragrant; sepals and petals similar, oblong or ovate-oblong, acute, ivory-
white, the dorsal sepal concave and apiculate, the petals a_ little
narrower than the sepals and sub-falcate; lp broadly ovate-oblong,
three-lobed, the side lobes ineurved towards the column, ivory-white, the
intermediate lobe with crisped margin, ivory-white, sometimes with
some scattered purple dots around the ochraceous disk; crest an
oblong, fleshy, grooved and pubescent, yellow plate, thickened at the
apex, and with three raised lines extending the whole length. Column
clavate, triquetral, with two narrow wings, white above, concave in
front with a purple stain.
Cymbidium eburneum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg, 1847, t. 67. Id. in Journ, Linn.
Soc. III. p. 28 (1858). Paxt. Mag. Bot. XV. p. 145 (1849). Bot. Mag. t. 5126
(1859). Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 27. Jennings’ Orch. t. 16. Regel’s Gartenfl.
(1880), p. 155, icon. xyl. Gard. Chron. XVII. ” (1882), Ps eae with “fig. Id. XX.
(1884), p. 77, with fig. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p.
var.—Dayi.
Leaves narrower and longer; flowers ivory-white with a row of
purple spots on each side of the disk of the lip,
C. eburneum Dayi, Jennings’ Orch. t. 16. C. Dayanum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron,
1869, p. 710.
* Vol, IL. p. 295.
CYMBIDIUM. 15
var.—Parishii.
Leaves broader and -shorter; disk of the lip orange-yellow spotted
with purple, the marginal area on each side also spotted with purple.
C. eburneum Parishii, Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 12, ©. Parishii, Rehb.
in Trans. Linn. Soc. p. 144 (1€73). Id. Xen. Orch. III. p. 55. t. 224. Id. in
Gard. Chron. X. (1878), p. 74. Williams’ Orch. Ald. I. t. 25.
Cymbidium eburnewm, formerly so rare, is now one of the most
generally cultivated species in the genus. It was originally discovered
by the excellent botanical explorer, William Griffith, about the year
Cymbidium eburneum,
1837, at Myrung on the Khasia Hills, at 5—6,000 feet elevation,
but ten years elapsed before its beautiful fragrant flowers were seen
in British gardens, the first occasion of its flowering in this country
being in the spring of 1847 in the nursery of Messrs. Loddiges at
Hackney. For many years afterwards it continued to be very rare
in the orchid collections of Europe till easier access to its habitat
and quicker transport of plants to Hurope caused importations to
16 CYMBIDIUM.
become more frequent. Its discovery in Sikkim by Mr. C. B. Clarke
and its presence in Moulmein indicate a more extensive range of
the species than was at first suspected.
The origin of the variety Dayi is vaguely stated to be Assam,
whence it was obtained by the late Mr. John Day, through his
nephew, Captain Williamson, of the Indian army, who sent him many
orchids from that region. The variety Parishii is a remarkable one
both in a horticultural and geographical sense, affording another
instance of the presence of the same species in Assam and Moulmein.
According to Reichenbach it was one of the earliest discoveries of
the Rev. C. 8S. Parish, who in 1867 sent two plants to Messrs. Low,
of Clapton, one of which was acquired by the late Mr. John Day,
in whose collection at Tottenham it did not flower till 1878. A plant
in Mr. W. Leach’s collection at Fallowfield, Manchester, had, however,
flowered a short time previously, and this was the first time of its
flowering in England; it is still rare in British gardens.
C. Finlaysonianum.
Leaves 20—30 inches long, ensiform, obliquely obtuse, coriaceous.
Racemes about 2 feet long, the rachis obscurely angulate, pale green,
pendulous, and many - flowered; basal sheaths short and _ inflated.
Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals linear-oblong, obtuse
or sub-acute, dull tawny yellow, sometimes with a reddish median line ;
lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect, deep vinous red; the inter-
mediate lobe oblong, apiculate, much reflexed at the apex, white with
a yellow disk and vinous purple apical spot; the disk with two red
ridges that extend to the base of the lip. Column arched, reddish
purple above, spotted below the stigma.
Cymbidium Finlaysonianum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 164 (1832). Hook.
f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 11. C. pendulum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1846, t. 25. Id.
1844, t. 24 (brevilabre). Williams’ Orch. Alb. X. t. 437. C. Wallichii, Lindl.
Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 165.
var.—atropurpureum.
Leaves narrower and longer. Racemes longer with larger flowers;
sepals and petals maroon-purple with a rich velvety gloss, the front
lobe of the lp white with a few purple spots.
C. Findlaysonianum atropurpureum, supra. C. pendulum atropurpureum, Lindl.
in Gard. Chron. 1854, p. 287. Bot. Mag. t. 5710.
The plant we have described above is the Cymbidium pendulum
figured in the Botanical Register of 1840, and again in the same
serial of 1844; the first drawing was made from a specimen sent
to Dean Herbert by Dr. Wallich, and the second from a plant
CYMBIDIUM. iF
sent from Singapore to Messrs. Loddiges by Cuming, the object of
the second plate being to show the variability of the species. It
is also that which is cultivated in gardens under the name of
C. pendulum, but unfortunately the name cannot be retained for this
species. On reference to Lindley’s types preserved in the Herbarium
at Kew, it is clear that his C. pendulum, that is, the plant now
under notice, is not the species so named by Swartz, but it is that
discovered by Finlayson in Cochin China in the early part of the
present century, and named after him by Lindley. It appears to
have an extensive range in Malaysia.
The variety atropurpureum, which is a very handsome one, has long
been known in the orchid collections of Europe; it was cultivated
in 1854 by Mr. John Knowles, of Manchester, who had received it
from Borneo, but according to Dr. Lindley it had been collected by
Cuming in the Philippine Islands many years previously. Our
knowledge of it is derived from an exceptionally fine form in the
collection of Baron Schroeder, at The Dell, Staines.
C. giganteum.
Stems pseudo-bulbous, compressed, 4—6 inches long. Leaves linear-
ligulate, acute, 24—30 or more inches long, convolute into a tube and
yellowish to 3—4 inches from the base, distinctly keeled on the under
side. Scapes robust, as long as the leaves, sheathed below with brown,
membraneous, ovate-oblong, acute bracts 2—24 inches long; raceme
7—10 or more flowered, Flowers distant, 3—4 inches across;
sepals and petals light yellow-green striped longitudinally with red, the
former oblong, acute, the latter narrower, linear-oblong, acute, sub-falcate ;
lip oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, coloured like the sepals
and petals; the middle lobe downy above, reflexed with undulate and
ciliate margin, yellow spotted with red, disk with two ciliated lamelle
that are confluent at their apices. Column clavate, arched, terete, and
pale yellow above, concave and streaked below the stigma.
Cymbidium giganteum, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 163 (1832). Id. Sert.
Orch. t. 4. Bot. Mag. t. 4844 (1855). Paxt. Mag. Bot. XII. p. 241 (1846).
‘chb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 626. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 284. Hook. f. Fl.
Brit. Ind. VI. p. 12. Iridiorchis gigantea, Blume, Orch. Arch. Ind. p. 91. t. 26.
This striking Cymbidium is a native of the tropical Himalaya
from Kumaon in Nepal eastwards to Bhotan and the Khasia Hills,
ascending to 4,000—5,500 feet; its lowest observed vertical range
being in Sikkim where it descends to 1,000 feet; it is essentially
a mountain plant, never spreading into the plains, and always
C
18 CYMBIDIUM.
inhabiting the jungle at a short distance from the ground. Its
climatic range is considerable:—At Kollong on the Khasia Hills
the rainfall from April to November is about 90 inches, and the
daily temperature is 19°—21° C. (65°—70° F.), rarely rising to
26° C. (80° F.); from November to April the season is almost
rainless, and the temperature in January and February falls below
zero C, (32° F.) nearly every night. In Sikkim the rainfall during
the same period reaches almost 150 inches, and in the summer
months the temperature often rises to 32° C. (90° F.); the winter
months are not quite rainless and the temperature never sinks to
the freezing point.
Cymbidium giganteum was first discovered by Dr. Wallich in 1821,
and subsequently introduced by him into British gardens. It was
sent to Chatsworth in 1837 by Gibson, who found it on the Khasia
Hills “in great abundance in the thick umbrageous forests growing on
the trunks of trees, and especially upon those which had began to
show tokens of decay; the specimens which occupied the hollows
of old trees partially filled up with decomposing vegetable matter,
always presenting the most luxuriant and healthy appearance.’ The
illustrations quoted above show that the flowers vary considerably
in depth of colouring.
C. grandiflorum.
Leaves 20—25 inches long, ligulate, acute, dilated below into ribbed
and grooved sheaths striated with two shades of green. Scapes very
robust, sheathed below by long and narrow acuminate bracts; racemes
nodding, 7—12 flowered. Flowers the largest in the genus, 4—5
inches across; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, oblong, acute,
green, the petals a little narrower than the sepals; lip three-lobed,
triangular, acute, ciliolate at the margin, light yellow with lines of
red-purple dots on the inner side; the intermediate lobes cordate, crisped
and fringed at the margin, yellow spotted with red-purple ; between
the side lobes are two ciliated lamelle as long as the lobes themselves.
Column terete and green above, spotted with red below the stigma.
Cymbidium grandiflorum, Griff. Bs III. p. 342 (1851), and Icon. Plant. Asiat. t.
321. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 12. Gard. Chron. XI. s. 3 (1892), p. 267. C.
Hookerianum, Rehb. in Gard. cheat 1866, p. 7. Batem. in Bot. Mag. t. 5574. C.
giganteum (in part), Lindl. in Journ, Linn. ‘Soe. III. p. 29.
An old denizen of British gardens, but which has never received
much attention from the cultivators of orchids, chiefly on account
of the prevailing green colour of its flowers, which are also slow
CYMBIDIUM. 19
to expand. It was introduced by our Exeter firm through
Thomas Lobb, the first plant flowering at Chelsea in 1866, on
which occasion it was described by Reichenbach in the Gardeners’
Chronicle under the name of Cymbidium Hookerianum, in compliment
to Dr. (now Sir Joseph) Hooker, who had then but recently succeeded
his father in the Directorship of the Royal Gardens at Kew. The
plant had, however, been many years previously registered by
Griffith, its original discoverer, as C. grandiflorum in the publications
quoted above.
Its habitat is the eastern Himalaya, ascending to 5,000—7,000 feet
in East Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhotan, growing under the same climatic
conditions and local environment as Cymbidium gigantewm.
Cymbidium Lowianum.
C. Lowianum.
Stems and leaves as in Cymbidium giganteum. Racemes robust,
arching, bearing 18—25 flowers. Flowers 3—4 inches across transversely ;
sepals and petals similar, oblong-lanceolate, acute, greenish-yellow with
reddish veins, the sepals obscurely keeled behind, and the petals a
little narrower than the sepals; lip three-lobed, the side lobes roundish-
oblong, erect, light buff-yellow; the intermediate lobe deltoid, reflexed
with slightly undulate margin, and covered with a velvety pubescence,
dark red-crimson with a pale buff-yellow margin, white at the base ;
20 CYMBIDIUM.
erest two-keeled, the keels convergent towards their apices. Column
triquetral, arched, concave below the stigma, yellow spotted with red.
Cymbidium Lowianum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XI. (1879), pp. 321 and 405, with
fig. Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 353. C. giganteum Lowianum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. VII.
(1877), p 685. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 13.
sub.-var.—concolor (Gard. Chron. IX. s. 3 (1891), p. 107), the apical
area of the lip bright buff-yellow, all traces of the red-crimson entirely
absent.
Cymbidium Lowianum was sent to Messrs. Low from Burmah, in
1877, by Boxall; it flowered for the first time in this country in
their Clapton nursery in the spring of 1879. It has since been
detected by our own collector on the hills around Bhamo in some
places associated with C. grandiflorwm, growing under much the same
conditions as observed by Gibson on the Khasia Hills. As a_horti-
cultural plant C. Lowianwm is unquestionably superior to its near
ally C. giganteum; its longer racemes of brighter coloured flowers, the
length of time they continue in perfection and the pleasing habit of
the plant all combine to render it when in flower one of the most
striking objects in the orchid house.
Cymbidinm giganteum, C. grandiflorum, C. Lowianum and C. longifolium,
the last named rare in cultivation, form a very natural group of Cymbids,
all inhabiting the tropical Himalaya from Nepal to north-east Burmah
under much the same conditions of climate and environment. It is
a question whether they should be regarded as specifically distinct or
only as varieties of one well-defined type; we incline to the latter
view, a view strengthened by the recent appearance of an intermediate
form in C. Traceyanum. For horticultural convenience it is doubtless
best to keep them distinct for the present.
C. madidum.
Stems pseudo-bulbous, sub-cylindric, 3—4 inches long. Leaves ensiform,
sub-erect, 20—30 inches long, sheathing at the base. Racemes_ pen-
dulous, as long as the leaves, many - flowered. Flowers an inch in
diameter; sepals and petals oval-oblong, obtuse, dull nankeen-yellow, the
sepals spreading, the petals smaller and erect; lip obscurely three-lobed,
the side lobes rotund, erect, stained with vinous purple; the intermediate
lobe roundish oblong, coloured like the sepals and petals; lamelle
none, “in room of which is a shining exudation all along the axis.”
Cymbidium madidum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. p. 9. Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 624. Rolfe in Gard. Chron, VI. s. 3 (1889). p. 406. C. albuceflorum,
F, Muell. Fragm. Phyt. Austral. lL. p. 188. Benth. Fl. Austral. VI. p. 303.
This was first imported by Messrs. Rollisson in 1840, but seems
to have been soon lost to cultivation. Its re-appearance in British
CYMBIDIUM. yal
gardens is a matter of some interest, as its identity with the
Cymbidium albuceflorum of Mueller and _ therefore its north
Australian origin is now proved. We are indebted for materials for
description to Mr. G. C. Raphael, of Castle Hill, Englefield Green,
C. pendulum.
Stems pseudo-bulbous, 2—3 inches long, sheathed by the bases of the
lowermost leaves. Leaves broadly linear, distichous, equitant at base, 12—20
or more inches long, very rigid, sub-erect and obliquely two-lobed at the apex.
Racemes shorter than the leaves, pendulous or decurved, many-flowered.
Flowers 1$—2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals narrowly oblong,
acute, recurved at the tips, light yellow with a vinous purple median
band, often striated or broken into streaks; the petals somewhat
shorter and more acute than the sepals; lip elliptic-oblong, obscurely
three-lobed, dark plum-purple with pale yellow longitudinal lines; the
side lobes narrow, erect, the front lobe or epichile small, sub-quadrate,
reflexed with two yellow bilobate calli at its base. Column vinous
purple, anther yellow.
Cymbidium pendulum, Swartz. in Nov. Act. VI. p. 73 (1800). Lindl. Gen. et
Sp. Orch. p. 165. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI, p. 624 (excl. var. brevilabre). C.
aloifolium, Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 10 (not of Sw.). Epidendrum pendulum,
Roxb. Corom. Pl. I. p. 35, t. 44. EE. aloides, Curtis in Bot. Mag. t. 387 (1797).
Much confusion exists respecting the identity of this species which
has been known in gardens for upwards of a century as Cymbidium
aloifolium. It is, moreover, encumbered with a tangled synonymy,
which it is impossible to unravel without a careful examination and
comparison of original types preserved in herbaria. ‘This research
has been recently undertaken by Mr. Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium,
and we unhesitatingly accept his decision. The species here described
is beyond question the true O. pendulum of Swartz, not of Lindley,
the latter being now referred to OC. Finlaysonianwm; it has been
confused with the last-named species and with the closely allied
C. aloifolium of Swartz, the OC. bicolor of Lindley, whose habitat is
restricted to southern India and Ceylon, and which has not, so far
as we can discover, been in cultivation.
Cymbidium pendulum (as here understood) has been gathered in
many localities in the lower Himalayan zone from eastern Nepal
to Sikkim, and from Assam southwards as far as Tenasserim and
the Andaman Islands; it also occurs in southern China, Although
of inferior merit as a horticultural plant it is especially interesting
as being one of the first Cymbidiums introduced into British gardens.
22 CYMBIDIUM.
A few years prior to 1797 a plant was sent from India to Mr. Vere,
of Kensington, who did not succeed in flowering it up to that date,
but in that year it flowered in the nursery of Messrs. Grimwood
and Wykes at Kensington, on which occasion it was figured in the
Botanical Magazine.
C. tigrinum.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 1—1}3 inch long, each bearing 3—5_ oblong-
lanceolate, recurved leaves 3--6 inches long. Scapes slender, sub-
erect, longer than the longest leaves, 3—5 flowered; bracts small,
ovate-lanceolate. Sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, linear-oblong,
acute, 2 inches long, olive-green, paler at the margin and spotted with
red at the base; the petals sometimes paler and with more spots than
the sepals; lip oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes rotund, erect, yellow
striped obliquely with broad red-brown bands; the intermediate lobe
sub-quadrate, apiculate, reflexed, white with short brown-purple trans-
verse streaks; between the side lobes are two raised white lines.
Column clavate, arched, pale olive-green above, spotted with red below
the stigma.
Cymbidium tigrinum, Parish, MS. in Bot. Mag. t. 5457. Hook. f. Fl. Brit.
inde Vils aps a9:
Discovered in 1863 by the Rev. C. S. Parish upon rocks on the
mountains of Tenasserim at 6,000 feet elevation, and sent by him
to Messrs. Low, of Clapton. It is one of the most distinct of
Cymbidiums, but not often seen in cultivation. We are indebted
to Mr. F. Wigan, of Clare Lawn, Hast Sheen, for materials for
description.
C. Traceyanum.
Stems and leaves as in Cymbidium giganteum. Racemes 3—4 feet
long, bearing 16—24 flowers. Flowers 4—5 inches across; the sepals
and petals greenish yellow with longitudinal lines of red-crimson dots
and streaks, the sepals oblong, acute, the petals similar but much
narrower ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes roundish oblong, light yellow,
obliquely streaked with red-crimson; the intermediate lobe broadly oblong,
reflexed, crisped and fringed at the margin, cream-white spotted with
red-crimson. Column greenish spotted with red.
Cypripedium Traceyanum, Hort. Gard. Chron. VIII. s. 3 (1890), p. 718.
A very handsome Cymbidium, very near Cymbidium grandijlorum and
intermediate between that species and C. giganteum. It was acquired
at a sale of C. Lowianuwm by Mr. A. H. Tracey, of Twickenham,
and was not distinguishable from it till it flowered. The plant,
CYMBIDIUM. 23
the only one known, is now in the magnificent collection of Baron
Schroeder at The Dell.
vo =
f. A! —S
PF ll) : =
Cymbidium Traceyanum.
(From the Gardeners’ Magazine.)
HYBRID CYMBIDIUMS.
Three hybrid Cymbidiums artificially obtained are known to us, of
which two have flowered, both of them taking a high rank among
hybrid orchids for elegance and distinctness; in both cases the progeny
was very restricted in numbers but very vigorous in growth.
Cymbidium eburneo-Lowianum.
Parentage expressed by the name.
Pseudo-bulbs and leaves intermediate between those of the two parents,
with the yellowish striations at the base characteristic of Cymbidium
Lowianum., Racemes longer than in C. eburneum, and bearing more
flowers. Flowers equal in size to the best ebwrnewm forms; sepals
24 CYPFRORCHIS.
and petals similar and sub-equal, oblong, lanceolate, light nankeen-
yellow, the petals and lateral sepals spreading, the dorsal sepal bent
forward; lip nearly as in C. Lowianum, ivory-white oa the inner side
with a V-shaped red-crimson blotch on the reflexed front lobe; lamelle
of the disk bright yellow. Column ivory-white with a reddish stain
below the anther.
Cymbidium eburneo-Lowianum, Gard. Chron. V. s. 3. (1889), p. 363.
C. Winnianum.
C. giganteum X C. eburneum.
Stems and leaves nearly as in Cymbidium eburneum. TRacemes robust,
nearly as long as the leaves, 1O—15 flowered ; bracts much acuminated
as in C. eburneum. Flowers of the general shape of those of C. gigantewm
with all the segments narrower, 4 inches across transversely; sepals and
petals ivory-white, the dorsal sepal narrowly oblong, the lateral two
similar but sub-falcate ; the petals linear-oblong, and falcately curved ;
lip nearly as in C. giganteuwm, ivory-white rather densely spotted with
crimson along the base of the side lobes and the crisped margin of
the front lobe ; between the side lobes are two pubescent orange-
yellow lamelle that are confluent and almost hirsute at their apex.
Column semi-terete, bent, narrowly winged, greenish above, spotted with
crimson below the stigma.
Raised by Mr. Charles Winn, of Selly Hill, Birmingham.
Cymbidium Winniauum, supra.
CYPERORCHIS.
Blume, Mus. bot. Lugd. I. p. 48. (1849). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 538.
This genus was founded by the Dutch botanist, Blume, on
Cymbidium elegans (Lindl.), to which were afterwards added 0. Mastersti
(Griff.), and C. cochleare (Lindl.), the latter species of no horticultural
merit. These three species are separated from Cymbidium chiefly by
their narrow perianth segments which are connivent to the middle
or beyond it; the flowers, therefore, do not fully expand like those
of a true Cymbidium; also by the straight narrow lip of which
the front lobe or epichile is very short, and by their much more
dense racemes. ‘They are all natives of the sub-tropical Himalaya
and the Khasia Hills, ascending to 4,000—6,000 feet.
Cultural Note.—The cultural treatment of the two species described
below is precisely the same as that applied to the Cymbidiums from
the same region and _ altitude.
CYPERORCHIS. 25
Cyperorchis elegans.
Stems short, sheathed at the base by the brown, distichous, truncate
bases of the fallen leaves, becoming with age a sub-conic, tapering
pseudo-bulb, 2—3 inches long. Leaves numerous, linear, bifid at the
tip, 15—20 inches long, pale striated yellow-green at the base on the
under side, grass-green above. Scapes shorter than the leaves, sheathed
at the base by brown acuminate scales. Racemes dense, pendulous, many-
flowered. Flowers 14 inch long, of a uniform light ochreous yellow ;
sepals and petals similar, linear-oblong with acute, recurved tips; lp
narrowly wedge-shaped, three-lobed, the side lobes very narrow, the front
lobe short, oblong, obtuse, with two close, orange raised lines on the
disk. Column slender, terete above, nearly flat on the side opposite
the lip.
Cyperorchis elegans, Blume, Orch. Archip. Ind. p. 93. t. 48C, icon analyt. (1849).
Bot. Meg. t. 7007. Hook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 14. Cymbidium elegans, Lindl.
Gen. et Sp. Orch. t. 163. Id. Sert. Orch. t. 14. Id. in Journ. Linn. Soe. III.
p. 28. Rehb. in Gard. Chron. III. (1875), p. 429.
Cyperorchis clegans was originally discovered by Dr. Wallich, im
1821, in the forests of Nepal. Then Griffith detected it on the
Khasia Hills near Myrung in 1835; it was afterwards gathered by
Sir Joseph Hooker in Sikkim (1849) and much more recently by
Mr. C. B. Clarke in Manipur; other localities are also given in which
it has been found by Indian botanists and explorers in the same
region. Its range therefore in the lower Himalayan zone and north-
east Bengal is considerable. We find no record of its first introduction
into British gardens.
C. Mastersii.
Stems ligneous, 4—9 or more inches high and ?—1 inch in diameter.
Leaves distichous and closely imbricating at the base, arching or sub-
erect, 20—30 inches long, acute. Racemes short, 7—10 flowered ; basal
sheaths 3—4, lanceolate, acuminate, pale green. Flowers about 2
inches long, ivory-white, usually with some rose-purple spots on the lip,
almond-scented ; sepals and petals linear-oblong, the petals a little the
narrower; lip slightly saccate at the base, three-lobed, the side lobes
roundish-oblong, partially embracing the column, the front lobe (epichile)
oval, reflexed with undulate margin; disk with two orange raised lines
evanescent below. Column terete and green above, almost flat below
the stigma, bent at the apex.
Cyperorchis Mastersii, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soe. XVIII. p. 318 (1881). Hook.
f. Fl. Brit. Ind. VI. p. 15 (1890). Cymbidium Mastersii, Griffith M.S. ex Lindl. in
Bot. Reg. 1845, t. 50. Lindl. in Gard. Chron. 1845, p. 643. Id. in Paxt. Wl. Gard.
ITT. t. 78. Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 391. Lindenia, V. t. 222. Sander’s Reichenbachia,
If, t. 66 (album). C. affine, Williams’ Orch. Alb. IU. t. 140. Fl. Mag. N.s.
t. 346.
26 ANSELLIA.
For the discovery of this beautiful orchid both science and horti-
culture are indebted to the energetic Indian explorer William
Griffith, who met with it on the Khasia Hills about the same
time as Vanda cerulea, 1836—37. It also occurs in Sikkim and
Manipur, its vertical range being 4,000 — 6,000 feet; it usually
affixes itself to the stems and branches of trees, often 20—30 feet
from the ground, growing under the same climatic conditions as
those stated under Cymbidium gigantewm. It was imported by Messrs.
Loddiges in 1841, but it did not flower till December, 1844; it
continued to be a rare plant in British gardens for some years
afterwards, till collected by Simons in Assam in 1856—57. It was
named by Mr. Griffith after Mr. Masters, one of the principal
superintendents of the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, during the Director-
ship of Dr. Wallich.
ANSELLIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844, sub. t. 12. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 537.
Among those who accompanied the ill-fated Niger expedition of
184]—42 was Mr. Ansell, a gardener, who, when at Fernando Po,
found in Clarence Cove, growing on the stem of an oil palm (Leis
guineensis) an epiphyte of which a dried specimen came into the
possession of Dr. Lindley. On this specimen he founded the genus
Ansellia in commemoration of the discoverer.
Two years later living specimens, whose origin is not stated but un-
doubtedly west African, which had been received by the Rev. John Clowes
and Messrs. Loddiges, flowered for the first time and one of Loddiges’
plants was figured in the Botanical Register of 1846, t. 30, under the
name of Ansellia africana. But on comparing this figure with the
Fernando Po type specimen preserved in Lindley’s herbarium at Kew,
it is evident that it does not represent the original A. africana, but
another form for which Mr. N. E. Brown has proposed the name of
A. confusa. It is this form that is best known in gardens as A. africana.
Quite recently a plant collected by the Earl of Scarborough on the
banks of the Haka river, Elephant Forest, near Lake Chad, and sent
to Kew for identification, proves to be this A. confusa.
In the meantime an Ansellia had been received by the late Mr.
Wilson Saunders from Natal, and which had been discovered by the
German traveller Gueinzuis, but not introduced by him. This is the same
as that described by Reichenbach in Walper’s Annales Botanices under the
ANSELLIA. 27
name of Ansellia gigantea. It is this form that is represented by a
single flower in plate 4965, fig. 3, of the Botanical Magazine and is
named by Sir W. Hooker A. africana, var. natalensis,
Some years later another Ansellia was detected by Speke and Grant during
their expedition to the Upper Nile in 1860—63 (A. nilotica). And lastly,
not long ago an Ansellia was introduced from the Congo by the Compagnie
Continentale d’Horticulture de Gand (A. congoensis) Thus the genus 1s
shown to be represented in at least five localities or regions in Africa
widely remote from each other, and plants from all of them have
been, and probably may be still in cultivation. That these Ansellias
are very closely related to each other is so manifest that the observed
structural differences in their flowers seem barely sufficient to entitle
them to separate specific rank; but we agree with Mr. N. E. Brown
that they cannot at present be accepted as mere varieties of the original
type, although admitting the extreme possibility of their being ultimately
connected by intermediate forms.
Ansellia is closely allied to Cymbidium, from which its very
different habit, its terminal inflorescence, and its bipartite (= four)
pollinia chiefly distinguish it.
Cultural Note.—Ansellia africana and its varieties require the highest
temperature available in the orchid houses of Europe; in other respects
the cultural treatment is precisely the same as that of the Cymbidiums.
Ansellia africana.
Stems tufted, 18—25 or more inches long, cylindric, as thick as a
man’s thumb, sheathed by the long withered bases of the fallen leaves.
Leaves from the upper portion of the stem ligulate-lanceolate, acute, 5—7
or more inches long, usually five-nerved. Peduncles terminal, as long
as the leaves, panicled, many-flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter,
light yellow-green spotted with brown-purple; sepals narrowly oblong ;
petals elliptic-oblong, as broad again as the sepals; lip three-lobed, the
side lobes oblong, erect; the intermediate lobe ovate, reflexed with two
keels on the disk and four or five folds in front of them. Column
elongate, terete above, concave on the face.
Ansellia africana, Lindl. in Bof. Reg. 1844, sub. t. 12. Bot. Mag. t. 4965.*
excl. fig. 3. N. E. Brown in Lindenia, II. sub t. 64.
A. confusa.
Stems and leaves longer than in Ansellia africana, the latter also
narrower and more acuminate. Flowers smaller with the sepals and
petals similar and sub-equal, narrowly oblong, obtuse, light yellow-green
*The plant here figured seems well-nigh intermediate between the typical marginatum (Rchb.)
Wailesiana (Lindl.) ... _ fi di Wailesianum (Rchb.)
"4 BATEMANTA.
BATEMANIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1714 (1835). Benth. et. Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 540.
Dr. Lindley founded this genus on the plant described below “in
compliment to Mr. James Bateman, of Knypersley Hall, Cheshire,
an ardent collector and successful cultivator of orchidaceous plants.”
To this species Reichenbach subsequently added several others, which
deviate so much from the type that Mr. Bentham removed them
to Zygopetalum, to which they much more nearly conform. ‘The
genus Batemania thus reduced is, so far as at present known,
monotypic ; the single species, however, possesses so little horticultural
merit that from an amateur’s point of view it very inadequately
commemorates the labours of the veteran orchidologist. Our de-
scription was taken from a plant in the former collection of
Mr. F. G. Tautz, at Studley House, Hammersmith; the species
may therefore be still in cultivation. It is named after Colley,
Mr. Bateman’s collector in Demerara, where he discovered it in 1854
Batemania Colleyi.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 2—3 inches long, obscurely
four-angled and furrowed, mono-diphyllous. Leaves broadly lanceolate,
acute, narrowed at the base, 7—10 inches long. Racemes pendulous,
4—7 or more flowered; bracts short, broadly ovate, sub-acute. Flowers
distant, about 3 inches in diameter; dorsal sepal and petals similar and
sub-equal, elliptic-oblong, vinous purple toned with brown; lateral sepals
narrowly oblong, faleate with the inner margin infolded, the margin
green, the remaining area vinous purple toned with brown; lp white
with a reddish stain at the base of the intermediate lobe, appressed
to the column, three-lobed, the side lobes rotund, the front lobe sub-
quadrate, emarginate; crest small, bifid, toothed in front. Column semi-
terete, white spotted with red; anther hooded; pollinia two.
Batemania Colleyi, Lind]. in Bot. Reg. t. 1714 (1835). Bot. Mag. t. 3818.
ichb. in Walp, Ann, VI. p. 554. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 341.
ExcLuDED SPECIES.
Batemania a
3urtii (Rehb.) } now referred to Zygopetalum Burtii (Benth. )
grandiflora (Batem.)... _,, a ss grandiflorum (Benth.)
Wallisii (Hort. ) Mp Osi 5 3 Burtii (Benth.)
Meleagris (Rchb ) * x 5 Meleagris (Benth.)
BIFRENARIA. vhs
BIFRENARIA.
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 152 (1832), and Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No, 67. Benth. et
Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 546.
The Bifrenarias are associated with the orchid culture of the past
in a much higher degree than with that of the present, and, with
the exception of Bifrenaria Harrisonie, which has to a greater or
less extent held its ground for the greater part of a century, they
have long since receded before the more brilliant Orcuipem of the
temperate regions of the Andes and southern Brazil. Of the ten
described species, seven or eight of them were introduced into
European gardens and figured in the botanical serials of the first
half of the century, nearly all of them as Maxillarias, to which
genus they were originally referred, bnt afterwards removed by
Lindley by reason of the different structure of their pollinary
apparatus. This differs from Maxillaria proper in having the pollen
masses attached to the gland by a pair of distinct straps or
caudicles, instead of one; the generic name from Ji for bis, “* twice,”
and frenum, “a strap or bridle,” was suggested by this character.
Bifrenaria further differs from Maxillaria in the flowers being racemed,
not solitary.
The species here noted are still in cultivation; they are natives of
the hot damp valleys of Guiana and Brazil, and thence require the
cultural treatment usually applied to the occupants of the East Indian
house.
Bifrenaria atropurpurea.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conic, four-angled, 2—3 inches long, much corrugated
when old, monophyllous. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 6—10 inches
long. Scapes sheathed at the base with ovate, inflated brown bracts,
3—5 flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter when spread out; sepals
- and petals dull claret-red with a yellowish stain in the centre; the
dorsal sepal and petals elliptic-oblong acute; the lateral sepals broader,
oblong, keeled behind, adnate to the lip and foot of column at the
base, and forming with them a short obtuse spur ; lip oblong, incurved
at the sides, reflexed and undulated at the apex, bright rose suffused
with white; crest a thickish oblong plate obscurely toothed at the
front margin. Column short, terete, claret-red; anther white,
Bifrenaria atropurpurea, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 152 (1832). Id. in Bot.
Reg. 1843, misc. p. 52. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 547. Maxillaria atropurpurea,
Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1877.
Introduced by Messrs. Loddiges from Rio de Janeiro in 1828,
76 BIFRENARIA.
through their correspondent Mr. Warre, and occasionally imported
since with other south Brazilian orchids. It is the species on which
the genus was founded, and with the exception of Bifrenaria
Harrisonie, the first Bifrenaria introduced into cultivation. Its
chief attraction is the pleasant fragrance of its flowers.
B. aurantiaca.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, ribbed and spotted, 1—13 inch long, monophyllous.
Leaves 5—8 inches long, oval-oblong, acute, narrowed below into a
short channelled petiole. Scapes longer than the leaves, racemed along
the distal half, few-flowered. Flowers an inch in diameter, deep
yellow spotted with orange; sepals and petals similar and_ sub-equal,
oblong, undulate, sub-acute; lip clawed, three-lobed, the side lobes
roundish oblong, deflexed; the front lobe somewhat fan-shaped with a
deep cleft at the apex and with a truncate crest at the base.
Column semi-terete, pubescent.
Bifrenaria aurantiaca, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1875 (1836), and 1843, mise. p. 52.
Bot. Mag. t. 3597. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 550.
A native of British Guiana, whence it was first introduced in
1855, and where it was afterwards detected by the brothers
Schomburgk along the banks of the Essequibo and Pomeroon rivers,
growing on the stems and branches of trees.
B. Harrisonie.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovoid, obscurely four-angled, 2—3 inches long,
monophyllous. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute, 9-12 inches long, 3—4
inches broad, leathery and dark green. Secapes shorter than the leaves,
usually two from the base of the latest-formed pseudo-bulbs, sheathed
with a pale brown, acute bract, about an inch long at each joint, and
a larger one at the base of the ovary, 1—2 flowered. Flowers fleshy,
about 3 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals and petals spreading,
oval-oblong, obtuse, ivory-white; the dorsal sepal concave, the lateral
two a little larger, slightly falcate, adnate to the produced foot of the
column, and forming with it and the base of the lip a funnel-shaped
obtuse spur; lip three-lobed, vinous purple with darker purple veins;
the side lobes oblong, incurved, the intermediate lobe sub-quadrate,
emarginate, hairy above, the margins much notched; crest very hairy,
orange-yellow. Column clavate, arched, white.
Bifrenaria Harrisonie, Rehb. in Bonpl. III. p. 217 (1855). Id. Xen. Orch. I. p.
224, t. 94. fig. 2. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 547. Lindenia, V. t. 239. Maxillaria
Harrisonie, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 897 (1825). Id. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 148.
Bot. Mag. t. 2927. Paxt. Fl. Gard. If. p. 196 (grandiflora). Dendrobium
Harrisonie, Hook. Exot. Fl. t. 120 (1825). Lycaste Harrisonie, Williams’ Orch.
Manual, p. &79.
sub-vars.—alba (Bot. Reg. 1841, misc. No. 68), sepals and petals cream-
BIFRENARIA. 77
white with a slight tinge of violet at the apex, lip paler than in the
original form; ebwrnea (Williams’ Orch. Alb. IIT. t. 100, Lycaste), sepals
and petals ivory-white, lip yellow, streaked with red-purple ; purpurascens,
sepals and petals light plum-purple, front lobe of lip dark plum-purple.
The botanical and horticultural history of those orchids that have
been longest in cultivation is often the most obscure, because in
the early days of orchid culture very little care was taken to
Bifrenaria Harrisoniz.
ascertain habitats or to record the dates of introduction. Bifrenaria
Harrisonie is an instance of this. All that is recorded respecting
its origin is, that it was sent by Mr. William Harrison, a British
merchant residing in Rio de Janeiro, to his brother Richard at
Liverpool, and that on flowering it was named by Sir William
Hooker in compliment to another member of the family, Mrs. Arnold
Harrison, the possessor of one of the finest collections of orchids
at that time. The probable date of introduction is thence 1821—22.
In a note in Walper’s Annales Botanices, Reichenbach states
78 BIFRENARIA.
that it was gathered by Gardner, who found it on moist shady
rocks at Praha Vermelha, a locality not found on any map to which
we have access.
The sub-varieties noted above are pretty and fairly distinct,
especially the last named, which was sent to us by the late
Mr. H. J. Buchan, of Wilton House, Southampton.
B. inodora.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and inflorescence as in Bifrenaria Harrisonie.
Flowers 3 inches in diameter; sepals oblong, obtuse, the lateral two
with a mucro at their apex, apple-green; petals much smaller but
brighter in colour, sub-rhomboidal; lip white, yellow or dull rose
colour, three-lobed, the side lobes sub-triangular, erect, the intermediate
lobe broadly oval, hairy, reflexed, crisped at the margin; crest a fleshy
grooved plate toothed and projecting in front; spur sub-cylindric, half
as long as the ovary. Column curved, terete above, concave below
the stigma, white, sometimes greenish yellow.
Bifrenaria inodora, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. Nos. 63 and 67. Rchb. Xen.
Orch. I. p. 228. t. 94. fig. 1. 3B. aurantiaca, Williams’ Orch. Alb. IX. t. 3886
(not of Lindl.).
“Tmported from Rio de Janeiro in 1839, and added to Sir Charles
Lemon’s collection at Carclew, where it flowered in April, 18437;
such is the earliest account of its origin. We next read of its
being gathered by the Belgian collector, Libon, in Minas Geraes,
and afterwards cultivated by Consul Schiller and other German
amateurs. Quite recently it has reappeared in British gardens, our
description being taken from a plant that flowered in our houses
in May, 1891. The flowers are variable in colour, some forms
being more attractive than others.
B. vitellina.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, ovoid, four-angled, 1} inch long, monophyllous.
Leaves lanceolate, acute, 9—12 inches long, narrowed below into a
short petiole. Seapes shorter than the leaves, crimsonish mottled with
pale green, terminating in a lax, few-flowered raceme, Flowers an
inch in diameter, orange-yellow with a maroon spot on the lip; sepals
and petals oval-oblong, apiculate; the lateral sepals sub-faleate and
spreading, the petals smaller and parallel with the column; lip cordate,
three-lobed, the side lobes sub-triangular, erect; the intermediate lobe
roundish with crisped margin; crest a flat plate thickened in front;
spur short, obtuse. Column terete, whitish.
Bifrenaria vitellina, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No. 67. Rchb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 549. Maxillaria vitellina, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1839, t. 12, M.
barbata, Knowles and Westce. Fl, Cab, IJ. t. 83. Lindl. in Bot Reg. 1841, misc.
No. 141,
PAPHINIA. 79
An attractive species originally imported from Brazil by Messrs.
Loddiges, in whose nursery it flowered in June, 1838. As in the
case of most of the earliest imported orchids from Rio de Janeiro,
no locality was recorded, although it is certain that the plant was
gathered at no great distance from that city. We received materials
for description from Burford Lodge and from Glasnevin.
EXcLUDED SPECIEs.
Bifrenaria Hadwenii (Lindl.), now referred to Scuticaria Hadwenii (Benth.)
PAPHINIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 14. Kchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 614 (1863).
The type species, hike many more of the South American VanpzEa,
was originally described and figured as a Maxillaria. In his revision
of that genus in the Botanical Register of 1343, Dr. Lindley
removed it from Maxillaria on account of the different structure of
its pollinary apparatus: in Maxillaria the pair of double pollen
masses are sessile or nearly so, on a crescent-shaped gland; in
Paphinia they are connected with a small roundish gland by a long
slender caudicle (stipes). This is an important difference from a
botanical poimt of view, and justifies the separation of Paphinia
from Maxillaria; but in Lycaste we find a similar condition of
things, and on that ground chiefly Mr. Bentham reduced Paphinia
to a synonym of Lycaste; but here again other characters have
to be taken into account by the systematist: in Lycaste the scapes
are with one exception* one-flowered, and always erect; in Paphinia
they are oftener two or more flowered and pendulous, and the
flowers strikingly different in colour; and more important than this
is the different form of the labellum in the two genera: in Paphinia
this organ, as will be seen from the description of the species that
follow, has quite a complex structure; in Lycaste it is comparatively
simple. On these grounds we have retained Lindley’s genus Paphinia,
not only for garden use, but also if merged into Lycaste—itself a
very natural genus—the homogeneity of the latter would be greatly
impaired,
* Lycaste tetragona,
80 PAPHINIA.
Four species, all South American, have been figured and described,
of which the last introduced is unknown to us.
Cultural Note-——The plants being of small size with a _ pendulous
inflorescence, they are best cultivated in shallow pans near the glass
of the East Indian house, care being taken to shade them from too
powerful direct sunlight during the summer months. The pans should
be filled to about two-thirds of their depth with the usual drainage
material, and the remainder with a mixture of sphagnum moss and
fibrous peat on which the plants should be placed, not inserted, so
that the base of the pseudo-bulbs may be on a level with the rim
of the pan. As the Paphinias naturally grow in a very humid
atmosphere, constant attention must be given to the supply of water,
and also to keeping the plants free from insect pests.
Paphinia cristata.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, ovate-oblong, 1—1} inch long, di-triphyllous.
Leaves lanceolate, acute, plicate, 7—-10 inches long. Peduncles
slender, quite pendulous, 1—3 flowered; bracts nearly an inch long,
loose, membraneous, brownish. Flowers 3—4 inches in diameter ;
sepals and petals similar, broadly lanceolate, sub-acuminate, the basal
half pale yellow streaked transversely with chocolate-brown, the apical
half wholly brown but sometimes streaked longitudinally with pale
yellow; lip shorter than the sepals and petals, clawed, the blade
fleshy, distinctly bipartite, dark chocolate-purple ; the hypochile
transversely oblong with the front angles acute, the epichile sub-
rhomboidal with a tuft of white hairs at the apex. Crest an oblong
raised plate, bidentate at the top, below which are four prominent
tubercles. Column semi-terete with a tooth-like auricle on each side
of the stigma, yellowish green banded with chocolate towards the
base; rostellum beaked.
Paphinia cristata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 14. Bot. Mag. t. 4836.
Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, IV. t. 835. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I. t. 34. Lindenia,
7. t. 30 (Randii). Maxillaria cristata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1811.
sub-var.—Modiglianiana (Lindenia, II. ¢. 117).
Flowers white except the anther which is light yellow.
Paphinia cristata is the type species, and the only one that was
known for many years till the discovery of PP. rugosa and
P. grandiflora in 1876. It was first cultivated in this country in
1836 by Mr. Knight, our predecessor at the Royal Exotic Nursery,
who had received it from Trinidad. A few years later it was
detected by the brothers Schomburgk on the banks of the Kamwatta
river, in British Guiana, growing on the trunks of trees; and
subsequently by Purdie in northern Culombia, by whom it was sent
PAPHINIA. 81
to the Royal Gardens at Kew. ‘The sub-variety, a very beautiful
and distinct one, was recently introduced by L’Horticulture Inter-
nationale of Brussels.
P. grandiflora.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovoid or sub-globose, about an inch in diaieter,
diphyllous. Leaves broadly lanceolate, acuminate, 7—10 inches long.
Scapes short, pendent, 2—3 flowered. Flowers the largest in the
genus; dorsal sepal 3 inches long, ovate-lanceolate, acute, the basal half
yellowish white with numerous irregular transverse chocolate-purple bands,
the apical half wholly chocolate-purple sometimes with a narrow yellowish
white margin; lateral sepals similar but sub-falcate ; petals similar to the
sepals but more narrowed towards the base; lip clawed, distinctly bi-
partite, the claw blackish purple; the hypochile obovate-oblong, yellowish
white with two incurved linear light brown auricles; the epichile with
a narrow claw having two dark purple falcate teeth at the base of the
sub-orbicular fleshy blade that is covered with whitish shaggy hairs,
Column greenish, spotted with purple.
Paphinia grandiflora, Rodr. Gen. et Sp. Orch. nov. I. p. 124 (1877). P. nutans,
Houll. in Rev. Hort. 1878, p. 188 (ex descript.). P. grandis, Rchb. ex Williams’
Orch. Alb. IV. t. 145.
A very remarkable orchid, and the handsomest species in the
genus; the colour of the perianth segments is rich and effective,
and contrasts strongly with the small pale labellum which, as our
description shows, is of very complex structure. It first became
known to science in 1877 through the Brazilian botanist, Rodriguez ;
it firs; appeared in British gardens in 1883, flowering in the
autumn of that year.
P. rugosa.
Pseudo-bulbs smooth, ovoid, elongated, 14 inch long, diphyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 4—6 inches long. Scapes short,
pendent, with an appressed bract at the base of the ovaries, 2—3
flowered. Flowers 2—3 inches in diameter; sepals lanceolate, acuminate,
light yellow dotted with red; lp clawed, the hypochile crescent-shaped
with two sub-faleate, erect auricles, red-purple; the epichile also red-
purple, sub-rhomboidal, reflexed, with two broad auricles and a dense
tuft of white bristles at the apex. Column clavate, bent, greenish
yellow, with a narrow rounded wing on each side of the stigma.
Paphinia rugosa, Rehb. in Linnea, XLI. p. 110 (1877). Id. in Gard. Chron.
XII. (1879), p. 520; and XIV. (1880), pp. 102 and 778. Sander’s Reichenbachia,
Bh OS Avolly JIG te ik
One of the discoveries of Gustav Wallis in New Granada in 1876,
and shortly afterwards gathered by Franz Klaboch. ‘Three years
G
82 LYCASTE.
later it was introduced into British gardens by Messrs. Sander and Co.
through Chesterton, and it flowered for the first time in this country
in the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge,
in the summer of 1880. About the same time we received a small
consignment through Kalbreyer. Neither of these collectors divulged
its precise habitat; it is reported to be a rare plant, confined to
a small area, and growing upon high trees in dense shade.
LYCASTE.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 14. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. HI. p. 547.
Lycaste, a very natural genus not often confused with any other,
includes about twenty-five species; but with one notable exception
(Lycaste Skinneri) not many of them have hitherto found much
fayour with cultivators of orchids. This want of appreciation has
probably arisen from the fact that the flowers of many of the species,
although of large size and even cf stately aspect, are often of
homely or pallid colours that fail to attract favour. But among
those species with smaller flowers there are some that possess
pleasing although by no means brilliant colours, and in addition,
some of them have a pleasant fragrance; they are thence represented
in many collections. It may be observed, as a fair index of the
favour accorded to the lLycastes, that very few of them, with the
exception of JL. Skinneri, have been figured in the horticultural
serials devoted to the illustrations of orchids,
The essential characters of the genus may be thus formulated :—
The sepals are sub-equal and spreading, the lateral two adnate at
their base to the foot of the column, and forming with it a short
mentum or chin,
The petals are similar to the sepals in shape, but often much smaller
and parallel with the column, rarely spreading.
The lip is affixed to the foot of the column; it is either sessile or
shortly clawed, three-lobed, with the lateral lobes erect and the terminal
one reflexed, and ciliolate or fimbriate at the margin, but sometimes
entire; on the disk between the side lobes is a fleshy, grooved plate.*
* The form and size of this plate affords in several instances a good character for the
determination of the species ;—thus, in Lycaste Linguella it is excessively developed,
forming a semi-cylindrie tube; in ZL. lasioglossa it is reduced to a small tongue-shaped
callosity ; while in L, Skinneri it is well-nigh intermediate between those two.
LYCASTE. 83
The pollinia are four in two pairs, attached to the small gland by
a long slender caudicle (stipes).
In their vegetation the Lycastes are remarkably uniform, so much
so that the following general description of the pseudo-bulbs, leaves
and inflorescence applies to all the species in the following synopsis :—
The pseudo-bulbs are of ovoid form more or less furrowed, with
rounded ribs or obscurely angulate, and bearing at their apex 1—3
leaves that are sub-evergreen, rarely persisting more than twelve months,
often much less.
The leaves are of oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate form, more or
less acuminated, with about five pale nerves and plaited; they are
always narrowed below into a channelled foot-stalk.
The scapes arise from the base of the latest-formed pseudo-bulbs, and
are, except in one species, one-flowered; they have from two to four
joints with a membraneous brown sheath at each joint, and a similar
but larger bract at the base of the ovary.*
The geographical distribution of the Lycastes is nearly conterminous
with that of the Odontoglots with the exception of one outlying
member in southern Brazil. They occur on the Cordilleras of
tropical America from Mexico to Bolivia, but their vertical range is
generally lower than that of the Odontoglots. Like the Odontoglots,
too, the species are somewhat aggregated towards the northern
limit, becoming fewer and more dispersed till the southern limit is
reached. All the Andean Lycastes occur within the region coloured
light brown on the maps illustrating the distribution of Odontoglossum.
Cultural Note.—The climatic conditions under which the Andean
Lycastes grow are fully stated in the notes on the geographical dis-
tribution of Odontoglossum and Cattleya.t The Lycastes of Mexico,
Central America and Colombia, generally speaking, occur within the
higher range of the Cattleyas and the lower range of the Odontoglots ;
as regards temperature therefore, they occupy a mean position between
the two, and as regards humidity they live in a region in which there
is nominally a dry season of three or four- months only. The climate
of the zone within which they are found on the Andes of Peru is
not, so far as known, essentially different from that of their range in
Colombia. The cultural routine is a very simple one:—The plants
should have ample pot room as they root freely; a compost of rough
fibrous peat and sphagnum moss with a drainage of broken crocks to
* The number of scapes produced from one pseudo-bulb varies considerably in the
different species and even in the same species. We have observed instances in which
from 15 to 20 flowers have been produced from a single pseudo-bulb,
+ Odontoglossum, p. 9; and Cattleya, p, 6.
84
LYCASTE.
three-fourths of the depth of the pot is found to be the most suitable,
and upon this the plants should be placed with the base of the pseudo-
bulbs about on a level with the rim of the pot. Water should be
freely supplied during the growing season, and even when the plants
are at rest the compost should at no time be allowed to become dry.
Light shading should be used during bright days in summer, but at
other times the plants should receive as much leght as_ possible.
Lycaste Skinneri may be grown in the cool house so long as the
temperature does not sink below 10° C. (50° F.). Red spider some-
times attacks the leaves on the under side which causes them to turn
yellow ; when they are detected the leaves should be sponged with a
weak insecticide,
Synopsis or SpEcIES AND VARIETIES.’
Lycaste aromatica.
Pseudo-bulbs 14—2} inches long, dark dull green, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves 7—10 inches long. Scapes slender, 4—6 inches long. Flowers
with a strong aromatic fragrance, about 14 inch across the lateral
sepals ; sepals ovate-oblong, acute, fulvous yellow; petals similar, bright
Lycaste aromatica.
orange-yellow ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, free at the apical
end, incurved over the column, orange-yellow spotted with red; the
intermediate lobe oblong, obtuse, reflexed, coloured like the petals ;
plate of disk grooved, thickened and truncate at the apex. Column
slender, semi-terete, slightly bent, pubescent below the stigma.
Lycaste aromatica, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. p. 16. Rchb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 600. Maxillaria aromatica, Hook. Exot. Flora, t. 219 (1823). Lindl, Gen,
et Sp. Orch. p. 146. Bot. Reg. t. 1871,
LYCASTE. 85
First sent by Lord Napier from Mexico to the Botanic Garden
at Hdinburgh some time previous to the year 1826; it is therefore
an old denizen of British gardens, in which its pleasant fragrance
has always secured for it a place; its Mexican habitat does not
appear to have been recorded. In the miscellaneous matter of the
Botanical Register of 1844, p. 41, Dr. Lindley mentions a variety
“with very clear yolk-of-egg yellow flowers, and the middle lobe of
the lip dilated and almost two-lobed,”’ said to have been received
from Lima by My. Barker, of- Birmingham, but which seems to
have been since lost.
L. candida.
Pseudo-bulbs 14—2} inches long. Leaves 9—12 inches long.
Scapes one-third as long as the leaves. Flowers about 2 inches in
diameter ; sepals oval-oblong, acute, reflexed at the tip, pale green
sometimes freckled or spotted with light rose; petals smaller, whitish
more or less tinted with light rose; lip obovate-oblong, obscurely
three-lobed, of a purer white than the petals, and with a few rose-
purple spots; plate of disk thin, oblong, thickened and emarginate at
the apex. Column slender, terete, bent towards the apex, hairy below
the stigma, white spotted with rose.
Lycaste candida, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. II. p. 37, icon. xyl. (1852). _Rehb.
in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 604. L. Lawrenceana, Hort.
One of the dwarfest species in the genus. It was discovered by
Warscewicz in Central America in 1849—50, and introduced by him
shortly afterwards. Horticulturists distinguish the sub-variety, in which
all the floral segments are more or less tinted with rose, by the
name of Lycaste Lawrenceana.
L. ciliata.
Pseudo-bulbs 2—3 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves 7—10_ inches
long. Scapes a little longer than the pseudo-bulbs. Sepals and petals
green, ovate-lanceolate, the lateral sepals sub-falcate, the petals smaller
than the sepals; lip oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, white ;
the terminal lobe fringed, with a larger concavity at its base and a
smaller one at its apex, pale buff-yellow; plate of the disk rather
broad, grooved, with three raised lines in the concavity. Column
trigonal, arched, white.
Lycaste ciliata, supra, not of Rchb.* Maxillaria ciliata, Ruiz et Pav. Fl. Peruv.
p. 226; and Syst. Veg. p. 221 (1798). Bot. Reg. t. 1206. Bot, Mag. t. 4081.
Dendrobium ciliatum, Pers. Syst. Pl. p. 523 (1805).
Materials for description, under the name of Lycaste Barringtonie,
* Bonpl. IV. p. 324; and Walp. Ann. VI. p. 606.
86 LYCASTE.
were sent to us from the Royal Botanic Garden at Glasnevin by
Mr. F. W. Moore, who called our attention to the confusion that
has long existed respecting this species. On comparing the flowers
with the figures of Mazillaria ciliata in the Botanical Register and
Botanical Magazine, we were satisfied that the Glasnevin plant must
be referred to that species. Now Lindley (Bot. Reg. 1844, misc.
p. 43) reduced M. ciliata to a synonym of M. Barringtonie of
Loddiges,* when he removed the latter to Lycaste; this is a West
Indian species figured and described in Hooker’s Exotic Flora as
Dendrobium Barringtonie, and in Smith’s Icones as Hpidendrum
Barringtonie. Unfortunately both Loddiges’ and MHooker’s figures
are imperfect, but there is sufficient evidence in them to raise a
doubt whether the Peruvian Lycaste ciliata and the West Indian
L. Barringtonie are one and the same species, a doubt that we are
unable to clear up, It is scarcely necessary to add that the plant
figured as DL. Barringtonie in the Botanical Magazine, t. 5706, is not
the West Indian species but the Peruvian LZ. costata.
Lycaste ciliata was first gathered by the Spanish botanists, Ruiz
and Pavon, at Mufia and Chinchao, in Peru, more than a century
ago. The plant is of no horticultural merit whatever; it is in-
troduced here solely with the view of bringing under notice the
confusion that exists respecting it.
L. costata.
Pseudo-bulbs 3—5 inches long, compressed with 8—5 strong ribs
in each of the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves 20—25 inches long
including the rather long channelled petiole. Scapes about one-fourth
as long as the leaves; bracts large and slightly inflated. Flowers
4 inches across vertically, ivory-white; dorsal sepal oblong, acute,
incurved over the column; lateral sepals oblong, falcate, sub-acute ;
petals linear-oblong, sub-acute, lying immediately under the dorsal sepal
and incurved over the column in the same way; lip three-lobed, the
side lobes sub-rhomboidal with the front angle very acute; the inter-
mediate lobe ovate-oblong with the side margins fimbriate; plate of
disk very thick, grooved and emarginate. Column triquetral, bent, hairy
at the base.
Lycaste costata, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 15. Id. in Gard. Chron.
1854, p. 663. Rcehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 605. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1869, t. 620,
and 1885, t. 1141. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIIT. t. 384. Lindenia V. t. 220.
Lycaste Barringtonie, Bot. Mag. t. 5706 (grandiflora), Maxillaria costata, Lindl.
in Bot. Reg. 1838, misc. p. 93.
* Bot. Cab. t. 1834.
LYCASTE. 87
Originally detected in 1838 on the Peruvian Andes by Matthews,
from whose. herbarium specimen it was first named and described.
It was introduced in 1854 by the late Mr. Robert Hanbury, of
The Poles, near Ware. Lycaste costata is well known for the
imposing dimensions it attains and for its large flowers that are
pleasantly fragrant at night; it has been occasionally confused with
L. Barringtonice and L. lanipes, the latter having much smaller flowers
with a differently-shaped lip.
L. cruenta.
Pseudo-bulbs 14—24 inches long, compressed with 2—3 ribs on each
of the flattened sides, diphyllous. Leaves 15-—18 inches long. Scapes
about 6 inches long. Flowers 23 inches across the lateral sepals ;
sepals spreading, ovate-oblong, acute, light fulvous green; petals oval-
oblong, orange-yellow spotted with red at the base; lip three-lobed,
the side lobes rounded and erect, the intermediate lobe sub-quadrate
and reflexed, blood-red at the base, the remaining area orange-yellow
sometimes with some red transverse streaks; plate of disk short,
thickened and truncate in front. Column broad, terete, orange-yellow
above, crimson and hairy below the stigma.
Lycaste cruenta, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 15. Rehb, in Walp. Ann.
VI. pe 601. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 375. Maxillaria cruenta, Lindl. in
Bot. Reg. 1842, t. 13.
One of the discoveries of Mr. G. Ure Skinner in Guatemala and
sent by him to Mr. Bateman in 1841; it also occurs sparingly on
the eastern Cordillera of Colombia some miles south of Ocana. It
is one of the most generally cultivated of the lLycastes, much
resembling Lycaste aromatica, from which it is chiefly distinguished
by its larger scentless flowers, of which the labellum is of a
different shape and has a dark sanguineous blotch at the base, a
character that suggested the specific name.
L. Deppei.
Pseudo-bulbs 2}—34 inches long, compressed and strongly ribbed on
the flattened sides, and bearing at their apex 3—4 leaves. Leaves
9—12 or more inches long. Scapes numerous, shorter than the leaves,
Flowers 3—4 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals spreading, elliptic-
oblong, acute, pale green spotted with reddish carmine ; petals similar
but shorter, ivory-white ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, incurved,
whitish streaked with red on the inner side; the intermediate lobe
ovate, acute, reflexed, bright yellow spotted with red; plate of disk
88 LYCASTE.
ovate at apex passing into a broad keel below. Column clavate,
hairy on the anterior face, white spotted with red.
Lycaste Deppei, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 15. Rchb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 602. Maxillaria Deppei, Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1612 (1830). Bot. Mag. t.
3395, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 147.
var.—punctatissima.
Sepals longer and narrower than in the type, yellow-green densely
spotted with reddish carmine, the white petals and yellow lip also
spotted with red-carmine, the spots on the petals more dispersed, and
those on the lip larger than on the sepals.
L. Deppei punctatissima, Rechb. in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p. 717. Williams’
Orch. Alb. Viz t. 262.
A very old denizen of British gardens, it having been intro-
duced by Messrs. Loddiges in 1828 through Deppe, who collected
it near Xalapa in Mexico. It flowered in Earl Fitzwilliam’s collection
at Wentworth, near Sheffield, in 1834, on which occasion it was
figured in the Botanical Magazine, but it seems to have been very
rare for some time afterwards. The variety, a very remarkable one,
was introduced by the late Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway; the
only plant we have seen of it is in the collection of Sir Trevor
Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge.
L. fulvescens.
Pseudo-bulbs variable in size, the largest 4
5 inches long and 14—2
inches broad, diphyllous. Leaves 15—20 inches long. Scapes as long
again as the pseudo-bulbs. Flowers large and drooping; sepals and
petals lanceolate, acuminate, fulvous-brown, much paler at the base, the
sepals nearly 3 inches long, the lateral two sub-falcate, the petals much
smaller; lip oblong, obtuse, three-lobed, orange-brown, the front lobe
fringed at the margin; plate of disk grooved, thickened and emarginate
at the apex. Column semi-terete, whitish.
Lycaste fulvescens, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4193 (1845). Lindl. Orch. Lind. No.
108, p. 21 (1846). Rehb. in. Walp. Ann. VI. p. 605.
Discovered by Linden in 1842 on the eastern Cordillera of New
Granada at 6,000 feet elevation, near Ocafia, and subsequently
gathered by Schlim and Wagener in the same region; it occurs on
the Cordillera from Ocaiia southwards as far as Bogota. It was
first cultivated in this country by the Rev. John Clowes, of Broughton
Hall, Manchester, in whose collection it flowered in 1845, The
pecuhar drooping habit of the flowers and their unusual colouration
well distinguish this species among Lycastes.
LYCASTR. 89
L. gigantea. ‘
Pseudo-bulbs 4-—5 inches long and 14 inch broad, di-triphyllous.
Leaves 20—30 inches long with rather long foot-stalks. Scapes stoutish,
shorter than the leaves. Flowers large with the segments turned
more or less forwards; sepals lanceolate, acute, 5 inches long, olive-
green, the lateral two sub-falcate; the petals similar but smaller; lip
oblong, maroon-chocolate bordered with orange-yellow, three-lobed, the
side lobes narrow, erect, the intermediate lobe reflexed; plate of disk
somewhat saddle-shaped, much thickened, and emarginate at the apex.
Column triquetral, bent, whitish.
Lycaste gigantea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 15; and 1845, t. 34.
Got. Mag. t. 5616. Kchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 604. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IX.
t. 408.
Originally discovered by Hartweg in 1842 in Ecuador at a place
called Quebrada de las Juntas, near Guayaquil, and sent by him
to the Horticultural Society of London, in whose garden at Chiswick
it flowered in 1845; it had, however, previously flowered in Belgium,
whither it had been introduced from La Guayra, probably through
Linden.* It was subsequently gathered by Wagener on the Cordillera
of Venezuela, by Purdie in Santa Martha, and by other collectors
on the eastern Cordillera of Colombia as far south as Bogota, always
at a considerable elevation. Its nearest affinity is Lycaste fulvescens,
with which it is in some localities found associated and with which
it agrees in its elongated sepals and petals, the latter of which are
more spreading in these species than in any other Lycaste in
cultivation.
L. lanipes.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-cylindric, elongated, 5—6 inches long, di-triphyllous.
Leaves 20—25 inches long, the petiole about one-third the length of
the blade. Scapes 3—4 inches long. Flowers 4 inches across vertically ;
sepals oblong-lanceolate, greenish white; petals similar but shorter,
ivory-white ; lip ivory-white, oblong, slightly constricted at the middle,
reflexed at the apex, the margins of the basal half entire, of the
apical half fimbriated; plate of disk dilated at the apex and with
3—5) parallel raised lines. Column semi-terete, arched.
Lycaste lanipes, Lindl. in Bot. Reg, 1843, misc. p. 15. Rchb. in Walp. Ann,
VI. p. 606. L. Cobbiana, Hort.
* The plants must have been shipped at La Guayra, not gathered there. La Guayra is
the port of Caracas, and is more than 1,200 miles distant from Guayaquil in Ecuador.
As Lycaste gigantea is known to be dispersed over the Cordilleras of Colombia for many
hundreds of miles, Lindley’s statement in the Botanical Register respecting its Ecuadorean
habitat may be assumed to be correct.
90 LYCASTE.
Discovered by Hartweg at Paccha, on the Peruvian Andes near
Loxa, in 1842, and sent by him to the Horticultural Society of
London. Ten years later it was collected by Warscewicz in the
same locality, and it has been occasionally imported since. It is
well distinguished by its elongated pseudo-bulbs, its narrow leaves,
and the keeled plate of the labellum.
L. lasioglossa.
Pseudo-bulbs 4—5 inches long and 13}—2 inches broad, di-triphyllous.
Leaves variable in size and form, from elliptic to oblong-lanceolate,
15—24 inches long. Scapes 6—S8 inches long, stoutish. Flowers
4—5 inches across vertically ; sepals spreading and equidistant, lanceolate-
oblong, acute, reddish brown, yellow at the tip, hairy at the base ;
petals oblong, concave, reflexed at the apex, bright yellow; lip yellow,
three-lobed, the side lobes narrow, stained with red on the inner side;
the terminal lobe oblong, obtuse, clothed with long white hairs on
the upper surface; plate of disk tongue-shaped. Column terete, light
yellow above, hairy below the stigma.
Lycaste lasioglossa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 215. Bot. Mag. t. 6251.
Lindenia, VII. t. 316.
Introduced by us from Guatemala in 1871. Although its large
flowers are of somewhat homely colours, it is one of the most
interesting species of the genus, its shaggy lip being quite singular
in that respect, and imitating the Paphinias; it also suggested the
specific name which is derived from Adowoc, “hairy or rough,’ and
y\oooa, “a tongue,’ in orchidology, the labellum.
L. leucantha.
Pseudo-bulbs 2—3 inches long, di-triphyllous. Leaves 20—25 inches
long. Scapes about one-third as long as the leaves. Flowers 3—4
inches across the lateral sepals; sepals oblong, sub-acute, brownish
green; petals similar but shorter, reflexed at the apex, yellowish white ;
lip three-lobed, the side lobes roundish oblong, erect, light yellow; the
intermediate lobe ovate-oblong, obtuse, denticulate at the margin, gently
reflexed, cream-white; plate of disk narrow, grooved. Column semi-
terete, bent, yellowish white,
Lycaste leucantha, Klotzsch in Allgem, Gartenz. 1850, p. 402. Lindl. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard. II. p. 37, with fig. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 603. Saunders’ Ref.
Bot. II. t. 102.
Discovered by Warscewicz in Costa Rica in 1849, and occasionally
imported since from that country. The colours of its flowers are
pallid and unattractive.
LYCASTE. 91
L. Linguella.
“ Pseudo-bulbs narrowly ovoid, 3 inches long. Leaves 12—15 inches
long. Scapes about one-third as long as the leaves; bracts sheathing,
green, obovate-oblong, an inch long. Flowers 3 inches across from
the tip of the upper to that of the lateral sepals, pale yellowish
green ; dorsal sepal obovate-oblong, obtusely apiculate; the lateral two
larger and falcately curved; petals smaller, broadly obovate, concave ;
lip whitish, three-lobed, the lateral lobes narrow, the terminal lobe
broadly ovate, obtuse, recurved; plate of disk a semi-cylindric tube
protruded in front. Column semi-terete, pubescent towards the base,”—
Botanical Magazine.
Lycaste Linguella, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 738. Bot. Mag. t. 6303.
Introduced by us from the Andes of Peru in 1871 through
Pearce. It is more remarkable for the unusual development of the
fleshy plate of the labellum than for any other character, but
which thoroughly distinguishes it from every other species yet
introduced.
L. Macrobulbon.
Pseudo-bulbs somewhat pear-shaped, 3 inches long. Leaves 15—20
inches long. Scapes slender, scarcely half as long as the leaves.
Flowers fragrant, 3 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals ovate-oblong,
acute, greenish yellow; petals similar but smaller, and reflexed at the
tip, bright yellow; lip bright yellow, sometimes with some red spots
on the terminal lobe, oblong, obtuse, obscurely three-lobed, the side
lobes turned inwards, the front lobe reflexed; plate of disk narrow,
with a shallow groove, acute at the apex. Column triquetral, bent,
yellow with some red spots at the base.
Lycaste Macrobulbon, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. p. 126 (1851). Rehb. in
Walp. Ann. I. p. 601. Maxillaria Macrobulbon, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4228 (1846).
Introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew in 1844 by Purdie,
who collected it on the Sierra Nevada of Santa Martha in
northern Colombia; it was shortly afterwards imported by M. Linden
from the same region. It has been recently re-imported and
exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society’s meetings under various
names, with which it is not desirable to burden the synonymy.
It is one of the handsomest of the yellow Lycastes, easily dis-
tinguished from LD. aromatica and L. cruenta by its larger pseudo-
bulbs and its differently-shaped lip, the plate of which is long,
narrow and pointed, not thickened and truncate at the apex.
99 LYCASTE.
L. plana.
Pseudo-bulbs 25—34 inches long, di-triphyllous. Leaves 18—24 inches
long. Scapes about as long again as the pseudo-bulbs Flowers 4 inches
across the lateral sepals; sepals oblong, acute, olive-green tinged with
brown, pale green at the reflexed apex; petals elliptic-oblong, reflexed
at the apex, white, the central area sometimes spotted with rose-carmine ;
lip oblong, obtuse, three-lobed, the side lobes erect, whitish at the base,
mottled with rose-carmine at the apex; the intermediate lobe with
denticulate margin, ivory-white with a few crimson spots near the
lateral margins, rarely wholly crimson; plate of disk tongue-shaped,
narrowed towards the base. Column semi-terete, pubescent, white.
Lycaste plana, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, p. 85; 1848, t. 85; and misc. p. 15.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. V. t. 230. L. macrophylla, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise.
p- 14. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 602. Maxillaria macrophylla, Poppig et Endl.
nov. Gen. et Sp. I. t. 64. ex Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, misc. p. 92.
sub-var.—Mr. Measures’ (Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 306), sepals olive-
brown, green at the apex; petals densely spotted with carmine-purple
with a narrow white border; lip similarly spotted except the apical
area.
Originally discovered by the German botanist, Pdppig, always
growing on the ground in thickets near Cuchero, in the trans-Andean
parts of Upper Peru (now Bolivia), and subsequently gathered on
the Peruvian Andes, where it appears to have a considerable range.
It was first imported by Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery it
flowered in 1842. \ The sub-variety, which differs from the species
in colour only, is a very distinct and rare one; the only plant
of it known to us is in the collection of Mr. R. H. Measures, at
The Woodlands, Streatham.
L. Schilleriana.
Pseudo-bulbs 4—5 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves 20-—25 or more
inches long. Scapes about a foot long. Sepals ligulate acuminate,
3 inches long, pale olive-green; petals oblong, acute, half as long as
the sepals, ivory-white ; lip as long as the petals and nearly equal to
them, three-lobed, the side lobes narrowly oblong, erect, yellowish; the
intermediate lobe oblong, obtuse, minutely denticulate, ivory-white ; plate
of disk as long as the side lobes, narrow, grooved. Column semi-terete,
hairy below the stigma.
Lycaste Schilleriana, Rehb. in Bonpl. III. p. 215 (1855). Id. in Walp, Ann.
VI. p. 604. Saunders’ Ref. Bot. TI. t. 130. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1890, t. 1821,
var. Lehmanni.
The precise habitat of this species is not certainly known. It
first became known to horticulture through a plant that flowered in
Consul Schiller’s collection at Hamburg in 1854, and this plant had
LYCASTE. 93
been acquired at an English sale by Mr. G. Ure Skinner. This
was the only one known for many years till about 1880, when
specimens were sent by various correspondents to the late Professor
Reichenbach for identification, and which were supposed to have
been imported from New Granada, a supposition since confirmed
by plants being received from that country from various orchid
collectors. The flowers of Lycaste Schilleriana are among the largest
in the genus, but they are of dull and unattractive colours.*
L. Skinneri.
Pseudo-bulbs 2$—3 inches long, di-triphyllous. Leaves 15-—20 or
more inches long. Scapes from one-third to one half as long as the
leaves. Flowers the handsomest and largest in the genus, 5—6 inches
across the lateral sepals; sepals oval-oblong, sub-acute, reflexed at the
tip, the dorsal sepal with a small green apiculus, delicate light rose
more or less suffused with white; petals similar but much smaller and
more deeply coloured; lip ovate in outline, distinctly three-lobed, rose
and crimson-carmine of many shades, often mottled and spotted in
various ways with white, rarely wholly white; the side lobes roundish,
oblong, erect; the terminal lobe ovate, obtuse, reflexed; plate of disk
tongue-shaped, hairy. Column triquetral, hairy below the stigma, white
stained with crimson.
Lycaste Skinneri, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 15. Bot. Mag. t. 4445.
Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, IV. t. 308. Paxt. Mag. Bot. XI. p. I. Linden’s
Pesce. t. 39. Fl. and Pomol. 1861, p. 65. #1. Mag. t. 192. Jennings’ Orch. t. 9.
The Garden, XXV. (1884), t. 440. Maxillaria Skinneri, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842,
misc. No. 13. Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 35.
sub-vars.—alba (Linden’s Pesce, t. 39, fig. 2. Jennings’ Orch. t. 9, fig. 2.
Fl. Mag. n.s. t. 35, fig. 1. Williams’ Orch. Alb V. t. 234. Lindenia,
IV. t. 153), flowers white, with the crest of the lip light yellow;
armeniaca (Sander’s Reichenbachia, s. 2, t. 18), sepals white, petals and
lip suffused with apricot-yellow ; bella, sepals white tinted with rose-
carmine towards the base, petals rose-carmine mottled with white, lip
dark crimson margined with white; delicatissima (Warner’s Sel. Orch. 1.
t. 10, fig. 1), sepals and petals white tinted with light rose, lip white
sparingly spotted with rose; Mr. Young’s, sepals and petals faintly tinted
with light rose, lip rose-carmine darker at the lateral margins; nigro-
rubra (Fl. Mag. N.8. t. 35, fig. 2. Regine, Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI.
t. 283), sepals tinted with rose-carmine, petals purplish crimson, lip
maroon-crimson ; picturata (Warner's Se’. Orch. I. t. 10, fig. 2), sepals
and petals light rose, lip white stained with crimson at the base, the
front lobe spotted with crimson; purpurata (Warner’s Sel. Orch. I. t. 10,
* The variety Leimanni as figured in the Gartenjlora appears to be an improvement in
this respect,
94. LYCASTE.
fig. 3), sepals and petals white faintly tinted with white rose, lip
crimson-purple ; superba (Fl. Mag. t. 24), sepals white with a faint
flush of light rose, petals dark carmine, lip white with yellow crest.
Lycaste Skinneri.
Unquestionably the finest of the discoveries of Mr. G. Ure Skinner
in Guatemala, who brought it to England in great numbers in
1841.* It flowered for the first time in this country in the
* In Pescatorea, sub. t. 39, the merit of introducing Lycaste Skinneri into European
gardens is claimed by M. Linden. Mr. Bateman’s first announcement of the species appeared
in the Botanical Register of 1842; Pescatorea was published at Brussels in 1860. The
claim of prior discovery and introduction by Linden was thence brought forward too late,
and on that ground alone cannot be seriously entertained,
LYCASTE. 95
collection of the Rev. John Clowes, at Broughton Hall, Manchester,
in the following year, and shortly afterwards in other places, when
its great merit as a garden plant became generally recognised.
Judging from the numerous importaticns that have been made from
Guatemala and the adjoining State of Honduras, it must exist in
immense quantities in those countries. Like most orchids that have
been introduced in large numbers, the flowers of LDycaste Skinneri
have proved to be variable in colour, especially in the labellum; the
sub-varieties described above are among the most distinct that have
been noticed, of which the pure white form (alla) has always been
in high repute.
Lycaste Skinneri is one of the easiest of orchids to cultivate,
requiring only a temperature that does not sink below 10° C. (50° HS):
It flowers in the late autumn and winter months, continuing a long
time in perfection.
L. tetragona.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, elongated, acutely four-angled, 3—4 inches long,
monophyllous. Leaves 12—18 inches long. Scapes as long as_ the
pseudo-bulbs, 3—4 flowered; cauline bracts reduced to small ovate,
acute scale-like appendages; floral bracts similar but larger. Flowers
with a peculiar fragrance, not fully expanding; sepals and petals light
yellow-green streaked with red-brown, broadly ovate, acute, the petals
narrower and the lateral sepals broader than the dorsal sepal ;
fleshy, three-lobed; the side lobes sub-quadrate, incurved; the inter-
mediate lobe oblong, obtuse, saccate at the base; all the lobes whitish,
sometimes yellowish green beneath, deep maroon-violet on the inner
side; plate of disk narrow, grooved, protruded in front, evanescent
below. Column terete, greenish yellow.
lip
Lycaste tetragona, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. No. 64. Rehb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 602. Maxillaria tetragona, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1428 (1831). Bot. Mag.
t. 3146.
An aberrant species both geographically and structurally. Its
habitat is im southern Brazil, more than one thousand miles away
from its nearest congeners in a geographical sense, Lycaste plana
and I,. Linguella of the Andes of Bolivia and southern Peru,
Its pseudo-bulbs are distinctly four-angled, and its flowers, unlike
those of all other Lycastes, are not solitary, but are borne in
threes and fours on one peduncle; these also differ from the Andean
species in the sepals and petals being nearly equal, and in their
differently-shaped lip. L. tetragona was originally introduced in 1827
96 LYCASTE.
by Mr. Mutford, of Exeter, who presented a plant to the Royal
Gardens at Kew, where it flowered in the summer of 1829; it
was shortly afterwards received from Rio de Janeiro by the
Horticultural Society of London. It is one of the most distinct
of Lycastes, but not generally cultivated; our description was taken
from a plant that flowered in our houses in the summer of 1890.
L. xytriophora.
Pseudo-bulbs 3—4 inches long, much compressed, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves 12—15 or more inches long. Scapes 4—5 inches long, the
bract at the base of the ovary large in proportion to the size of the
flower. Flowers 3—4 inches in diameter; sepals oblong, obtuse,
with a horny apiculus on the under side, light greenish brown ; petals
oblong, obtuse, slightly reflexed at the apex, the basal half yellowish green,
the apical half white ; lip much smaller than the other segments, oblong-
ligulate, white sometimes stained with rose-pink on the inner side, three-
lobed, the side lobes incurved, the front lobe thickened along the
middle, reflexed, undulate at the margin; plate of disk very narrow,
grooved, yellow spotted with red. Column triquetral, hairy below
the stigma.
Lycaste xytriophora,* Rehb. in Saunders’ Ref. Bot. I/. t. 131 (1882),
The origin of the species is uncertain. In the letterpress
accompanying the plate in the Refugiwm Botanicum, Reichenbach
expresses his belief that Wallis collected it in the neighbourhood of
Loxa, in northern Peru, for M. Linden in 1867. The late Mr.
Wilson Saunders states, however, that he obtained his plants from
Costa Rica, statements not easy to be reconciled, as these two
localities are many hundreds of miles apart. It has recently reappeared
in several collections, but the origin of the plants has not been
divulged.
HYBRID LYCASTES.
The genus Lycaste offers so indifferent a field, from a horticultural
standpoint, for the operations of the hybridist, that very little has
been done in the cross-fertilisation of different species. One of the
greatest impediments to the crossing of Lycastes, when the object
of the hybridist is the obtaining of forms that shall satisfy the
a ; : é
* The specific name is obscure ; probably Svo7poy, ‘‘an instrument for scraping, planing,
or polishing,” in fanciful reference to the shape of the plate on the labellum, was the word
selected ; if so, the name should be ‘‘ xystrophora,”
LYCASTE. 97
requirements of the florist, occurs in the fact that the facile princeps
of the genus Lycaste Skinneri, which would be used in every cross,
does not usually flower at a season when any other species is in
bloom. The few hybrid Lycastes of supposed natural origin or
raised artificially do not appear to have excited much interest. Our
knowledge of the forms here described is derived solely from the
notices of them in the places quoted.
Lycaste hybrida.
A hybrid raised artificially from Lycaste Deppec and L. Skinneri
by Mr. W. Marshall, of Auchinraith, Bexley. The flowers are nearly
as large as those of JZ. Skinneri; sepals and petals creamy white
with a faint tinge of green and thickly dotted with purple on the
basal half; lip yellow densely spotted with crimson on the basal half,
pure yellow on the recurved front lobe; the tongue-shaped plate of
the disk orange-yellow.
Lycaste hybrida, Gard. Chron, X. (1878), p. 535, inedit.
L. Schoenbrunnensis.
A hybrid that flowered in the autumn of 1892 in the collection of
the Emperor of Austria, at Schonbrunn, near Vienna. Lycaste Skinnert
is one parent and ZL. Schilleriana is supposed to be the other. The
sepals are 24 inches long, rose-pink with a distinctly glaucous surface ;
the petals yellowish white at the base and suffused with light pink
above; the lip has a light yellow ground, the crest and side lobes
densely spotted and freckled with light purple-crimson. The column
is white, except at the base which together with its foot is very
deep purple-crimson.
Lycaste Schoenbrunnensis, Orchid Review, vol. I. p. 51.
L. Smeeana.
A supposed natural hybrid between Lycaste Deppet and L. Skinneri
that appeared in the collection of Mr. A. H. Smee at The Grange,
Hackbridge. The flowers have nearly the shape of those of L. Deppei,
but larger; the colour is white except the lip, of which the side
lobes have a purple margin and the whole surface is spotted and
striped with purple.
Lycaste Smeeana, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XX, (1883), p. 198.
L. sulphurea.
A supposed natural hybrid between Lycaste Deppei and L. cruenta that
appeared in the nursery of Mr, William Bull at Chelsea. The flowers
H
98 ANGULOA.
are smaller than those of JL. cruenta with the sepals more acute;
they are pale sulphur-yellow with some red blotches on the sepals, a
large brown-purple blotch at the base of the petals and a few spots
above it; the lip has a purple blotch between the side lobes.
Lycaste sulphurea, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 218,
ANGULOA.
Ruiz et Pav. Prod. Fl. Peruv. p. 118, t. 26 (1794). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III.
p. 549 (1883).
In Anguloa we have a small group of species highly prized by
horticulturists on account of their large and handsome flowers that
appear in the summer months. In its botanical aspect the genus
Anguloa is a link in the chain of affinities connecting Lycaste with
Stanhopea; to the first named it is indeed very closely allied but
clearly separated from it by the very different form of the labellum.
The most obvious floral characters of Anguloa are seen in the fleshy
sepals and petals that are connivent, the sepals overlapping the petals,
so that instead of spreading they form together a hollow globe, within
which the lip and column are almost concealed. The lip is smaller
than the other segments and three-lobed, the lateral lobes being much
larger than the terminal one which is reduced to a small funnel-tlike
body, two-lipped and hairy at its mouth.*
In their vegetation the Anguloas are robust plants with large dark
green pseudo-bulbs that are, at first, enclosed by alternate, imbricating
leafy scales that pass upwards into true leaves. The leaves are large,
plicate, prominently nerved, and of broadly lanceolate form. The scapes
are produced from the base of the pseudo-bulbs, and are clothed with
large, lax, pointed sheaths, of which the uppermost, the bract sheathing
the ovary, is the largest.
The Anguloas occur on the Andes of South America at 5,000—
7,000 feet elevation from northern Colombia southwards to about
10° south latitude in Pera, growing chiefly on damp moss-covered
rocks and often in shady woods. Three species only are recognised
by botanists, viz., Anguloa Clowesii, A. Ruckeri and A. uniflora, all
the various forms or species so-called by horticulturists being reducible
to one or other of these. The typical forms of these three species
were all introduced into European gardens about the same time
through M. Linden, the cost of whose mission to Venezuela and
* There is a slight deviation from this structure in Anguloa unifiora.
ANGULOA. 99
Colombia (1841—43) was partly defrayed by a few English gentle-
men deeply interested in orchid culture, including Mr. Barker of
Birmingham, Mr. Rucker of Wandsworth, the Rev. John Clowes of
Manchester, and others.* The genus was founded by the Spanish
botanists Ruiz and Pavon on Anguloa uniflora, and was dedicated
by them to Don Francisco de Angulo, at that time Director-General
of mines in Peru.t
Cultural Note.—The Anguloas are among the most tractable of orchids
to cultivate, exacting no extra vigilance or care at the cultivator’s
hands. The plants should be potted in a compost of two-thirds fibrous
peat and one-third of chopped sphagnum moss, to which some cultivators
add a little silver sand to assist drainage. This compost should be
placed on a drainage of clean broken crocks filling from one-half to
two-thirds of the depth of the pot, and from which it should be
separated by a layer of moss to prevent the drainage being choked
by the filtering through of the compost; the best time for potting is
when new roots begin to appear from the base of the pseudo-bulbs.
The temperature should be intermediate, that is to say, a range of
about 12°—15° C. (55°—60° F.) during the resting season, allowed to
sink about 3° C. (5° F.) lower at night, and raised to 15°—18° C.
(60°—65° F.) during the growing season with such increments by sun-
heat as weather and circumstances permit. After potting, water should
at first be moderately applied, gradually increasing the supply as the
new growths gain strength, and again in diminished quantity after the
pseudo-bulbs and leaves are mature. The young growths should be
shaded from direct sunlight, but as maturity is approached they should
receive all the light available. The leaves are somewhat liable to be
infested with red spider, which may be got rid of by sponging.
Anguloa Clowesii.
Pseudo-bulbs cylindric-oblong, 5—6 inches long, leafless when old.
Leaves broadly obovate-lanceolate, acute, 18—24 inches long. Scapes
one-flowered, stoutish, erect, as long again as the pseudo-bulbs. Flowers
sub-globose, of a uniform citron-yellow, and of a peculiar odour which
has not been inaptly compared with that of a chemist’s shop; sepals
and petals elliptic-oblong, concave, the lateral sepals slightly oblique,
shorter and broader, and the petals narrower than the dorsal sepal ;
lip concave, almost like a boat, articulated with the foot of the
* Lindley in Bot. Reg. 1844, sub. t. 63.
+ Owing to the brief diagnosis of the genus given by these authors, and the obscure
manner in which it is worded, Anguloa remained for half a century a botanical puzzle
till the first flowers expanded in the orchid houses of the gentlemen through whose
enterprise all the species were introduced,
100 ANGULOA.
column, three-lobed, the side lobes large, triangular, erect; the middle
lobe reduced to a small, fleshy, two-lipped hairy funnel of which the
upper lip is emarginate and the lower one acute and reflexed. Column
very thick, bent, terete above, concave with two rounded processes
below the stigina.
Anguloa Clowesii, Lind]. in Bot. Reg. 1844, misc. No. 29, and t. 63. Id.
1846, sub. t. 41. Bot. Mag. t. 4313. lLinden’s Pesce. t. 17. Warner's Sel.
Orch. I, t. 33. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 599. Lindenia, IV. t. 191.
sub-var.—eburnea.
Flowers ivory-white; in every other respect conforming to the type.
A. Clowesii eburnea, supra. A. eburnea, Williams’ Orch. Alb. IIT. t. 133.
According to his own statement published in Pescatorea, M. Linden
first detected this orchid near the village of Jaji in the province
of Merida in 1842; it was shortly afterwards gathered by Schlim
near Ocafla, and a little later still further north by Purdie who
sent it to the Royal Gardens at Kew. Its range is now known
to extend along both slopes of the eastern Cordillera of New
Granada from Santa Martha to Bogota, it being in some localities
very abundant. It flowered for the first time in this country in
the collection of the Rev. John Clowes, at Broughton Hall, near
Manchester, in the summer of 1844. Of the origin and introduction
of the variety, a very beautiful and rare one, we find no record;
our knowledge of it is derived from a plant in the collection of
Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., at Burford Lodge.
A. Ruckeri.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves, and inflorescence as in Anguloa Clowesti, but
somewhat smaller. Flowers greenish brown externally, yellow densely
spotted with red on the inside; sepals and petals elliptic-oblong; the
lateral sepals slightly oblique, shorter and broader and the petals
narrower than the dorsal sepal; lip three-lobed, the side lobes erect,
oblong, rounded at the apex, the intermediate lobe as in A. Clowes‘.
Column short, thick, terete above, swollen below the stigma on each
side of the deep furrow that extends thence to the base.
Anguloa Ruckeri, Lindl, in Bot. Reg. 1846, t. 41. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 600. Bot. Mag. t. 5384 (sanguinea). Warner's Sel. Orch. II. t. 10. Regel’s
Gartenfl. 1854, t. 106. Lindenia, IT. t. 53.
sub-vars —albiflora, flowers white, sepals and petals of wax-like texture
and aspect; sanguinea (Gard. Chron. 1854, p. 271. Belg. hort. II.
t. 31. Tllus. hort. 8. 3, t. 427. Williams’ Orch. Alb. E-4: 19);
sepals and petals deep sanguineous red on the inside, lip and column
yellowish white, the former spotted with crimson,
‘paaowtar sjedas oy} [TB YIM lomopg “g ‘paedouter Teyod ouo puv [edes euo YIM fazIs [RANJLU LOMOTY *Z “peonpad aMOTT “T
‘TISOMOTD BOTRSUW
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ANGULOA 10]
The original form was introduced about the same time as Anguloa
Clowesii, and through the same agency; it flowered for the first
time in the collection of Mr. Rucker, at West Hill, Wandsworth,
in the summer of 1846. It continued to be the rarest of the
Anguloas in British gardens till the actual habitat of the species was
discovered by Blunt while collecting orchids for Messrs. Low and Co.
about the year 1870, who found it on the slopes of the eastern
Cordillera between Pamplona and Bucaramanga; as it occurs nowhere
else so far as at present known, its range is thence the most restricted
of all the Anguloas. The sub-variety albiflora recently appeared
in the collection of Mr. Charles Dorman, at Laurie Park, Sydenham ;
sanguinea was imported many years ago by Messrs. Rollisson, of
Tooting.
As distinguished from Anguloa Clowesii, A. Ruckeri has smaller
pseudo-bulbs and leaves; the scapes are a little shorter and the
flowers differently coloured; the lip is shorter, the side lobes of
which are rounded and not acute; the column is shorter and more
deeply grooved below the stigma. |
A. uniflora.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, angulate, 4—6 inches long. Leaves broadly
lanceolate, acute, 18—24 inches long. Scapes 6—8 inches long.
Flowers more open than in Anguloa Clowesiit and A. Ruckeri, cream-
white sometimes tinted and spotted with rose-pink on the inside ;
sepals ovate, acute, concave ; petals smaller, elliptic-oblong, acute ; lip
three-lobed, the lateral lobes sub-rotund, rolled inwards into a tube; the
terminal lobe very small, linear, reflexed, having at its base a bipartite
thickened plate. Column clavate with two narrowly oblong auricles
at the apex.
Anguloa uniflora, Ruiz et Pav. Fl. Peruv. Syst. p. 228. Id. Prod. Fl. Peruy.
p. 118. t. 26 (1794). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 160. Id. Bot, Reg. 1844.
t. 60. Bot. Mag. t. 4807. Regel’s Gartenfl. 1883, t. 1187. Lindenia, VII. t. 310
(Preyerani).
This is the type species of Ruiz and Pavon, who discovered it at Muna
(about lat. 10° S.) during their mission to Peru, 1777—88, and
where some years ago it was found by our collector, Walter Davis,
associated with Oypripedium caudatum, growing among the scrub
and low bushes, generally in partial shade. It first became known
to horticulture in 1844, when a plant which had been collected by
Linden in New Granada two years previously flowered in Mr. Barker’s
collection at Springfield, Birmingham. Ten years later it was
102 ANGULOA.
gathered on the slopes of Quindiu, in the central Cordillera of New
Granada, thus proving its geographical range to be greater than
either of the other species. Variation in the colour of the flowers
has been observed, and some of the sub-varieties have received
distinguishing names, but none of them appear to be sufliciently
distinct to require separate notice here.
HYBRID ANGULOA.
The only hybrid Anguloa known to us, a very beautiful and
interesting one, is that described below, which was obtained by Seden
in our nursery from Anguloa Ruckeri and A. Clowesti, the first named
being the pollen parent. A hybrid of similar origin was raised some
years ago by Mr. J. C. Bowring, of Forest Farm, Windsor, but the
plant is said to have died shortly after flowering. From the
description of the flower by Reichenbach published in the Gardeners’
Chronicle of 1881, part II., p. 88, it would seem that the colour
of the sepals and petals of Mr. Bowring’s plant was somewhat
different from that of the same organs in our hybrid. By a curious
coincidence, when our hybrid was in flower for the first time in
May, 1888, an imported Anguloa flowered in the collection of
Mr. R. H. Measures, at The Woodlands, Streatham, which, at first
supposed to be a new species, proved to be identical with the
artificially-raised hybrid, thus affording further proof of the existence
of natural hybrids among orchids.
Anguloa intermedia.
Flowers nearly of the same shape and size as those of Anguloa
Rucheri. Sepals and petals yellowish white with a faint flush of
rose-purple externally ; cream-white on the inside densely spotted with
rose-purple, the spots on the petals darker and larger than those on
the sepals; lip coloured like the petals, except the disk which is
paler and the small two-lipped terminal lobe which is yellow spotted
with red.
Anguloa intermedia, Rolfe. in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888), p. 798.
CORYANTHES. 103
Se STI BE STANAOPIE 2.
Stems usually pseudo-hulbous, bearing one or few leaves that are
mostly broad and are either plicate or prominently ribbed. Flowers
fleshy, of large size and irregular shape, borne in loose racemes, seldom
solitary.
CORYANTHES.
Hook. in Bot. Mag, 3102 (1832). Lindl. Fol. Orch. 1852. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant.
III. p. 549 (1883).
The group of genera forming the sub-tribe Stannorram of Bentham
is characterised in a remarkable degree by the singular shape of
their flowers. So unusual and even grotesque is their aspect and
structure that there is nothing to be found, not only in the great
Orchidean family itself, but even throughout the Vegetable Kingdom
with which they can be aptly compared. In no case is this strange-
ness more conspicuous than in Coryanthes, the first of the group
that claims our attention. Although some of the species of Coryanthes
have been known to science for upwards of three-quarters of a
century, and most of these have from time to time been in culti-
vation for nearly so long a period, they are but rarely seen in the
orchid collections of the present day.* Curious and interesting in
the highest degree as are their flowers, which are among the largest
and most extraordinary in form of all orchids, and not devoid of
handsome colouration, they are of comparatively short duration; the
plants too are somewhat refractory to the cultivator’s care, besides
taking up space that often can ill be spared.
Upwards of a dozen species of Coryanthes have been introduced
into European gardens, and as some of these are quite recent
discoveries, the extent of the genus is not accurately known.t They
* So scarce have plants of Coryanthes become in the orchid collections of this country that
up to the time of these sheets passing through the press we have failed to obtain fresh specimens
for examination and description. To avoid the reproach which we should have justly incurred
by leaving this remarkable genus unnoticed, we have been obliged to draw upon previously
published matter.
+ Among the recently introduced species Coryanthes Bungerothit (Lindenia, VI. t. 244) and
C. macrocorys (Id. VILL. t. 342), neither of which we have seen in a fresh state, are evidently
not inferior to their predecessors in beauty and inteiest.
104, CORYANTHES.
are all natives of tropical America and are dispersed over the vast
territory that stretches from Santa Catherina in southern Brazil to
Mexico.
The essential characters of the genus will be well understood from
the description of the two species that follow, and from the
accompanying woodcut.
In their vegetation there is little to distinguish the Coryanthes from
the Stanhopeas. They have long, strongly ribbed pseudo-bulbs, bearing
thin prominently nerved leaves that vary in size in the different species.
The genus was founded by Sir W. J. Hooker on Ooryanthes
maculata, joining with it C. speciosa and C. macrantha, which he
had previously referred to Gongora. The name is formed from
Kopuc, “a helmet,” and avOoc, “a flower,” in reference to the
helmet-like appendage (epichile) of the labellum.
Cultural Note.—The cultural treatment of the Coryanthes is essentially
the same as that of the Stanhopeas, except that having their home
in the hot damp river valleys or near the iow-lying sea-shore, they
require the highest temperature available in orchid culture. The plants
may be established on a block of wood or in a teak basket, either of
which can be suspended near the glass where they can receive the
greatest amount of light throughout the year. From their known habits
and environment in their native country, it follows too that direct
sunlight even in summer is beneficial provided an adequate supply of
moisture can be maintained ; and in the resting season the roots should
never be allowed to become dry.
Coryanthes macrantha.
Pseudo-bulbs and leaves as in Stanhopea. ‘‘The scapes are produced
from the base of the pseudo-bulbs on which two or three flowers
are developed. Each flower is placed at the end of a long stiff
cylindrical furrowed ovary, and when expanded measures something
more than 6 inches from the tip of one sepal to that of the opposite
one. The sepals are yellow spotted irregularly with dull purple, and
are of a most delicate texture; the upper sepal falls back from the
tip of the ovary, is narrow and not above half the length of the lateral
two, which, instead of applying themselves to the lip as is usually
the case, turn directly away from it, placing themselves at an acute
angle with the upper sepal, and after a while collapsing at their sides
till they look something like bats’ wings half at rest. The petals hang
nearly parallel with the column; they are narrowly lanceolate, much
curved at the edge, and of the same colour and texture as the sepals.
The lip is as fleshy and solid in its texture as the sepals and _ petals
are delicate ; it is seated on a deep purple stalk nearly an inch long
and forming an obtuse angle with the column; this stalk terminates in
CORYANTHES. 105
a hemispherical, greenish purple cup (hypochile), and contracting at its
front edge extends forward into a kind of second stalk (mesochile) of
vivid blood colour, the sides of which are thinner than the centre,
turned back and marked with four or five deep sharp-edged plaits ;
these plaited edges again expand and form a second cup (epichile)
Coryanthes macrantha.
thinning away very much at the edges, of a broadly conical figure ;
this second cup is yellow streaked and spotted with light crimson,
and seems intended to catch a watery secretion which drips into it
from two succulent horns originating in the base of the column and
hanging over the centre of the cup.”—Lindley in Bot. Reg., sub. t. 1841.
Coryanthes macrantha, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3102 (1831). Lindl. Gen. et Sp.
Orch. p. 159. Id. Fol. Orch. Coryanthes, No. 3. Id. Bot. Reg. t. 1841. Paxt, Mag.
Bot. V. p. 31. Linden’s Pesce. t. 30. Gongora macrantha, Hook. Bot. Mise. II. pv.
151, t. 80:
106 CORYANTHES.
From the same source as the foregoing description we derive the
following account of the origin of this wonderful plant :—“It was
first figured by Sir William Hooker from a specimen in spirits,
sent to him from Caracas by Mr. Lockhart. When the plant
blossomed in Trinidad, where it is not uncommon in a wild state,
the flowers appeared so extraordinary to those who saw them, that
the visitors to the Botanic Garden supposed them to be artificial.”
It flowered for the first time in Hngland in 1836, in our Chelsea
nursery, at that time possessed by our predecessor Mr. Knight; and
in the following year at Chatsworth, where Sir Joseph Paxton states
“the flowers were the wonder and surprise of all who were favoured
with an opportunity of seeing them.”
We have given the popular description by Dr. Lindley of the flower
of this remarkable species in preference to a purely technical one, in
the belief that such would be more acceptable to many of our readers,
and especially to those who are observant of the extraordinary structure
as well as of the surprising beauty of many orchid flowers. Complex
as the structure of a Coryanthes flower appears on superficial inspection,
a closer examination reveals the fact that in its seemingly anomalous
and strange form there is all the essential structure of an ordinary
orchid flower; the bi-lateral symmetry is only in part disguised, and the
flower is really as normal as regards its parts as that of a Cattleya or
an Odontoglossum. But, it will be asked: What is the design of this
unusual structure, and what is its use in the economy of the plant? Such
an inquiry as this can only be satisfactorily answered after a patient
watching of the flower from its first expansion and its surroundings
in its native country till it begins to fade, or at least till the purpose
has been accomplished for which the flower was created. Fortunately
in this case the desired observation has been made, and we _ thence
gladly extract from the Journal of the Linnean Society the following
account of the fertilisation of the flowers of Coryanthes macrantha by
Dr. Crier, formerly Director of the Botanic Garden at Trinidad.*
“Large humble-bees, noisy and quarrelsome, are attracted at first by
the smell of the flower; but the smell probably only gives notice to
the insects; the substance they really come for is the interior lining
of the labellum which they gnaw off with great industry. They may
be seen in great numbers disputing with each other for a place on the
edge of the hypochile. Partly by the contest, partly perhaps intoxicated
by the matter they are indulging in, they tumble down into the
“Pucket” (epichile) half-full of the fluid secreted by the horn-like
organs at the base of the column. They then crawl along the anterior
* Vol. VILL pp. 129, 180 (1865).
CORYANTHES. 107
inner side of the bucket where there is a passage for them. If one is
early on the look-out, as these Hymenopters are early risers, one can
see on every flower how fecundation is performed, The humble-bee
in forcing its way out of its involuntary bath has to exert itself con-
siderably, as the mouth of the epichile and the face of the column fit
together exactly, and are very stiff and elastic. The first bee that is
immersed will have the gland of the pollen masses glued to its back.
The insect then generally gets through the passage and comes out with
this peculiar appendage, to return nearly immediately to its feast, when
it is generally precipitated a second time into the bucket, passing out
through the same aperture, and so inserting the pollen masses into the
stigma while it forces its way out, and thereby impregnating either the
same or some other flower. I have often seen this, and sometimes
there are so many of these humble-bees assembled, that there is a
continual procession of them through the passage specified.”
Further interesting details of the structure of Coryanthes flowers and
the various contrivances by which their fertilisation is effected are given
in the Gardeners’ Chronicle, vol. XXI. (1884), p. 482; XXIII. (1885),
p. 144; and XXIV. (1885), p. 103.
C. maculata.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, 3—5 inches long, ovoid, tapering upwards,
diphyllous. Leaves lanceolate, 12—15 inches long. Scapes _ sub-
pendulous, as long as the leaves, 3—) flowered ; bracts ovate-lanceolate,
about one-third as long as the stalked ovaries. Flowers similar in
shape and structure to those of Coryanthes macrantha but smaller and
differently coloured: sepals and petals of membraneous texture, pale
ochreous yellow, at first spreading, but soon after expansion becoming
flaccid and reflexed ; dorsal sepal lanceolate, acute, lateral two 24 inches
long, much broader, broadly ovate, obtuse ; petals narrowly oblong,
twisted ; stalk of labellum 4 inch long, whitish with some purple spots,
the helmet-shaped hypochile prolonged into a short channelled mesochile,
connecting it with the “bucket” or epichile which is of somewhat
conical shape and yellow spotted with purple. Column semi-terete,
winged, with two horn-like appendages at the base.
Coryanthes maculata, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3102 (1831). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p- 159. Id. Bot. Reg. t. 1793. Id. Fol. Orch. Coryanthes, No. 2. Bot. Mag. t. 3747
(Parkeri). Williams’ Orch. Alb. IIT. t. 98. C. Albertine, Karsten, Auswahl, t. 1.
Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VIII. t. 755.
A very handsome species, scarcely less curious and interesting
than the preceding. It is a native of British Guiana, where it was
first detected by Mr. Ankers, by whom it was communicated to
Mr. Parker, of Liverpool. It flowered for the first time in this
country in the Botanic Garden of that city in June, 1831. It was
108 STANHOPEA.
subsequently found by the German naturalist and traveller, Karsten,
near St. Esteban at the foot of the Cumbre de Valencia in
Venezuela, and introduced by him into European gardens under the
name of Coryanthes Albertine.
Dr. Lindley remarked of this species that ‘it is not uncommon
in the woods of Demerara, hanging from the branches of trees and
suspending in the air the singular lips of its flowers like fairy
baskets for the use of the birds and insects that inhabit the
surrounding foliage”? When the flowers first expand in the glass-
houses of this country (and doubtless in their native forests) the
horn-like appendages at the base of the column constantly distil
water into the bucket-like epichile of the labellum, but the quantity
sensibly diminishes with the age of the flower.
The species is variable in the colour of its flowers, a circumstance
noticed shortly after its introduction.
Parkeri the hypochile of the hp is a dingy brown-purple; in
punctata and Albertine the sepals and petals are spotted as well
as the labellum, and in the last-named the “bucket” or epichile
is sanguineous-red.
In the variety figured as
= aT Dy) Bn
STANHOPEA.
Frost in Bot. Mag. sub. t. 2948 (1829). Lindl. Fol. Orch. 1852. Rchb. Xen. Orch, I.
p- 111. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 549.
In Stanhopea we have a very natural genus of orchids scarcely
less remarkable for the structure and unusual aspect of the flowers
than Coryanthes. Like Coryanthes the flowers are large with mem-
braneous sepals and petals of comparatively simple form, while the
labellum is fleshy and of complex structure, the most obvious parts
of which will be easily recognised from the figure introduced into
the text; for so curious are the different parts of the lip of a
Stanhopea, that a clear description of them without such help is well-
nigh impossible.
Over twenty species of Stanhopea have been published, nearly all
of them from garden specimens, for owing to the fleshy texture of
the labellum, from which the specific characters are almost wholly
STANHOPEA. _ 109
derived, their determination in herbaria is extremely difficult. The
Stanhopeas are all natives of tropical America, but the information
respecting their origin has been so vaguely and even carelessly
given by the importers of them, that the precise habitats of not
more than half of them are accurately known. By far the greater
number of the species have been introduced from Southern Mexico
and Central America; two or three are known to inhabit the Andes
of Northern Peru, and three or four more occur on the Cordilleras
of Colombia and Venezuela. NStanhopea insignis and 8S. eburnea are
said to be of Brazilian origin, but this requires confirmation.
The following are the most obvious floral characters of Stanhopea :—
i
Column and lip of Stanhopea Wardii. (1) hypochile, (2) mesochi’e, (3) epichile.
The sepals and petals are spreading, of membraneous texture and
soon fading; the lateral sepals are larger and the petals smaller than
the dorsal sepal.
The dabellum is a remarkable organ of peculiar aspect, in which the
tripartite structure common to the Orcuipe® is strongly marked ; the
three parts are thus usually distinguished :—(1) hypochile, the basal
portion which is affixed to the base of the column; this is always
saccate or hollowed out from above, sometimes globose in outline,
sometimes elongated into the form of a boat; (2) mesochile, the middle
portion consisting of two horn-like bodies either bent round and parallel
with the sides of the epichile or bent upwards at a considerable angle
to it; (3) epichile, the apical portion—this is polymorphous, being cordate,
ovate, sub-rhomboidal or even oblong. Both mesochile and_ epichile
are of wax-like appearance, usually white or colourless, but sometimes
spotted.
The column is greatly elongated, arching over the labellum and
110 STANHOPEA.
almost meeting it at its apex; the wings are membraneous and dilated
beyond the middle.*
The most noticeable deviations from this general structure occur
in (1) Stanhopea ecornuta, discovered by Warscewicz in Central
America and now rarely seen in cultivation; it differs from all other
Stanhopeas in the lip consisting of the hypochile only and in its
much abbreviated and thickened column; (2) S. eburnea, in which
the horn-like appendages spring from the base and not from the
middle of the lip, and in other details as described under that
species.
In their vegetation the Stanhopeas not only closely resemble the
Coryanthes, but possess a remarkable uniformity inter se, so much so
that when not in flower many experienced cultivators are unable to
distinguish one species from another. The follcwiug description is
applicable to all the species here noticed.
Front view of lip of Stanhopea Wardii.
The pseudo-bulbs are clustered, of ovoid shape, 2—3 inches long,
clothed at the base with ragged brown scales, strongly ribbed and
monophyllous.
* Tt is certain that the remarkable structure we have sketched above is all-important in the
economy of the plant and its perpetuation, but why so complex a mechanism has become
necessary to its existence and the modifications it has undergone in the lapse of ages before
attaining its present form are still among the secrets of Nature. The powerful odour exhaled by
the flowers of most of the species, and which are all of short duration, is doubtless an incentive
to the larger insects to visit the flowers and to make their way into the hypochile where
honey would be likely to be secreted or with the object of gnawing the interior lining which
they are said to devour with great avidity, and the forms of the mesochile and epichile are
amoug the contrivances to induce the insect to leave the flower through the opening between
the apex of the latter and that of the column, in which case the pollinia would be removed
while pressing its way through. For effecting fertilisation, this hypothesis demands the alight-
ing of an insect already loaded with pollinia on another unfertilized flower, and when passing
through the apical opening the pollinia would be deposited on the stigma.
STANHOPEA, ital
The /eaves are broadly lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, prominently
nerved beneath, 12—15 or more inches long, narrowed below into a
channelled foot-staik.
The- scapes are stoutish, pendulous, usually bearing 2—3 flowers, but
in a few species 5—7 flowers, The bracts are large, membraneous,
more or less inflated, and as long as or shorter than the ovaries.
The genus was proposed by Mr. John Frost, of Kew, for Stanhopea
insignis, which flowered in the Royal Gardens in October, 1829, and
was communicated by him to Dr. (afterwards Sir Wilham) Hooker,
by whom it was described in the Botanical Magazine, t. 2948. It
was named in compliment to Earl Stanhope, at that time President
of the Medico-Botanical Society of London.
Cultural Note.—The Stanhopeas require the temperature of the tropical
or East Indian house as it is usually called by most cultivators.
On account of the flowers being produced on scapes that are quite
pendulous, shallow teak baskets are best, so constructed as to admit
of the scapes making their way through the bottom and sides, and
sufficiently large to afford space for the compost and drainage. The
compost should consist of one part fibrous peat and two parts sphagnum
moss, some cultivators using sphagnum only, and for drainage long pieces
of charcoal laid across the bottom bars of the basket; others prefer clean
broken crocks in rather large pieces, and placed so as to allow an easy
egress of the flower scapes. During the growing season the supply of
water must be constant, but in winter, if the plants are suspended in
a house in which a greater or less degree of humidity is always main-
tained, the Stanhopeas require but little water directly applied. While
in flower they may be removed to a cooler and drier house. Red
spider and thrip sometimes attack the young leaves, from which they
may be removed by sponging with clean tepid water.
Stanhopea Bucephalus.
Pseudo-bulbs and leaves as described above. Scapes 3—5 or more
flowered. Flowers powerfully fragrant, tawny orange-yellow with san-
guineous spots scattered irregularly over the whole flower, the column
whitish and more densely spotted than the other parts; dorsal sepal
oblong, acute ; lateral sepals much larger, ovate-oblong, acute, 3 inches
long; petals similar to the dorsal sepal, but smaller; lip clawed, hypochile
eymbiform, narrow at the base, thickened in front; mesochile horse-shoe
shaped, the arms bent forwards like the prongs of a hay-fork ; epichile
broadly ovate or sub-rotund, concave, terminating in a recurved cusp.
Column very narrow, winged upwards.
Stanhopea Bucephalus, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 157 (1882). Id. in Bot. Reg.
1843, sub. t. 44, and 1845, t.24. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 3. Bot. Mag. t.
5278. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 121. 8S. grandiflora, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 587
(1863), not of Lindl, Anguloa grandiflora, H. B. K, Nov. Gen, et Sp. 1. p. 345 (i815).
Pie STANHOPEA.
This is a handsome species which Dr. Lindley identified as the
Anguloa grandiflora of Humboldt and Bonpland, and which was discovered
by them growing on the trunks of old trees in shady woods near
Cuenga, in Keuador, in the beginning of the present century. It
was re-discovered on the ascent from Guayaquil to Cuenga, at an
elevation of 6,000 feet in 1842 by Hartweg, who sent it to the
Horticultural Society of London, in whose garden at Chiswick it
flowered in the following year.
Stanhopea Bucephalus is occasionally confused with S. Wardii,
which it much resembles in the colour of its flowers, but from
which it is chiefly distinguished by the much narrower hypochile of
the lip, in which the maroon spots so conspicuous in S. Wardii are
absent; also by the more attenuated horns of the mesochile and
more slender column; it appears to have now become comparatively
rare in cultivation. The specific name is fanciful, literally ‘‘ ox-head,”
but probably the name of the celebrated charger of Alexander the
Great was intended.*
S. Devoniensis.
Peduncles 2—3 flowered. Flowers fragrant, 4 inches in diameter ;
sepals broadly ovate, obtuse, light fawn-yellow irregularly spotted with
brownish crimson except on the apical area ; petals oblong-lanceolate,
acute, light fawn-yellow with fewer but larger and darker brown-crimson
spots; hypochile of lip saccate, sub-globose, the bottom of the sac
almost flat and sub-quadrate, the basal side dark maroon-purple, the
remainder white spotted with purple ; lobes of the mesochile curved like
a bullock’s horn, and nearly parallel with the sides of the epichile, ivory-
white ; epichile cordate with the margins upturned at the almost
truncate apex, ivory-white with a few purple spots at the basal end.
Column with narrow wings, white spotted with purple except at the
apex.
Stanhopea Devoniensis, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 1 (1839). Id. in Bot. Reg. 1843, sub.
t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 13. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, X. t. 974.
Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 119. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 586.
The origin of this fine species is virtually unknown; one hypothesis
assumes Peru, another Mexico or Guatemala, without any direct evidence
being adduced in support of either; we have recently had indirect
evidence of its being of Mexican origin, which is supported by its
* This celebrated horse died in North-west India after the battle with King Porus, and after
carrying Alexander through all his campaigns. It had been purchased by his father Philip
for thirteen talents, and no one was able to break it in except the youthful Alexander.
STANHOPEA. 113
nearest affinities being undoubtedly Mexican. It somewhat resembles
Stanhopea tigrina in colour, but is distinguished from that species
by the differently-shaped epichile of the labellum and by the very
narrowly-winged column. It flowered for the first time in this
country at Chatsworth in 1837, and is named in compliment to the
then Duke of Devonshire.
S. eburnea.
Scapes usually two-flowered. Flowers ivory-white with some purple
spots on the lip; sepals oblong-lanceolate, acute, 24 inches long ; petals
similar but narrower; lip narrowly oblong in outline, the hypochile boat-
shaped, with two horn-like auricles at the base; the epichile ovate-
oblong, sub-acute. Column arching, as long as the lp, with two
rounded membraneous wings above the middle.
Stanhopea eburnea, Lindl. in Boé. Reg. t. 1529 (1832), and 1813, sub. t. 44. Id.
Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 158. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 19. Bot. May. t. 3359.
Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p.117. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 582. Ceratochilus grandiflorus,
Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1414.
An anomalous species first cultivated by Messrs. Loddiges in 1824,
to whom it had been sent from Trinidad by Sir Ralph Woodford;
it was thence the first Stanhopea that was introduced into British
gardens. A quarter of a century later it was gathered in Surinam
by Wullschliigel, and in Venezuela by Wagener who sent living plants
to Europe; its habitat is therefore along the northern littoral of South
America. It flowered in Mr. Bateman’s collection at Knypersley>
near Congleton, in 1832, on which occasion it was figured in the
Botanical Register; and in the following year it was communicated
to Sir William Hooker by Messrs. Shepherd, of Liverpool.* From
that time to the present it has occasionally appeared in cultivation ;
our description was taken from a plant that flowered in our houses
in 1889, whose origin we are unable to trace. Stanhopea eburnea
is well distinguished by the horn-like appendages springing from
the base of the lip and not from the middle, and by its long
boat-shaped hypochile as seen in profile.
S. ecornuta.
Scapes short and stoutish, usually two-flowered. Flowers about
3 inches across vertically ; sepals and _ petals cream-white, the latter
spotted with purple at the base, all pointing in one direction; the sepals
oblong, obtuse, concave ; the petals sub-quadrate, much smaller ; lip
5)
* In both cases erroneously stated to be of Brazilian origin.
114 STANHOPEA.
caleeolate, ventricose at the base and beneath, thickened in front into
three rounded protuberances, yellow deepening to dark orange at the
base and on the inside.* Column semi-terete with two fleshy rounded
wings, yellow.
Stanhopea ecornuta, Lemaire in Van Houtte’s F7/. des Serres, IT. pl. 181 (1846).
Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. No. 54, icon. xyl. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 20.
Rehb. in Bot. Zeit. X. p. 836 (1852), Id. Xen. Orch. I. p. 124, t. 43. Id. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 583. Stanhopeastrum ecornutum, Rehb. in Bot. Zeit. X. p. 927 (1852).
An aberrant species differing from every other Stanhopea in its
much simplified labellum, which consists of the hypochile only; in
its shorter column with thickened wings; and in the fleshy texture
of the sepals, which when first expanded assume a different position.
It was at first regarded by Lindley as a monstrous state of some
other species, a view that was dispelled by the constancy of the
plants that subsequently flowered. A new genus was proposed for
it by Reichenbach under the name of Stanhopeastrum, but this he
soon after abandoned and restored it to Stanhopea, of which it is
the most archaic form that has yet been discovered.
Stanhopea ecornuta, so called from the absence of the horns of the
labellum, was discovered by Warscewicz in the forests around San
Toma in Guatemala, in 1845; it was introduced into European
gardens in the following year through him by Van Houtte of
Ghent.
S. graveolens.
Scapes usually two-flowered. Flowers powerfully odorous; sepals and
petals at first greenish white passing into straw-yellow; the sepals
ovate-oblong, acute, concave and spreading; the petals much narrower,
ovate-lanceolate, reflexed, undulate at the margin; hypochile of lip
saccate approaching cymbiform, deep apricot-yellow; horns of mesochile
curved outwards and inwards, much attenuated at the apex, ivory-
white ; epichile ovate, acute, concave, ivory - white sometimes dotted
with purple. Column broad, winged to near the base, the wings
terminating in points that extend a little beyond the apex of the anther.
Stanhopea graveolens, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No, 125 ; and 1845, sub. t. 65.
Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 8. Van Houtte’s FU. des Serves, Aug. 1846, pl. I.
and II. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 122.
This was cultivated by Dean Herbert in 1840, who had acquired
by purchase a plant whose origin was unknown. A few years later
the species appeared in several collections, both British and Con-
tinental, the plants being supposed to have been imported from
* Four small gibbosities, two at the base and two at the apex, indicate the rudiments of the
aborted horns,
STANHOPEA. 115
Guatemala. The odour of the flowers is disagreeably powerful,
communicating itself to the fingers when touched.
Very near Stanhopea graveolens is the scentless S, inodora, a
native of Mexico, which we have not seen in cultivation.
S. insignis.
Scapes usually two-flowered. Flowers fragrant ; sepals and petals more
or less reflexed, dull pale yellow dotted with. purple except on the
apical area; the dorsal sepal ovate-lanceolate, the lateral two much
broader, ovate-oblong; the petals broadly linear, acute; hypochile of
lip sub-globose or sub-hemispheric (longer than broad), much thickened
and contracted in front, deep purple beneath, whitish and much spotted
with purple above ; mesochile horse-shoe shaped, the arms bent inwards,
attenuated, and almost meeting at their extremities, ivory-white some-
times sparingly spotted with purple; epichile cordate, sub-acute, deeply
channelled along the middle, white more or less spotted with purple.
Column as long as the lip, slightly arched, with two broad, rounded,
membraneous wings above the middle, white stained and spotted with
purple.
Stanhopea insignis, Frost and Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 2948 (1829). Lodd. Bot. Cab.
t. 1985. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 157. Id. in Bot. Reg. t. 1837; and 1843, sub.
t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 1. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 118. Id. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 585.
The species on which the genus was founded and one of the first
Stanhopeas cultivated in British gardens, it having been introduced
to the Royal Gardens at Kew some time prior to 1829, in which
year it flowered for the first time; in the following year it flowered
in the collection of Mr. Cattley at Barnet, and a little later in the
garden of Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth, near Sheffield, it being
at that time a very rare plant. It was originally found by
Humboldt and Bonpland on the trunks of old trees in shady woods
near Cuenca in Hcuador, in the beginning of the present century.*
Stanhopea insignis is well distinguished by its purple globose hypochile
and heart-shaped epichile.
S. Martiana.
Flowers as large as Stanhopea insignis; sepals broadly ovate, obtuse,
pale straw-yellow or white sparingly spotted with crimson-purple ;
petals oblong, sub-acute, with larger spots than the sepals ; hypochile
of lip hemispheric, dark purple on the inside; horns of mesochile
* Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub, t. 1837. The assertion that Loddiges imported it from Brazil
is erroneous,
116 STANHOPEA.
long, broad at the base, tapering into slender cirri at the apex; epichile
narrowly oblong, tridentate at the apex, both mesochile and _ epichile
ivory-white. Column wingless, white spotted with purple.
Stanhopea Martiana, Batem. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 109. Id. Orch, Mex, et
Guat. t. 27. Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844. t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 12.
Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 119. Id. in Walp, Ann. VI. p, 586. Van Houtte’s FU. des
Serves, XX. t. 2112.
Discovered by Karwinsky in Mexico, in 1837, and communicated
by him to Mr. Bateman, in whose collection at Knypersley it flowered
in May, 1840; it was shortly afterwards sent to Mr. Richard Harrison,
of Liverpool, by Galeotti. As the botanical collections of these two
explorers were made chiefly in the neighbourhood of Oaxaca, the
richest orchid district in Mexico, the habitat of the plant may be
assumed to be in that district. The species is dedicated to the late
Professor Martius, of Munich, one of the earliest botanical explorers
of the Amazon region of Brazil; it is well distinguished by the
cirri-like apices of the mesochile, the long narrow epichile and the
downy and almost wingless column.
S. oculata.
Scape 5—7 flowered. Flowers 5 inches across vertically, very
odoriferous, and very variable in colour; sepals broadly ovate, acute,
concave, the lateral two broader than the dorsal one, sometimes pale
yellow with numerous ocellated red spots, sometimes with few spots
and more rarely wholly white; petals ligulate, much smaller, thinner
in texture, and with the spots more scattered than on the sepals or
entirely absent; lip narrowly oblong in outline; the hypochile boat-
shaped, the basal half light orange-yellow with two blackish lateral
spots, the anterior half white spotted with red but sometimes destitute
of spots; horns of mesochile first erect and then slightly bent inwards
and forwards, much acuminated; epichile cordate, acute, concave, both
mesochile and epichile ivory-white, the latter sometimes spotted with
purple, Column sub-terete, bent, with two rounded wings above the
middle, greenish or white spotted with red but sometimes without spots.
Stanhopea oculata, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 158 (1832). Id. in Bot. Reg. t.
1800 ; and 1843, sub. t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 4. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I.
p. 120. Regel’s Gartenfl. IV. t. 89 (crocea). Bot. Mag. t. 5300. Lindenia, VI.
t. 256. Ceratochilus oculatus, Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1764.
A very handsome species, first imported in 1829 by Messrs.
Loddiges from Xalapa in Mexico through Deppe. It flowered in
their nursery in June, 1831, and three years later in Mr. Bateman’s
collection at Knypersley. It was shortly afterwards sent from
Guatemala by Mr. G. Ure Skinner to Mr, Harris, of Kingsbury,
STANHOPEA. 117
and to other correspondents. It is one of the best known of
Stanhopeas and also one of the most variable in the colour and
spotting of its flowers. As a species it is distinguished by its
long narrow lip, of which the horns of the mesochile are short,
broad, and at a considerable angle to the epichile.
Mr. Skinner in a communication to Mr. Harris respecting the habitat
of Stanhopea oculata in Guatemala stated that he found it growing
on the same tree as Oncidium leucochilum in the higher temperatures,
and recommended for its culture in Europe that it should be kept in a
temperature not colder than 13° C. (55° F.) nor warmer than 21° C,
(70° F.), that it should be well watered from June to September, and
from October till May only slightly watered every evening at sunset
to resemble the dews of its native home—not, it must be recollected,
so heavy as people represent them in Europe, the region being high
and very different from a coast climate. The seasons are the same as
in England, the coldest weather being from December to February when
the thermometer sometimes sinks to 3°—5° C. (36°—42° F.) at sunrise.*
S. Platyceras.
Scapes stoutish, usually two-flowered. Flowers nearly as large as
those of Stanhopea tigrina; sepals and petals nankeen-yellow spotted
with red-purple, many of the spots ocellated, the sepals broadly ovate-
lanceolate, sub-acute; the petals linear-lanceolate, acute; hypochile of
lip broadly cymbiform, produced near its front end into a fleshy
oblong process, maroon-purple, paler and spotted at the basal end;
horns of mesochile broadly sickle-shaped ; epichile shortly clawed, ovate,
acute ; both mesochile and epichile whitish more or less spotted with
red-purple. Column long and _ slender, slightly arching, narrowly
winged beyond the middle, whitish dotted with purple.
Stanhopea Platyceras, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 27. Saunder’s Ref. Bot.
TI. t. 108 (1878). The Garden, XX XITT. (1888), t. 652.
A very handsome species introduced by Messrs. Low and Co.
from New Granada, and which flowered for the first time in this
country in the collection of Mr. John Day at Tottenham, in 1867,
and subsequently in that of Mr. Wilson Saunders at Highfield,
Reigate, and in other places; its precise habitat has not been
divulged. The specific name, from zAarvc, “broad,” and xépac,
“a4 horn,’ refers to the unusually broad horns of the mesochile,
and which with the curved and broad boat-like hypochile well dis-
tinguishes the species. Mr. James O’Brien, of Harrow, kindly sent
us materials for description.
* Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. p. 44.
ES STANHOPEA.
S. tigrina.
Scapes 3—4 flowered ; flowers 6—7 inches across the lateral sepals.
Sepals broadly ovate, obtuse, deep sanguineous red with a few pale
yellow spots and blotches near the base, and a larger pale yellow area
at the apex; the dorsal sepal narrower and more obtuse than the lateral
two which are concave ; petals linear-oblong, with revolute margins, dark
vinous red at the base, the middle area blotched with vinous red and
pale yellow, the apical area wholly yellow or sparingly spotted; lip
broadly oval in outline; the hypochile deeply concave, in shape like
the stern half of a boat, orange-yellow blotched with maroon-purple at
the sides; the mesochile two sickle-like horns, bent round towards the
apex of the epichile and nearly parallel with its sides, ivory-white
spotted with purple to beyond the middle; the epichile sub-rhomboidal,
three-toothed at the apex, ivory-white spotted with purple. Column
gently curved, compressed, with two rounded wings, yellowish spotted
with red.
Stanhopea tigrina, Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. t. 7. Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1839,
t. 1; and 1843, sub. t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 11. Bot. Mag. t. 4197.
Van Houtte’s F7. des Serres, VII. t. 713. Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 120. Lindenia,
IT. t. 51. Gard. Chron. IV. s. 3 (1888), p. 418, icon. xyl.
This very remarkable Stanhopea, the largest and in some respects
the handsomest of the genus, seems to have been known to the
Jesuit, Hermandez, who wrote on the Natural History of Mexico
in the seventeenth century and who mentions it under the name
of Coatzonte Coxoahitl, doubtless the vernacular name of the plant
at that epoch; but his description is too vague to render the
identification with Stanhopea tigrina certain, although highly probable.
The plant appears to have been overlooked by the Mexican botanists
La Llave and Lexarza, the latter of whom published his Orchidacewm
Opusculum in 1825, in which he describes fifty species of Mexican
orchids; but owing to the terse and quaint mode of description
employed, it must be admitted that several of them cannot now
with certainty be identified.
Stanhopea tigrina was first figured and described by Mr. Bateman in
his Orchidacea of Mexico and Guatemala shortly after its introduction
into British gardens by Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton, through
their collector Henchman, who gathered it in 1835 at a considerable
elevation on the mountains in the xeighbourhood of Xalapa; _ it
flowerel for the first time in this country in Mr. Bateman’s collection
at Knyversley in May, 1837. It was shortly afterwards detected by
Hartweg and also by Galeotti growing upon oaks in thick forests
covering the Cordillera near Vera Cruz at 3,000—4,000 feet elevation.
STANHOPEA. 119
It has since been gathered in Guatemala, and one of our collectors
affirms with confidence that he gathered this same species on the
eastern Cordillera of New Granada at some distance north of Bogota;
its geographical range is therefore considerable. The flowers are
somewhat variable in colour, and some of the sub-varieties have
received distinctive names, as lutescens, nigro-violacea, etc.
Stanhopea Wardii.
S. Wardii.
Scapes robust, 12—15 inches long, pale glaucous green spotted with
dull crimson, 5—7 flowered. Flowers large and fragrant; sepals and
petals golden yellow sometimes spotted with red-purple, the sepals
elliptic-oblong, acute, concave ; the petals much narrower, ligulate, acute ;
120 HOULLETIA.
hypochile of lip eymbiform, gibbous in front beneath the mesochile,
saccate at the base where it is orange with two maroon spots, or wholly
maroon, the front part orange-yellow but sometimes whitish; horns of
mesochile narrowly faleate and bent over the epichile, light yellow or
ivory-white ; epichile cordate, acute, incurved at the margins, pale yellow
spotted with red. Column nearly straight with two rounded wings, and
coloured like the epichile of the lp.
Stanhopea Wardii, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 20 (1839). Id. in Bot. Reg. 1843, sub.
t. 44. Id. Fol. Orch. Stanhopea, No. 6. Rchb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 122. Id. in
Walp. Ann. VI. p. 588. Knowles and Westc. Fl. Cab. II. pl. 90. Bot. Mag. t.
5287. Lindenia, VII. t. 315. S. aurea, Lodd. in Bot. Reg. 1841, misc. No. 31.
One of the best known of the Stanhopeas; it was originally
introduced from La Guayra, the port of Caracas, by Messrs. Loddiges
in 1828 through their correspondent Mr. Ward, after whom it was
named; and shortly afterwards by Messrs. Low from the same
locality. It was subsequently found in Guatemala and sent from
that country to Messrs. Loddiges and to the Royal Gardens at
Kew. It is easily recognised by the dark velvety maroon colour
of the cavity of the hypochile.
HOULLETIA.
A. Brongn. in Ann, Sc. Nat. s. 2, vol. XV. p. 37 (1841). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant.
IIL. p. 550.
Houlletia includes about six species which occur in two parts
of the South American continent widely remote from each other,
viz., the Andean region of northern Colombia and the province
of Rio de Janeiro in southern Brazil; in the last-named region,
however, the genus is represented, so far as at present known,
by a single species, that on which it was founded; and the others
are found within a limited area in northern Colombia. Houlletia
therefore affords another instance of the Orcuipem of northern
Colombia and southern Brazil being connected by the closest affinities
and at the same time separated by an immense geographical space.*
Botanically Houlletia has Stanhopea for one of its nearest affinities,
but from which it is clearly distinct in its floral characters; the
_ ™ Thus, Cattleya, Cypripedium, Miltonia, Rodriguezia, Ionopsis, and several others. But
it must be remembered that the intervening region has thus far been very imperfectly
explored ; in fact, the greater part of it except along the banks of the navigable rivers is
practically unknown botanically. ’
HOULLETIA. 121
bilateral symmetry of the flowers is also much less disguised than in
Stanhopea. The most obvious floral characters are :—
The sepals and petals ave similar, sub-equal, and more oor less
spreading. (Not unequal and reflexed as in Stanhopea.)
The Up is distinctly articulated at the middle; it has horn-like
processes as in Stanhopea, but they are produced from the basal half
(hypochile) and turned backwards.
In their vegetation the Houiletias agree with the Stanhopeas in
having prominently ribbed, monophyllous, small pseudo-bulbs, but the
footstalks of the leaves are much longer in proportion to the blade.
The scapes are erect and are 5—10 or more flowered.
The genus commemorates the name of M. Houllet, the discoverer
of the type species in Brazil, who after his return to France was
appointed Curator or Chef des cultures of the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris.
Cultural Note.-—The cultural treatment of the Houlletias is the
same as that of the Stanhopeas, except that they may be grown in
a lower temperature such as is maintained in an intermediate house.
Houlletia Brocklehurstiana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, 3—4 inches long, strongly ribbed and
furrowed when old, monophyllous. Leaves with a long sub-terete
foot-stalk, 12—15 inches long; the blade lanceolate-oblong, acuminate,
plaited, 18—24 inches long. Secapes stoutish, erect, 18—24 inches
high, dull purple mottled with pale green, racemose along the distal
half, 7—10 flowered; bracts narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, half as
long as the stalked ovaries. Flowers 3 inches in diameter; sepals
and petals light red-brown striated with pale yellow and spotted with
darker red-brown on the basal half, the lateral sepals with a dark
sanguineous stain on the inner side; dorsal sepal and petals ovate-
oblong, sub-acute and concave; lateral sepals broader, elliptic-oblong,
keeled behind towards their tip; lip shorter than the other segments,
jointed at the middle, the hypochile white densely spotted with
blackish warts, transversely oblong at the base, then narrowly oblong,
produced laterally at its junction with the epichile into two ascending
eurved horns that are whitish streaked with red-purple; the epichile
broadly trowel-shaped, reflexed at the apex and prolonged at the
lateral angles into short cusps; it is covered with blackish purple
warty asperities and light orange reticulations. Column clavate,
triquetral, concave below the stigma, light tawny yellow spotted with red.
Houlletia Brocklehurstiana, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 41 (1839). Id. in Bot. Reg.
1841, misc. No. 99. Bot. Mag. t. 4072. Paxt. Mag. Bot. IX. p. 49. Regel’s
Gartenfl. 1858, t. 229. Linden’s [esc. t. 36. KRchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 615.
Lindenia, V. t. 214. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VITT. t. 337.
122 HOULLETIA.
This is the handsomest and best known of the Houlletias. It
was introduced from Rio de Janeiro by Mr. Wanklyn, of Manchester,
by whom it was communicated to Mr. Brocklehurst, of The Firs, near
Macclesfield, at that time the possessor of one of the best orchid
collections in England, and in which this orchid flowered for the
first time in 1841. On the flowers being sent to Dr. Lindley for
identification he doubtfully referred the species to Maxillaria, but
immediately afterwards removed it to Houlletia on the publication
Houlletia Brocklehurstiana.
of that genus by the eminent French botanist, Adolphe Brongniart,
in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles. A short time previous to its
introduction into this country, this orchid had been discovered grow-
ing on trees at Corcovado, near Rio de Janeiro, by Houllet, a French
gardener, who had accompanied M. Guillemin on a mission to Brazil,
and who brought living specimens to the Jardin des Plantes at
Paris, where on its flowering it was constituted a new genus by
M. Brongmiart, but who singularly enough omitted to give it a specific
HOULLETIA. 123
name. As Houlletia Brocklehurstiana is the only Houlletia that has
been found in the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, there can be
but little doubt that it is Brongniart’s type species.
It was next detected on the Organ Mountains by Gardner, whose
herbarium specimen is still preserved at Kew; after him by William
Lobb, who sent plants to our Exeter firm in 1842, From that time
to the present it has probably never been absent from British
collections, where its stately habit and sombre aspect afford a very
distinct feature when the plant is in flower. The numerous _ illus-
trations quoted above attest the high favour in which this orchid has
been held by horticulturists; they also show considerable variability
in the colour of the flowers.
H. chrysantha.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and inflorescence as in Houlletia Brocklehurstiana
except that the leaves are smaller and the scapes shorter and fewer-
flowered. Flowers 24 inches in diameter, light yellow spotted with
sanguineous red; sepals and petals similar and _ sub-equal, broadly
oval, obtuse, more or less incurved; hypochile of lip with two
dolabriform, obliquely incurved auricles each with an acute tooth at
the front angle; epichile broadly cuneate at base, sub-rhomboidal,
rounded at the apex and with a horn-like appendage at each of the
lateral angles.
Houlletia chrysantha, André in Jllus. hort. XVIII. p. 188, t. 71 (1871).
A distinct species, especially as regards the structure of the
labellum, discovered by Gustay Wallis in the Colombian province of
Antioquia, and introduced by him to M. Linden’s horticultural
establishment at Brussels, where it flowered for the first time in
Europe in 1871. Our materials for description were derived from
the collection of the late Mr. Neville Wyatt, at Lake House,
Cheltenham.
H. odoratissima.
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and inflorescence nearly as in Houwlletia Brockle-
hurstiana. Flowers fragrant, nearly 3 inches in diameter, bright
chocolate-red except parts of the lip which are white; sepals oval-
oblong, obtuse, concave, the lateral two broader than the dorsal one ;
petals much smaller, linear-spathulate, acute; hypochile of lip sub-
quadrate with two slender horn-like appendages that are bent backwards;
124 HOULLETIA.
epichile hastate, produced at the lateral angles into two short horns.
Column triquetral, bent, slender at the base, dilated upwards.
Houlletia odoratissima, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. p. 172 (1853). Linden’s
Pesce. t. 3. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 616. Gard. Chron. XXII. (1884), p. 38
(xanthina); and XXIV. (1885), p. 777. icon. xyl. Godefroy’s Orchidophile, 1887,
p. 273. Lindenia, VIT. t. 324.
var.—antioquiensis.
Scapes longer and more robust. Flowers larger with broader
segments ; sepals and petals rich chocolate-brown shaded with maroon
towards the base; epichile of lip and apex of column light yellow.
H. odoratissima antioquiensis, André in J/lus. hort. XVII. p. 59. t. 12 (1870).
Williams’ Orch. Alb. VII. t. 316. Rev. de l’ Hort. Belge, 1890, p. 121.
Originally discovered by Schlim in 1849, in the province of Soto,
on the east side of the river Magdalena, on the banks of streams
where its powerful odour betrayed its presence, and two years later
it was collected by him in the Weinmannia forests near Ocaiia, and
introduced to M. Linden’s horticultural establishment at Brussels.
Tt flowered for the first time in Europe in M. Pescatore’s collection
at St. Cloud, near Paris, in 1852.
The variety, a very distinct one, is a geographical form from the
opposite or western side of the Magdalena; it was discovered by
Gustav Wallis in 1868, in the province of Antioquia, and intro-
duced by him to M. Linden’s establishment.
H.. picta.*
Pseudo-bulbs, leaves and inflorescence as in the type species.
‘Flowers 34 inches in diameter; perianth spreading, the basal half
tessellated with yellow and cinnamon-brown, the apical half wholly
cinnamon-brown ; sepals narrowly oblong, obtuse; petals rather smaller,
narrowed towards the base; hypochile of lp somewhat trapeziform,
the sides produced backwards into long ascending spines, the disk yellow
blotched with red-purple; epichile broadly hastate, the posterior angles
produced into short recurved horns, reflexed and deeply channelled at
the apex, light yellow with some short transverse red bars. Column
yellow blotched with brown on the back.”—Botanical Magazine.
Houlletia picta, Rchb. in Regel’s Gartenfl. 1855, p. 2. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p- 616. Bot. Mag. t. 6308.
“Discovered by Schlim in New Granada, along with other very
similar species of the genus, collected up to an elevation of 4,000
—6,000 feet. It first flowered in the celebrated orchid garden of
Consul Schiller at Hamburgh, and later at Farnham Castle, from
whence the specimen figured in the Botanical Magazine was obtained.
It differs very slightly from the type species.’’+
* Not seen by us. + Bot. Mag. sub. t. 6305.
Houlletia odoratissima.
(Fiom the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
MOORFA. 125
MOOREA,
Rolfe in Gard. Chron. VIII. s. 3 (1890), p. 7.
This is a new genus founded by Mr. Rolfe, of the Kew Herbarium,
on a species acquired by Mr. F. W. Moore at a sale of orchids, and
which upon flowering in the Glasneyin Botanic Garden was found to
conform to no known genus. It is of too much interest to be
passed over unnoticed, and we have therefore transcribed the
published description of the author. Following Mr. Rolfe we have
placed Moorea next to Houlletia, from which it differs “in the lip
being without a claw and articulated with the base or foot of the
column, and by its epichile not being articulate with the hypochile.”
The new genus worthily commemorates the name of Mr. F. W.
Moore, Curator of the Royal Botanic Garden at Glasnevin, near
Dublin, in recognition of “his large series of very valuable contri-
butions to the Kew Herbarium, extending over a long period,’ and
we may on our part add—his constant and untiring kindness in
supplying us with specimens of rare and little known orchids for
description in this work.
Moorea irrorata.
“Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, 24 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves
petiolate, plicate, lanceolate, shortly acuminate, 14 to 2 feet long,
41 inches broad. Scapes basal, stout, erect, 1? feet high; raceme
thirteen-flowered with about six sheathing striate bracts below; the
flowering bracts ovate-elliptic, acute, pale green, #—I1 inch long.
Flowers 2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals spreading, sub-equal,
elliptic-oblong, acute, reddish brown with nearly white base, the lateral
sepals carinate, the petals a little narrower. Lip articulated to the
short foot of the column, straw-yellow with radiating dark purple lines,
deeply three-lobed, the side lobes broadly rounded; the front lobe
narrowly linear, acute ; crest basal with a pair of free spreading arms
forming a crescent, bright yellow with numerous dark spots. Column
somewhat elongate, sub-clavate, cream-white; wings obsolete.”—Rolfe
in Gard. Chron. VIII. s. 3 (1890), p. 7.
Moorea irrorata, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. loc. cit. ; and XI. s. 3 (1892), p. 489, with
figs. Bot. Mag. t. 7262.
Nothing has been divulged respecting the origin of this orchid.
“Tt was probably imported by Messrs. Shuttleworth and Co. from
the Andes of New Granada or Peru, these gentlemen having sent
126 MOOREA.
a flowering raceme together with a leaf to Kew, in December,
1889, a few months before others were received from Mr, Moore,
though the fact was not known until later.?* The specific name
Wich SE
Moorea irrorata.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
<]
18 given in allusion to the bright reddish brown colour, which
forms a broad zone round the paler centre.
* Bot. Mag. sub. t. 7262,
PERISTERIA. 127
PERISTERIA.
Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3116 (183i). Benth. et Hook, Gen. Plant. III. p. 550 (1883).
In Peristeria the flowers appear more regular in outline than in
the Stanhopeids described in the preceding pages. ‘This is owing
to the sepals and petals being more or less connate at the base;
they are also very fleshy and convex on the outer side, imparting
to the flower an almost globose form. Moreover, the labellum is
of simpler structure; this organ, like the other segments, is of fleshy
texture, three-lobed, continuous with the column and articulated at
the middle. The column itself is short, thick and mostly wingless ;
the pollinia are sessile or sub-sessile, and furrowed on one side.
The species that conform to these characters are about eight in
number, of which three or four are but very imperfectly known. Those
here noticed are all more or less robust plants with large pseudo-
bulbs and long plaited leaves; in this respect the type species
Peristeria elata is one of the largest pseudo-bulbous orchids in
cultivation,
The generic name is formed from the Greek word zepiotepa, “a
dove,’ selected for the reason given under Peristeria eluta.
Peristeria cerina.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, 3 inches long, bearing at their apex 3—4
oblong-lanceolate leaves, 7—10 inches long, narrowed below into a short
channelled petiole. Scapes short and pendulous, sheathed at the base
by brownish, ovate, imbricating scales; raceme dense, 7—10 flowered.
Flowers about an inch in diameter, light citron-yellow; sepals and
petals of wax-like texture, broadly ovate, sub-acute, concave within,
the petals a little smaller than the sepals; lip three-lobed, the side
lobes ovate, acute, the intermediate lobe ovate, emarginate, abruptly
inflexed and with crisped margin. Column thick, semi-terete.
Peristeria cerina, Lindl. in Bot, Rey. t. 1953 (1837). Rchb. in Walp. Ann.
Vales. 607.
Introduced from Central America in 1837 by our predecessor
Mr. Knight, of the Royal Exotic Nursery, the precise habitat not being
recorded. It is one of the least attractive of the Peristerias, more
resembling Peristeria pendula than the type species P. elata; the
flowers have a strong odour of the bruised foliage of Juniper, Our
description was taken in the Royal Gardens at Kew,
128 PERISTERIA.
P. elata.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conie or broadly ovate, 6 inches long, and 3—4
inches broad near the base. Leaves lanceolate-cuneate, acute, 24—36
or more inches long, prominently nerved beneath. Scapes 4—5 feet
high, with an ovate, acuminate, keeled bract at each joint and a
similar smaller one at the base of each ovary; raceme 1lO—15 opr
more flowered. Flowers fleshy, globose, 24 inches in diameter, very
fragrant ; sepals and petals French-white, concave within, the dorsal
sepal broadly ovate, obtuse, the lateral two sub-orbicular; the petals
obovate-oblong, obtuse, smaller than the sepals; lip three-lobed, the
side lobes ascending, oblong, obtuse, with a lobule on the anterior
side above the middle, white spotted with purple; the front lobe
sub-quadrate, retuse, almost truncate, with a fleshy orbicular crest.
Column terete above, concave below the stigma, anther beaked.
Peristeria elata, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3116 (1831). Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p 160. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 607. Jennings’ Orch. t. 44. Williams’ Orch.
AlboS VAT. wt. 82%
Peristeria elata,
This stately orchid has long been known as the Dove Plant from
the fancied resemblance of the column and its beaked anther, com-
bined with the ascending side lobes of the lip to the figure of a
Dove; characters which also obtained for it from the Spanish settlers
in Central America the name of El Espiritu Santo or Holy Ghost
plant. It is a native of Panama, whence it was first communicated
in 1826 by Mr. Barnard, a Peruvian merchant, to Mr. Harrison, of
Liverpool, in whose stove it flowered for the first time in this country
in 1831, Like Phaius grandifolius, Dendrobium nobile and other
PERISTERIA. 129
popular kinds, it is one of the few orchidaceous plants generally
cultivated in the stove without being especially associated with other
orchids, its stately habit and curious, fragrant flowers rendering it
popular among amateurs who possess the needful accommodation for
its culture.
Cultural Note.—Peristeria elata is usually potted early in spring in a
compost of two-thirds well-rotted turfy loam, and one-third fibrous peat
with the addition of some thoroughly decomposed cow manure. Ample
drainage should be secured by broken crocks to about half the depth
of the pot, and the compost filled in above this to within an
inch of the rim. The pseudo-bulbs should be placed on the surface
of the compost which should then be covered with sphagnum moss.
When growth commences the plants should receive a liberal supply of
water which should be continued till the large new pseudo-bulbs are
mature ; the supply may then be diminished to so much as is
sufficient to prevent the pseudo-bulbs from shrinking during the winter
months. As much air and light as is safely practicable should be
afforded at all seasons, shading being used only during the earliest
stages of growth and on hot bright days to prevent the foliage being scorched.
P. pendula.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-conic, compressed, elongated, 4—6 inches long.
Leaves 3—4 from the apex of the pseudo-bulbs, lanceolate, acute,
12—15 inches long. Scapes stoutish, pendulous, 5—7 inches long,
bearing a dense cluster of fragrant flowers of wax-like texture ;
bracts small, scale-like, brownish red. Flowers globose, 2 inches in
diameter, French-white spotted with purple; sepals and petals broadly
oval-oblong, obtuse, concave on the inner side, the dorsal sepal a little
longer than the other segments; hypochile of lip oblong with two
quadrate basal lobes between which are two erect fleshy plates ; epichile
or front lobe tongue-shaped, deeply grooved along the centre, reflexed
at the apex. Column very broad, semi-terete, concave below the stigma,
and with two incurved oblong wings.
Peristeria pendula, Hook. in Bot, Mag. t. 3479 (1836). Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1843, misc. No. 99. Rcehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 607.
Originally imported from Demerara by Mr. John Allcard, in whose
stove at Stratford Green it flowered for the first time in this country
in January, 1836. It was afterwards detected by the brothers
Schomburgk during their exploration of British Guiana, who state
that it is generally dispersed over the whole region, flowering in
November and December. Although inferior to the Dove Plant as
a horticultural subject, it is a remarkable species worthy of a place
in large collections,
K
130 ACINETA.
ACINETA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 67. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 551.
The technical distinction between Peristeria and Acineta rests
chiefly on the characters of the labellum and pollinary apparatus ;
in the first-named organ there is no articulation at the middle, and
the pollinia are not sessile but have a narrow stipes or caudicle.
Besides these the flowers are somewhat differently shaped on account
of the looser arrangement of the sepals. In addition to the species
here described, three or four others are known to science, making up
the number to about seven or eight, all natives of tropical America
from Southern Mexico to Colombia.
The jointless immovable condition of the front lobe of the labellum
. . e . ,’ , .
suggested the generic name which is derived from akwytoc, ‘im-
movable.”
Cultural Note-—tULike the Peristerias the Acinetas are robust plants
with large pseudo-bulbs, large plaited leaves and with a stout, many-
flowered inflorescence that is more or less pendulous. They require a
high temperature, such as is maintained in the East Indian house,
and on account of their pendulous inflorescence they should be suspended
near the roof when in flower. In other respects their cultural treatment
is the same as for Peristeria and allied genera.
Acineta Barkeri.
Pseudo-bulbs pyriform or sub-conic, 4—6 inches, strongly ribbed and
angulate, di-triphyllous. Leaves broadly lanceolate, acute, plaited, 20—25
inches long. Racemes pendent, 12—15 inches long, 10—15 flowered ;
bracts sheathing, ovate, acute greenish brown. Flowers fragrant, sub-
globose, 14 inch in diameter, bright yellow with a sanguineous spot
on the hp, and a few red spots at the base of the petals; sepals
oblong, acute, concave, the lateral two a little broader than the dorsal
one; petals sub-similar, oval; lip with a channelled fleshy claw, three-
lobed, the side lobes large, incurved, broadly halberd-shaped, and with
a large fleshy disk between them: the intermediate lobe much smaller,
narrowly oblong, retuse, concave, keeled beneath. Column semi-terete,
pubescent, with a very narrow wing on each side of the stigma.
Acineta Barkeri, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 68. Paxt. Mag. Bot. XIV.
p. 145. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 611. Peristeria Barkeri, Batem. Orch.
Mex. et Guat. t. 8. Bot. Mag. t. 42038.
Originally discovered by Ross in a dark ravine in the neighbour-
hood of Xalapa in Mexico, in 1837, and sent by him to Mr. Barker,
ACINETA. 131
in whose garden at Springfield, near Birmingham, it flowered in the
following year. It was a great favourite with the orchid amateurs
of that period, and it is still occasionally seen.
A. densa. .
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly fusiform or sub-conic, 3—4 inches long, bearing
at their apex 3—4 oblanceolate, acute, plaited leaves, 12—18 inches
long, Racemes 2—3 feet long, pendulous, many-flowered ; bracts oblong,
acute, brownish. Flowers fragrant, not fully expanding; sepals light
yellow, concave, oval-oblong, obtuse, the lateral two a little longer
than the dorsal one; petals similar to the dorsal sepal but smaller,
light yellow spotted with red, the spots aggregated towards the base ;
lip very fleshy, yellow densely spotted and blotched with red-brown ;
the claw nearly quadrate, concave with a conical protuberance on the
front side; the side lobes oblong-rotund, erect, concave ; the intermediate
lobe much smaller, oblong, slightly incurved; disk a fleshy plate with
a raised median line, tridentate in front. Column stoutish, pubescent
with two rounded wings.
Acineta densa, Lind]. in Paxt. Fl. I. p. 91, with fig. #7. Mag. 1861. t. 16.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 610. Bot. Mag. t. 7143. A. Warscewiczii, Klotzsch,
Allg. Gartenz. 1852, p. 145.
A native of Turialba, in Costa Rica, where it was discovered in 18!9
by Warscewicz, from whom it was obtained by Mr. G. Ure Skinner
for the Horticultural Society of London and for some of the most
prominent orchid amateurs of that period including Bishop Sumner,
in whose collection at Farnham Castle it seems to have flowered for
the first time in this country, but not till several years after its
introduction. It flowered simultaneously in the Royal Gardens at
Kew and Glasnevin in the autumn of 1889, whence we obtained
materials for description. As a species it is comparable with Acineta
Barkeri, to which it is superior in its larger, more open and brighter
coloured flowers; but it is, unfortunately, a shy bloomer and it has
now become quite rare in the orchid collections of this country.
A. Humboldtii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, angulate, 3—4 inches long, di-triphyllous. Leaves
lanceolate, acute, 10—15 inches long, 1—2 inches broad, narrowed
below into a channelled foot-stalk, strongly nerved beneath. Scapes
stoutish, as long as the leaves, quite pendulous, 5—7 or more flowered ;
bracts ovate, acute, sheathing, half as long as the ovaries. Flowers
not fully expanding, faintly but pleasantly fragrant; 2—-2$ inches in
diameter ; sometimes reddish brown, sometimes light tawny yellow,
but always spotted with red or brown-purple; dorsal sepal broadly
132 ACINETA.
oblong, concave; the lateral sepals larger, obliquely ovate, obtuse,
connate and gibbous at the base; petals much smaller than the sepals,
oval, almost sub-rhomboid; lip somewhat boat-shaped, deeply three-
lobed, the side lobes large, sub-rotund, incurved, with a projecting
lobule on the inner side; the intermediate lobe ovate, obtuse, with a
two-lobed blackish purple crest near its base. Column short and thick
with narrow rounded wings, whitish and pubescent above, concave and
spotted with red below the stigma.
Acineta Humboldtii, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 67. Van Houtte’s 1.
des Serres, X. t. 992. A. superba, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 609.* Peristeria
Humboldtii, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 18438, t. 18. Bot. Mag. t. 4156 (fulva). Anguloa
superba, H. B. K. Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 3438, t. 93. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch.
p. 160.
The botanical history of this fine orchid may be thus summarised :—
According to Dr. Lindley it was discovered by the great traveller
Humboldt and his companion Bonpland growing on trees in the
temperate parts of Tumbez near Zaruma in Peru (now Ecuador), and
in a yalley called Catacocha; it was also found by them cultivated
in a garden at Loxa at 6,000—7,000 feet elevation. The description
and figure of the plant in Humboldt and Kunth’s Nova Genera et
Species Plantarum caused a desire, even in the early days of -
orchid culture, to see it in European gardens, and the surprise
was great when Dr. Lindley announced that the plant figured in
the Botanical Register as Peristeria Humboldtii was without doubt the
Anguloa superba of Humboldt, in whose figure, however, the raceme
is made to grow erect instead of pendulous. The first living plant
seen in England was imported by Mr. Wilmore, of Oldford, near
Birmingham, not, however, from Ecuador, but from Porto Cabello
in Venezuela, many hundreds of miles distant, and it flowered in
his garden in March, 1842, and was figured in the Botanical Register
as Peristeria Humboldtii. Subsequently the late Professor Reichenbach
saw or possessed specimens of this species gathered by Wagener in
Caracas, and by Schlim near Ocafia; and it is probable that the
plants cultivated of late years originated in that region. Although
there is nothing improbable in the same species of orchid occurring
in localities 1,000 miles apart, it is a curious circumstance that the
Keuadorian origin of Acineta Humboldtii does not appear to have
been confirmed by its re-discovery in that country.
* Superba is the oldest specific name of this plant, but we prefer following the far more
convenient usage of adopting the oldest name under the right genus. Lindley, doubtless,
rejected superba on account of its indefinite meaning, and also from a desire to honour
the discoverer of this orchid,
MORMODES. . 133
MORMODES.
Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot. Ed. II. 446, ex Bot. Reg. XXII. t. 1861 (1836). Benth.
et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 552 (1883).
Mormodes is one of a group of genera characterised by fleshy
stems and strange-looking flowers.* Dr. Lindley long ago graphically
remarked of this group of orchids, ‘‘that we find among them the
most astonishing deviations from ordinary structure and the most
startling variations from what appears to be the rule in other parts
of the organic world.” All this still holds good but in a modified
sense, for many of the deviations in form and structure occurring
in Mormodes, Catasetum and Cycnoches that were inexplicable puzzles
to Lindley and his contemporaries have since been shown to be not
mere “freaks” or ‘‘ sports” of nature, but necessary conditions of the
plant’s organisation, probably evolved from a simpler state in the
course of a long series of ages.
The most striking floral peculiarities in Mormodes are seen in the
column and lip, especially in the first-named organ, which is twisted
one-quarter round so as to cause the anther to face sideways; the
beak of the column, or rather the small hinge by which the anther
case is articulated with the column is so sensitive that when the
beak is touched ever so lightly, the whole of the pollinary apparatus
is released and tossed upwards with a jerk to some distance. The
labellum too is a remarkable organ, and although a polymorphous
one it always has the same relative position to the column, that
is, it is bent upwards and inwards and arches more or less over it.
That this curious contrivance serves an important end in the
perpetuation of the plant is shown conclusively by Darwin in his
Fertilisation of Orchids.+ Space does not permit us to reproduce here
the lucid explanation given by that eminent naturalist of the various
parts of the flower and the means by which fertilisation is effected ;
we must therefore refer the reader to the place quoted, and which
will be found to be not the least interesting part of that remarkable
work.
* The group of genera alluded to in the text includes Catasetum. This very extraordinary
genus was for a long time the puzzle and astonishment of botanists on account of its unisexual
and dimorphous flowers, circumstances at first not even suspected in an orchid. The true
characters of Catasetum have since been gradually brought to light as new species were intro-
duced and their flowers studied. Nevertheless, very much yet remains to be investigated, for
even the extent of the genus is practically unknown, and the sexual states of not more than a
dozen of the whole number of species have been studied. Moreover, the species introduced
from time to time into European gardens have hitherto proved intractable and short-lived
under cultivation, For these reasons we are not yet prepared to deal with the genus for
this work, + Chap. VI. pp. 249—265.
134. MORMODES.
In their vegetation the Mormodes so closely resemble the Cataseta
as to be scarcely distinguishable from them when not in flower. To
avoid needless repetition, the general statement here given applies to
all the species described in the following pages.
The stems are pseudo-bulbous, usually fusiform, more or less
compressed and sheathed by the broad membraneous leaf bases.
The leaves, 5—7 or more to each pseudo-bulb, are narrowly lanceolate
but sometimes broader, acuminate, plaited and prominently nerved on
the under side,
The scapes are stoutish and racemed; the raceme is lax in the
large-flowered and dense in the small-flowered species.
The number of species at present known exceeds a dozen, which
‘are confined to a comparatively small portion of tropical America,
extending from southern Mexico to northern Colombia. The generic
name is derived from the Greek word popu, ‘a phantom or any
frightful-looking object,’ in allusion to the strange appearance of
the flowers.
Cultural Note.—Nearly all the species of Mormodes here noticed
have been introduced from mountainous regions at a _ considerable
elevation, and it has thence been found that they may be safely
cultivated under nearly the same conditions as the Cattleyas of the
labiata group. As the Mormodes are deciduous plants and have a
decided season of rest followed by a season of active growth, they
require all the light obtainable in our climate to mature their pseudo-
bulbs. The compost should consist of the usual proportion of peat and
sphagnum with ample drainage and water freely given during the
growing season.
Mormodes Buccinator.
Pseudo-bulbs 5—7 or more inches long. Leaves 8—12 inches long.
Scapes longer than the leaves ; racemes more or less lax, 7--10 flowered;
bracts small, acuminate. Flowers the most polymorphous and the most
variable in colour yet seen in the genus; in the typical form the
sepals and petals are pale green and the lip white; in other forms
the colour varies from buff to pale straw-yellow, sometimes striped
and spotted in different ways; sepals and petals narrowly oblong, acute;
the sepals reflexed, the petals bent forward over the column; lip
obovate, with the sides rolled back and almost meeting at their edves.
Column semi-terete with the usual oblique twist.
Mormodes Buccinator, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 9; and 1841, mise.
No. 191. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 578. Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XIV. (1880),
p- 358 (major). Rolfe in Gard. Chron, VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 731. M. lentiginosum,
Lot. Mag. t. 4455. M. flaveolum, M. vitellinum, M. Wagenerianum, M. brachy-
Sauce: M. leucochilum and M, marmorea, Klotzsch, ex. Rehb, in Walp. Ann.
VI. loc. cit.
MORMODES. 135
This remarkable Mormodes was first communicated to Dr. Lindley
by Mr. Wilmore, of Oldford, near Birmingham, in 1840, without, it
appears, giving any indication of its origin. We next read of its
being imported by Messrs. Loddiges from La Guayra, the port of
Caracas, and according to Reichenbach it was afterwards gathered
by Schlim, Wagener and Warscewicz in north-west Venezuela. It
is occasionally imported from that region, and it is one of the
species of Mormodes most frequently seen in British collections.
The specific name Buccinator, ‘‘a trumpeter,’ refers to the curious
trumpet-like labellum.
M. Cartonii.
Pseudo-bulbs 5—7 inches long. Leaves 12—15 inches long. Scapes
half as long as the leaves, densely racemed above the middle. Flowers
with a faintly pleasant fragrance, 14 inch across, yellow sometimes
striped and spotted with red; sepals and petals nearly uniform,
lanceolate, acute, spreading; lip irregularly oblong, obliquely twisted
into half a circle, the acute apex meeting the awl-shaped point of the
anther, the column being similarly twisted and _ bent.
Mormodes Cartonii, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4214 (1846). Lindl. in Paxt. Fl.
Gard. III. sub. t. 93 (1857). Gard. Chron. 1871, p. 447, with fig.
Discovered by Purdie, in 1842, on the Sierra Nevada of Santa
Martha in northern Colombia, and sent by him to the Royal Gardens
at Kew. It flowered for the first time in this country in 1845, in
Syon House Gardens, and is named after Mr. Carton, at that time
gardener to the Duke of Northumberland. It is closely allied to the
preceding species, from which it is chiefly distinguished by its longer
and more slender pseudo-bulbs and leaves, its denser racemes of
smaller and differently coloured flowers, and especially by its
narrower and more acute lip and awl-shaped appendage of the
anther.*
M. Colossus.
“ Pseudo-bulbs 6—12 inches long. Leaves elliptic-ovate, acute,
plaited. Scape 2—2} feet long, racemose along the distal _ half;
* It is also very near Mormodes igneuwm, a native of the same region, introduced by
Warscewicez and figured in Paxton’s Flower Garden, a species we have not seen. Of these
three plants (M. Buccinator, M. Cartonii, and M. ignewm) Dr. Lindley remarked that it
is not improbable that they are one and the same species, for beyond colour there is not
much to distinguish them, and it is no doubt that species which travellers report to
have seen growing in the temperate parts of the snow-capped mountain ridges of Santa
Martha, especially on the branches of an Erythrina (Paxt. Fl. Gard. loc. cit.). This is
doubtless true as regards M. Buccinator and M. iyneum, but M. Cartonii is certainly
distinct from the first-named species.
136 MORMODES.
cauline bracts short, triangular, appressed ; floral bracts lanceolate,
shorter than the pedicels. Flowers among the largest in the genus,
5—6 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals and petals narrowly
lanceolate, acuminate with recurved margins, the basal half light rose with
darker parallel nerves, the apical half bright yellow; lip shortly clawed,
ovate-cordate, acuminate, incurved, the margins revolute and almost
meeting at the back, bright yellow with some red dots towards the
base and tip.”—Botanical Magazine.
Mormodes Colossus, Rehb. in Bot. Zeit. 1852, p. 636. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 581. Bot. Mag. t. 5840.
Introduced by Warscewicz about the year 1850 from the mountains
of Central America at an elevation of 6,000—7,000 feet, and subse-
quently imported by ourselves from the same region. It has now
become very rare in the orchid collections of Europe, if it has not
entirely disappeared from them.
M. Greenii.
““Pseudo-bulbs 3-4 inches long. Leaves 12—18 inches _ long.
Racemes large, pendulous, many-flowered. Flowers 23 inches in diameter,
whitish externally ; sepals and petals ovate, sub-acute, concave, light
yellow entirely covered with oblong dark red spots; lip curved upwards,
gradually dilated from a linear fleshy base to a saccate, incurved,
orbicular apex, irregularly toothed on the margin; base of lip dark
purple, inner surface yellow with red streaks, outer surface spotted like
the sepals and petals except on the dilated apex which is dull lilac.
Column short and curved, anther acuminate.”—Botanical Magazine.
Mormodes Greenii, Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. 5802 (1869).*
One of the finest species in the genus; the flowers are not only
large and handsomely coloured, but they also exhale a powerful
aromatic odour. Its origin is not known with certainty, although
probably Colombian. The first recorded instance of its flowering in
this country was in the collection of the late Mr. Wilson Saunders at
Hillfield, Reigate, in 1869, and after whose gardener, Charles Green,
it is named.
M. luxatum.
Pseudo-bulbs 6—8 inches long. Leaves 15—20 inches long. Scapes
longer than the leaves, stoutish, glaucous; 9—12 or more flowered ;
bracts short, broadly subulate. Flowers 3—3} inches in diameter,
* In the Gardeners’ Chronicle, 1869, p. 1205, the late Professor Reichenbach reduced this
species to his Mormodes uncia described in the same volume at p. 892, and which he states
is a Mexican species that had been introduced by ourselves, but of which we possess no
record. Reichenbach’s short Latin diagnosis of I. wncia is so greatly at variance with
ML. Greenii that we are unable to accept them as one and the same species.
MORMODES. 137
strongly fragrant; sepals and petals yellowish green sometimes spotted
with purple; the sepals ovate, sub-acuminate ; the petals much broader,
oval-oblong, acute, concave; lip shortly clawed, and twisted in the
same manner as the column, obscurely three-lobed, sub-orbicular, concave,
almost hemispheric, with an apiculus on the anterior edge; deeper in
colour than the sepals and petals, and with a brown-purple streak on
the inner side. Column triquetral with the characteristic twist of the
genus.
Mormodes luxatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1842, misc. No. 66; and 1843, t. 33.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 577. Id. in Gard. Chron. X. (1878), p. 396. Rev.
hort. 1889, p. 132, with plate. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 186.
Catasetum luxatum, Benth. in Gen, Plant. III. p. 552.
sub-var.—eburneum (Gard. Chron. XVIII. (1882), p. 144, with fig.), flowers
ivory-white with a brown-purple stripe on the lip.
The original Mormodes luxatum is more acceptable for the delightful
fragrance than for the colour of its flowers which is dull lemon-yellow ;
in the sub-variety the colour is much purer, rendering the flowers
quite handsome. ‘The typical form was discovered by Ross in 1839
near Valladolid, in Mexico, while collecting orchids for Mr. George
Barker, of Birmingham, in whose collection at Springfield it flowered
in 1842. The sub-variety seems to have first appeared in the
collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., who mentions it in the
Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1878 as “a stately plant, delicate in the pure
ivory tint and scent of its flowers, and quaint in its twisted shell-
shaped lip.’’*
M. Ocanne.
*Pseudo-bulbs 3—4 inches long. Leaves about a foot long. Scapes
robust, about as long as the leaves, 6—10 flowered; bracts oblong,
obtuse, boat-shaped, } inch long. Flowers about 3 inches in diameter
when spread out, uniformly of a dark orange-yellow closely speckled
with red-brown spots; sepals and petals similar, lanceolate, acuminate,
concave ; lip with a long claw, the blade three-lobed, the lateral lobes
short, oblong, rounded at the tip; the mid-lobe sub-quadrate, abruptly
beaked, all the lobes with incurved margins.”—Botanical Magazine.
Mormodes Ovanne, Lindl. et Rehb. MSS. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 581 (1863).
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. XII. (1879), pp. 582 and 816, with figs. Bot. Mag. t. 6496.
Originally discovered by Schlim on the eastern Cordillera of
Colombia, near Ocaiia, at 4,000—5,000 feet elevation, from whose
dried specimen it was described by Reichenbach in Walper’s Annales
Botanices. It was re-discovered by Kalbreyer while collecting orchids
for us in that region, and who sent us the first living plants received
* Vol. X. p. 396.
138 MORMODES.
in Europe, one of which flowered magnificently in our houses in
October, 1879, and was figured in the Botanical Magazine and
Gardeners’ Chronicle.
Mormodes Ocanne.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
M. pardinum.
Pseudo-bulbs 5—6 inches long. Leaves 12—15 or more inches
long. Scapes as long as the leaves, arching, the raceme dense and
many-flowered; bracts small, ovate, acuminate. Flowers with a faint
odour of ‘Turkish rhubarb, sub-secund, light tawny yellow densely
spotted with chocolate-red ; sepals and petals similar and sub-equal,
ovate, acuminate, incurved ; lip a little smaller than the other segments,
three-lobed; all the lobes acuminate, the intermediate one the largest.
Mormodes pardinum, Batem. Orch. Mex. ct Guat. t. 14. Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
XXIV. mise. No. 176; and XXIX. sub. t. 33. Bot: Mag. t. 3990. Rchb. in
Walp. Ann. VI. p. 582, Knowles and Westc. Fl. Cab. t. 113. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. VII. t. 330.
sub-var.—wnicolor (Bot. Mag. t. 3879), flowers bright lemon-yellow
wholly destitute of spots,
A native of the Mexican province of Oaxaca, originally discovered
in 1836 by Karwinsky, and communicated by him to Mr. Bateman,
in whose collection at Knypersley it flowered in July, 1838. It
was shortly afterwards collected for Mr. Barker by Ross, in whose
consignment the variety unicolor first appeared. It is one of the
best known Mormodes in British collections.
CYCNOCHES. 139
CYCNOCHES.
Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 154 (1832). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 552 (1883).
Still more curious than Mormodes is the genus Cycnoches or
** Swan’s-neck” orchids as the name implies, which like Catasetum
have unisexual flowers, but which in some species are so strangely
dimorphic that before their true character was understood the plants
that produced them were referred to different species; and when
both kinds appeared on the same plant, which was and is still a
comparatively rare occurrence in the cultivated state, such was regarded
as.a “sport” or “inexplicable puzzle.’* Our knowledge of the genus
is still very imperfect, but what is known of it is well summarised
by Mr. Rolfe in recent articles published in the Cardeners’ Chronicle
and elsewhere which the reader will find well worth perusal.}| In
these articles it will be seen that the author has succeeded in
solving the phenomena of dimorphism, which until recently seemed
an almost inextricable puzzle. He has shown that Cycnoches, like
the allied genus Catasetum, has dicecious flowers. In the male the
ovary is abortive and slender; the column is long and slender with
perfect pollinia and no stigma; while in the female the ovary is
stout and perfectly developed, the column is short and stout, without
pollinia but with a perfect stigma situated between a pair of fleshy
wings. The perianth is also dimorphic, but strange to say, this
character does not apply to all the species. The genus thence
comprises two very distinct groups—Hucycnocugs, so called because
it includes the original species of genus, and in which the perianth
scarcely differs in the two sexes; and Hereranrn®, in which it is
very dissimilar especially in the lip. The former contains Cycnoches
chlorochilon, C. Haagei, O. Loddigesii, C. ventricosum and C. versicolor ;
the latter O. awrewm, C. Hgertonianum, O. glanduliferum, C. maculatum,
C. pentadactylon, CO. peruvianum, C. Rossianum and C. Warscewiczit.
The floral characters of Cycnoches will be further understood from
the descriptions that follow. In their vegetative organs the species so
* A good illustration of a moncecious plant of Cyenoches is given in the second series
of the Floral Magazine, plate 381, and reproduced in Pfitzer’s Grundziige.
T Vol. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 188; X. (1891), p. 69; and XI. s. 8 (1892), p. 204; also
Garden and Forest, 1892, p. 88. So few species of Cyenoches are cultivated in the orchid
collections of this country that materials for examination are seldom forthcoming, and from
this cause we have been unable to deal with this extraordinary genus so fully or so
satisfactorily as we could wish. The species described in the text are well deserving the
attention of cultivators.
140 CYCNOCHES.
closely resemble Mormodes and Catasetum, and differ so little c¢nter se
that the description of them under C. chlorochilon, the best known
species, will serve for all, Like Mormodes, too, the Cyenoches are
all natives of tropical America, but evidently more dispersed. Un-
fortunately scarcely anything has been communicated respecting their
station and environment in their native countries, but experience has
shown that the cultural treatment best suited for them is similar to
that formulated under Mormodes.
Cycnoches aureum.
Male flowers: Racemes pendulous, rather dense, 9—12 flowered.
Flowers 2—8 inches in diameter, of a uniform clear yellow; sepals and
petals similar and sub-equal, broadly lanceolate, acute; the sepals
spreading, the petals much reflexed beyond the middle; lip clawed with
an ovate, acute blade, “the edge of which is broken up into short
curved processes forked at the point,” the two lowermost larger than
the others and turned backwards. Column slender with the characteristic
curve of the genus.
Cyenoches aureum, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. t. 75 (1853).
Introduced in 1852 from Central America by Mr. G. Ure Skinner,
but long since lost to cultivation. It is, without doubt, a very
handsome species well worth re-introduction.
C. chlorochilon.
Stems cylindric, tapering upwards, 4—7 or more inches long, sheathed
by the persistent bases of the fallen leaves. Leaves 5—8 to each
stem, lanceolate, acute, plaited, strongly nerved beneath. Scapes stoutish,
1—3 or more flowered. Flowers inverted, variable in size, the largest
6 inches across vertically ; sepals and petals yellowish green, the dorsal
sepal lanceolate-oblong, acute, curved, the lateral two much _ broader ;
the petals similar to the dorsal sepal and sub-faleate ; lip obovate or
elliptic oblong, acute, with a ventricose disk below which is a dark
green depression, and near the base a triangular, erect callus. Column
curved like a swan’s neck in both sexes; in the male flower slender,
dilated below the anther; in the female flower thicker and_ shorter
with a triangular fleshy wing on each side of the stigma.
Cycnoches chlorochilon, Klotzsch in Allgem. Gartenz. 1838, p. 225. Lindl. Sert.
Orch. t. 16. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 560. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VI. t. 263.
Gard. Chron. III. s. 3. (1888), p. 145, icon. xyl. Jllus. hort. XXXV. t. 665.
Sander’s Reichenbachia, J. s. 3. t. 39. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. X. s. 3 (1891),
pp. 69 and 394.
Originally discovered by Moritz, a German naturalist settled in
Venezuela, who sent specimens from Maracaybo to the Berlin
Museum in 1836, from which the species was described two years
later by Professor Klotzsch in Otto and Dietrich’s Allgemeine G'arten-
CYCNOCHES. 141
zeitung. About the same time it was imported from Demerara by
Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery it flowered for the first time in
England, and on which occasion the excellent figure in Lindley’s
Sertum Orchidaceum was drawn.
Oycnoches chlorochilon is the best known species of the genus in
cultivation, its large fragrant flowers securing for it a place in many
orchid collections. But although it has been in European gardens
for more than half a century, the appearance of female flowers
does not seem to have been recorded or even observed till quite
recently. In July, 1891, M. Houzeau de Lehaie, of Hyon, near
Mons, sent to Kew a male and a female flower gathered from
distinct plants that had been received from Caracas, the Venezuelian
habitat of the species; the difference between the two forms is thus
pointed out by Mr. Rolfe :—
“The male is the form so long known in gardens with slender
column and pollinia normally developed; the female is distinctly larger
and more fleshy than the male and with broader sepals and_ petals ;
the ovary is more than twice as thick as the pedicel of the male flower
and more strongly grooved; the column is scarcely half as long, but it
is at least four times as thick; there are, of course, no pollinia but a
well-developed stigma with a pair of large fleshy incurved wings on
either side. The colour of the flowers is identical in the two sexes.”*
C. Egertonianum.
Male flowers: Racemes pendulous, 12—15 inches long, many-flowered.
Flowers about 1} inch in diameter; sepals and petals lanceolate, acute,
the petals a little broader than the sepals, lurid purple, greenish at
the back; lip with a narrow excavated claw and circular blade broken
up into about ten clavate purple processes and two longer and broader
green ones that are nearly parallel with each other. Column very
slender, purple ; anther green. Memale flowers: Solitary or in pairs
on a short, sub-erect raceme, dull olive-green, rather larger and more
fleshy, but otherwise similar to the male flowers except in the lp
which is cordate acute, entire, and in the sexual organs.
Cycnoches Egertonianum, Batem. Orch. Mex, et Guat. sub. t. 40 (1843), in part.
Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 77, with fig. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. XI. s. 3 (1892),
p. 204.
The earliest authentic notice of this curious species being in cultivation
occurs in the miscellaneous matter of the Botanical Register of 1818,
where a figure of a raceme with both male and female flowers—an
extremely rare occurrence in Cycnoches—is given. The plant that
produced it was in the collection of the late Mr. R. §. Holford,
* Gard. Chron. X. s, 3 (1891), p. 69.
142 CYCNOCHES.
at Westonbirt, in Gloucestershire, which had been acquired from
Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting. Dr. Lindley mistook the phenomenon
for a sport of a different species, Cycnoches ventricosum, which Mr.
Bateman had figured in his Orchidacee of Mewrico and Guatemala
under the name of C. Hgertonianwm, whence arose an indescribable
confusion and many “sensational” things were written concerning
it, as the sexual dimorphism of Cycnoches was then unknown.
We are indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for the raceme of
male flowers described above and which were very richly coloured.
The species was dedicated to Sir Philip Egerton, a zealous patron of
horticulture and the possessor of an excellent collection of orchids.
C. Loddigesii.
Stems and leaves as in Cyenoches chlorochilon. Racemes pendulous,
as long or longer than the stems, 5—7 or more flowered. Male
flowers large and fragrant; sepals and petals greenish brown obscurely
spotted with brown, the dorsal sepal linear-oblong, acute; the lateral
sepals and petals broadly lanceolate, acute, sub-falcate; lip narrowly
oblong, sub-acuminate, fleshy, and convex, the basal half whitish, the
apical half yellow, the whole surface sparingly spotted with red.
Column long, slender, incurved, dark purple; the anther yellow-green
spotted with purple.
Cyenoches Loddigesii, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 154 (1832). Id. in Bot. Reg.
t. 1742. Bot. Mag. t. 4215. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 559.
The above description is that of the male flowers; the female
flowers we have not seen, but they appeared soon after the intro-
duction of the species in the collection of Mr. Wilmore at Oldfield,
near Birmingham, who sent one to Dr. Lindley for identification ;
this flower had “broad petals, a short column hooded and dilated
at the apex, and a broad roundish lip gibbous at the base, and
with its stalk much shorter than the column; it was, however,
destitute of scent, while C'ycnoches Loddigesii has a delicious odour
of vanilla.’ At first Lindley assumed it to be a new species and
named it O. cucullatum, but shortly afterwards a Cycnoches in the
garden of the Horticultural Society produced from opposite sides of
the same stem two racemes, one with the fragrant flowers of C.
Loddigesii and the other with the scentless flowers of C. cucullatwm.*
Cycnoches Loddigesti was originally discovered in 1834 by Mr. John
Henry Lance in the forests of Surinam, and was sent by him to
* Bot. Reg. sub, t. 1951,
CYCNOCHES. 143
Messrs. Loddiges, in whose nursery it flowered imperfectly shortly
afterwards, but more perfectly in the Horticultural Society’s Gardens
at Chiswick and other places two years later. It is the type or
species on which the genus was founded; it has now become very
rare if not entirely lost to cultivation.
C. maculatum.
Stems and leaves characteristic of the genus. Racemes of male
flowers 15—18 inches long, deflexed, 5—7 or more flowered. Flowers
patent, 3—4 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar and sub-
equal, lanceolate, acute, undulate, light yellow-green much spotted with
red-purple; lip white, clawed, the claw grooved, the blade lanceolate
acute, with the margins incurved and with 5—6 round fleshy, finger-
like bristles spotted with purple below the middle. Column slender,
curved, greenish yellow spotted with red.
Cycnoches maculatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 8. Id. Sert. Orch.
t. 33. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 561. illus. hort. 1873, t. 143.
Discovered by Ross in Mexico, and sent by him to Mr. Barker,
of Birmingham, in whose collection it flowered in 1839. The male
flowers only are known. Jike the preceding species it appears at
present to be lost to cultivation.
C. pentadactylon.
Racemes of male flowers pendulous, many-flowered ; of female,
erect, few-flowered. Flowers greenish yellow sometimes white, barred
and blotched with chocolate-brown, parts of the lip white
spotted with red; the column purple below the anther. The male
and female flowers are shown in the accompanying woodcut. These
convey a far clearer idea of the difference between the two sexes in
this species than can be done by a description which in the absence
of materials we are unable to give.* The five curious finger-like
appendages of the lip of the male flower suggested the specific
name.
Cyenoches pentadactylon, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. No. 26) angie 22s
Id. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. sub. t. 75. Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 561. Rolfe
in Gard. Chron. VI. s. 3 (1889), p. 188, with figs.
Introduced by our Exeter firm in 1841 through William Lobb, who
detected it in the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, and shortly
afterwards re-imported from that city by Messrs. Loddiges. We find
* While these sheets were being printed a fine male plant of Cyenoches pentadactylon was
exhibited at one of the Royal Horticultural Society’s meetings by Mr. W. H. Mann, of
Bexley, who kindly sent us a flower; we thought it best, however, to leave the text as
it is.
144 CYCNOCHES.
no record of the appearance of female flowers till a plant in the
collection of Mr. Gotto, at The Lodge, Hampstead Heath, produced
a raceme of each kind in the summer of 1889; flowers from each
was sent to Kew for identification and which are here represented.
Cycnoches pentadactylon is a very handsome species, well worthy of
the attention of amateurs of orchids,
Cycnoches pentadactylon. a, male; p, female flower.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
C. versicolor.
Male jlowers: Racemes pendulous, many-flowered ; bracts ovate,
sheathing, } inch long, tawny yellow. Flowers 2—24 inches in
diameter; sepals and petals reflexed and of a peculiar colour difficult
to describe, a kind of deep tawny green with a velvety gloss and
with close-set longitudinal brown lines; the sepals narrowly oblong; the
petals broader, elliptic-oblong, acute ; lip fleshy, ovate, acute, with two
erect teeth in the centre between which is a deep groove, cream-white
with some red spots in front of the teeth. Column green spotted with
brown.
Cycnoches versicolor, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. IY. s. 3 (1888), p. 596.
A remarkable species of Brazilian origin. Reichenbach named it
from materials sent to him by Sir Trevor Lawrence in 1888, to
whom also our obligations are due. The colour of the male flowers
is most peculiar; the female flowers we have not seen,
STENIA. 145
BOUOB-TRIBE . MAXILLARIEA:
Rhizome bearing either mono-diphyllous pseudo-bulbs or produced into
ascending stems with closely distichous, often equitant, leaf-sheaths with
more or less developed lamine. Leaves usually coriaceous or fleshy
without prominent ribs. Scapes almost always one-flowered. The
column produced into a foot.*
alld iy
STENIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1991 (1837). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 553 (1883).
A small genus of which three species are now known, occurring
in three widely separated localities in South America, but that
described below is the only one occasionally met with in cultivation.
Botanically the genus connects the Srannopiem with the MAxILLarieg ;
the character which chiefly separates Stenia from Maxillaria is the
mode of attachment of the labellum to the column, this organ being
in Stenia continuous with the foot of the coluwn, not articulated
on it; the fleshy basal part of the labellum, saccate in Stenia
pallida, indicates the affinity with Stanhopea.
The genus was founded by Dr. Lindley on Stenia pallida, a
Demerara plant introduced by Mr. George Barker, of Birmingham,
in 1836. The narrow elongated pollen masses suggested the specific
name which is derived from the Greek word otevoc, “ narrow.”
Stenia fimbriata.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves 4—5 to each growth, linear or narrowly
oblanceolate, acute, 7—10 inches long. Peduncles slender, sub-erect,
about 2 inches long, one-flowered ; bracts subulate, acute, much shorter
than the ovary. Flowers 2 inches in diameter, light yellow with
some purple spots on the basal half of the lip; sepals and petals all
directed upwards, linear-oblong, acute, slightly undulate at the margin ;
the petals a little broader than the sepals, apiculate with denticulate
margin and of thinner texture; lip broadly oblong, the basal half
fleshy and turned upwards on each side towards the column; the
* Mr. Bentham has grouped nine genera under this sub-tribe, all of them of American origin,
of which the type genus Maxillaria 1s by tar the largest aud most important. Of those genera
not coming wituin the scope of this work, Ornithidium includes a few species that occasionally
find their way into private collections, notably the type species 0, coccinewm (Salisb.), and
O, Sophronitis (Rchb. ).
L
146 SCHLIMIA.
apical half semi-transparent, spreading and with fimbriate margin,
Column semi-terete with very narrow wings.
Stenia fimbriata, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1868, p. 1313. Chondrorrhyncha fimbriata,
Rehb. in Saunders’ Ref. Bot. 7I. t. 107 (1872).
A native of the eastern Cordillera of New Granada at a considerable
elevation. It was first detected by Schlim about the year 1847
near Ocaha, and it was afterwards gathered by Blunt, Roezl and
other collectors of orchids in that region. 1t was introduced into
European gardens by M. Linden, of Brussels, in 1868, through
Gustav Wallis.
Cultural Note-—This plant was first cultivated in England by the
late Mr. Wilson Saunders, at Hillfield, Reigate, who placed it in a cool
damp shady house, where it grew freely and produced its flowers very
regularly when potted in peat and sphagnum, and carefully drained.*
AA Vy
SCHLIMIA.
Planchon in Lind. Catal. 1852, ex Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. p. 115, fig. 287. Benth.
et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 553.
Schlimia includes three closely allied Colombian species of which
S. trifida is the best known. The genus is chiefly distinguished by
its peculiarly-shaped flowers which approach somewhat those of a
Stanhopea, and thus like Stenia it is a connecting link between
Stanhopea and Maxillaria. It commemorates Louis Schlim, a relative
of M. Linden and a collector of orchids for him in Colombia, and who
discovered and introduced the type species S. jasminodora in 1850—8S1.
Schlimia trifida.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-fusiform, about an inch long, monophyllous, Leaves
shortly petiolate, elliptic-oblong, acute, 4—6 inches long. Scapes drooping,
dull purple, bearing a one-sided (usually inverted) four-flowered raceme.
Flowers 2 inches across vertically, very fragrant, white with some
purple spots on the dorsal sepal which is oblong, obtuse; the lateral
sepals produced into a large helmet-shaped sac; petals linear, acute,
reflexed towards their apex; lip shorter than the other segments,
tripartite, the hypochile sub-pandurate with an orange-yellow blotch, the
epichile lanceolate. Column semi-terete with two sub-quadrate fleshy
wings.
Schlimia trifida, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. VI. (1876), p. 706. Id. VII. (1877),
p. 141, with figs.
The origin of this curious and interesting plant is involved in
* Ref, Bot. LI. sub. t. 107,
SCHLIMIA, 147
obscurity. It first appeared in 1&74 in a collection of Colombian
orchids supposed to have been made by the unfortunate Briickmiiller
and offered at Stevens’ sale rooms in May of that year. It flowered
for the first time in Sir Trevor Lawrence’s collection and was
exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society’s meeting in January,
Schlimia trifida.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
1877.* The plant has the aspect of a small Stanhopea; the flowers
are of very remarkable structure, very fragrant, and appear as if
modelled out of wax, and being inverted the saccate lateral sepals
have the resemblance of an ancient Greek helmet.
* A plant subsequently flowered in our houses from which the above description was taken,
but we find no record of the species being in cultivation since, which is the more remarkable
when the enormous quantity of Colombian orchids that have been imported is considered, a
fact that would imply its being a rare plant in its native country,
148 SCUTICARIA.
SCUTICARIA.
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, misc. p. 14. Benth, et Hook. Gen. Plant. III, p. 554.
Scuticaria includes two species: S. Steelei originally referred to
Maxillaria on the assumption that the pollen masses were not stipitate
(without caudicles) which is not the case, and thence removed from
that genus by Dr. Lindley and made the type of a new one; and
S. Hadwenii previously brought under Bifrenaria on account of its
stipitate pollinia, but manifestly very closely allied to S. Steelei,
although its geographical station is very remote from the home of
that species. The most obvious characteristic of these species is
their peculiar habit, derived chiefly from the long terete fleshy
leaves furrowed on one side and continuous with the short stems;
the floral characters are nearly those of Maxillaria, but the peduncles
are 2—3 flowered.
Cultural Note-——The habit of the plants and their geographical
stations suggest their cultural treatment, but it is to be regretted that
not a scrap of information is forthcoming respecting their environment
in situ beyond the brief statement of the brothers Schomburgk
respecting the Demerara species that it grows on the trunks of trees.
Seuticaria Hadwenii may be grown in an intermediate temperature,
either in a pot or on a block. 8S. Steelei requires the highest
temperature available. The plant should be attached to a block of
wood, with some live sphagnum about its roots which should be
renewed as it becomes decayed; it should be freely syringed during
the growing seasoa. It is a well-known fact that orchids with terete
fleshy leaves, like those of the Scuticarias, are much exposed to direct
sunlight in their native countries, and hence, in the glass-houses of
Europe, they should be placed in the lghtest position possible,
Scuticaria Hadwenii.
Stems very short, knotty, ash-brown, swollen at the base. Leaves
9—18 inches long. Peduncles stoutish, 4—5 inches long, 1—2 flowered,
sheathed at the base by brownish, acute, scale-like bracts, the ovary
long and terete. Flowers 2$—3 inches in diameter; sepals and petals
spreading, fleshy, oblong, acute, chestnut-brown, paler towards the apex,
sometimes broken up into blotches on a yellow-green ground; lip broadly
obovate or sub-orbicular, concave, downy within, pale yellow blotched
and spotted with light brown in the centre, the marginal area white
spotted with light rose; crest an oblong plate three-toothed in front,
a Steelei.
Scuticari
SCUTICARTA. 149
swollen at the base. Column semi-terete, much spotted with purple,
white at the apex.
Scuticaria Hadwenii, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 323 (1881). Roife
in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 733. Bifrenaria Hadwenii, Lind]. in Paxt. Fl.
Gard. I. p. 67 (1851). Bot. Mag. t. 4629. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VIJ. t. 731.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 550.
Introduced from Rio de Janeiro by Mr. Isaac Hadwen, of Liverpool,
in whose garden it flowered in June, 1851, and by whom it was
communicated to the Royal Gardens at Kew and to other collections.
It was shortly afterwards brought from southern Brazil by the late
Mr. Miers, of Hammersmith, and has since been occasionally imported
with other Brazilian orchids. As a horticultural plant it is less
showy than Scuticaria Steelei, from which it is easily distinguished
by its much shorter leaves and differently-shaped labellum.
S. Steelei.
Stems as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, 1—2 inches long,
invested with greyish, lacerated, membraneous sheaths. Leaves quite
pendulous, tapering towards the apex 1—4 feet long. Peduncles 1—3
flowered. Flowers nearly 3 inches in diameter, light yellow spotted
with red-brown, the fleshy crest of the lip orange-yellow; sepals and
petals oblong, sub-acute, the lateral sepals the broadest, connate at their
base, and forming with the base of the lip an obtuse mentum or chin ;
lip sub-orbicular when spread out, three-lobed, the side lobes turned
upwards; the front lobe spreading, with a sinus in the anterior margin ;
erest an oblong fleshy plate, traversed longitudinally by five raised lines.
Column semi-terete, bent.
Scuticaria Steelei, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1843, mise. p. 14 (Steelii). Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 551. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I/. t. 55. Maxillaria Steelii, Bot. Mag.
t. 3573. Bot. Reg. t. 1986. Schomb. Reisen. III. p. 909.
The handsomest of the Scuticarias as regards its flowers and the
most singular in its excessively elongated leaves. It was introduced
from Demerara in 1836 by Mr. Matthew Steele, by whom it was
communicated to Mr. Moss, of Otterspool, near Liverpool, in whose
garden it flowered for the first time in this country in the following
year. It was detected by the brothers Schomburgk during their
exploration of British Guiana, 1840—44, “on the banks of the rivers
Essequibo and Demerara on the trunks of trees, flowering in June
and July.”
150 MAXILLARIA.
MAXILLARIA.
Ruiz et Pavon, Fl. Peruy. Prod. p. 116, t. 25 (1794). Lindl. Bot. Reg. 1848, mise. p. 10.
Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 553.
The genus Maxillaria was founded by the Spanish botanists Ruiz
and Pavyon on a group of epiphytal orchids, which they discovered
on the Andes of Peru during their mission to that country, 1777—88.
Owing to the terse but imperfect manner in which the genus was
defined by these authors it became afterwards, as Mr. Bentham
remarked, “‘a kind of receptacle for a great variety of American
Vanpe®,” until the confusion became so great that Dr. Lindley
undertook a revision of the genus, the results of which he published
in the Botanical Register of 1843. Out of the ageregation of species
that had been brought under Maxillaria up to that time he formed
a number of new genera as Lycaste, Paphinia, Colax, Warrea,
Scuticaria, etc., retaining under Maxillaria those species that conform
to the characters described below. ‘Thus restricted, Maxillaria is still
an extensive genus, including, perhaps, over a hundred species, but
forming a very natural group.
The lateral sepals are adnate to the foot of the column, forming
with it a more or less prominent mentum or chin. The dorsal sepal
is similar, and usually at a right angle to the lateral two.*
The petals are similar, but smaller and parallel with the column.
The //p is attached to the foot of the column by a very short claw,
it is turned towards the column, three-lobed, concave, and with an
oblong plate between the side lobes.
The column is wingless, often slightly curved, semi-terete, concave
below the stigma.
The pollinia are four in two pairs, compressed, and almost sessile on
a crescent-shaped gland.
It will be observed that some of these floral characters, especially
the attachment of the lateral sepals and lip to the foot of the
column, are found in allied genera, but from these the true Maxillarias
can always be distinguished by their vegetative organs.
The pseudo-bulbs are more or less flattened, with one or more
sheathing, acuminate brown spathes on each of the ancipitous sides.
The Jeaves are variable in size and shape but always persistent,
leathery in texture and usually dark green,
* This arrangement of the sepals, especially when the lateral two take a horizontal position,
which they almost always do, gives the flowers a one-sided aspect.
MAXILLARIA. 151
The scapes are always one-flowered, and clothed with 4—6 or more
sheathing bracts that are at first green and foliaceous, but become
brown and scarious before the flower fades.
Two sectional divisions of the Maxillarias have been made in
reference to the habit of the plants.
1. Acavtes, in which the rhizome is short and inconspicuous, and
in which therefore the pseudo-bulbs are clustered as in grandiflora,
Parkeri, picta, Sanderiana, venusta, ete.
2. CAULESCENTES, in which the rhizome is produced beyond the
pseudo-bulbs, and the plant assumes a scandent habit as tenuifolia,
variabilis, ete.
The generic name is derived from mazille, “‘the jaws of an insect,”
from the fancied resemblance of the column and lip of some of the
species to those organs.
The geographical limits of the Maxillarias cannot be very clearly
stated owing to the immense area in tropical America that still
remains botanically unexplored. In general terms they may be said
to be dispersed over tropical America from southern Brazil to
Mexico and the West Indies, being most numerous probably
on the Cordilleras of the Andes where they ascend to 5,000
feet or more.
Cultural Note-—In a large genus like Maxillaria, in which much
diversity of station occurs among the species, some living in the hot
valleys of Brazil and Guiana, others in the West India islands, and
others again ascending the Andes to several thousand feet, the
geographical position of a species is the best indication of the
temperature in which it should be cultivated in the glass-houses of
Europe. In other respects the general cultural routine may be thus
formulated :—The plants should be potted when new roots begin to
appear, in a compost of two-thirds fibrous peat and one-third sphagnum
moss placed on a drainage of clean broken crocks that fill the pots
up to about two-thirds of their depth. After potting, water should
be carefully applied till the plants root freely, when a larger quantity
should be given regularly till the new growths are mature. As the
Maxillarias are usually found growing more or less in shade, they
should not be exposed to direct sunlight during the hottest season ;
they should receive at all times as much ventilation as external
circumstances admit. For Mawillaria Sanderiana a teak basket such
as that represented in the figure at page 160, and which can _ be
suspended near the glass, is the best.
hsy4 MAXILLARIA.
Synopsis oF SPECIES AND VARIETIES.
Maxillaria acutipetala.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 14—2 inches long, prominently ribbed and
furrowed, diphyllous. Leaves broadly linear, acute, 7—10 or more
inches long. Scapes 5-6 inches long, sheathed by three oblong,
obtuse bracts. Flowers 24 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals and
petals light orange-yellow, paler and spotted with dark sanguineous
purple behind; the sepals linear-oblong, obtuse; the petals similar but
narrower, shorter and very acute; lip shorter than the other segments,
three-lobed, the side lobes narrow, erect, pale yellow streaked longi-
tudinally with red; the front lobe oblong, obtuse, crisped and reflexed,
cream-white spotted with red. Column semi-terete, yellow streaked with
red.
Maxillaria acutipetala, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3966 (1843). Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1343, misc. No. 36.
Introduced to the Royal Gardens at Kew more than fifty years
ago from Central America by Mr. Barclay, a gardener attached to
Her Majesty’s surveying ship, Sulphur. It much resembles Mawillaria
picts on superficial view, but the flowers are larger, of brighter
colours, and have a differently-shaped labellum; it flowers in the
winter months. Mr. F. W. Moore, of Glasnevin, kindly sent us
materials for description.
M. crocea.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, compressed, about an inch long, monophyllous.
Leaves narrowly ligulate, sub-acute, 5—7 inches long. Scapes 4—5
inches long; bracts subulate, } inch long. Flower orange-yellow; sepals
linear, acute, an inch long; petals similar but shorter and bent forwards ;
lip short and fleshy, reflexed, crisped at the margin, brownish red.
Column semi-terete, coloured like the lip.
Maxillaria crocea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1799 (1836). Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 522,
Introduced from Rio de Janeiro in 1833 by Captain Sutton, of
the Royal Packet Service, and presented by him to Sir Charles
Lemon, Bart., in whose garden at Carclew it flowered in the
following year. It is very near Muawillaria punctata, but much
more attractive.
M. fucata.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, narrowly ovate-oblong, 14—2} inches long,
compressed with acute edges. Leaves lanceolate, 12—15 inches long,
narrowed below into a conduplicate petiole one-third the length of
MAXILLARIA. 153
the blade. Scapes about 6 inches long; bracts broadly ovate, acute,
prominently keeled. Flowers 2} inches in diameter, of rather coriaceous
texture ; sepals white at the base, brick-red in the middle, tawny yellow
spotted with red-brown at the apex; the dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, sub-
apiculate, strongly keeled behind, the lateral two much larger, broadly
ovate, obtuse; petals oblong, apiculate, reflexed at the apex, white at
the base with some brick-red lines, the apical area yellow; lip sub-
orbicular, obscurely lobed, thickened at the apex, red-brown at the base,
sulphur- yellow at the apex; plate of disk grooved bright yellow.
Column triquetral, bent, whitish.
Maxillaria fucata, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXVI. (1886), p. 616. Gard. Chron. IY-
s. 3 (1888), p. 577, with fig. (errore fuscata).
i)
is if /~ eh SG&
ary: yt
SC
Maxillaria fucata.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
sub-var.—Hubschii.
Flowers identical in size and structure; sepals and petals French-
white with an irregular purple apical spot; lip light yellow in front,
reddish brown at the lateral margins. Column white, streaked with
red-brown below the stigma.
M. fucata Hiibschii, supra. M. Hiibschii, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. III. s. 3 (1888),
p. 136.
154 MAXILLARIA.
A most remarkable Maxillaria as regards the colour of its flowers,
in cultivation at Burford Lodge, whence were derived the materials
for description. The variety, a very attractive one, is an albino
form and was introduced by Messrs. Sander and Co. through the
collector whose name it bears. No locality has been divulged, but
as it is said to have been found while the collector was in search
of Mazillaria Sanderiana, both species and variety are probably of
Ecuadorean origin.
M. grandiflora.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly oval-oblong, much compressed, 1}—3 inches long,
monophyllous. Leaves ligulate, acute, 12—15 inches long, 14—2 inches
broad, cuneate-conduplicate at base, strongly keeled beneath. Scapes
stoutish, 4—5 inches long; bracts boat-shaped, acute, keeled. Flowers
among the largest in the genus; sepals and petals ovate-oblong, sub-
acute, milk-white; the sepals 2 inches long, the dorsal one keeled
behind, the petals much smaller and reflexed at the apex; lip broadly
oval, obscurely three-lobed, the side lobes incurved, vinous purple,
striated ; the intermediate lobe reflexed, thickened and crisped at the
margin, light buff-yellow; plate of disk grooved, thickened and free
at the apex. Column thick, terete, and white above; yellow spotted
with red in front.
Maxillaria grandiflora, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 147 (1832). Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 516. illus. hort. XXII. t. 14 (1870). Fl. Mag. N.s. pl. 322.
M. eburnea, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 40, No. 2. M. Lehmanni, Rehb. in Gard. Chron.
XXY. (1886), p. 648. Dendrobium grandiflorum, H. B. K. Nov. Gen. I. t. 88.
var.—Amesiana.
Flowers larger than the usual forms; the petals streaked longitudinally
on the basal half with rose-pink ; the margin of the side lobes of the
lip streaked with broad and short red lines.
M. grandiflora Amesiana, Hort. ;
The botanical history of this fine Maxillaria is most obscure, and
even its precise habitat is known only to the orchid collectors who
sent it to Hurope.
It is unquestionably the Dendrobium grandiflorum of Humboldt
and Kunth as figured by them in their Nova Genera et Species.
Its habitat is there stated to be—
In radicibus Andium Paraguayensium prope rupem El Pupito, villam
La Erre et planitiem montanam Sacondonvensium alt 1060 hexap.
(6,000—7,000 feet).
As no such mountains as the Andes of Paraguay are known in
modern geography, and the other places mentioned are not found
MAXILLARIA. 155
on any map to which we have access, the habitat given by
Humboldt is virtually valueless although quoted by Lindley in his
Genera and Specirs of Orchidaceous Plants, where the plant was first
referred to Maxillaria.
It was next dealt with by Reichenbach in Walper’s Annales
Botanices in 1863; he gives no description of the plant but only
the following bricf quotation, apparently from a Lindenian source.
“An epiphyte with oval flattened pseudo-bulbs, petals white as
snow with a powdery yellow lip. Forests of Jaji in the province
of Merida 5,000—6,000 feet elevation, Ocafia at 6,000 feet.’ But
this evidently refers to Mavillaria venusta which comes from that
region and which has occasionally been confused with M. grandiflora.
The next notice of it occurs in J/Illustration horticole of 1870, at
that time edited by M. André, who described the plant from living
specimens which had been sent by Wallis to M. Linden’s _horti-
cultural establishment in 1867 from Peru (probably Ecuador is meant),
its station being at an altitude of 5,000—6,500 feet. If we assume
the word Paraguayensium of Humboldt and Kunth to be a clerical
error for Peruvianorum, the habitat given by them can to a great
extent be reconciled with that given by André. The M. eburnea
of Lindley was gathered near Mount Meracevi, about 30 miles
N.N.E. from Cimeralda, but this locality is as obscure as that given
by Humboldt.
M. Houtteana.
Pseudo-bulbs. narrowly oblong, compressed, 1}—2 inches long, mono-
phyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, acute, 4—6 inches long. Scapes short ;
sepals and petals ligulate, acute, cinnamon-brown with a narrow yellow
margin, brownish green behind, the petals a little narrower and_ shorter
than the sepals; lip oblong, acute, not lobed, gently reflexed towards
the apex, gamboge-yellow spotted with red-purple. Column semi-terete,
red spotted with yellow in front.
Maxillaria Houtteana, Rchb. in Hamburg Gartenzeit, XIV. p. 212 (1858). Regel’s
Gartenfl. 1858, p. 286.
Our knowledge of this species is derived from a plant in the
Royal Gardens at Kew, where the above description was taken It
was originally introduced from Guatemala by the late Louis Van
Houtte, in whose nursery at Ghent it flowered in 1849. It is a
dwarf species remarkably distinct in the colour of its flowers.
156 MAXILLARIA,.
M. lepidota.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly ovoid, 1—14 inch long, monophyllous. Leaves
linear-lanceolate, 9—12 inches long, conduplicate at the base. Scapes
much shorter than the leaves. Sepals linear from a lanceolate base,
tail-like, 2} inches long, the broader basal portion yellow, the tails
brown ; petals similar but shorter, wholly yellow; lip oblong, acute, the
lateral margins incurved ; the: apical half concave, reflexed, yellow spotted
with blackish purple; plate of disk grooved, pubescent. Column yellow.
Maxillaria lepidota, Lindl. Ann. Nat. Hist. XV. (1845), p. 38, ex Rehb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 525. Rehb. in Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), p. 168.
Originally discovered by Hartweg in southern Colombia, near
Popayan, in 1841—42, and gathered by Spruce on the Andes of
Ecuador in 1858, but not introduced into British gardens till 1877,
when it was received by Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton, and
Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, from their respective correspondents. This and
the next species to be described are remarkable among the cultivated
Maxillarias for their long tail-like sepals, a character expressed by
the specific names.
M. longisepala.*
“Pseudo-bulbs tufted, ovate or ovate-oblong, sub-compressed, 1—1}
inch long. Leaves narrowly ligulate, acute, 6—-9 inches long. Scapes
6 inches long; bracts lanceolate, acute, reddish brown. Sepals nearly
4 inches long, very narrow, acuminate, pale purple-brown faintly striated
with a darker shade; petals similar but a little shorter; lp ovate-oblong,
obtuse or sub-apiculate, the margin a little reflexed, light yellowish green
with radiating lines of dark reddish brown on the margin. Column
pale green.”—R. A. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. VIII. s. 3 (1890), p. 94.
Maxillaria longisepala, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. log cit. Lindenia, VI. t. 248.
“A new and elegant species sent from Venezuela by Bungeroth
to M. Linden, L’Horticulture Internationale of Brussels, in 1890.”
M. luteo-alba.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovate-oblong, much compressed, about 2 inches
long, monophyllous. Leaves broadly ligulate, 15 —20 inches long, cuneate
below and passing into a short folded petiole. Peduncles about 6 inches
high ; bracts slightly inflated. Flowers large and fragrant; sepals linear-
oblong, acute, 3 inches long, white at the base, the remainder tawny
yellow, reddish purple behind; petals similar but narrower, shorter and
more acute; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, erect, whitish
obliquely streaked with dark purple on the inner side; the intermediate
* Not seen by us.
MAXILLARIA. LS.7
lobe oblong, emarginate, reflexed, white; plate of disk yellow. Column
short, terete and white above, purplish below the stigma.
Maxillaria luteo-alba, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 20, No. 106 (1846). Rchb. in Bonpl.
II. p. 18. Id. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 516. #7. Mag. pl. 559 (luteo-grandiflora),
Williams’ Orch. Alb. III. t. 106.
- var.—Turneri.
Pseudo-bulbs smaller. Leaves shorter, narrower, more leathery and
of a darker green. Flowers a little smaller in all their parts; the
front lobe of the lip less distinctly emarginate.
M. luteo-alba Turneri, supra. M. Turneri, Hort.
A handsome species discovered by Linden in 1842 on the Cordillera
of Venezuela, near Merida, at 5,000—7,000 feet elevation, and
subsequently gathered in the same region by Schlim, Wagener and
other collectors. We find no record of its first introduction into
British gardens.
M. marginata.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid or ovate-oblong, 1}—2 inches long, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 5—8 inches long. Peduncles 3—4 inches
long, the ovary mottled with dull green and crimson. Flowers about
14 inch across vertically ; sepals bent forward, linear-oblong, acute, light
orange-yellow with a narrow dark red margin and a median red line
behind; petals similar but much smaller; lip three-lobed, the side lobes
oblong, erect, streaked obliquely with red-purple; the front lobe oblong,
acute, reflexed, light yellow; plate of disk fleshy, thickened in front.
Maxillaria marginata, Fenzl. in Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, X. p, 112 (1854).
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 520. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. V. s. 3 (1889), p. 770.
Cymbidium marginatum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. XVIII, (1832), t. 1530.
Introduced from Rio de Janeiro to the garden of the Horticultural
Society of London at Chiswick, where it flowered in November,
1830; a few years later it was gathered by Gardner at Rio
Compaido in southern Brazil. Not beimg a very showy plant it
seems to have been generally neglected by horticulturists. We
received flowers from Burford Lodge and Glasnevin.
M. nigrescens.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed, 1—2 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, !0—12 inches long, sub-acute, conduplicate at
base, very coriaceous. Peduncles drooping, 2—3 inches long. Sepals
broadly linear, 2 inches long, port-wine colour; petals similar but shorter
and darker in colour; lip oblong with incurved margins and _ reflexed
triangular apex, blackish purple, paler at the apex. Column arching,
terete above, concave below the stigma, vinous purple.
Maxillaria nigrescens, Lindl, Orch. Lind. p. 20, No, 105 (1846). Rehb, in Walp,
Ann, VI. p. 518.
158 MAXILLARIA.
One of the Lindenian discoveries on the Cordillera of Merida in
1842; it was eollected some years later near Hato Arribo by
Wagener, who introduced it to the Botanic Garden at Hamburgh.
The dark and lurid colour of its flowers secures for it a place in
many collections.
M. Parkeri.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, much compressed, 1}—2 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 10—15 inches long conduplicate at the
base, Peduncles about 3 inches long, sheathed by alternate, imbricating,
slightly inflated bracts that are striated with dull crimson. Flowers
34 inches across the lateral sepals; sepals oblong, light tawny yellow, the
dorsal one apiculate and with a median sunk line; petals lanceolate,
acute, reflexed at the apex, cream-white with 7—9 purple lines on the
basal half; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, incurved, streaked
longitudinally with purple; the terminal lobe narrowly oblong, reflexed,
tawny yellow passing into white at the denticulate margin; plate of
disk downy, thickened in front. Column semi-terete, dark purple;
anther white.
Maxillaria Parkeri, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 2729. Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p, 146.
An attractive species originally discovered in Demerara by Mr.
C. §. Parker, who sent it to the Liverpool Botanic Garden, where it
flowered in 1827. It has since been occasionally imported.
M. picta.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 2—3 inches long, compressed, mono-diphyllous.
Leaves narrowly ligulate, acute, 9—15 inches long. Peduncles half as
long as the leaves. Sepals and petals linear-oblong, acute, more or less
incurved ; the sepals light tawny yellow on the inside, whitish spotted
with purple behind; the petals coloured like the sepals with the
addition of a red streak at the base; lip oblong, white marked with
purple on the side lobes which are narrow and erect, the front lobe
reflexed, acute; plate of disk oblong, downy. Column terete, blackish
purple.
Maxillaria picta, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3154 (1832). Lindl. Gen, et Sp. Orch.
p. 146. ot. Reg. t. 1802.
Originally sent to Mrs. Arnold Harrison, of Liverpool, in 1831 by
her relative Mr. William MHarrison, who had gathered it on the
Organ Mountains, near Rio Janeiro, and shortly afterwards imported
by Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney. Like many of the older intro-
ductions from Brazil which were once generally cultivated, it has of
late years receded in public favour.
MAXILLARIA. 159
M. porphyrostele.*
“Pseudo-bulbs orbicular-ovoid, compressed, diphyllous. Leaves linear,
5—7 inches long, narrowed at the base. Scapes much shorter than the
leaves. Flowers about 1} inch broad, light golden yellow with a purple
median stripe towards the base of the petals; sepals incurved, the dorsal
one linear-oblong, the lateral two more lanceolate and much broader at
the base; petals shorter and narrower than the sepals, ascending and
incurved ; lp three-lobed, the lateral lobes ear-shaped, erect with
incurved margins; the mid-lobe orbicular-oblong with rounded tip,
nearly flat with a tubercular callus at the base. Column slender,
purple.”—Botanical Magazine.
Maxillaria porphyrostele, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1873, p. 978. Bot. Mag. t. 6477.
Introduced from the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul by
Mr. William Bull, of Chelsea, in whose nursery it flowered in 1873.
Tt is nearly allied to the preceding species, Mazillaria picta, differing
chiefly in the pseudo-bulbs, bracts and colour of the flowers, which
are as in M. picta very copiously produced. The specific name refers
to the purple column.
M. preestans.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovoid, compressed, 14—2 inches long, mono-
phyllous. Leaves linear-oblong, 7—9 inches long, emarginate, narrowed
and conduplicate at the base. Peduneles slightly ancipitous, the cauline
sheaths brown, the larger floral bract inflated and green. Sepals and
petals narrowly oblong, acute, tawny yellow dotted with red-brown at
the base, the sepals 2 inches long, the dorsal one strongly keeled at
the back; the petals shorter and nearly parallel with the dorsal sepal ;
lip oblong, three-lobed, the side lobes small, rounded, erect, densely
spotted with vinous red; the intermediate lobe ovate-oblong, reflexed,
brownish yellow with numerous reddish warts; plate of disk grooved,
whitish. Column semi-terete, yellow dotted with red.
Maxillaria prestans, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. XXIII. (1885), p. 566. M. Kimballiana,
Hort.
A handsome species first sent to Messrs. Low and Co., of Clapton,
in 1883—84 from Guatemala by Mr. F. C. Lehmann, now German
Consul in the States of Colombia. Its precise habitat has not been
divulged.
M. punctata.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, about an inch long, monophyllous. Leaves linear-
lanceolate, acute, 7—10 inches long, narrowed and conduplicate at the
base. Scapes pale green, 3—4 inches long. Flowers about 24 inches
* Not seen by us,
160 MAXILLARIA
across the lateral sepals, light yellow, paler at the back with here and
there a sanguineous spot; sepals linear, acute; petals similar but
narrower and more acute; lip obscurely lobed, as long as the column,
reflexed at the apex, yellow with red longitudinal lines. Column
slender, semi-terete, pale yellow, red at the apex.
Maxillaria punctata, Lodd. Bot. Cab, XX. t. 1914 (1833). Gard. Chron. II. s. 3
(1887), p. 787.
A small-flowered but very floriferous species imported from Brazil
some time prior to 1833, in which year it was figured in Loddiges’
Botanical Cabinet. It is in cultivation at Kew and Glasnevin.
M. rufescens.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate, sub-tetragonous, 2 inches long, monophyllous.
Leaves ligulate-oblong, acute, 6—8 inches long. Peduncles ascending,
1—2 inches long, purplish with a dark red-brown sheathing bract at
the base and a similar larger one at the base of the ovary. Sepals
ligulate, sub-acute, reddish brown; petals similar but narrower and
shorter, light yellow; lip three-lobed, yellow spotted with red, the side
lobes roundish, erect; the intermediate lobe oblong, gently reflexed, the
thickened plate between the side lobes buff-yellow. Column triquetral,
reddish brown.
Maxillaria rufescens, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. XXI. sub. t. 1802; and XXJZ. t. 1848
(1836). Saunders’ Ref. Bot. I. pl. 79 and 133. M. fucata, Hort. (not of Rchb.).
Originally imported from Trinidad by Messrs. Low and Co. upwards
of sixty years ago; it also occurs in Cuba where it was collected
by Wright, and in Caracas where it was found by Wagener.* It
flowered for the first time in this country at Chatsworth in 1834.
The species appears to be variable in the size and colour of its
flowers.
M. Sanderiana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed with acute edges, 2 inches long,
monophyllous. Leaves petiolate, narrowly oblong, acute, 7—12 inches
long. Scapes decumbent, sometimes ascending, 5—6 inches long;
bracts ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, 14 inch long. Flowers 5—6 inches
across the lateral sepals; sepals ovate-oblong, apiculate, the lateral two
broader at the base than the dorsal one which is keeled behind,
French-white, the dorsal one spotted with sanguineous red at the base
only, the lateral two heavily blotched and spotted with sanguineous
red to beyond the middle; petals erect, similar to the lateral sepals
and coloured like them but smaller; lip fleshy, ovate, three-lobed,
ivory-white with some deep sanguineous stains on the side lobes
* Fide Reichenbach in Saunders’ Refugium Botaniewm, LI. sub, pl. 138,
Maxillaria Sanderiana.
MAXILLARIA. 161
which are rounded and incurved; margin of intermediate lobe revolute
and crisped; plate of disk tongue-shaped. Column trigonal, deep
sanguineous red above, white spotted with red-purple below the stigma.
Maxillaria Sanderiana, Rchb. in Sander’s Reichenbachia, I. t. 25 (no date).
Unquestionably the finest of all known Maxillarias. It was
discovered by Edward Klaboch on the Andes of Ecuador at an
altitude of 4,000 feet and introduced through him by Messrs.
Sander and Co. in 1883 or 1884. It flowered for the first time in
this country in the collection of Baron Schroeder, at The Dell, and
was exhibited by him at the Orchid Conference at South Kensington
in May, 1885.
M. setigera.
Pseudo-bulbs sub-orbicular or roundish ovate, compressed, 1—14 inch
long, monophyllous. Leaves shortly petiolate, elliptic-oblong, sub-acute,
6—10 inches long. Peduncles 3—4 inches long, sheathed by alternate
and distichous, shghtly inflated bracts that are greenish spotted with red.
Flowers fragrant; sepals linear, apiculate, 2—24 inches long, the basal
part milk-white, the remainder light yellow; petals similar but smaller
and bent forwards; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, involute,
white streaked with purple on the inner side; the front lobe oblong
with denticulate margin, reflexed, white with a bright yellow oblong,
hairy disk. Column triquetral, bent, white above, purple below the
stigma.
Maxillaria setigera, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1845, mise. No. 38. _Rehb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 517. M. leptosepala, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4435 (1849). M. callichroma,
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 518.
Introduced from Caracas by Mr. George Barker, of Birmingham,
in whose collection it flowered in 1844. Two years later it was
sent by Purdie from northern Colombia to the Royal Gardens at
Kew where it flowered in 1849, on which occasion it was figured
and described in the Botanical Magazine under the name ot Mazillaria
leptosepala, the name by which it is still best known in gardens,
Sir William Hooker having evidently overlooked Dr. Lindley’s
original description in the Botanical Legister published four years
previously. In its long attenuated sepals and petals it approaches
M. lepidota and M. longisepala, but in every other character it is
quite distinct. The specific name setigera, ‘bristle bearing,” refers
to the bristle-like points of the sepals and petals. .
M. tenuifolia.
Rhizome ascending, sheathed by pale brown imbricating _ scales,
M
162 MAXILLARIA.
Pseudo-bulbs produced from the rhizome at intervals of about an
inch, ovoid, compressed, smooth, about an inch long, monophyllous.
Leaves linear, acuminate, 12—15 inches long, with a sunk median line
on the face, dark green. Peduncles about 2 inches long including the
obscurely six-furrowed ovary. Flowers 14—2 inches across the lateral
sepals ; sepals ovate-lanceolate with revolute margins, dark red speckled
with yellow; petals similar but shorter, erect and parallel with the
column; lip oblong, obtuse, reflexed at the apex, concave and deep
saneuineous red to beyond the middle, the apical area yellow with
leopard-like red-purple spots; plate of disk oblong, pubescent. Column
clavate, pale yellow above, spotted with red in front.
Maxillaria tenuifolia, Lind]. in Bot. Reg. 1837, sub. t. 1986; and 1839, t. 8. Rchb.
in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 832. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. I. s. 3 (1887), p. 702.
sub-var.—Burford Lodge, flowers yellow spotted with red, the spots on
the petals and lip larger and deeper than those on the sepals,
An attractive species with sedge-like foliage and richly-coloured
flowers that was originally discovered by Hartweg in 1837 in the
vicinity of Vera Cruz and sent by him to the Horticultural Society
of London, in whose garden at Chiswick it flowered for the first
time in 1839. It is the most generally cultivated of the scandent
Maxillarias.
M. variabilis.
Rhizome ascending, covered with brown sheathing scales. Pseudo-
bulbs about the size of a filbert, monophyllous. Leaves linear, variable
in length, 2—4 or more inches long. Peduncles (including ovary) about
14 inch long. Flowers an inch across the lateral sepals, variable in
colour, the form recognised as the type deep sanguineous purple; sepals
oblong, apiculate ; petals similar, reflexed at the apex; lip oblong, obtuse,
obscurely lobed, the side margins incurved to beyond the middle,
Column triquetral.
Maxillaria variabilis, Batem. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1986 (1837). Rchb. in Walp.
Ann. VI. p. 536. M. Henchmanni, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3614. M. atropurpurea,
Hort.
sub-var.—/utea, flowers buff-yellow, the lip and column blotched with
deep purple.
A native of Mexico that was in cultivation in several Huropean
gardens in 1837 and perhaps earlier: it appears to have been first
imported by Messrs. Low and Co. through Henchmann. It is one
of the scandent Maxillarias cultivated in the Royal Gardens at
Kew, whence we derived materials for description.
MAXILLARIA. 163
M. venusta.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, much compressed, 2—3 inches long, mono-
phyllous. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 12—15 inches long, narrowed
below into a short foot-stalk, Scapes nodding, 6—12 inches long ; bracts
lanceolate, acute, sheathing, 14 inch long. Flowers 5—6 inches across
the lateral sepals; sepals and petals lanceolate, acuminate, white, the
former spreading, the latter much shorter and nearly parallel with the
column; lip much shorter and more fleshy than the other segments,
the upper surface buff-yellow, the lower one cream-white with a few
red spots, three-lobed; the side lobes roundish oblong; the intermediate
lobe ovate, obtuse, reflexed, downy; plate of disk oblong, nearly flat.
Column clavate, triquetral, whitish.
Maxillaria venusta, Lindl. ex Rchb. in Bonpl. 1854, p. 277. Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 514. Linden’s Pesce. t. 38. Bot. Mag. t. 5296. M. Anatomorum, Rchb. Xen.
Orch. I. p. 188, t. 67. M. Kalbreyeri, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, XXIII. (1885),
p. 239.
Originally discovered by Linden in 1842 on the Cordillera of
Venezuela in the province of Merida, but not introduced till 1851,
when it was re-discovered by Schlim on the eastern Cordillera of
New Granada, near Ocafia, and sent by him to M. Linden’s horti-
cultural establishment at Brussels, where it flowered for the first
time in Hurope in 1854, Mawillaria venusta is well known as one
of the most beautiful of the genus, easily recognised by its long,
acuminate, milk-white sepals and petals.
mee TRIBE ONCIDIE A.
Rhizome very short, usually terminating in mono-diphyllous pseudo-
bulbs with a few distichous leaves or leaf-sheaths under them im the
awils of which the scapes or peduncles arise, but in a few genera
the pseudo-bulbs are wanting. Flowers often showy ; the column not
produced into a foot; the pollinia with a distinct stipes (caudicle).*
* The sub-tribe ONcIDIE® is one of the most extensive and, in a horticultural sense, one of
the most important in the Order. Mr. Bentham has included in it thirty-six genera, all of them
American, which are distributed into five series, chiefly in reference to the characters of the
labellum and its attachment to the column, Of these series the fourth comprises a large
number of species familiar to orchid growers as Odontoglots, Oncids, Miltonias and Brassias.
On account of the horticultural importance of many of the included genera, more space is
devoted in this work to this sub-tribe than to any other,
164 COMPARETTIA.
COMPARETTIA.
Poppig et Endl. Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 42, t. 73 (1835). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III.
p- .
A small genus including four or five species, natives of tropical
America. The chief character that distinguishes Comparettia from
other genera is the slender spur which is a remarkable structure ;
it is not a simple organ but consists of three spurs, two of which
are produced from the labellum~and one from the united base of
the lateral sepals within which the two spurs of the labellum are
hidden and not discoverable till the sepaline spur is cut open. In
all the species it is more or less divergent from the ovary.
The Comparettias are dwarf plants with short stems, leathery
leaves few in number, and lax racemes of handsomely-coloured
flowers. The genus commemorates Andreas Comparetti, Professor of
Botany at Padua and one of the most eminent vegetable physiologists
of his time.
Cultural Note.—A latticed stage placed not more than 18—24 inches
from the glass in the coolest part of the intermediate house is a
suitable position for the Comparettias, and on this the pots or baskets
in which the plants are grown may be placed, but many cultivators
prefer small pans suspended from the roof. Fibrous peat mixed with
a little sphagnum is the best compost for them, and which should be
kept constantly moist, the quantity of moisture being, of course,
regulated according to the season. A light shading on hot bright
days must also be used.
Comparettia coccinea.
Stems fusiform, slightly elongated, 1—2 inches long, di-triphyllous.
Leaves narrowly lanceolate, acute, 2—3 inches long, leathery, purplish
beneath. Scapes nodding, as long again as the leaves, 5—7 flowered ;
bracts small, scale-like. Flowers an inch across vertically ; sepals and
petals ovate, acute, light yellow bordered with orange-red, the lateral
sepals connate and concealed by the lip; lip three-lobed, the basilar
lobes auriculate with two raised lines between them; the intermediate
lobe broad, spreading, sub-quadrate or transversely oblong, deeply
emarginate, bright scarlet; spur slender, longer than the blade, yellowish.
Column whitish, rostellum beaked.
Comparettia coccinea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1838, t. 68. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p. 688. Illus. hort. 1866, pl. 472.
This is probably a rare species, for although introduced more
than half a century ago it is now but seldom seen in the orchid
COMPARETTIA. 165
collections of Europe. It was first imported from Brazil by Messrs.
Loddiges in 1837, but it seems to have been subsequently lost.
About the year 1865 it was re-introduced from the neighbourhood
of Rio de Janeiro by M. Ambroise Verschaffelt, of Ghent, through
his correspondent M. Pinel.
C. falcata.
“Pseudo-bulbs clustered, small, oblong, more or less sheathed with
scales, monophyllous. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 14—2} inches
long. Scapes slender, purplish, 7—9 inches, pendent, loosely racemose
towards the extremity, 4—7 (or more) flowered; bracts distant, small
and scale-like. Flowers about an inch in diameter, purplish red, almost
crimson; dorsal sepal and petals free, concave; lateral sepals connate,
placed immediately under the labellum and _ spurred; lip broadly
obcordate, emarginate with an elevation on the claw, bicalcarate at the
base, the two spurs enclosed by the larger sepaline spur which is
about as long as the blade of the labellum.”— Botanical Magazine.
Comparettia falcata, Poppig et Endl. Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 42 (1835). Bot.
Mag. t. 4980. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 688. Lindenia, IV. t. 163. Williams’
Orch. Alb. VIII. t. 359. C. rosea, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1840, misc. No. 186. Paxt.
Mag. Bot. X.p.1. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, II. t. 6 (1846).
Comparettia falcata, the type species of the genus, was discovered
by Poppig some time prior to 1835 in Ecuador, between Cassapi
and Pampayaco (not found on modern maps). ‘The earliest
notice of it as a horticultural plant occurs in 1840, when a
Comparettia was cultivated by Messrs. Loddiges, who informed Dr.
Lindley that they had imported it from the Spanish Main. This
was named (. rosea by Dr. Lindley and was afterwards figured
under that name in Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, but rightly
reduced to a synonym of C. falcata by Reichenbach in his synopsis
of the genus in Walper’s Annales Botanices. It was next found by
Linden in the Venezuelian province of Merida, and subsequently
imported by him from that region through his relative Louis Schlim.
It has since been gathered in Guatemala, Cuba, Santa Martha,
Ecuador and other places, thus proving the species to be very
widely dispersed.
The region inhabited by Comparettia falcata may be thus briefly
sketched. In latitude it occurs from 2 8. to 16 N., that is, from
Central Ecuador to Guatemala. Its lowest vertical limit in Guatemala
is about 3,200 feet elevation, gradually increasing to 4,000 feet at
the equator, the highest corresponding limits being estimated at 4,500
and 5,700 feet. The climate of this region is rather changeable,
166 COMPARETTTA.
not only with respect to the temperature but also with respect to
the periodical rainfall and the hygrometrie condition of the atmosphere.
The mean temperature of the entire region is about 18° C. (64° F.),
but the difference between the annual maximum mean and the annual
minimum mean of the warmest and coldest month is inconsiderable ;
it is only 1:5°—2° C. (2°—3° F:) in Colombia and Ecuador, but in
Guatemala it is 6°5°—7°5° C. (12°—14° F.). The quantity of moisture
in the atmosphere varies somewhat according to the season, but there
is sufficient ground to conclude that during the wet season it is
probably of uniform proportion over the entire zone.
Comparettia falcata is very particular as to the tree on which it
grows; in Guatemala it is found on oaks and oranges with but few
exceptions; in other places it selects the Guava tree (a species of
Inga). The woods in which it appears are usually of a thinly set
copse-wood character or in park-like savannahs. The plants vary with
locality ; in Guatemala they are small, producing short wiry scapes with
only three to five flowers but intensely coloured; in some parts of
Colombia they are much longer and produce strong panicles of twenty-
five to forty flowers.
Rodriguezias (Burlingtonias), Trichocentrums and Jonopses grow under
much the same conditions as this plant.*
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
C. Macroplectron.
Stems about an inch long, sheathed by rigid scales, usually mono-
phyllous, but sometimes diphyllous, in which case the leaves are unequal.
Leaves linear-lanceolate, acute, 3—5 inches long. Scapes slender, sub-
* F. C. Lehmann in Gard. Chron. XX. (1888), p. 24.
TRICHOCENTRUM. 167
pendulous, 18—24 inches long, dull crimson, racemose, rarely paniculate
along the distal half, 10—-15 flowered. Flowers nearly 2 inches across
vertically ; dorsal sepal oblong, whitish, apiculate, sometimes spotted with
purple, keeled behind; the lateral two connate into a boat-shaped body
at the base of which depends the slender spur nearly two inches long ;
petals similar and equal to the dorsal sepal; lip broadly clawed with
two small triangular auricles at the base from which two slender spurs
extend into the sepaline spur to about half its length; the blade sub-
orbicular, deeply emarginate, the auricles and claw white dotted with
rose-purple, the blade light rose reticulated with purple. Column white.
Comparettia Macroplectron, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, X. (1878), p. 524. Id. XI.
(1879), p. 398; XVIII. (1882), p. 616; and XXIV. (1885), p. 365, icon. xyl.
Williams’ Orch. Alb. IJ. t. 65. The Garden, XXX. (1883), t. 385.
The largest-flowered species yet introduced but less brilliant in
colour than the others; it is also distinguished from them by its
much larger spur. It was originally discovered by Seftor Triana,
a Colombian botanist, and introduced by Messrs. Low and Co. in
1878.
C. speciosa.
Stems very short, sub-cylindric, sheathed with pale membraneous,
acute scales. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 4—6 inches long. Scapes
two—three times as long as the leaves, terminating in a lax 7—10
flowered raceme; bracts small, subulate, acute. Flowers 14 inch across
vertically, bright orange-scarlet; dorsal sepal and petals ovate, acuminate ;
the lateral sepals connate into a boat-like body, very acute at the apex ;
lip shortly clawed with two basal auricles and a sub-quadrate, emarginate
blade ; sepaline spur slender, longer than the stalked ovaries, obscurely
pubescent. Column short with two small green wings; anther white
and beaked.
Comparettia speciosa, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. X. (1878), p. 524. Williams’ Orch.
Alb. V. t. 283.
Discovered on the eastern Cordillera of Hceuador in 1877 by Edward
Klaboch, by whom it was introduced into European gardens. It is
chiefly distinguishable from Comparettia falcata by its larger flowers
of a different colour, and especially by its elongated spur.
TRICHOCENTRUM.
Péppig et Endl. Noy. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 11, t. 115 (1835). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. II.
p. 559.
Trichocentrum is botanically distinguished from Comparettia chiefly
by the following characters :—
The floral spur is simple, that is to say, it is produced from the
168 TRICHOCENTRUM.
labellum only, and is parallel with the ovary (not divergent). The
lip is adnate to the base of the column, not continuous with it.
The inflorescence is much shorter and fewer-flowered.
About a dozen species are known to science, which admit of a
division into two sections according to their habit—one with flat
and horizontal leaves, as Trichocentrum albo-purpureum, T. irvaculatum,
etc.; and the other with equitant, vertical leaves, as J. triquetrum.
The Trichocentra are dispersed over tropical America from Mexico
to Brazil; they are dwarf stemless plants with tufted leathery leaves
that affix themselves to the branches and trunks of trees, some
occurring on the Cordilleras of the Andes growing under conditions |
described in page 166, others along the hot damp valleys of Guiana
and northern Brazil.
The genus was founded by Poppig and Endlicher on Trichocentrum
pulchrum, a species detected by the first-named botanist near
Pampayaco in Peru (Ecuador?), but which has not been introduced
into European gardens. The generic name is derived from Opi rpryos,
“a hair,” and xkéevtpov, “a spur,’ probably in reference to the
slender spur of several of the species, but as Dr. Lindley remarked,
the applicability of the name is not apparent nor is it explained
by the author.*
Cultural Note-—Affixed to blocks of wood or placed in shallow pans
and suspended near the glass is the most suitable arrangement for
all the species of Trichocentrum yet introduced. The temperature
is suggested by the geographical station of the species; for those
inhabiting the Cordilleras of the Andes an intermediate temperature
is sufficient, while those from the hot valleys of Guiana and Brazil
should be placed in the East Indian house.
Trichocentrum albo-purpureum.
Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3—5 inches long, coriaceous,
almost fleshy. Peduncles very short, bi-bracteate, 1—2 flowered. Flowers
14—2 inches in diameter; sepals and petals similar, elliptic-oblong,
obscurely keeled behind, tawny brown with greenish tips, the sepals
acute, the petals obtuse; lip with a short broad claw, sub-quadrate,
two-lobed at the apex; white with a large purple spot on each side
of the crest which consists of four thin keels, in front of which is
a buff-yellow spot; spur slender, cylindric, whitish. Column short,
produced above into two falcate horns.
Trichocentrum albo-purpureum, Rehb. in Gard. Chron, 1866, p. 219, icon. xyl.
Bot. Mag. t. 5688. Williams’ Orch. Alb. IV. t. 204. Lindenia, TL. t. 85.
* Bot. Reg. sub. 1951.
TRICHOCENTRUM. 169
One of the finest species in the genus and that which is most
generally cultivated. It was introduced by M. Linden, it is believed,
from the Rio Negro region in northern Brazil; it flowered for the
first time in this country in the collection of the late Mr. Wilson
Saunders, at Hillfield, Reigate, in 1866. ;
T. fuscum.
Leaves shortly petiolate, oblong, acute, 3—4 inches long. Peduncles
very short, 1—2 flowered. Flowers a little more than an inch across
vertically ; sepals and petals similar, ovate, acute, purplish green; lip
broadly oblong, dilated and two-lobed at the apical end, bilamellate and
prolonged into a slender spur at the base, white with a rose-purple
blotch on each side of the lamelle. Column short with two obovate,
denticulate wings.
Trichocentrum fuscum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1951 (1837). Bot. Mag. t. 3969.
Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 545.
Introduced from Mexico in 1835 by Mr. Knight, our predecessor
at the Royal Exotic Nursery, where it flowered in July of the
following year.
T. maculatum.
_ Leaves linear or lanceolate-oblong, acute, 2—3 inches long. Peduncles
as long as the leaves, 1—2 flowered. Flowers 1} inch across vertically ;
sepals and petals broadly oval-oblong, obtuse, white with the central area
densely spotted with rose; lip obovate, two-lobed in front, the apical
area coloured like the sepals and petals, the basal area with two
longitudinal shallow keels, bright yellow dotted with red; spur slender,
as long as the pedicel and ovary, pale green. Column wings spreading,
denticulate, yellow spotted with red,
Trichocentrum maculatum, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 24 (1846). Rchb. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 545.
Originally discovered by Linden in 1842 growing on old trees at
an elevation of 4,500 feet on the Sierra Nevada of Santa Martha
in northern Colombia, and subsequently gathered by Schlim and
Wagener near Ocafia, whence it has since been occasionally imported.
It is a handsome species that has appeared within the last few
years at the Royal Horticultural Society’s meetings under various
names which are here purposely suppressed to avoid a burdensome
unauthoritative synonymy.
T. Pfavii.
Leaves ligulate-cuneate, sub-acute, 3—4 inches long. Peduncles shorter
than the leaves, 1—2 flowered. Flowers about 14 inch across vertically ;
170 RODRIGUEZIA.
sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, spathulate, obtuse, white with a
large brown blotch near the base; lip broadly clawed, the claw auriculate
and with two short keels; the blade fan-shaped, two-lobed, dentate, white
with a large red spot at the base; spur conic, very short. Column
wings roundish oblong, spotted with brown at the margin.
Trichocentrum Pfavii, Rehb, in Gard. Chron. XVI. (1881), p. 70. Id. XVII. (1882),
p. 117, icon. xyl.
One of the discoveries, in Central America, of the Swiss orchid
collector Richard Pfau, who has communicated to the horticultural
press some useful notes on the climate of that region and the
conditions under which orchids grow there. Trichocentrum Pfavii
was introduced in 1881 by Messrs. Sander and Co.
R. triquetrum.*
“Leaves vertical, equitant, 6 inches long, } inch wide at the base,
gradually tapering to an acute apex. Peduneles axillary, about an inch
long, with several conduplicate lanceolate-linear acute bracts, about $ inch
long. Pedicel and ovary 1} inch long, triquetrous. Sepals ovate-
lanceolate, acute, pale straw-yellow, the lateral two prolonged behind
and adnate to the spur of the lip; petals sub-orbicular, pale straw-
yellow; lip reniformly orbicular, straw-yellow irregularly variegated and
almost suffused on the disk with orange; base with two converging
keels; spur slender, 14 inch long, tapering to the acute apex. Column
stout, wings small and rounded.”—R. A. Rolfe in Gard. Chron. IX. s. 3
(ES9T) 2p. /OL
Trichocentrum triquetrum, Rolfe in Gard. Chron. loc. cit. Lindenia, VII, t. 311.
A very distinct species and an interesting addition to the genus
recently introduced from Peru by Messrs. Charlesworth, Shuttleworth
and Co., of Heaton, Bradford.
+
RODRIGUEZIA.
Ruiz et Pav. Prod. Fl. Peruv. et Chili, p. 115, t. 25 (1794). Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI.
p- 690 (1863). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 559 (1883).
A well-established genus including about twenty species that are
dispersed over tropical America from southern Brazil to Mexico and
also the West India Islands. The essential characters of Rodriguezia
are seen in the lateral sepals, labellum and column; the lateral
sepals are connate, and in those species formerly included in
Lindley’s Burlingtonia they are joined in a very curious way, some-
times forming a boat-shaped body of singular appearance that is
* Not seen by us,
RODRIGUEZIA. 171
almost concealed by the labellum; the labellum is large and prominent
as in the allied genera Comparettia and Trichocentrum, but the spur
is very short, often reduced to a simple gibbosity projecting between
the bases of the lateral sepals; the column is longer and more
slender than in those genera.
Mr. Bentham followed Reichenbach in uniting Lindley’s Burlingtonia
with Ruiz and Pavon’s Rodriguezia, assigning the following conclusive
reason for doing so :—
“ Rodriguezia was originally confounded by Lindley with Robert
Brown’s Gomeza which has no spur, and when he afterwards separated
the spurred species he unfortunately overlooked the fact that these
were the true Rodriguezias of Ruiz and Pavon, and gave them the
new name of bBurlingtonia.”*
The Rodriguezias are dwarf epiphytes usually with short mono-
phyllous pseudo-bulbs springing from a rhizome that is sometimes much
elongated, and from which in several species is produced a dense
plexus of thread-like white roots that form a conspicuous feature
of the plant.
The genus was dedicated by its founders to Emanuel Rodriguez,
a Spanish physician and botanist of the last century.
Cultural Note.—Being of dwarf habit the Rodriguezias may be grown
in pans or baskets suspended near the glass in an intermediate house.
For those species of which the roots are developed as above described,
most cultivators use sphagnum moss only, placed beneath the pseudo-
bulbs on an ample drainage of broken crocks. A moist atmosphere
‘almost to saturation during the growing season is indispensable.
Rodriguezia Batemanii.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed and furrowed when old, monophyllous.
Leaves oblong-ligulate, acute, 3—4 inches long. Racemes as long as the
leaves, sub-pendulous, few-flowered ; bracts triangular, acute, keeled, almost
as long as the ovaries; dorsal sepal and petals whitish, the former oblong,
acute, arched; the latter broader, obovate-oblong, streaked with rose-
purple; the connate lateral sepals nearly equal to the dorsal one; _ lip
broadly oblong, dilated and emarginate at the apical end, with two
keels extending from the base to beyond the middle, white streaked
with rose-purple; spur conic, very short.
Rodriguezia Batemanii, Pépp. et Endl. Nov. Gen. et Sp. I. t. 70 (1835). Rehb. in
Gard. Chron. 1866, p. 1042. Sanders’ Ref. Bot. JJ. t. 128. Burlingtonia rubescens,
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1927 (1837).
* Journ, Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 326.
172 RODRIGUEZIA.
A very pretty species originally discovered by the German botanist
Poppig in 1830 on the Andes of Peru, near Maynas,* growing on
calabash trees (Crescentia Cujete), and which after his return to
Europe he dedicated to Mr. Bateman, who had paid him a visit at
Leipzig where he had been appointed Professor of Botany. Nothing
more was seen or heard of it till 1866, when it was re-discovered
by Wallis near Moyabamba, it was supposed, and who sent it to
M. Linden’s horticultural establishment at Brussels. It was first
cultivated in England by Bishop Sumner at Farnham Castle, and
Mr. Wilson Saunders at Hillfield, Reigate.
R. candida.
Pseudo-bulbs about the size of a walnut, slightly compressed, mono-
phyllous. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 4—6 inches long. Racemes
as long as the leaves, pendulous, 4—7 flowered. Flowers fragrant, of
semi-transparent texture, 2—3 inches across vertically, white with a
bright yellow longitudinal bar on the lip that is sometimes rayed; the
dorsal sepal obovate-oblong, emarginate; the lateral two much smaller,
connate to two-thirds of their length and embracing the spur of the
lip at their base; petals obovate, obtuse; lip with a channelled claw
and obcordate, emarginate blade, multi-lamellate on the disk, the lateral
lamelle divergent. Column clavate, toothed at the apex.
Rodriguezia candida, Rehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 695 (1863). Benth. Gen. Plant.
III. p. 559. Burlingtonia candida, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. t. 1927 (1837). Id. Paxt.
Fl. Gard. p. 158. Fl. Mag. t. 548. Williams’ Orch. Alb. I. t. 18.
Introduced from Demerara by Mr. Bateman, in whose collection
at Knypersley it flowered for the first time in April, 1835. It was
afterwards detected by the brothers Schomburgk during their
exploration of British Guiana on the sand hills and in the light
forests near the river Demerara growing upon the branches of
shrubs. Ever since its first introduction it has been generally recognised
by amateurs of orchids as one of the most beautiful of Rodriguezias
or Burlingtonias as it is better known in gardens.
R. decora.
Rhizome scandent, slender, jointed at intervals of about an _ inch.
Pseudo-bulbs produced from the rhizome at intervals of 5—9_ inches,
ovoid, compressed, about an inch long with a linear-oblong, acute leaf
springing from the base on one side and a larger apical one about
6 inches long. Scapes from the axils of the basal leaves, slender,
* This name seems to have disappeared from modern maps.
RODRIGUEZIA. 173
erect, 12—15 inches high, terminating in a 10—15 flowered raceme ;
bracts small, membraneous, sheathing. Flowers 14 inch jong; sepals
and petals white spotted with brown, the dorsal sepal elliptic-oblong,
the lateral two narrowly oblong, connate to beyond the middle, all
apiculate ; petals elliptic-oblong, much broader than the sepals; lip with
a broad claw on which are five raised lines, and a sub-orbicular two-
lobed white blade. Column terete, prolonged into two erect, purple,
hairy horns and two smaller and shorter smooth pale ones.
Rodriguezia decora, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 692 (1863). Benth. Gen. Plant.
Ill. p. 559. Burlingtonia decora, Lemaire, Jard. Fleur. II. t. 188 (1851). Van
Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VII. t. 716. Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. III. p. 100, icon.
xyl. Bot. Mag. t. 4834.
var.—picta.
Pseudo-bulbs less compressed; leaves shorter and more acute; sepals
and petals blotched with sanguineous purple.
R. decora picta, Benth. Gen. Plant. III. p. 559. Burlingtonia decora picta, Bot.
Mag. t. 5419.
This species is well distinguished among Rodriguezias by its
scandent habit, its curiously-shaped but very pretty flowers, and
especially by the horn-hke prolongations of the column.* It was
first introduced from the province of Sio Paulo in southern Brazil
by M. de Jonghe through his collector Libon; it flowered for the
first time in Hurope in M. Jacob Makoy’s nursery at Liége in
May, 1851. The variety was received from southern Brazil by
Mr. Bateman in 1863.
R. granadensis.
Leaves lanceolate, acute, 3—4 inches long, in tufts of threes and
fours, the uppermost pair enclosing a small monophyllous pseudo-bulb
about the size of a filbert. Racemes pendulous, longer than the leaves,
5—7 flowered. Flowers an inch in diameter, white with a yellow
blotch on the disk of the lip; dorsal sepal and petals sub-equal, ovate,
acute; lateral sepals much narrower and connate into a boat-shaped
body ; lip clawed, obovate, emarginate. Column narrowly winged.
Rodriguezia granadensis, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 695 (1863). Burlingtonia
granadensis, Lindl. Orch. Lind. p. 24 (1846).
Discovered by Linden in 1842 near Pamplona on the eastern
Cordillera of New Granada, but not introduced till many years
afterwards. It was detected by one of our own collectors in 1887
near Mantanza growing on the small twigs of shrubs and low trees
* Very near Rodriguezia decora and quite agreeing with it in its scandent habit is R.
rigida, tigured in Lindley’s Sertwm Orchidaceum, t. 36, and Paxton’s Magazine of Botany,
VIII. p. 193. It was cultivated by Messrs, Loddiges more than half a century ago, but
we find no mention of it since,
174 RODRIGUEZIA.
overhanging the river Surito, a confluent of the Magdalena. It is a
pretty dwarf species well worthy of cultivation.*
R. pubescens.
Leaves narrowly ligulate, acute, 5—7, very leathery. Racemes
pendulous, longer than the leaves, 10—15 flowered. Flowers nearly
14 inches in diameter, white with a yellow blotch at the base of the
lip; dorsal sepal oblong-lanceolate, acute; lateral sepals much narrower,
connate and with a small gibbosity at the base; petals obovate-oblong,
obtuse ; lip obovate, two-lobed in front, auricled at the base, the auricles
minute, hastate, erect; the disk with three unequal raised lines. Column
downy ; wings minute.
Rodriguezia pubescens, Rchb. in Bot. Zeit. X. p. 771 (1852). Id. in Walp. Ann.
VI. p. 694. Lindenia, VII. t. 306. Gard. Chron. XI. s. 3 (1892), p. 426, icon.
xyl. R. Lindenii, Coigniaux in Linden’s Journ. des Orch. III. pp. 10, 12, fig. 1.
Burlingtonia pubescens, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. p. 158 (1850—51),
The following, by Dr. Lindley in Paxton’s Flower Garden, loc. cit.,
is the earliest notice we find of this species :—
“This beautiful Rodriguezia was exhibited at a meeting of the
Horticultural Society some years ago when it received a silver medal.
It had been sent to Mr. John Knowles, of Manchester, from Pernambuco,
where it appears to be very rare. It is not now, however, introduced
for the first time, for we have in our possession a dried specimen
communicated by the late Mr. George Loddiges in 1846, at which time
we named it pubescens in allusion to the down on the column which
is not found in the other drooping, white-flowered species.”
Quite recently Rodriguezia pubescens has been re-introduced by
L’ Horticulture Internationale of Brussels, and by Messrs. Sander and Co.
of St. Albans. It is one of the most chaste and attractive species
of the genus.
R. secunda.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, compressed, 14—2 inches long, mono-
diphyllous. Leaves linear-lanceolate or linear-oblong, acute, 5—9 inches,
long, more or less conduplicate, very leathery. Scapes as long as the
longest leaves, pale green tinged with dull crimson, racemose along
the distal half, nodding or arched, many-flowered. Flowers distichous
and secund (all turned in one direction whence the specific name),
on pale rose-pink pedicels sheathed at the base by a small lanceolate,
acute bract; sepals and petals of a uniform rose-pink, the upper sepal
oval-oblong, concave on the inner side; the lateral sepals connate into
a boat-shaped body, gibbous at the base, attenuated at the apex ;
* Very near Rodriguezia granadensis, if not a variety of it, is &. Caloplectron (Rchb.),
figured in the Gartenjlora of 1892, t. 1372.
RODRIGUEZIA. 175
petals similar to the upper sepal but broader; lip obovate-oblong,
emarginate with a furrowed callosity at the base, deeper in colour
than the other segments. Column terete, short, white.
Rodriguezia secunda, H. B. K. Noy. Gen. et Sp. I. p. 367, t. 92 (1815). Bot.
Reg. t. 930 (1825). Bot. Mag. t. 3524 (1836). Williams’ Orch, Alb. VIII. t. 351.
R. lanceolata, Lodd. Bot, Cab. t. 676 (not of Ruiz. et Pav.).
Comparatively few orchids have been longer known in British
gardens or were more generally cultivated during the second quarter
of the present century than Rodriguezia secunda, but like others
that were popular during that period, it has receded before the
more showy kinds since imported from the same region over which it
is spread, although it is still met with m many collections. It was
originally introduced from Trinidad about the year 1818, but it had been
discovered many years previously by Humboldt and Bonpland in the
neighbourhood of Carthagena in northern Colombia growing on the
trunks of Crescentia Oujete (The Calabash Tree). It was afterwards
brought from Demerara by Capt. Bispham, of the Liverpool merchant
service, and cultivated by Mr. Parker of that city. The brothers
Schomburgk during their exploration of British Guiana, 1840—44,
found it generally dispersed over the whole country; they also noted
a variety with darker flowers growing on the banks of the Demerara
river and which they called sanguinea.* It is also very common
around Para in Brazil, the Mango trees being full of it, and it is
almost the only orchid found within the city itself.t The geographical
range of Rodriquezia secunda is thence a very extensive one. It is
variable in habit and colour, the latter ranging from sanguineous
red to pale rose.
R. venusta.
Rhizome elongated. Leaves linear-ligulate, acute, conduplicate at the
base, obliquely emarginate, 6—9 or more inches long, produced in tufts
of threes and fours, between the upper pair of which the small oblong,
monophyllous pseudo-bulb is seated. Racemes pendulous, 5—9 flowered.
Flowers 14 inch long, pure white with an oblong yellow blotch on the
lip and very fragrant; upper sepal broadly ovate, acute, concave and
bent forwards; lateral sepals narrowly oblong, connate into a_boat-like
organ, very acute at the apex and enclosing the spur of the lip; lip
clawed, broadly obovate, with a deep sinus in the apical margin, in
* Reisen in Britisch-Guiana, III. p. 312,
+ E. S, Rand in lit,
176 RODRIGUEZIA.
which is a small triangular lobule; the disk with two wavy keels
that are orange-red along the edge. Column with a horn-like auricle
on each side of the stigma and two small purple teeth above them.
Rodriguezia venusta, Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 194. Burlingtonia venusta,
Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1927 (1837). Id. Sert. Orch. t. 2. Illus. hort. 1858,
t. 188. B. fragrans, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1927. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIII.
t. 363.
This beautiful species was discovered in the early part of the
present century by the French traveller and naturalist, Descourtilz,
growing on the topmost branches of Cedrela trees, near Bananal,
in the Brazilian province of Minas Geraes. The drawings which he
subsequently published led Dr. Lindley to conclude that he had
detected two species of Rodriguezia, one with drooping the other
Rodriguezia venusta.
with erect racemes, to which therefore that excellent orchidologist
gave separate names with a brief diagnosis of each in the Botanical
Register, sub. t. 1927, published in 1837, distinguishing that with
pendulous racemes as venusta, and that with erect racemes as
fragrans. Nothing, however, appears to have occurred since to verify
this conclusion; no tangible difference is observable in the plants
cultivated under the names of Rodriquezia fragrans and fF. venusta.
The date of the first introduction of Rodriyuezia venusta is uncertain.
In 1856 it was sent to M. Ambroise Verschaffelt’s horticultural
establishment at Ghent by his Brazilian correspondent M. Pinel; and
this is the earliest authentic date we find respecting it, but it was
then known to have been in cultivation many years previously.
TRICHOPILIA. 177
TRICHOPILIA.
Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot. ed. II. p. 446, and Bot. Reg. sub. t. 1863 (1836). Rchb. Xen. Orch.
II. p. 98 (1865). Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. IIT. p. 559.
Trichopilia includes about fifteen species; two of them, 7. laxa
and 1. fragrans, were constituted a separate genus by Lindley under
the name of Pilumna,* but as they possess no definable characters
by which they may be technically distinguished from the older
genus Trichopilia, they were referred to it both by Reichenbach and
by Bentham. Reichenbach also added Helcia sanguinolenta,} an
orchid discovered by Hartweg on the NHcuadorean Andes, and to
which Lindley had given separate generic rank in the erroneous
belief, derived from an examination of the dried specimen of the
discoverer and therefore perfectly excusable, that the column and lip
were attached in a manner different from Trichopilia which is not
the case. Mr. Bentham followed Reichenbach in including Lindley’s
Helcia in Trichopilia, and he also referred another so-called monotypic
form to the same genus, Reichenbach’s Oliveriana,t detected by
Wallis near Medellin in New Granada, not known in cultivation, but
which appears to possess all the essential characters of Trichopilia.
The genus as now circumscribed is well distinguished by the
following floral characters :-—
The sepals and petals are nearly equal and_ similar, narrow in
proportion to their length and in a few species, spirally twisted.
The Up is large, more or less funnel-shaped (obscurely so in
Trichopilia sanguinolenta and T. hymenantha), and projecting forwards
mostly at a right angle to the other segments; the short wngius or
claw and the small basal lobes are adnate to the column.
The column terminates in a curious hood-like appendage that is
more or less toothed (ciliate-dentate) but sometimes lobed.
In their vegetation the Trichopilias are dwarf plants with an
inconspicuous rhizome, so that the pseudo-bulbs are usually more or
less crowded.
The pseudo-bulbs are often elongated and nearly flat; they are
always monophyllous. The leaves are but a few inches long, leathery
in texture and dark green. The peduncles are usually penduloys and
few-flowered, rarely erect,
The geographical area over which the species are dispersed is
]
* Bot. Reg. 1844, misc. No. 74. + Xen. Orch. II. p. 106,
+ Linnea, XLI. p. III.
178 TRICHOPILIA.
comparatively speaking, limited. They occur on the Andes of South
America at a moderate elevation, from the equator northwards to
Caracas, and crossing the isthmus they spread through Costa Rica
into southern Mexico. ‘Three or four of the most
admired species have their home on the volcano of
Chiriqui and the not very distant peak of Turialba,
and this is the greatest aggregation of the species
known. ‘The genus was founded by Lindley on the
Mexican species Trichopilia tortilis, the very curious
appendage at the apex of the column suggesting
the generic name which is derived from Opig, rptyoc,
“a hair,’? and miduoy, “a cap.’ This remarkable
structure is shown in the annexed figure of the
column of the type species.
Cultural Note-—The Trichopilias may be grown in pots or in teak
baskets, many cultivators preferring the latter on account of the facility
with which they can be suspended near the glass, where the plants
can receive as much light as possible in the short and dull days of
our changeable climate. A mixture of peat and sphagnum with good
drainage is the best compost for them, and on this the pseudo-bulbs
should be placed, not inserted in it. For the Central American and
Mexican species, a temperature that can be raised to 21° C. (70° F.)
during the growing season is the most suitable. Trichopilia fragrans
and its varieties may be grown in the Odontoglossum house.
Trichopilia coccinea.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly oblong, compressed, 2—3 inches long. Leaves
ligulate, acute, 6—9 inches long. Peduncles deflexed, as long as the
pseudo-bulbs, sheathed at the base by closely imbricating bracts, one-
flowered. Sepals and petals linear-lanceolate, acute, 25 inches long, more
or less twisted, brownish green; lip 3 inches long, four-lobed, the basal
lobes rolled over the column into the form of a wide-mouthed funnel,
white externally, deep carmine-crimson within; the two front lobes nearly
flat, sub-orbicular, rose-carmine striated, paler, sometimes white at the
margin.
Trichopilia coccinea, Lind]. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. IJ. p. 80, pl. 54 (1851—2).
Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 91.
var.—crispa.
Peduncles two-flowered; the sepals and petals sometimes tinted with
dull rose-carmine, the margin of the lip irregularly but somewhat
strongly crisped.
T. coccinea crispa, Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 92 (in part), TT. crispa, Lindl,
in Gard, Chron, 1857, p. 342. T, gloxinivflora, Klotzsch.
TRICHOPILIA. 179
One of the handsomest of the genus and occasionally confused
with Tvrichopilia marginata, from which it differs in its longer,
narrower and more compressed pseudo-bulbs; in its longer and
narrower leaves; in its twisted sepals and petals that are differently
coloured; and in its narrower and curved funnel-shaped lip, the
front lobes of which are not depressed. It was discovered in Central
America by Warscewicz in 1849 and introduced by him into
European gardens shortly afterwards. The variety which differs from
the type only in the characters described above was first cultivated
by Mr. Rucker, of West Hill, Wandsworth; it appears to be more
rare than the typical form.
Trichopilia coccinea, Lindl.; T. crispa, Lindl.; T. gloxiniceflora,
Klotzsch ; T. marginata, Henfrey; and T. lepida, Veitch, represent
a series of forms in which more definite characters are wanting to
differentiate them specifically. In their vegetation there is a greater
divergence than in the structure of their flowers, especially in 7. coccinea
and 7. marginata, as pointed out above; for garden use therefore these
may be conveniently retained as distinct. Adopting Lindley’s suggestion,*
we have reduced 7. ecrispa to a variety of TJ. coccinea, and following
Reichenbach we have made T. gloxinieflora a synonym of the former.t
T. lepida is manifestly a variety of T. marginata with which Warner’s
T. crispa marginata is synonymous. It only remains to be noted that
all these forms have a common origin and have been imported mixed
together,
T. fragrans.
Pseudo-bulbs oblong, much compressed with acute edges, 3—5 inches
long. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, 7—10 inches long,
almost sessile on the apex of the pseudo-bulbs. Peduncles erect or
sub-erect, 2—4 flowered; pedicels (including ovary) 2—3 inches long;
bracts ovate-oblong, sub-acute, sheathing. Flowers very fragrant, pure
white with a circular yellow spot near the base of the lip, the sepals
and petals sometimes with a slight tinge of green; sepals and_ petals
nearly uniform, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 2—24 inches long with
undulated margins; lip clawed, the claw adnate to the base of the
column and then convolute over it; the blade large, expanded, broadly
oblong, obscurely four-lobed. Column terete with two rounded entire
wings in front and with a fimbriated hood at the apex.
* Gard. Chron. 1857, p. 342.
t Xen. Orch. II. p. 102. The late Professor Morren, of Liége, adopted this view in his
synopsis of Trichopilia published in the Belgique horticole of 1874, but unfortunately mixed up
T, marginata with 7’. coccinea,
180 TRICHOPILIA.
Trichopilia fragrans, Rchb. in Hamb. Gartenz. 1859, p. 229. Id. Xen. Orch. II.
p. 100. Jennings’ Orch. t. 38. Saunders’ Ref. Bot. LI. t. 127. T. Backhouseana,
Rehb. in Gard. Chron. V. (1876), p. 816. TT. Lehmanni, Regel’s Gartenfl. 1888,
t. 1276. Pilumna fragrans, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1844, misc. No. 74. Bot. Mag.
t. 5035.*
var.—nobilis.
Pseudo-bulbs shorter and thicker; leaves shorter and broader. Flowers
a little larger with the sepals and petals always pure white, the blade
of the lip a little broader with the yellow spot enlarged.
T. fragrans nobilis, J/lus. hort. 1872, t. 94. TT. fragrans, Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 21.
T. candida, Lindl. Orch. Lind. No. 640. Pilumna nobilis, Rchb. in Linnea, XXII.
p. 843. Williams’ Orch. Alb. II. t. 128.
Trichopilia fragrans.
Trichopilia fragrans was originally discovered by Hartweg about
the year 1841 near Popayan in southern Colombia, and a brief
description of the flower from his herbarium specimen was
published by Lindley in the Botanical Register of 1844. In the
meantime a Trichopilia had been detected on the Sierra Nevada
of Merida in western Venezuela by Linden who named it T. candida,
a name which Lindley adopted in his enumeration of the orchids
discovered by Linden, but Linden’s plant was afterwards referred to
; * Reichenbach in Xen. Orch. II. p. 100, refers this to his Trichopilia Wagenert. There
is, however, but little to distinguish it from 7. fragrans, except the shorter and narrower
anterior lobes of the labellum and the smaller orange-yellow spot at its base. As 7. fragrans
is widely dispersed over the Colombian Andes, 7. Wageneri, as represented in the Botanical
Magazine, appears to be novhing more than a geographical form of it,
TRICHOPILIA. 181
T. fragrans by Reichenbach* and later by André to the T. nobilis
of that author which he rightly reduced to a variety of T. fragrauns
on the occasion of its being figured in the Illustration horticole.t
But so many intermediate forms have appeared in recent importations
that the marks of distinction between T’. fragrans and the variety
nobilis observable in the earliest introduced plants have practically
vanished. The 7. Lehmanni of Regel was gathered by Mr. Lehmann
on the western Cordillera of Colombia; no definite specific character
is discoverable in the figure in the Gartenflora by which it may be
separated from TY. fragrans.
The date of the first introduction of Trichopilia fragrans into
Huropean gardens is uncertain. ‘The plant figured as 7. fragrans
in the Botanical Magazine was cultivated by Lady Dorothy Nevill
at Dangstein in 1857, and this is the earliest mention we find of
its being in cultivation in this country. A few years later it was.
imported from New Granada in considerable quantities by Messrs.
Low and Co., M. Linden, and ourselves.
T. Galeottiana.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly oblong, much compressed with acute edges,
34—D5 inches long. Leaves elliptic-oblong, sub-acuminate, 5—7 or more
inches long, leathery, dark green. Peduncles procumbent, as long as
the pseudo-bulbs, 1—2 flowered. Sepals and petals similar, narrowly
lanceolate, apiculate, obscurely keeled behind, pale turmeric-yellow ; lip
sub-orbicular, cuneate, adnate to the column at the base, then convolute
over it, the blade four-lobed, light yellow with a darker yellow disk
that is sometimes spotted with red. Column terete, greenish, denticulate
at the apex.
Trichopilia Galeottiana, A. Rich. in Ann. Se. Nat. 1845, p. 26. Rchb. Xen.
Orch. Il. p. 103. Id. in Gard. Chron. 1865, p. 770. Morren in Belg. hort. 1874,
p. 96. TT. picta, Lemaire in Jllus. hort. 1859, t. 225. T. Turialvee, Batem. in Bot.
Mag. t. 5550 (not of Rchb.).
Discovered some time prior to 1845 by Galeotti, an Italian
botanical explorer, near 'Teotaleingo in Mexico growing on. oaks at an
elevation of 3,000 feet. It was introduced into European gardens
by M. Ambroise Verschaffelt, of Ghent, in 1859 through his collector
Ghiesbreght who gathered it in the district of Chiapu. A few years
later it became generally distributed among the orchid collections
of this country, and was described by Mr. Bateman in the Botanical
* Walp. Ann. VI. p. 680.
t Vol. XIX. (1872), p. 96.
182 TRICHOPILIA.
Magazine as T. Turialve in the erroneous belief that it was the
species so named by Reichenbach that had been discovered by
Wendland in Central America. It is well distinguished among
Trichopilias by its light yellow flowers.
T. hymenantha.
Pseudo-bulbs none. Leaves in tufts of 4—5, linear, acuminate, 5—10
inches long, fleshy, sub-terete, channelled on the face. Peduncles slender,
pendulous and racemed, 4—6 or more flowered; bracts ovate, acute, as
long as the slender ovaries. Flowers nearly 2 inches in diameter ;
sepals and petals similar and sub-equal, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, light
straw-yellow, but sometimes white ; lip broadly oval, abruptly acuminate,
concave at the base, fringed at the margin, white sparingly spotted with
deep claret-red and covered with crystal dots. Column slender, terete,
hooded at the apex, the hood with denticulate margin.
Trichopilia hymenantha, Rehb. Xen. Orch. I. p. 15, t. 7 (1854); and IIL. p. 98.
Bot. Mag. t. 5949. Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 101.
Very little is recorded of this Trichopilia. It was first discovered
by Schlim in the eastern Cordillera of New Granada near Ocaiia,
and was probably introduced by him. Reichenbach states that it
was in the collection of Consul Schiller at Hamburgh in 1853,
whence he obtained the materials for the description and figures
in the Xenia Orchidacea. We find no further mention of it till it
was figured and described in the Botanical Magazine of 1872, from a
plant that flowered in our houses in the autumn of the preceding year,
Trichopilia hymenantha is readily distinguished among its congeners
by the absence of pseudo-bulbs, by its long narrow fleshy leaves
and by its nearly flat labellum. Notwithstanding the little favour
accorded to it by cultivators, it is one of the most delicate of
Trichopilias in the texture and colour of its flowers.
T. laxa.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, much compressed, 2—3 inches long. Leaves
broadly~ lanceolate-oblong, acute, 8—12 inches long. Peduncles sub-
pendulous, pale green mottled with dull crimson, racemose, 5—9 flowered ;
bracts spathaceous, broadly ovate, obtuse. Flowers about 3 inches in
diameter; sepals and petals similar, linear-lanceolate, pale rose with a
greenish median band; lip white, obcordate, cuneate, obscurely three-
lobed, the basal lobes rolled over the column. Column triquetral, with
a fimbriate hood at the apex.
Trichopilia laxa, Rchb. in Hamb. Gartenz. 1858, p. 229. Id. Xen. Orch. II.
p- 100. Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 101. Pilumna laxa, Lindl. in Bot. Reg.
1844, misc. No. 74; and 1846, t. 57.
TRICHOPILIA. 183
This is one of the least interesting of the Trichopilias in a
horticultural sense on account of the absence of attractive colours
in its flowers. It was originally discovered by Hartweg at the
Same time and in the same locality as Trichopilia fragrans, viz.,
near Popayan in southern Colombia about the year 1841.
T. marginata.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly oblong, 1}—2 inches long. Leaves oblong, sub-
acute, 6 inches long, very leathery. Peduncles short, sheathed by
imbricating bracts, 2—3 flowered. Flowers with a curved pedicel and
ovary, 2 inches long; sepals and petals linear lanceolate, acute,
2+ inches long, reddish crimson with white margins; lip funnel-shaped,
obscurely four-lobed, the front lobes deflexed, rose-carmine, darker and
striated towards the base, white externally. Column white, the apical
hood three-lobed and denticulate.
Trichopilia marginata, Henfrey in Gard. Mag. July, 1851, with fig. Rchb. Xen.
Orch. II. p. 102. TT. coccinea, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 4857. Van Houtte’s Fl. des
Serres, XIV. t. 1490. Warner’s Sel. Orch, I. t. 5 (crispa marginata). De Puydt,
Les Orch. t. 43 (idem).
var.—lepida.
Flowers somewhat larger than the typical form; the white margin of
the sepals and petals broader and interrupted with rose-pink spots ;
the margin of the lip similarly spotted and more crisped than in the
commoner form.
T. marginata lepida, supra. T. lepida, Veitch ex Williams’ Oreh. Alb. V. t. 197.
Fl. Mag. N.s. t. 98.
One of the handsomest species of the genus and one that has been
most generally cultivated since its first introduction. It has been
occasionally confused with Trichopilia coccinea and its variety crispa
from which it is fairly distinguishable by the characters pointed out
under that species. It was discovered by Warscewicz in 1849 on
the volcano of Chiriqui in Central America and introduced by him
into Kuropean gardens shortly afterwards. The variety lepida
appeared amongst an importation of the species by ourselves in
1873 ; it is a very rare form.
T. rostrata.
Pseudo-bulbs narrowly oblong, much compressed, 4—6 inches long.
Leaves linear-oblong acute, as long as the pseudo-bulbs, conduplicate at
the base. Peduncles short, sub-erect, 2—3 flowered ; bracts ovate-oblong,
much shorter than the ovaries, pale green dotted with brown. Sepals and
petals linear-ligulate, acute, 14 inch long, twisted, obscurely keeled behind,
light yellow-green ; lip broadly oblong, emarginate, three-lobed, the side
184 TRICHOPILIA.
lobes rolled over the column into a’ tube but reflexed at their apex, the
intermediate lobe spreading, white with some yellow markings on the
disk and some orange spots and markings within the tube. Column
prolonged at the apex into a fringed hood.
Trichopilia rostrata, Rehb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 798. Saunders’ Ref. Bot. II.
t. 100.
Discovered in New Granada by one of Messrs. Low’s collectors
in 1866 and introduced by that firm a few years afterwards. It
is now but rarely seen.
T. sanguinolenta.
Pseudo-bulbs ovate-oblong, compressed, 1—2 inches long. Leaves
linear-oblong, acute, 4—6 or more inches long, narrowed below into a
short channelled petiole. Peduncles ascending, about 3 inches long,
sheathed at each joint by a brownish acute bract } inch long, one- rarely
two-flowered. Sepals and petals oblong, sub-acute, more than an inch
long, light olive-green barred and spotted with chestnut-brown, the spots
on the petals ocellated; lip oblong, two-lobed at the apex, the lobes
slightly divergent, crisped and denticulate at the margin which is also
incurved, with two erect basal auricles adnate to the column between
which are two short protuberances; the auricles and crest yellow, the
blade white spotted and marked in various ways with red-purple, the
apical area white. Column terete, terminating in a fimbriated hood.
Trichopilia sanguinolenta, Rchb. Xen. Orch. II. p. 106, t. 131 (1865). Morren in
Belg. hort. (1874), p. 102. Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 326. Bot. Mag.
t. 7281. Helcia sanguinolenta, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1845, misc. No. 27. Id. in Paxt.
Fl. Gard. Il. p. 97, icon. xyl. Rekb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 682. Jllus. hort. 1870,
i Olle
For the discovery of this curious and interesting orchid science
and horticulture are indebted to the energy of Theodor Hartweg,
who detected it near Paccho on the Ecuadorean Andes in 1841.
He sent it with other orchids from the same region to the
Horticultural Society of London in whose garden at Chiswick it
flowered two or three years afterwards, but it seems to have been
subsequently lost. It was re-introduced about the year 1869 by
M. Linden through his collector Gustay Wallis. It is best known
in gardens under the name of Helcia sanguinolenta, but it is now
become very rare.
T. suavis.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, much compressed, almost discoid, the largest 34
inches long and 24 inches broad. Leaves elliptic-oblong, acute, the
largest a foot long and 4 inches broad, the smallest less than one-
third as large. Peduncles pendent, 2—5 flowered; bracts small, ovate,
TRICHOPILIA. 185
membraneous, striated. Flowers fragrant and the largest in the genus ;
sepals and petals lanceolate, acuminate, undulate, cream-white sometimes
spotted with pale rose; lip broadly obcordate-cuneate. with crisped and
crenulate margin, obscurely three-lobed, the basal half white, convolute
over the column into the form of a wide-mouthed funnel, the apical
half spreading, more or less spotted and blotched with rose-pink, and
with some orange spots and markings on the disk. Column terete with
a fringed four-lobed hood.
Trichopilia suavis, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. I. pp. 44, 58, t. 11 (1850). Bot. Mag.
t. 4654. Van Houtte’s Fl. des Serres, VIII. t. 761. Warner’s Sel. Orch. III. t. 8.
Rehb. Xen. Orch, II. p. 103. De Puydt, Les Orch. t. 44. Belg. hort. 1874, p. 89
(Lamarchei).
Trichopilia suavis.
sub-var.—alha (Williams’ Orch. Alb. I. t. 14. Lindenia, I. t. 2),
flowers wholly white except the yellow spot on the disk of the
lip which is paler than in the spotted forms.
186 'RICHOPILIA.
The origin of Trichopilia suavis appears to have been but
vaguely known till the late M. Morren of Liége published the
following particulars of its habitat in the Belgique horticole of
1874 :—
“Tt was discovered in 1848 by Warscewicz in Costa Rica, on the
Cordillera, at an altitude of 5,000—8,000 feet. He met with the
finest specimens on the volcano of Chiriqui, at an altitude of 8,000
feet, in a region .where the thermometer ranged from 10°—15° C.
(50°—60° F.). Warscewicz found the plants growing on oaks, and
on Cupania glabra at from 20 to 40 feet above the ground, never
lower down; if the trees to which they affix themselves are thrown
down by any accident or fall from old age, the Trichopilias upon
them languish and die. On Chiriqui at this altitude there is a dry
season lasting from November till April, when there is neither rain nor
dew and the wind is often very violent; but throughout the remainder
of the year both rains and dews are copious and frequent.”
Trichopilia suavis flowered for the first time in this country in
1851 simultaneously in the collections of Mrs. Lawrence at Haling and
Mr. R. 8. Holford at Westonbirt and in the nursery of Messrs.
Loddiges at Hackney.
T. tortilis.
Pseudo-bulbs clustered, ovoid, compressed, pale green, 1}—23 inches
long. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, 5—7 inches long. —Peduncles
procumbent, shorter than the leaves with an appressed sheathing bract
at each joint. Sepals and petals linear-oblong, 2} inches long, spirally
twisted, dull pale rose with a broad margin of light yellow green ;
lip white blotched and spotted with light red-brown, broadly obiong
when spread out, four-lobed, the basal lobes rolled over the column,
the anterior lobes spreading with crisped and undulate margin. Column
terete with a three-lobed fimbriated hood at the apex.
Trichopilia tortilis, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. XXII. t. 1863 (1836). Bot. Mag. t. 3739.
Rechb. Xen. Orch. Il. p. 101. Knowles and Westc. #7. Cab. If. t. 101. Morren in
Belg. hort. 1874, p. 91. Williams’ Orch. Alb. VIIT, t. 349.
Trichopilia tortilis is the species on which the genus was founded
by Dr. Lindley in 1836; it had been introduced the year before by
Mr. Barker, of Birmingham, and shortly afterwards it was sent by
Mr. Parkinson, Her Majesty’s Consul in Mexico, to the Woburn
collection, where it flowered in 1839. Several localities in southern
Mexico are recorded in which it was gathered by Ehrenberg, Galeotti
and other botanical explorers of that region.
COCHLIODA. 187
COCHLIODA.
Lindl. Fol. Orch. 1853. Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 551 (1883).
Lindley founded the genus Cochlioda on a Peruvian species
discovered by Matthews in 1838,* but which he did not publish
till 1853. He had, however, previous to the last named date
described another species that had been discovered by Hartweg as
Odontoglossum roseum,} but which conforms to Matthews’ type in
all its essential characters. When, some years later, Reichenbach
compiled a synopsis of the Orcuipex for Walper’s Annales Botanices
he referred one of the true Cochliodas (C. sanguinea) also Ada
aurantiaca and one or two more species to his own genus Mesospinidium
which he had proposed some time before for a _small-flowered,
paniculate Odontoglossum. ‘To these he subsequently added Lindley’s
Odontoglossum roseum and another Peruvian species here described
as Cochlioda vulcanica; hence it happened that three of the four
species described in the following pages became known in gardens
under genera to which they did not belong.
Cochlioda as defined by Mr. Bentham in the Genera Plantarum
is a very natural genus including about half a dozen species, all
inhabiting the Andes of northern Peru and Ecuador at a considerable
altitude. The essential characters of the genus are seen chiefly in
the labellum which is adnate to the column, in two or three species
almost to its apex, whence the Cochliodas have been likened to an
Epidendrum with the habit of an Odontoglossum, the pollinary
apparatus too being almost like that of the latter genus. The
species are also distinguished by their bright rose or rose-scarlet
flowers which render them very ornamental in contrast with the
white, yellow and brown of the allied genera Odontoglossum and
Oncidium.
Cultural Note-——As the Cochliodas occur on the Andes of South
America at 5,000—10.000 feet elevation they live under the same
or nearly the same climatic conditions as the Odontoglots indigenous
to the same vertical range; their cultural treatment should therefore
be the same as that for Odontoglossum which is fully detailed under
that genus.
Cochlioda Noezliana.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid-oblong, much compressed, 14—2 inches long,
mono diphyllous. Leaves linear-oblong, acute, 4—6 inches long. Peduncles
* Cochlioda densiflora, not in cultivation.
+ In Bentham’s Plant. Hartweg, p. 151 (1844).
188 COCHLIODA.
nodding, or pendulous, nearly as long again as the leaves, racemose,
sometimes paniculate, many-flowered. Flowers about an inch in diameter,
orange-scarlet, the disk of the lip yellow; dorsal sepal and_ petals
oval-oblong, acute, the lateral sepals similar but narrower and_ longer ;
lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes oblong, obtuse, the intermediate lobe
bluntly obcordate ; crest consisting of four short tooth-like plates, bright
yellow. Column triquetral, darker in colour than the other parts of
the flower.
Cochlioda Noezliana, Rolfe in Lindenia, V. t. 266 (1891). Odontoglossum
Noezlianum, Hort. Linden.
A very handsome species introduced in 1891 by Messrs. Linden,
I’ Horticulture Internationale of Brussels, from South America through
its discoverer, M. John Noezli. It was also introduced into British
gardens about the same time by Messrs. Charlesworth, Shuttleworth
and Co., who inform us that their plants were collected in northern
Peru, near the locality in which Cochlioda vulcanica is found.
C. rosea.
Pseudo-bulbs broadly ovate, much compressed, about 2 inches long,
diphyllous. Leaves narrowly ligulate, acute, 6—8 inches long. Racemes
as long as the leaves, elegantly curved ; bracts awl-shaped, half as long
as the pedicel and ovary. Flowers scarcely an inch in diameter; sepals
and petals elliptic-oblong, acute, spreading, bright rose-carmine; lip as
long as the petals, three-lobed, the lobes lighter in colour than the petals,
the lateral two rounded, the intermediate longer, narrowly oblong, reflexed ;
crest consisting of four slightly divergent white rounded plates, of which
the middle two are the longest. Column white, three-toothed at the apex.
Cochlioda rosea, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 327 (1881). Odontoglossum
roseum, Lindl. in Benth. Pl. Hartweg, p. 151 (1844). Id. Fol. Orch. Odont. No.
65. Bot. Mag. t. 6084. Batem. Monogr. Odont. t. 22. Rehb. in Walp. Ann.
IV. p. 848. Zllus. hort. XVIII. t. 66. Mesospinidium roseum, Rchb. in Gard.
Chron. 1872, p. 392, sub. M. vuleanicum.
Discovered by Hartweg on the Peruvian Andes near Loxa during
his exploration of the region in 1840 —41 for the Horticultural Society
of London, but not introduced till 1865, when plants were sent to
M. Linden’s horticultural establishment at Ghent by Gustav Wallis.
It was shortly afterwards introduced by Messrs. Backhouse, of York,
into British gardens, in which it is often met with under the name of
Odontoglossum rosewm to which genus it was originally referred by
Lindley.
C. sanguinea.
Pseudo-bulbs oval-oblong, compressed, 14—2 inches long, sometimes
mottled with brown in transverse lines, diphyllous. Leaves linear, acute,
COCHLIODA. 189
7—9 inches long. Peduncles drooping, 15—20 inches long, usually
racemed but sometimes branched near the base; raceme or panicle lax,
many-flowered. Flowers about an inch in diameter when spread out;
sepals and petals oval-oblong, apiculate, rose-pink; the dorsal sepal
concave, the lateral two longer, narrower and connate to beyond the
middle; lip paler in colour than the other segments, clawed, the claw
adnate to the column; the blade reflexed, ovate, acute, at the base of
which are two raised triangular white plates that are adnate to the
column behind. Column short, terete, white.
Cochlioda sanguinea, Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 560 (1883). Mesospi-
nidium sanguineum, Rcehb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 858. Bot. Mag. t. 5627.
The late Professor Jameson, of Quito, originally discovered this
species on the Ecuadorean Andes near that city, and in 1851 it was
gathered by Warscewicz in the same locality. It does not appear to
have been introduced into British gardens till 1866, in the autumn of
which year a plant was exhibited at one of the Royal Horticultural
Society’s meetings by Messrs. Backhouse, of York, who had imported
it from Hcuador.
Although scarcely so bright and so elegant as the other species
here described, it is well worth a place in every collection of cool
orchids.
C. vulcanica.
Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, compressed and ancipitous, 1}—2 inches long,
diphyllous. Leaves linear-ligulate, sub-acute, 4—6 inches long. Peduncles
sub-erect, as long again as the leaves, racemed from below the middle,
10—15 or more flowered; bracts ovate-lanceolate, half as long as the
ovary. Flowers about 14 inch across vertically, bright rose-carmine
except the crest on the lp and the anther which are white; dorsal
sepal and petals narrowly oval-oblong, acute, the lateral sepals longer
and narrower; lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes rotund, the intermediate
lobe obcordate, emarginate, denticulate; crest consisting of four short
ridges. Column terete above.
Cochlioda vulcanica, Benth. et Hook. Gen. Plant. III. p. 560 (1883). Mesospi-
nidium vulcanicum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 393. Bot. Mag. t. 6001.
Lindenia, IV. t. 154.
A very handsome species discovered many years ago by Dr. Spruce,
the German botanist, who explored parts of northern Brazil and
Keuador. He detected it in the last named country on the volcanic
mountain of Tunguragua, at an elevation of 10,000—11,000 feet
growing among the erupted scorie from the crater, a circumstance
which suggested the specific name. It was first introduced into
British gardens about the year 1872.
190
The names in italics are varieties or synonyms; those followed by
INDEX.
INDEX.
supposed hybrids.
ACACALLIS—
cyanea
tricolor
ACINETA—
Barkeri
densa
Humboldtii...
superba
Warscewiezii
AGANISIA—
ceerulea
cyanea
ionoptera
pulchella
tricolor
ANGULOA—
Clowesii
eburnea Acc
grandiflora ...
intermedia x
Ruckeri ae wee me
superba
uniflora
ANSELLIA—
africana... wee 500
confusa eee x0 ace
congoensis ,., vee oot
gigantea...
nilotica she
BATEMANIA—
Burtit 500
Colleyi ae eae ae
grandiflora...
Meleagris
Wallisii
BIFRENARIA—
atropurpurea eae ses ses
aurantiaca .., 05
Hadwenii ... we we
Harrisoniz ,,, Be
inodora cee ti i pee
vitellina ... Nas ; ee
BoLLEA—
celestis
Lalindet
Patinit ae wee
pulvinaris .., one nae 3
PAGE
70
70
130 |
151
131 |
132
131
70
68
68
69
70
BURLINGTONIA—
candida awe cas sf bc
decora ae 500
Sragrans
granadensts,..
pubescens ... we 500 tee
rigida
rubescens
venusta
CocHLIODA—
Noezliana
rosea...
sanguinea ... age wee
vulcanica ... ce wee
CoLax—
jugosus a. oes
CoMPARETTIA—
coccinea... 00 sha cee
faleata Nis see és nod
Macroplectron Oo
rosea... AO “A ac ane
speciosa... 50
CorYANTHES—
Albertine ... aoe ee wae
macrantha ... ies wee aks
maculata ... sae ses ase
CycnocHEsS—
aureum Ses Sis wee es
chlorochilon se Be ae
Egertonianum sb
Loddigesii ... 500
maculatum ...
pentadactylon
versicolor ...
CYMBIDIUM—
Andersonit ...
affine ee 86 CC
albuceflorum a Sea 00
alotfolium ... 500 a66 “we
canaliculatum tes sap
chloranthum see wee we
Dayanum ... sce ces eee
Devonianum aos Ae ues
eburneo-Lowianum xX en was
x are hybrids or
PAGE
172
173
176
173
174
173
171
175
187
188
188
189
67
CyMBIDIUM—
eburneum
elegans
Finlaysonianum
giganteum ...
grandiflorum
Hookerianum
longifolium ..
Lowianum ...
madidum ...
marginatum
Mastersii
Porishti ...
pendulum ,.,
pendulum
scriptwum ss
tigrinum ..
Traceyanum
Wallichit
Winnianum x
CyYPERORCHIS—
elegans
Mastersii ...
CyrTopopIUM—
Andersonii ..,
cardiochilum
punctatum ...
Saintlegerianum
ERIoPsis—
biloba hie
Rutidobulbon
Schomburgkit
EULOPHIA —
guineensis ..,
Mackaiana ...
GALEANDRA—
Batemanii ...
Baueri
cristata
Devoniana ...
nivalis
GRAMMANGIS—
Ellisii
GRAMMATOPHYLLUM—
Ellisii
Fenzlianum...
Measwuresianum
multiflorum
Seegerianum
speciosum ..,
INDEX.
PAGE | HELCIA—
14 sanguinolenta
ne HovuLLeTiA—
Brocklehurstiana ...
lz)
18 chrysantha ‘ah
18 odoratissima
20 picta... wae
19 | HunTLEYyA—
20 candida
157 cerina ‘as
25 imbricata
15 Meleagris
2h KEFERSTEINIA—
st graminea ...
22 | Ka@LLENSTEINIA—
22 donoptera ...
16
94 | LissocHiLus—
giganteus ...
Horsfallii
25 Krebsii
25
LycASTE—
aromatica
37 Barringtonice
37 candida...
38 ciliata ae
38 Cobbiana ...
costata wee
cruenta tee
um Deppei ies
72 fulvescens ...
a1 gigantea...
Harrisonie ...
il hybrida x ...
56 Jugosa ota
lanipes aed
lasioglossa ...
5 Lawrenceand
6 leucantha 4.
7 Linguella ...
7 Macrobulbon
9 macrophylla
plana ies
Schilleriana...
29 Schoenbrunnensis
Skinneri
Smeeana X ...
30 sulphurea x
es tetragona ...
AG xytriophora...
382 | MAXILLARIA—
33 acutipetala ..,
191
PAGE
184
121
123
123
124
47
47
48
60
51
69
192
MAXILLARIA—
Anatomorum
aromatica
atropurpurea
barbata
callichroma...
ciliata
costata
cristata
crocea
cruenta
Deppet
eburnen 3
fucata vy) ay
grandiflora ...
Harrisonic ...
Henchmanna
Houtteana .. wes
Hiibschti ... doc
Jugos4 ies
Kalbreyert ... nee
Kimballiana 500
Lehmanni ... eee
lepidota.., see
leptosepala ...
longisepala ... es
luteo-alba ... cae
Macrobulbon ot
macrophylla ee
marginata ... 00
nigrescens ...
Parkeri ane or
picta... 510
placanthera...
porphyrostele
prestans ... vee
punctata
rufescens
Sanderiana ...
setigera
Skinneri
stapelioides ...
Steelet
tenuifolia
tetragona
Turneri
variabilis
venusta
viridis
vitellina
Warreana .
wanthina ...
MESOSPINIDIUM —
TOSEUM tte one
INDEX,
PAGE | MrsOSPINIDIUM—
163 sanguineum
84 vulcanicum...
Us
“8 | Moorza—
1 Pe irrorata
86
80 MormMopES—
152 Buccinator ...
87 Cartonii
88 Colossus
154 Greenii
152 lentiginosum
154 | luxatum
76 Ocanne
162 pardinum
155
153 | PAPHINIA—
67 cristata
163 grandiflora ...
159 grandis
154 nutans
156 rugosa ace
161
156 | PrscaToREA—
156 cerina
91 Dayant
92 Klabochorum
ills lamellosa ...
157 Lehmanni ...
158
ee PERISTERIA—
Barkeri
159 cerina
ee elata... :
Humboldtii...
ee pendula...
oe PILUMNA—
62 | Sragrans
149 laxa...
161 nobilis 600
95
157 | PoLysTacHya —
162 capensis
163 Lindleyana ...
87 Ottoniana
78 | pubescens
731
64 | PROMENZA—
citrina
stapelioides ...
188 zanthina
PAGE
189
189
125
RODRIGUEZIA—
Batemanii ...
candida
decora wae
fragrans
granadensis
lanceolata
Lindenii
pubescens
secunda
venusta 208
ScHLIMIA—
trifida
Scuricaria—
Hadwenii
Steelei
STANHOPEA—
aurea 560
Bucephalus ...
Devoniensis...
eburnea 300
ecornuta ...
grandiflora ..
graveolens ...
insignis tos
Martiana ..,
oculata
Platyceras ..,
tigrina 360
Wardii
STENIA
fimbriata
TRICHOCENTRUM—
albo-purpureum
fuscum
maculatum ...
Pfavii
triquetrum ...
TRICHOPILIA—
Backhouseana
candida
coccinea
crispa
fragrans
Galeottiana...
gloxinieflora
O
INDEX.
PAGE |
171 |
172
146
148
149
120
111
112
113
113
111
114
115
115
116
117
118
119
145
168
169
169
169
170
179
180
178
178
179
181
178 |
TaRicHoOPILIA—
hymenantha
laxa ..,
Lehmanni
lepida ee
marginata
nobilis are
picta... aes
rostrata
sanguinolenta
suavis
tortilis
Turialve ...
Wageneri ...
W ARSCEWICZELLA—
candidu
cochlearis
discolor
Lindenti
marginata ...
velata ae
Wendlandi...
W ARREA—
eandida ano
cyanea oc
discolor sae
marginata ...
quadrata
tricolor
Wailesiana ..
ZYGocoLAXx—
leopardinus x
Veitchii x
ZYGOPETALUM—
brachypetalum
Burkei
Burtii
ecandidum
cerinum
CUETINUM — sae
Clayi x
cochleare ...
cceleste
crinitum
Dayanum
discolor
jlabelliforme
Cautieri
193
PAGE
182
182
179
183
183
1380
181
183
184
184
186
181
180
56
194
ZY GOPETALUM—
Gibbexiw ws.
gramineum..,
graminifolium
grandiflorum
intermedium
Klabochorum
Lalindei
lamellosum ...
Lehmanni ...
leopardinum
Lindenii_...
Mackayi_...
marginatum
eee
INDEX.
PAGE
_
@
on
wns
or Or Or or
54
|
i
ZYGOPETALUM—
mavxillare
Meleagris...
rostratum ...
Sedenii x
stapelioides...
velatum
Wailesianum
Wendlandi ...
xanthinum ,,,
ZYGOSEPALUM—
rostratum ...
61
63463
V53m
pPt.loO
A MANUAL
ORCHIDACKOUS PLANTS
PART X.
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA,
Poe NOES ov ET Cn &. 5.0 N85
Roya Exotic NURSERY , 544, Kine’s Roap, Cuersga, 8.W.
GENERAL REVIEW
OF THE
ORCHIDEE.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS.
“There is no order of plants,’ writes Dr. Lindley, “the structure
of whose flowers is so anomalous as regards the relation borne by
the parts of reproduction, or so singular in respect to the form of
the floral envelope. Unhke other endogenous plants, the calyx and
corolla are not similar to each other in form, texture and colour
(as in the lily, Crocus, Narcissus, Squill, Amaryllis, ete.) ; neither
have they any similitude to the changes of ontline that are met
with in such irregular flowers as are produced in other families of
the Vegetable Kingdom. On the contrary, by an excessive development
and singular conformation of one of the petals called the labellum or lp,
by irregularities either of form, size, or direction of the other
sepals and petals, by the peculiar adhesion of those parts to each
other, and by the occasional suppression of a portion of them,
flowers are produced so unusual and so grotesque in form that it
is no longer with the Vegetable Kingdom that they can be
compared, but we are forced to seek resemblances in the animal
world.”’*
Besides the well-known instances of mimicry that occur among our
native orchids, as the Bee Orchis, Ophrys apifera; the Fly Orchis,
Ophrys muscifera; the Man Orchis, Aceras anthropophora,; the Frog
Orchis, Habenaria viridis; the Bird’s Nest Orchis, Neottia Nidus-avis,
ete., still more striking and conspicuous examples are afforded by species
of tropical orchids of which the following are figured in’ this work :
* English Cyclopedia, IV., p. 3.
10 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
the Butterfly Orchids, Oncidium Papilio and On. Kramerianum ; the
Dove Plant, Peristeria elata; the Swan Orchid, Cycnoches pentadactylon;
the Lion’s Tongue Orchid, Masdevallia leontoglossa ; the Moth Orchid,
Phalenopsis (several species); and with these may be mentioned on
account of their unusual and strange forms Criyptophoranthus atro
Butterfly Orchid.
Oncidium Kkramerianum.
purpureum, the Window Orchid; Restrepia antennifera, Bulbophyllum
barbigerum, Cirrhopetalum Thouarsi’, Odontoglossum cirrosum, Oneidium
chrysodipterum, Calogyne pandurata, Ornithocephalus — grandiflorus,
Stunhopea Wardii, Coryanthes macrantha, Mormodes Ocanne, Grammangis
Ellisti, and very many others,
1]
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS,
Window Orchid.
Cryptophoranthus atropurpureum.
Dove Plant.
Peristeria elata.
(Masdevallia fenestralis.)
Moth Orchid.
Phalenopsis Sanderiana alba,
12 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
Grammangis Ellisii.
But notwithstanding this apparently endless and_ irreconcileable
variety in form, a general plan of floral structure pervades the
whole family of orchids that clearly distinguishes it from every
other Natural Order cf plants. The floral organs like those of all
endogenous plants are constructed upon a trimerous (tripartite) type,
that is to say—all the parts are in threes or a simple multiple of
three; * but owing to the suppression of some, the confluence of
others, and various other modifications especially of the sexual organs,
the tripartite type, except in the two series of perianth segments,
is greatly disguised, but as will be presently pointed out it is
almost always present. Irregular as the flowers appear on superficial
view, there may always be detected in them a bilateral symmetry,
that is to say—all normally developed orchid flowers may, in one
direction only, be divided in a monosymmetrical manner or into two
equal parts that resemble each other in every particular.t Into
whatever form, amidst the almost infinite variety of changes that
runs through the whole family, an orchid flower has been moulded,
and whatever modification an individual organ may have undergoue,
the following characters are presented to the naked eye throughout
and may be generally recognised without difficulty.
“The anthers only of the theoretical type of orchid flowers are a multiple of three (3 x 2),
but the rudiments of all the six are generally present, as will be shown further on,
+ Zygomorphy of the German botanists.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 13
The flowers are solitary or produced in racemes or im some modifi-
cation of the raceme.
In the raceme and its modifications, the pedicel is usually very short,
the greater part of the length between the base of the footstalk and
the base of the column being taken up by the ovary.
The ovary is from its position inferior; it is more or less twisted*
and one-celled with parietal placentation. But in the South American
Cypripedes (Selenipedia), Apostasia and Neuwiedia, it is trilocular with
axile placentation.
The perianth consists of six segments, of which the three outer ones,
the sepals, are nearly similar and equal, free, or the two lower ones
connate (Cypripedium) or all three coherent (Masdevallia), often less
brightly coloured than the three inner ones, of which two, the petals,
are similar and equal not only to each other but often to the sepals,
while the third inner segment, the labellum, is very dissimilar, usually
much larger and often produced at its base into a spur of variable
length; but of whatever form it may always be reduced to a three-
lobed type.
The stamens and style are consolidated into a gynostemium or central
column, at the apex of which the anther or pollinary apparatus 1s
seated. The peculiar structure of the column will be described under
Homologies and Fertilisation,
The pollen-grains are grouped in innumerable numbers into 2, 4, 6
or 8 granular or waxy masses of pyriform, discoid or sub-globose shape
called pollinia that are stalked in a different manner in the different
tribes and are lodged in a chamber ealled the clinandrium , this
chamber is two-celled, one-celled by absorption of the septum (dividing
wall) or even four-celled by more or Jess perfect secondary septa. The
pollinia are usually accompanied by a strap-shaped appendage to which
the general name of caudicle has been applied, but which for reasons
to be hereafter given can only be retained in a restricted sense.
The greatest apparent deviation from the general arrangement of the
reproductive organs occurs in Cypripedium which is fully described
under that genus. ft
As this work may be used by many who have never given any
attention to Botany and to whom its terminology may to some
extent be unintelligible, it seems to be a convenient course to
illustrate by a few examples the various parts of an orchid flower
in a manner by which the reader will distinguish them at a glance
and be enabled to comprehend with ease the general morphology.
“In many cases the ovary before the expansion of the flower gradually describes an angle
of 180°—that is, it turns half way round, whence the flower is inverted.
+ Cypripedium, page 4. See also Floral Conformation of the genus Cypripedium, by Dr.
Maxwell T. Masters, in Journ. Linn. Soe., vol. XXIL, p. 401.
14 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.
The flowers illustrated have been purposely selected from among
the best known epiphytal species in cultivation. In every case s
“
Yili,
4 ili =
Odontoglossum citrosmum. Dendrobium Farmeri.
Cypripedium concolor.
denotes the sepals, rp the petals, 1 the labellum, con the column,
AN the anther, and sr the stigma.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. if
Masdevallia leontoglossa.
Renanthera coccinea. With sepals united into a tube at their base and
With dissimilar dorsal sepal. extended into long tails where free.
SS
EF 6:5 e° I\
5 all ; NS)
Restrepia antennifera. Saar" e cf as |
Vith thread-like upper sepal and petals and broad Cryptophoranthus Dayanum.
coherent lateral sepals. With sepals cohering at base and apex.
oO
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.
The sepals or outermost series of perianth segments are generally
uniform, but numerous deviations from the equality and similarity of
the three occur. The most usual deviation is seen in the upper or
dorsal sepal, which is often of a different size and shape from the
lateral two as in Renanthera (type species), Restrepia, Cirrhopetalum, and
many Oneids. In Masdevallia the three sepals are united at their
bases into a tube and prolonged into slender tails at the free end.
In Rodriguezia the two lateral sepals form a boat-lke body of very
curious structure. In Cryptophoranthus the two lateral sepals are not
only joined together but they cohere to the upper one both at the
base and apex, so that the flower never opens, and in Comparettia
they are produced at their base into a long spur. In Oncidinm Papilio
and the closely allied On. Kramerianum the two lateral sepals are not
only of very different shape from the upper one but they are more
brightly coloured than the petals, an unusual occurrence in Oneidium.
In Cypripedium the two lateral sepals are always jomed together into a
single blade which, in the Indo-Malayan species, is usually smaller than
the upper one. Other deviations are described under the — several
genera in which they occur.
The equality of the two petals is constant, but great diversity occurs
in the part they take in the general aspect of the flower, of which,
combined with the labellum, they are often the most conspicuous
ornament. But in Masdevallia, Cryptophoranthus, Cirrhopetalum and
other genera they are reduced to small insignificant bodies that in
Masdevallia are often quite concealed within the sepaline tube, while
in Cypripedium Sandertanum, C. caudatum, C. caricinum and others
they are enormously elongated into ribbon-like tails many inches in
length. In the Flifere sub-section of Cclogyne the narrow linear
petals are quite a subordinate feature of the flower, but im many of
the Cyrtochiloid Oncids they are the most conspicuous parts and much
larger than the labellum. The fringed petals of Dendrobium Harvey-
anum are a remarkable exception in that genus, in which these organs
are always entire.
The labellum is by far the most important of the perianth segments
and it is also the most polymorphous; but into whatever form it has
been moulded (and so far as our observations have extended, in no
two genera is it exactly alike and it varies also considerably in every
large genus), its structure is always such as to secure the greatest
efficiency in the part it performs as an aid to the fertilisation of the
flower. Throughout the Synopses of the Genera and Species, a large
number of illustrations of this wonderful organ is given, so that only
some typical forms need here be noted. The labellum is usually
attached to the column by a short claw or wnguis which is sometimes
so delicately hinged on it that the blade vibrates on the slightest
force being imparted to it, for instance, by a breath of air. A
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS.
Ss
-— »
cob
Rodriguezia venusta.
With lower sepals connate into a boat-like body.
/
Masdevallia amabilis. 7
Petals, lip and column concealed within the Cypripedium caricinum,
sepaline tube s. With ribbon-like petals.
/
18 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.
Epidendrum Brassavolie.
With similar sepals and petals.
Oncidium ehrysodipterum,
With crisped petals and small recurved lip.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 19
remarkable ease of fhis oscillatory motion is afforded by the labellum
of Bulbophyllum barbigerum; the blade of the lip is also motile in
Cirrhopetalum, Arachnanthe, ete. In Epidendium the claw is more
Bulbophyllum barbigerum.
With motile labelluim and pedate column.
Epidendrum Pseudepidendrum.
With claw of labellum adnate to the column.
or less adnate to the column; in Odontoglossum it is simply parallel
with it, while in Oncidium and inany other genera it is at right angles
to it.* In Isochilus, Apostasia and a few other genera we find the
*The relative position of the lip and column affords an important character in distinguishing
many of the genera.
20
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.
Complex labellum of Stanhopea Wardii.
1, hypochile ; 2, mesochile ; 3, epichile.
Miltonia vexillaria.
With large flat labellum.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. Bal
labellum in its simplest form and similar to the petals; in Coryanthes
and Stanhopea on the other hand it is of very complex structure. In
many Masdevallias it is concealed within the sepaline tube, and in many
other species both of that and allied genera it is an inconspicuous part
Spurred labellum of Comparettia Macroplectron.
of the flower, while in many Oncids, and especially in Miltonia, as WV.
vexillaria, M. Roezlii and others, it is dilated into a blade as large as, or
larger than all the other segments taken together. In many genera it is
prolonged into a slender spur, which in Angreeum sesquipedale,
Aérides suavissimum.
With ram’s horn-like labellum.
A, Ellisii, A. caudatum and others attains an
inordinate length ;
in other genera the spur is more open
and takes the form of a
funnel, as in Vanda teres, Dendrobium Jormosum, D. longicornu, or
of curved horn-like shape as in Aérides. Other remarkable forms of
bo
bo
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
the Jabellum occur in Saccolabium, in which the basal part is
always hollowed out and extends downwards like a small sac; in
Cypripedium where it appears like a large slipperlike bag and also
in several species of Catasetum. In nearly all the Cattleyas and
Lelias and also in other genera the basal part of the blade of the
labellum is rolled over the column into a tube, while the front part
Funnel-shaped labellum of Vanda teres.
or intermediate lobe is often crisped and fringed in a_ very curious
manner. In Dendrobium Brymerianum, Lelia Dighyana and Epidendrum
(Nanodes) Medusce the blade is conspicuously fimbriated, in the first-named
species very elaborately so, and in these and other genera it is often the
most richly coloured of all the floral segments. On the labellum is
often developed a fleshy excrescence or callus which in some Oncids
Saceate labellum of Saccolabium bellinum,
is of very complex form; in other genera it is reduced to small
tubercles or simple keels or raised lines which, in some species of
Odontoglossum and throughout Coelogyne and Thunia, are beautifully
fringed. In Zygopetalum the crest of the lip is very thick and often
curiously furrowed.
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 23
Dendrobium Brymerianum,
Labellum with branched fimbriation.
Dendrobium Devonianum. Epidendrum xanthinum.
With fimbriated labellum, L, quadripartite labellum with fimbriate lobes,
24. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
Cypripedium Fairieanum,
With helmet-shaped labellum.
Cattleya Bowringiana.
With labellum convolute over the column,
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 25
The column also varies considerably in form, but except in
Cypripedium the deviations from the general type arise chiefly from
the enlargement or diminution of the various parts. In Miltonia the
column is very short and the wings much reduced; in Oncidium it
is also short but much swollen below the stigmatic hollow, and
furnished with an ear-like appendage on each side of it, characters
that chiefly distinguish Oncidium from the allied genera; in
Odontoglossum it is much longer, more slender, and not swollen
Odontoglossum Harryanum.
With fringed crest.
below the stigma as in Oncidium, wingless in most of the Mexican
species, but in others more usually winged, the wings often much
lacerated, and some species as Oduntoglossum cirrosum and Od. odoratum
prolonged into tendrillike cirri. Prolongation of the column at_ its
apex occurs in Odontoglossum citrosmum, many Oncids, and throughout
Trichopilia; and in other genera the appendage takes the form of
a hood, whence the column is said to be hooded or cucullate. In
Rodriguexia decora the apical prolongation takes the form of two
Di
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA,
hairy horns of a bright purple colour, and in Catasetum it is extended
into an acuminate point and produced below the stigma into two
bristle-like appendages that are extremely sensitive. In most species
Hooded column otf Wingless column of Column and lip of
Trichopilia tortilis. Odontoglossum cordatum, Odontoglossum cirrosum.
of Zygopetalum, especially those included in the sections Huntleya
and Bollea, the column is excessively broad and thick, equalling in
breadth the fleshy crest of the labellum; in strong contrast to this
Zygopetalum mavxillare.
With thick column and fleshy grooved crest.
the long slender bent column of the male flowers of Cycroches has
a striking resemblance to a swan’s neck Other parts of the column
are also subject to modification; the anther is often beaked so that
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. oH.
the column appears to terminate in a process that very much resembles
the head and beak of a bird, as in Phalenopsis, Aérides, Peristeria,
etc. Sometimes it is the rostellum or modified stigma that is beaked
or elongated in a remarkable way, as in Ornithocephalus grandiflorus,
Phalenopsis Lowii.
With beaked anther.
and many other instances might be quoted to show the almost endless
change that pervades nearly every organ of an orchid flower. The
column is often concealed by other parts of the flower, by the sepaline
tube in Masdevallia, by the convolute labellum in many Cattleyas
Calanthe Masuca.
A, flower viewed froin above with the anther case removed, showing the eight pollen masses in their proper
position.
B, pollen masses attached to the viscid disk, seen from the under side.
C, flower in same position as in A, but with the disk and pollen masses removed, showing the now divided
rostellum and the empty clinandrium.
p, pollen masses ; ss, the two stigmas; 7, mouth of spur or nectary; /, labellun; d, viscid disk
cl, clinandrium with pollen masses removed.
(From Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids.
and Leelias; also in Phaius, Thunia, Trichopilia, etc. In many genera
the column is more or less produced beyond the point of union with
the ovary into a kind of foot as in Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Aérides,
Phalenopsis, Maxillaria, etc.; it then greatly influences the form and
28
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE#.
aspect of the flower; the lateral sepals are usually adnate to this
prolongation, by which their shape is much modified as in many
Dendrobes, and these with the base of the Jabellum often form a
mentum or chin-like projection very conspicuous in Bifrenaria, and quite
different in structure from the single funnel or spur-like projection of
the labellum alone.
The pollinia-are 2, 4, 6 or 8; when in fours they are sometimes
in two series of two each, and when there are eight they are almost
always in two series of four each, of which those in one series are sometimes
much smaller than those in the other; this is always the case in hybrids
between Cattleya and Lelia. Partial exceptions to the seriate arrangement
D
Ophrys muscifera (Fly Orchis enlarged).
c, anther; 77, rostellum; s, stigma; 7, labellum.
B, one of the two pollinia with caudicle and viscid disk.
(From Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids.)
oecur in Sophronitis violacea, Calanthe Masuca (see Fig.) and a few others.
The presence of six pollinia is a somewhat rare occurrence ; Hexadesmia,
Leptotes and Tetramicra are among the best known instances. When
in pairs, as throughout the Tribe Vannes, the pollinia are sub-globose or
pyriform in shape, but when lying in series as in Cattleya and many
other genera in the Tribe Eprp—nprem they are usually more or less
compressed into a discoid or lenticular shape. In most of our native
orchids as Ophrys, Orchis, Habenaria, etc., as well as in exotic genera
included in the Tribe OpHrypE® as Disa, ete., and also in Calanthe, Eria
and a few other tropical genera belonging to the Epmrnprem, the
pollen masses are prolonged downwards into a tail-like point that is
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 29
firmly attached to a part of the rostellum (the modified stigma) called
by Darwin the viscid disk; this prolongation is now recognised as the
true caudicle of the pollinia.* In Cattleya and in some allied genera the
pollinia are furnished with a ribbon-like tail formed of a bundle of
light elastic threads, and like the pollen masses themselves is included
in the anther cell (clinandrium), but is distinct from them. This part
of the pollinary apparatus varies in size and form in the different
genera, being sometimes so much reduced as to make its presence
difficult to ascertain, while there are instances where it exceeds in
bulk the pollinia themselves. For this
organ, which is quite distinct from the
true caudicle of the OpnHrypEm, Mr.
Bentham proposed the name appendicula.
Different both in origin and substance
from the caudicle of the OpHrybEm and ;
- Pollinia of Cuttleya labiata.
the appendicula of the EpipENpRE® is A, side; B, front view.
the strap-like organ which supports the pollinia of the VaNnprEa, and
connects them with the removable disk or so-called gland of the
vostellum, and is itself connected with the pollinia by elastic extensible
ligaments for which Mr. Darwin has retained the name caudicle. This
straplike appendage is really a double organ, each pollinitum being
provided with its own appendage, but in most of the genera the two
are coherent; in the section Lisrrosracuys of Angrecum and in a few
other species they are distinct. This structure also varies much in
size and shape in the different genera, being very thin and elongated
Pollinia of VANDE.
d, viscid disk ; ped, pedicel (stipes); p, pollen masses.
A, of Odontoglossum grande after partial depression. 8, of Brassia maculata,
c, of Stanhopea saccata after depression, ob, of Sarcanthus teretifolius.
(From Darwin's Fertilisation of Orchids.)
in some of the Phalenopses and Lycastes, much reduced or almost
absent in Mavxillaria and Zygopetalum, short and strong in some of
the true Vandas, thickened in Catasetum, etc. In most of the genera
in which it is more or less elongated, it assumes various shapes and
changes of position after removal from the clinandrium, Darwin called
this organ the pedicel of the rostellum,t but as Bentham afterwards
* See Fig. of Ophrys muscifera, B.
+ Fertilisation of Orchids, p. 181.
30
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE . ORCHIDE:
Capsules of Masdevallia.
1, Veitchiana. 2, maculata, 3, Chimera
y
Capsules of Dendrobiwn.
A, formosum; B, aureum; Cc, Rhodostoma x.
From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
MORPHOLOGY OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 31
pointed out, although this term is an appropriate one it had
already been taken up for a_ totally different organ, and is universally
applied to the footstalk of a flower; he therefore proposed the name
Capsules of Cypripedium.
\, hirsutissimum ; B, Drurii; ©, caudatum.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.)
stipes as being “equally appropriate and without the same inconvenience,
for it is generally used as the support of any organ.” *
There are three stigmas in every orchid flower, although apparently
* Journ. Linn. Soc. XVIII. p. 286. Through inadvertence arising from long usage of the
Lindleyan terminology, the terms applied to the parts of the pollinary apparatus in the text
have not been strictly adhered to in the Synopses of the Genera and Species.
on GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
but one on superficial inspection; this will be explained in the next
section, which is devoted to the homologies of orchid flowers, but
without that assistance the presence of all three is easily detected in
Cypripedium, in which the stigmatic plate is divided into three
equal parts by lines diverging from each other at an angle of 120°;
each of these parts represents a stigma and is capable of performing
the proper functions of that organ. In the other tribes the lower
two of the three are confluent and form the cavity in front of the
labellum, in which the pollinia are deposited when the flower is
fertilised. The third or upper one is modified into a remarkable
organ called the rostellum, of which nothing like or analogous to it
exists in the flower of any other family of plants. Like the other
C\a
Capsule of Peristeria pendula,
after dehiscence.
(From the Gardeners’ Chronicle.) (From the Gardeners’ Chrovicle.)
Capsule of Odontoglossum maxillare.
parts of an orchid flower the rostellum presents ‘fa marvellous amount
of diversity of structure in the several tribes,”
The capsule or fruit which contains the seed varies greatly in size
and form, not only in the different genera, but also in the same
genus when it is an extensive one as Dendrobium, Masdevallia and
Odontoglossum. The accompanying illustrations will convey an accurate
idea of the various forms of some of the capsules.
The surprising diversity in the form and aspect of orchid flowers
described in the foregoing pages is still further exemplified in our
native orchids, and especially in many Australian and South African
genera as Caladina, Corysanthes, Dipodium, -Thelymitra, Holothrix,
Satyrium, Pterygodium, etc., etc.
HOMOLOGIES OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 33
HOMOLOGIES OF ORCHID FLOWERS.
The perusal of the foregoing outlines of the morphology of
orchid flowers may seem somewhat tedious to many readers, and in that
case, the following details of their homologies will doubtless seem
not less so, but those who desire to comprehend the marvellous
structure of orchid flowers and the wonderful contrivances that are to
be found in them to secure the end for which they have been
created, will not only find the attention required not excessive, but
also that when the subject is once fairly grasped, the perusal
combined with the examination of fresh specimens will result in
pleasure far exceeding that afforded by a cursory view of the
most gorgeous or most striking of many remarkable productions
in this strange family of plants.
It has already been remarked that notwithstanding the apparently
endless and irreconcileable variety of form into which orchid flowers
have developed, a general plan of floral structure pervades the whole
family; this general plan must have had its foundation in some more
primitive form than is at present known, and from it all the numerous
existing forms are supposed to have been derived. The making out
of the structure of this ancestral form or ideal type as it is some-
times called, has exercised the sagacity of many botanists, but the
merit of clearly unfolding the homologies of orchid flowers and of
interpreting rightly the meaning and functions of the various parts,
especially of those that are only now seen in a_ rudimentary
condition, is mainly due to our own distinguished countrymen
Dr. Robert Brown* and Mr. Charles Darwin.t ‘To the last-named
naturalist we owe the lucid explanation of them in his classical
work on the Fertilisation of Orchids, and from the chapter especially
devoted to the homologies of orchid flowers, the following account
of them has been solely derived. We could have wished to have
given the eminent naturalist’s elucidation of these homologies in
extenso, but as many details are adduced which our space precludes
“ Observations on the Organs and Modes of Fecundation in Orchidew, 1831, one of the
most important papers ever read before the Linnean Society.
+ On the Various Contrivances by which British and Foreign Orchids are fertilised by
insects (John Murray, 1862), a work that should be read and re-read by every amateur of
orchids.
34.
us
in
In
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
from reproducing, we are constrained to give all the salient facts
an abbreviated form without, we trust, obscuring their import.
doing so we wish to express our obligations to Mr. Francis
Darwin and to the publisher Mr. John Murray, for the kind manner
in
which they have allowed us to use the diagram from the
Fertilisation of Orchids, and also other illustrations from the same
work which are duly noted in their respective places.
No group of organic beings, Mr. Darwin observes, can be well
understood till their homologies have been made out, and in no case
is this more applicable than to orchids. The importance of the science
of homology rests on its giving us the key-note of the possible amount
of difference in plan within any group; it allows us to class under
proper heads the most diversified organs; it shows us gradations which
would otherwise have been overlooked; it explains many monstrosities ;
it leads to the detection of obscure and hidden parts or mere vestiges,
and shows us the meaning of rudiments. Thus guided, the naturalist
sees that all homologous points or organs, however much diversified,
are modifications of one and the same ancestral organ; in tracing
existing gradations a clue is gained as far as that is possible, in tracing
the probable course of modifications during a long line of generations.
The mode of investigation pursued in order to make out these
homologies is either by tracing their embryological development when
that is possible; or by the discovery of organs in a_ rudimentary
condition; or by tracing through a long series of beings, a close
gradation from one part to another until the two parts or organs
employed for widely different functions and most unlike each other
can be joined by a succession of short links. Applying these methods
of investigation to orchid flowers and guided by the general structure
of monocotyledonous plants, Dr. Robert Brown first propounded the
hypothesis that an orchid flower properly consists of three sepals,
three petals, six anthers in two circles or whorls of three each, and
of three pistils, one of which is modified into the rostellum. These
fifteen organs are arranged as usual alternately three within three in
five whorls.
The relative position of all these organs is shown in the following
cuagram, with the exception of A2, A3, which should stand _ outside
the crescent representing the labellum, a little nearer the triangle.
The little circles show the position of the spiral vessels (fibro-
vascular bundles); s s, stigmas; sr, stigma modified into the rostellum,
Al, fertile anther of the outer whorl; A2, A3, anthers of the same
whorl; al, a2, rudimentary anthers of the inner whorl (fertile in
Cypripedium) generally forming the clinandrium; a3, third anther of
the same whorl, when present, forming the front of the column.
U
HOMOLOGIES OF ORCHID FLOWERS. 3
e
This view of the theoretical type of an orchid flower was accepted
by Dr. Lindley and adopted by Mr. Darwin after further investigation.
Both Dr. Brown and Mr. Darwin relied chiefly on the course of the
fibro-vascular bundles, spiral vessels as they were then sometimes called
while in a rudimentary state. Mr. Darwin traced these upwards from
the ovary through the parts of the flower; the result of his dissection
is given in the diagram below. The fifteen little circles represent
so many groups of fibro-vascular bundles (spiral vessels) in every case
traced down to the six large ovarium groups; they alternate in five
whorls, and in order to guide the eye, the three central groups running
to the three pistils are connected by a triangle. The explanation of
UPPER SEPAL
UPPER
PETAL
UPFER
PETAL
* LOWER
SEPAL
LOWER
SEPAL
LABELLUM
these fifteen groups given by Mr. Darwin is that an orchid flower consists
of fifteen organs in a much modified and confluent condition; the three
sepals and petals are simple organs, but the labellum and column are
compound; the labellum is formed of one petal and two petaloid stamens
of the outer whorl completely confluent (see infra). The column is
formed of three pistils and generally of four stamens all completely
confluent ; of the three pistils, the two lower ones are coalescent
and the upper one is modified into the rostellum; the six stamens
are in two whorls of three each, of which one alone of the outer
whorl indicated by Al in the diagram is fertile; but in Cypripedium
and
2
Ss
bo
=I
=
S
a
n
A similar transverse section of root of Vanda
tricolor, enlarged 25 diameters
ment of corky tissue at A,
Fig. 21.
74 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.,
Fig. 23. A, transverse, B, longitudinal section of root of Odontoglossum crispum horizontally placed.
1, epidermis ; 2, cortical tissue of thin-walled cells ; 3, endodermis, consisting of a layer of cells with thickened
walls surrounding ; 4, the fundamental tissue of the root; 5, vascular bundles of the axial cylinder, forming
the hard-wood tissue of the root; 6, the pith; 7, bast cells.
FERTILISATION.
One great inducement to the cultivation of epiphytal orchids is
the length of time the flowers of most of the species continue in
perfection after expansion. It is generally known that with some
exceptions to be presently noticed, the cause of this duration is
owing to their never becoming fertilised unless by some external
agency; they thence retain their attractiveness day after day
awaiting the event for which they were created, but which under
the circumstances of their environment rarely takes place unless
artificially effected by the hand of the hybridist, or if, perchance,
a bee attracted by the scent or colour of the flowers, enters the
house in quest of honey, and alighting on the labellum makes _ its
way to the nectary, removes the pollinia from one flower and
deposits them on the stigma of another. ‘The annexed figure repre-
sents a bee caught in our Cattleya house a few years ago, when
a goodly number of plants of Cattleya Mossice
were in bloom and also several plants of
Odontoglossum citrosmum; the pollinia on the
head of the insect are those of the Odonto-
glossum; on the thorax between the wings
are those of the Cattleya.*
* A plant of Cattleya Mossiw in a garden near Halifax is reported in the Gardeners’ Chronicle
of 1855, p. 614, to have borne three capsules whose fertilisation was ascribed to some bees
that were observed flying about in the greenhouse in which the plant was suspended. The
flowers of Cattleya Mossic, as is well known, are delightfully fragrant, and honey is excreted
from the base of the column,
FERTILISATION. “5
To make a slight digression—It may be here stated that the
duration of some orchid flowers is very remarkable; Grammatophyllum
multiflorum retains its flowers with searcely any perceptible change of
colour for nearly one-third of the year; the flowers of some of the
recently introduced Dendrobes with elongated spathulate petals (D.
Stratiotes, D. Strebloceras), to which may be added D. Deare? and a
few other eastern Malaysian species, continue in perfection for upwards
of three months; many Cypripedes persist from six to eight weeks
according to the season of the year, while the leathery flowers of
some Vandas, Cymbidiums, and of other genera last nearly as_ long ;
the wax-like flowers of Aérides and Saccolabium generally retain their
beauty from three to four weeks; and in the cooler atmosphere of
the Odontoglossum house the Odontoglots, Oncids and __ brilliant
Masdevallias lose none of their gorgeous tints for as long a_ period.
The duration of orchid flowers, apart from the absence of any fertilising
agent is, however, influenced by the texture of their perianth segments ;
the delicate sepals and petals of the labiate Cattleyas, Thunia, Sobralia,
Pleione, some of the Phalenopses, etc., succumb to the damp and heat
of their environment sooner than those endowed with firmer texture.
But whether the duration of the flowers be longer or shorter, the
essential cause is the same, and this we now proceed to consider.
The evidence of the incapacity of most orchid flowers for self-
fertilisation afforded by the common observation of their failure to
do so under the artificial circumstances in which they are placed
in this country, is rendered conclusive by an examination of their
structure and of the various contrivances by which their fertilisation
is effected. These contrivances, as Mr. Darwin has most eloquently
and distinctly proved, “are as varied and almost as perfect as many
of the most beautiful adaptations in the animal kingdom,”’* but they
have for their main object not the fertilisation of each flower by
its own, but by the pollen of another flower. The agency by
which this is effected is provided by the Insecr Wortp, and it
has been abundantly demonstrated from direct observation that the
flowers of the greater number of species of our native orchids are
fertilised by the insects visiting them, and the process by which
this is accomplished has been accurately described not only by
Mr. Darwin but also by others who have followed in his footsteps.t
* Fertilisation of Orchids, p. 1.
+ The earliest observer of the fertilisation of orchid flowers by insects was Christopher
Konrad Sprengel. This remarkable man, the son of a clergyman, was born at Brandenburg
in 1750. From 1774 to 1780 he was employed as a teacher in Berlin when he obtained
the appointment of Head Master of the school at Spandau, During his residence at
76 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA.
The elaborate and interesting account which Mr. Darwin has given
of his own observations and of the experiments he made to satisfy
himself of the correctness of those observations and the conclusions
which he drew from them are given in his oft quoted delightful
work on Fertilisation of Orchids. He also proved that the fertilisation
of many epiphytal orchids must depend on a similar agency, and
he has described several interesting experiments which he made with
flowers grown in the glass-houses of this country. Although we
may safely conclude from these experiments and from their failure
to set capsules under cultivation that a vast majority of the
epiphytal orchids, especially those with large and showy flowers, in
order to perpetuate themselves by seed must be fertilised by the
aid of some external agent, it by no means follows that in a wild
state all or even a considerable percentage of them are so fertilised.
Actual observation in their native homes can alone determine the
facts, and this has yet to be undertaken. Almost the only reliable
information at hand has been supplied by Mr. H. O. Forbes, whose
observations were limited to one small locality and to a comparatively
few species. These observations, however, tend to show that a
larger number of orchids are self-fertilismg than was previously
suspected, and of those for which insect aid is necessary a large
proportion of the flowers remain sterile.*
Mr. ¥orbes’ observations were carried on at Kosala, in West Java.
Of the species with large flowers which possessed no visible means of
self-fertilisation, a plant of Cymbidium stapelioides bore but one capsule,
Dendrobium crumenatum had one capsule for every sixty flowers, and
Calanthe veratrifolia also about one to every sixty flowers; Vandas also
had but very few capsules. On the other hand fifteen species are named
that are habitually self-fertilising, including Phaius Blume, a geographical
form of the widely dispersed P. grandifolius. From this very restricted
range of cbservations and connecting with it the number of British
orchids ascertained by Darwin to be self-fertilising, Mr. Forbes was led
to conclude that the flowers of terrestrial orchids are more liable to self-
Spandau he devoted all his spare time to botanical pursuits, watching the wild flowers of
the district at all seasons and in all weathers with unremitting patience and perseverance.
In 1793 he published his curious and valuable work entitled Das entdeckte Geheimniss der
Natur (The discovered Secret of Nature), containing the result of his labours. The little
attention given to this work by men of science and the public generally seems to have
greatly embittered him, for after its publication he abandoned botanical pursuits altogether,
and returned to his former philological studies. He died in 1816.
* Journ. Linn. Soe. XXI. p. 538.
FERTILISATION. Ta
fertilisation than epiphytal ones, and that a large number of the latter
never set capsules; but from such incomplete data it is evident that
no just conclusion can be arrived at.
The number of self-fertilising orchids is, however, considerable, and
additions to the list are frequently being discovered, but the total
number of known cases is still an almost infinitesimal fraction of the
whole number of species contained in the great Orchidean family.
Mr. Darwin mentions ten species in Fertilisation of Orchids, My. Forbes
adds those cited above’ and a few others; the late Mr. Fitzgerald, the
author of the excellent monograph of Australian Orchids, and other
observers have added to the list; and lastly, Mr. H. N. Ridley, in
some notes published in the Journal of the Linnean Society* gives
four others which he had himself examined, including Trichopilia
Jragrans, which although frequently is not constantly self-fertilising.
Mr. Ridley also expresses his belief that among the small. green-flowered
orchids of the tropics many more instances may be found. In the
four species to which his notes are chiefly confined, Mr. Ridley traces
the cause of self-fertilisation, or Cleistogamy as it is technically called, and
proceeds to describe four common methods by which this is effected ;
to these methods we shall again refer.
The epiphytal orchids observed in our houses to be cleistogamic or
self-fertilisng fall under two categories—those that are habitually so,
and those that are not constantly self-fertilising. In the first category
are Chysis aurea, Lindl., probably the first observed instance of cleisto-
gamy among epiphytal orchids; Dendrobium chrysewm, Rolfe, one of
the subjects of Mr. Ridley’s notes; an Australian form of Pha/us
grandifolius, figured in the Botanical Magazine, t. 6032, under the
name of P. Blumet Bernaysii (thus in a measure confirming Mr. Forbes’
observations on the Java form of the same_ species, but we have
never observed the typical P. grandifolius to be cleistogamic); to
these must be added Lelia virens, Lindl., Acanthephippiwm Curtisii,
Rehb., an inferior variety of Dendrobium Brymertanum from Upper
Burmah, and Cypripedium (Selenipedium) Schlimii, Batem.f In the
second category—those observed to be occasionally cleistogamic are D.
cretaceum, Lindl., D. aquewm, Lindl., D. crepidatum, Lindl.; and
among hybrids, Kpidendrum < Obrienianum and Calanthe x Giyas have
set capsules apparently without any external aid. In the case of
Cypripedium Schlimit and Epidendrum x Obrienianum seedlings have
been raised from the capsules so produced, and the resulting progenies
have conformed strictly to the parent plants.t
* Vol. XXIV. p. 389.
+ On the self-fertilisation of this species, see Cypripedium, p. 68.
{ Epidendrum variegatum, occasionally seen in orchid collections, has been observed by Mr.
Hart, Superintendent of the Botanic Garden, Trinidad, to be cleistogamic in a wild state. In
a communication to the Gardeners’ Chronicle (XX VI., 1886, p. 11), he shows how self-fertilisa-
tion is effected in this species,
78 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
Of the known causes that occasion self-fertilisation Mr. Ridley describes
four of the commonest. 1, by the breaking up of the pollen masses
and the falling of the dust either directly upon the stigma or into the
lip, Whence it comes into contact with the stigma. This can happen
only in the case of orchids with pulverulent pollen as in Cypripedium
Schlimii and the terrestrial kinds as Ophrys, Neottia, Thelymitra, etc.
2, by the falling of the pollen masses as a whole from the clinandrium
into the stigma. This happens in the case of Phatus grandifolius
Bernaysii and probably others. 3, by the falling forward of the pollinia
from the clinandrium or anther cap, the caudicle and gland remaining
attached to the column. Our native Bee Orchis, Ophrys apifera, is
a well-known instance of this. 4, by the flooding of the stigma. The
pollen masses remain in the anther cap while the stigma exudes so
great a quantity of stigmatic fluid that it eventually reaches the edge
of the pollinia which immediately emit pollen tubes. This is the case
with Chysis aurea, Lelia virens, Dendrobium aqueum and probably others
mentioned above ; it seems to be the commonest method of self-fertilisation.
We cannot conclude our notes on the self-fertilising of orchids
more appropriately than by quoting Mr. Darwin’s own words.
“Considering how precious the pollen of orchids evidently is and
what care has been bestowed on its organisation and on the accessory
parts; considering that the anther always stands close behind or above
the stigma, self-fertilisation would have been an incomparably safer
process than the transportal of the pollen from flower to flower. It
is an astonishing fact that self-fertilisation should not have been an
habitual occurrence. It apparently demonstrates to us that there must
be something injurious in the process. Nature thus tells us in the
most emphatic manner that she abhors perpetual self-fertilisation.” *
Reverting again to the manifold and wonderful contrivances to be
found in orchid flowers which subserve their fertilisation, we have
in the Synopses of the Genera and Species occasionally noted
peculiar structures which could have been designed for no other
end.t From the many instances so lucidly described by Mr. Darwin
we select one, Dendrobium chrysanthuin, which, as he has pointed
out, is interesting from being apparently contrived to effect its own
fertilisation if an insect should accidentally fail to remove the pollen
masses. By the kindness of the proprietors and _ publishers of
Fertilisation of Orchids we are enabled to reproduce the original figure
of this species showing how this is effected.
* Fertilisation of Orchids, p, 359.
+ Coryanthes macrantha, p. 106; Oncidiwm hians, p. 44; also Stanhopea, Mormodes, etc.
FERTILISATION. 79
“The rostellum has an upper and a small lower surface composed of
membrane ; and between these a thick mass of milky white matter is
included, which can be very easily forced out. This white matter is
less viscid than usual; when exposed to the air, a film forms over
it in less than half a minute, and it soon sets into a waxy or cheesy
substance. Beneath the rostellum the large concave but shallow viscid
stigmatie surface is seated. The produced anterior lip of the anther
(see Fig. A) almost entirely covers the upper surface of the rostellum.
The filament of the anther is of considerable length but is hidden in
the side view A behind the middle of the anther; in Fig. B it is
seen after it has sprung forward; it is elastic and presses the anther
firmly down on the inclined surface of the clinandrium which lies behind
the rostellum. When the flower is expanded the four pollinia united
ae
i ZZ
wo
Dendrobium chrysanthum.
A. Lateral view of flower with the anther in its proper position before the ejection of the pollinia. All
the perianth segments are removed except the labellum which is longitudinally bisected,
B. Outline of column viewed laterally after the anther has ejected the pollinia.
C. Front view of the column showing the empty cells of the anther after it has ejected its pollinia, The
anther is represented hanging too low and covering more of the stigma than it really does,
a, anther; 7, rostellum ; s, stigma ; /, labellum ; , nectary.
into a single mass lie quite loose in the clinandrium and under the
anther case. The labellum embraces the column, leaving a_ tubular
passage in its front; the middle portion is thickened as shown in
Fig. A; the thickened portion extends up as far as the top of the
stigma. The lower part of the labellum is developed into a saucer-like
nectary which secretes honey.
“Tf an insect found its way into one of these flowers, the labellum
which is elastic would yield, and the projecting lip of the anther
would protect the rostellum from being disturbed ; but when the insect
retreats, the lip of the anther will be lifted up and the viscid matter
80
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
of the rostellum will be forced into the anther, gluing the pollen
masses to the insect which will transport it to another flower. If
this action be imitated artificially, by inserting the point of a pencil
for instance, then owing to the inclination of the base of the
clinandrium and to the length and elasticity of the filament, when
the anther is lifted up it is always shot over the rostellum and
remains hanging there, with its lower empty surface suspended over
the summit of the stigma (Fig. C). The filament now stretches across
the space which was originally covered by the anther (see Fig. B). If
after having cut off all the perianth segments, the flower be laid under
the microscope, and the lip of the anther be raised by a needle without
disturbing the rostellum, the anther may be seen to assume, with a
spring, the position represented sideways in Fig. B, and frontways in
Fig. C. By this springing action, the anther scoops the pollen mass
out of the concave clinandrium and pitches it up in the air with exactly
the right force so as to fall down on the middle of the viscid stigma
where it sticks.
“Under nature, however, the action cannot be as thus deseribed, for
the labellum hangs downwards, and to understand what follows the
drawing should be placed in an almost reversed position (nearly upside
down). If an insect failed to remove the pollinia by means of the
viscid matter from the rostellum, the pollinia would first be jerked
downwards on to the protuberant surface of the labellum placed im-
mediately beneath the stigma. But it must be remembered that the
labellum is elastic, and that at the same instant that the insect in
the act of leaving the flower lifted up the lid of the anther and so
caused the pollen masses to be shot out, the labellum would rebound
back and striking the pollen masses would pitch them upwards so as
to hit the sticky stigma.
“This view of the use of the elastic filament, seeing how complicated
the action must be, may appear fanciful; but we have seen so-many
and such curious adaptations that one cannot believe the strong elasticity
of the filament and the thickening of the middle of the labellum to
be useless points of structure. If the action be as above described,
it might be an advantage to the plant that its pollen masses should
not be wasted if they failed to adhere to an insect by means of the
viscid matter from the rostellum.”* This contrivance is not common
to all the species of Dendrobium.
The time that elapses from the pollination of the flower to the
fertilisation of the ovules and thence to the maturing of the seed
capsules varies considerably in the different genera and even in
species belonging to the same genus. It was one of the discoveries
* Fertilisation of Orchids, pp. 172—177. In the text Mr. Darwin uses the words pollinium
and pollen mass as if this species had but one, but it really has four like all other species of
Dendrobium.
FERTILISATION. 81
of Robert Brown that at the time of the expansion of an orchid
flower the ovules are only in a rudimentary state, consisting merely
of minute papille projecting from the pulpy surface of the placenta.*
The application of the pollen to the stigma must have a_ twofold
effect before the seeds can be perfected, first as a stimulant to
induce the maturity of the ovules, secondly to fertilise them by means
of the pollen tubes. It thence frequently happens, at least where
artificial means are employed, that the application of alien pollen,
the pollen of a different species and especially of a species belonging
to a different genus may bring about the first but fail to effect
the second, a circumstance that hybridists would always do well to
bear in mind. Under the artificial circumstances in which tropical
orchids are placed in the glass-houses of this country the period
for both processes extends over several months, which is known to
be much longer than is required in their native countries.
The chief causes of this prolongation is the deficiency of direct
sunlight, especially in the winter when the sky is not only obscured
by clouds often for several days in succession, but with the diminished
altitude of the stn there is a corresponding diminution of intensity
and potentiality in his rays. The capsules neither can nor do attain
the perfection natural to them in their native countries, and it is more
than probable that they yield but a fractional part of the quantity
of good seed.
In the absence of direct observation, the time required by species
of epiphytal orchids to mature their capsules in their native home
can only be approximately surmised from the times ascertained
for the same species cultivated in the glass-houses of Europe. The
earliest recorded observations of these times were made by Dr.
Hildebrandt, in the Botanic Garden at Bonn, during the spring of
1863, and the results of his observations were published in Mohl
and Schlectendal’s Botanische Zeitung, Nos. 44 and 45 of the same
year. From these results we glean the following interesting facts :—
The first species selected was Dendrobium mnobile, on account of its
numerous large flowers supplying favourable subjects for accurate
observation. A large number of these were pollinated in the first
and second weeks in January, and one of them was examined by
making transverse and longitudinal sections of the ovary at intervals
of every two days. Some. flowers were fertilised with their own
pollen, and others with the pollen of a different flower, but no
* Observations on the Organs and Modes of Fecundation, p. 14.
82
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE2.
discernible difference was observed in the result. The unfertilised
flowers of Dendrobium nobile continue in perfection from twenty to
thirty days according to external circumstances; the perianth of the
fertilised flowers began to fade in two days after pollination ;
the upper part of the column began to thicken and gradually to
become hemispherical in shape. Before the expiration of twenty days
numerous pollen tubes began to descend into the ovary and to take
a position alongside the placentas in six strong bundles, one on each
side of the three placentas; the ovary itself thickened and lengthened
from day to day with a corresponding development of the placentas.
After the twentieth day each placenta divided into two ridges, each
of which had produced numerous outgrowths in the form of minute
papilla, but as yet without a trace of a true ovule. At the end of
two months, however, the placentas were covered with numerous ovules
in different stages of development, the pollen tubes still lying fresh
on each side of the placentas; the capsule had attained nearly its full
size, but was still succulent and green. In from four to five weeks
more the ovules were fully developed, and quite filled up the cavity
of the ovary; the embryo-sac and its nucleus were distinctly discernible.
Another ovary examined on April 22nd showed that although the ovules
had considerably lengthened and the embryo-sac and its nucleus were
enlarged, no pollen-tubes had yet made their way through the micropyles
of the ovules. By the 12th of May the formation of the embryo had
began, the ovules had reached the size of the ripe seed and many of
them had divided into two and three cells; only a few decomposed
remains of the pollen-tubes were found. This proved that the period
between pollination of the flower and the fertilisation of the ovary of
Dendrobium nobile is about four months. In another fortnight nearly
all the ovules were furnished with embryos, and the capsules subse-
quently ripened.
Similar investigations carried on simultaneously with those made of the
fructification of Dendrobium nobile showed that in Phaius grandifolius
the period from pollination to the fertilisation of the ovule is about
two months, and in Cypripedium insigne about four months.* And in
the case of some of the hardy terrestrial orchids the remarkable fact
was elicited that their fructification is effected in a very much shorter
time ; thus, the period from pollination to the fertilisation of the ovules
of Listera ovata (Tway-blade), Neottia Nidus-avis, and Orchis pyramidalis
is only eight or nine days, and of Gymnadenia conopsea, Orchis Morio
and O. maculata about a fortnight. The great difference in the periods
of fertilisation between our native species and the epiphytal orchids is
ascribed by Dr. Hildebrandt chiefly to climatic causes.
Dr. Hildebrandt’s investigations were directed chiefly towards the
*The capsule of Cypripedium insigne is uot ripe till several months afterwards.
FERTILISATION. 83
ascertainment of the time that elapsed from the pollination of the
flower to the fertilisation of the ovule, the remaining time necessary
to complete the maturation of the capsule seems to have been regarded
by him as a matter of subordinate interest, important as it is from
a cultural point of view; this epoch is by no means easy to
determine precisely, for although the dehiscence of the capsule may
be selected as the epoch of maturity, experience has long since
shown that under the artificial conditions in which cultivated
plants are placed, the seeds are often in a fit state to germinate
some time before the capsule dehisces. In our houses the
time required for maturing the capsules of the Cattleyas of
the Jabiata race ranges from eleven to thirteen months; for
Lelia purpurata it is about nine months; for Phalenopsis Schilleriana
six months, Cypripedium Spicerianum eleven to twelve months, J.
insigne ten months, Odontoglossum maculatum, Dendrobium aureum,
Anguloa Clowesii, Chysis bractescens and Bifrenaria Harrisonice each
about twelve months, Masdevallias about four months, and Calanthes
of the Vustrrm section from three to four months. These periods
are, however, only approximate; the time required for the ripening
of the capsules is considerably influenced by the state of the weather
and other external circumstances, especially by the amount of direct
sunlight; in the warmer and drier climate of Paris the periods are
somewhat shorter.
With the object of determining more accurately, if possible, the
processes that take place from the pollination of the flower to the
maturation of the capsules, a series of investigations were made in
our houses in 1885-87. The subject selected for this end was the
well-known Cattleya labiata var. Mossie, Lindl., because we could
command a large number of plants for the purpose; and because
also the column and its parts are among the largest to be found
in the Orcuipex, the probability of obtaining useful results would
thence be the greater. These results were formulated in a_ paper
read before the Linnean Society in February, 1888, and from it we
select the most salient points; to enable the reader to obtain a
clear comprehension of these the following structural details are
necessary.
The annexed figure (1) represents a front view of the column and
ovary of Cattleya labiata var, Mossiv a few days after the expansion
84
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
of the flower. From the apex or top of the anther a to the base
of the ovary it is nearly three inches long, although shown
upright in the figure it slightly arches forward from below the
stigma $s to the apex; the part so bent is thence parallel with
the labellum, which is in fact appressed to it and enfolds it
with its side lobes, a circumstance that immensely facilitates
the pollination of the stigma by insect agency. The stigmatic
cavity is separated from the anther by a tongue-shaped rostellum
rR; the stigmatic surface is coated with a thick layer of
transparent viscid matter which holds the pollinia when applied
to it with extraordinary tenacity. The pollinia are four in
number; each pollinia or pollen-mass is a waxy flattened disk
nearly the shape of an artist’s pallet ; the pollinia are attached
to semi-transparent ribbon-like appendicule, which are also
covered with pollen grains. The ovary is cylindric and is
traversed longitudinally by three equidistant sunk lines. Figure 2
represents a longitudinal section of the column and ovary,
twice natural size, in which the position of the pollinia,
rostellum and stigma are shown by the letters Pp, a and s
respectively ; pb is the duct or canal leading from the
stigma to the ovary and down which the pollen tubes
pass; this canal in transverse section has the form of
a W-shaped curve extending through the central part of
the column where it is thickest; it is filled throughout
with conducting tissue of very loose consistency, and
formed of greatly elongated cells overlapping at their
ends. The narrow slit at N is the nectary that penetrates
into the ovary and in which honey is freely secreted ;
ov is the immature ovary; the parts of the ovary are
shown more distinctly in fig. 3 of a transverse section
twelve times enlarged. Each placenta at this early stage
consists of two thickened plates; the papille that ultimately
develop into ovules are placed along the projecting
angles of these plates. The W-shaped duct along which
the pollen tubes pass in their passage from the stigma to
the ovary is shown in fig. 4, a section of the column made
just below the stigma, and like the preceding figure twelve
times enlarged.
On the Ist of June, 1885, forty-five flowers of Cattleya
Mossie were selected for pollination ; these flowers were
divided into three sets of fifteen each, of which one set
was fertilised with their own pollen, a second set with
pollen of different flowers but of the same variety, the
third set with the pollen of flowers of a different species,
Lelia purpurata, the whole of the pollinia being applied
FERTILISATION. 85
in every case. The object of so varying the circumstances was to
ascertain whether the fertilisation of the ovules and subsequent ripening
Fig. 3. Transverse séction of ovary of Fig, 4. Transverse section of column.
Cattleya Mossie. Both twelve times enlarged.
of the seed would be in any way differently influenced or affected
thereby. It may here be stated that in the sequel no essential differences
were observable. Two days after the operation,
the floral segments had already become flaccid
and showed signs of rapidly withering. Under
the usual cultural treatment the flowers of
Cattleya Mossiv retain their freshness — for
upwards of three weeks and even longer in
cloudy weather; hence the effect of pollination
on the floral segments becomes perceptible in
a few hours. The pollinia were found to be
in course of disintegration, forming with the
viscid secretion from the stigma a_ gelatinous
Fig. 5. Groups of pollen granules and tubes.
Enlarged 250 times,
86
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEX.
mass that quite filled up the stigmatic cavity. On examination under
the microscope the pollinia were found to be breaking up into groups,
generally of four granules, from some of which short tubes had already
protruded. Four of these groups as seen under the highest power at
our disposal (that is, magnified 250 times) are shown in Fig. 5.
After a further interval of six days the floral segments had become
quite withered, the epidermis of the column had become dull purple
along the ridge, the tubes emitted from the pollen granules had
increased immensely in numbers, and the foremost could be traced
as far as the base of the column. Fig. 6 represents roughly the state of
affairs at this epoch; the pollen-tubes as observed under a magnifying
power of about 75 diameters are here seen passing downwards in vast
numbers among the elongated cells of the conducting tissues.
The changes that take place in the ovary during the
() first month after the pollination of the flower are shown
in Fig. 7 by transverse sections natural size in three
i different and successive stages of development, A at time
of pollination, B a fortnight later. The change of form
ANY that had taken place in this short interval is very
8 striking; the outline had changed from the circular to
the triangular; the simple sunk lines of the earlier stage
had widened into wedge-shaped clefts, dividing the whole
into three well-marked carpellary lobes; each lobe had
attained an almost triangular form by the enlargement
of the placenta, and by the thickening of the walls of
Fig. 7. the ovary itself; C shows the further development at
the end of the month; the placenta and rudimentary ovules had then
began to show a more definite form although no signs of impregnation
of the latter could be detected. On the day section C was made, the
pollen-tubes were found to have entered the ovary, and were pushing
downwards along the sides of the placentas and among the ovules.
The condition of the rudimentary ovules
themselves at this date is shown in
Fig. 8, which is an enlarged view of
a minute section; they were as the
figure shows grouped in clusters of no
very definite form and outline; each
ovule has the appearance of a_ single
cell, but so minute are they at this
stage that no differentiation of parts
could be made out under the low
microscopic power to which we were
restricted, although a faint reticulation
was observable in some of the most
advanced.
FERTILISATION. 87
At the end of fifty-five days after pollination the pollen-tubes had
penetrated the ovary in countless numbers, and had completely choked
up the canal leading from the stigmatic chamber to it, but no actual
impregnation of the ovules could be detected; the tubes lay alongside
the placentas and among the ovules, and had reached as far as the
bottom of the ovary. Twenty days later the ovules were not only
enlarged but were also undergoing a change in form, and at the end
of three months after pollination it became possible to understand with
tolerable certainty the process by which the impregnation of the ovules
is effected, and to get an idea of the space of time required for its
accomplishment.
Fig. 9.
This will be best seen by reference to Fig. 9. D E and F represent
two-thirds natural size three transverse sections of the ovary, D fifty-five,
E seventy-two, and F ninety days after the pollination of the flower ;
these with the preceding sections form a series showing the development
of the ovary at five different stages after the pollination of the flower.
The development of the rudimentary ovules
are also represented at the corresponding
periods at A B C D and E in the next
figure. This series simply shows the develop-
ment of the rudiment to the perfectly ana-
tropous ovule; it is at this stage that
impregnation takes place.
The pollen-tubes push down into the ovary
in countless numbers, and make their way
along the placentas and among the protuber-
ances of those that bear the groups of ovules
in the manner shown in Fig. 11. The form
of the perfect ovule may be regarded as
nearly cylindric, being slightly contracted at
the apex. The development of the im- eae
pregnated ovule to the mature seed is shown in the annexed series in
Fig. 12, all about 100 times enlarged. F is the perfect ovule, G is an
intermediate form between F and H, H one month older than F, and I
with nucleus 2 one month older than H.
1 to 3 greatly enlarged, 4 to 7 natural size.
6 Seedling, 16 months.
3 Seedling, 6 months.
+ Seedling, 9 months, 7 Seedling, 2 years.
Development of Cypripedium from the seed to two-years old plant.
1 to 3 greatly enlarged, 4 to 7 natural size.
HYBRIDISATION. 91
effected. This hypothesis and the structural evidence afforded by
intermediate forms that have appeared among importations of
geographically combined species have suggested that such forms are
of hybrid origin. Direct proof of the existence of natural hybrids
has now been afforded by identical forms artificially raised from the
same pair of species as those from which the supposed wild hybrids
were derived.
The first hybrid so obtained was from Phalenopsis Aphrodite fertilised
with the pollen ot P. rosea, the resulting progeny was identical with the
P. intermedia of Lindley. This Phalenopsis first appeared as a solitary
plant in a consignment of P. Aphrodite, sent to us by Thomas Lobb
from the Philippine Islands in 1852. On its flowering in the following
year, Lindley suggested that it might be a natural hybrid between that
species and P. rosea;* this hypothesis was verified by Seden’s hybrid
which flowered for the first time in 1886. The shrewdness of Lindley’s
suggestion is greatly enhanced by the fact that at the time it was made
no artificial hybrids were in existence, and wild ones do not appear to
have been previously suspected. The significance of Seden’s hybrid was
two-fold, it was not only the first proof of the existence of wild hybrids
but the first artificially raised hybrid in a genus proverbially difficult
to cultivate.
When the late Professor Reichenbach published a description of a
Masdevallia gathered by our collector Walter Davis on the lofty Andes
of Peru, under the name of M. splendida,t and later a second form
imported with it which he named M. Parlatoreana,t he suggested that
both might be wild hybrids from M. Vettchiana and M. Barleana which
occur together in that region, one being derived from the reverse cross
of the other. An experiment was made in our houses by crossing the
two supposed parent species both ways; progenies were raised from both
crosses which on flowering proved identical with M. splendida and its
variety M. Parlatoreana, for variety it proved to be, intermediate forms
connecting the two occurring in both progenies.
The next proof obtained was a very remarkable one, for it was
an artificially raised hybrid between Odontoglossum Pescatorei and Od.
triumphans, the first hybrid Odontoglossum raised by us, and so far
as we know the first to flower in England. It proved, however, to
be identical with the Od. excellens of Reichenbach, who supposed that
plant to be a natural hybrid between Od. Pescatored and Od. tripudians ;
the hypothesis of the second parent was shown by the artificially raised
hybrid to be false.
“Paxton’s Flower Garden, III. p. 168.
+ Gard. Chron. IX. (1878), p. 493.
Faldey Sl (1879); ps lsd;
92
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
Another interesting hybrid obtained from Dendrobium Wardianum and
D. crassinode flowered in our houses shortly afterwards. It proved to
be identical with the D. melanophthalmum of Reichenbach, who recognised
that plant as a wild hybrid between the same pair of species. And
lastly, a hybrid raised by us from Anguloa Clowesii fertilised with the
pollen of A. Ruckeri flowered contemporaneously with an imported
Anguloa in the collection of Mr. R. H. Measures, of The Woodlands,
Streatham, the two being absolutely identical.
The existence of wild hybrids in five genera has thus been proved
by the raising artificially of identical forms from the same pairs of
species as those from which the supposed wild hybrids have been
derived. Of these five genera, Odontoglossum demands especial notice
on account of the extent in which hybridity is known to prevail among
the species inhabiting the Cordilleras of Colombia and Mexico, and to
a less extent, owing to wider dispersion, among those occurring on the
Andes of Peru. The Columbian species among which hybridity is most
prevalent are Odontoglossum crispum, Od. odoratum, Od. luteo-purpureum,
Od. Lindleyanum, Od. Pescatorei and Od. triumphans, most of them,
particularly the three first-named, remarkably polymorphous, so that even
where no traces of hybridity are discernible each species includes a
multiplicity of forms between the extremes of which a rather wide
difference exists. From these six species and their numerous varieties
have arisen at least five extensive groups of hybrids that may be
distinguished from each other and thus designated: crispo-odoratum,
crispo-Lindleyanum, crispo-luteopurpureum, odorato-luteopurpureum and
triumphante-Pescatorei, including in each group also the reverse cross
which it is perfectly logical to assume has taken place. In these groups
but more especially in the firstnamed and somewhat hypothetically in
the others, we have not only hybrids from crosses between the species
and their varieties both ways, but also from crosses between the species
and the progenies and from the progenies inter se, the result being
a gradation of forms differing so little from each other as to be
“confluent in series,” *
Another group of wild hybrids belonging to the allied genus Oncidium
has originated on the Organ Mountains of Brazil, where several species
commonly known in gardens as the crispum group are aggregated,
and which were at first regarded as species, but which after careful
examination and comparison have been conclusively shown to be hybrids. +
Among these are Oncidium wpectorale, Lindl.; On. Gardnert, Lindl. ;
On. prestans, Rehb. ; On. preetectum, Morven ; and others whose parentage
can be satisfactorily traced.
* Among Mexican Odontoglots several undoubted wild hybrids between Odontoglossum
maculatum and Od. Rossii have been imported with those species, and a few others of which
the last-named and Od. cordatum are the supposed parents,
t+ Orchid Review, vol I. p. 298.
HYBRIDISATION. 93
Undoubted natural hybrids have also appeared among importations of
Lycaste, Cattleya and Lelia, and even hybrids between Cattleya and
Lelia, an admonition by Nature herself against placing too much. stress
upon any single character for separating genera in the ORcHIDE.*
Bigeneric hybrids have been obtained artificially by fertilismg a
species of one genus with the pollen of a species of another. The
first bigeneric hybrid so obtained was raised by Dominy from Phatus
grandifolius fertilised with the pollen of a variety of Calanthe vestita.
Seden obtained a progeny many years afterwards from the first-named
species fertilised with the pollen of another variety of Calanthe vestita,
which on flowering proved to be structurally identical with Dominy’s
hybrid. Phaius grandifolius has also been crossed with Calanthe x Veitchir
by several operators with more fertile results than the previous crosses;
and lastly it has been crossed with Calanthe Masuca, from which a
single plant only was raised. By these crosses a group of Phaio-
calanthes has been brought into existence. Dominy also raised three
distinct hybrids from Hemaria discolor crossed with an Ancectochilus,
a Dossinia and a Macodes; the resulting progenies were called
respectively Ancctochilus Dominii, Goodyera Dominii and G. Veitchii,.
which would be regarded as a very curious nomenclature were it not
that Hemaria discolor has been for many years cultivated under the
name of Goodyera discolor, and both the Dossinia and the Macodes
were, in Dominy’s time, cultivated as Ancectochili. These hybrids
are probably now lost, but the fact of their former existence is
suggestive of a doubt whether the characters relied on to separate
the genera from which they were derived are of sufficient value to
justify the retention of all of them. t
Progenies have also been obtained from Cattleya intermedia, C.
Loddigesii and Lelia elegans, each crossed with Sophronitis grandiflora,
whence has originated a series of Sophrocattleyas. It is worthy of
remark that in these three cases all the species concerned are natives
of a comparatively small geographical area in southern Brazil; but
another bigeneric hybrid in which the Sophronitis participated had
* Thus Lelia elegans supposed to have been derived from Lelia purpurata and Cattleya
guttata, and L. Schilleriana from L. purpurata and C. intermedia, have been imported in
considerable numbers. ZL. amanda and L. porphyritis are rare forms with unequal pollinia
and are doubtless of hybrid origin with a Cattleya and Lilia for parents in each case, and quite
recently two other such natural hybrids (LZ. Gottiana and L. albanensis) have been imported
from Bahia.
+ Ancectochilus, an Indo-Malayan genus of about eight species, is connected with the
Goodyeras of Evrope and North America by a series of genera, all more or less remarkable for
their beautiful foliage. Of these Herpysma, Dossinia, Macodes and Hylophila are monotypic.
94 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE#,
for its second parent Hpidendrum radicans, a native of Guatemala,
several thousands of miles distant from the home of Sophronitis grandiflora.
And lastly, two remarkable progenies have been obtained by crossing
Zygopetalum Mackayi and Z. mawillare each with Colaa jugosus, which
bear the name of Zygocolax. The number of bigeneric hybrids
known to us, omitting Dominy’s three from genera in the tribe
Neortiem, is nine, in the parentage of which seven genera are
concerned counting Cattleya and Lelia as one.
Hybrids between Cattleya and Lelia have been raised by several
operators, and exceed in number those between species of Cattleya
and those between species of Lelia taken together, a fact so significant
as to seriously question the retention of Lelia as a distinct genus except
for certain Mexican species* with a distinct habit of growth, and which
have hitherto resisted all attempts to hybridise them either with Cattleya
or with the Brazilian Leelias.
One undoubted wild generic hybrid has been introduced from
Guatemala, of which Hpidendrum aurantiacum and Cattleya Skinneri
are the parents. ‘This was sent to us many years ago, a single
plant only, by Mr. G. Ure Skinner and which was named Cattleya
guatemalensis; the plant was afterwards lost. Another plant has
recently reappeared in the collection of the Right Hon. Joseph
Chamberlain at Highbury, near Birmingham, and which should bear
the name of MFpicattleya guatemalensis. The Aulizeum Epidendra
come so near Cattleya structurally that the occurrence of a cross
proving fertile between a species of the one and a species of the other
locally associated is not surprising.t To this may with almost equal
confidence be added Cattleya Lindleyana (Hort.), Lelia Lindleyana
(nobis), a curious and extremely rare orchid that has been introduced
from Santa Catherina in southern Brazil. Mr. Rolfe suspects that it
may be a generic hybrid between C. intermedia and Brassavola_ tuber-
culata, both of which grow wild in the province of Santa Catherina.}
The facts we have stated respecting generic hybrids naturally suggest
the question, How will these bigeneric crosses affect the stability of the
genera as at present circumscribed ?§ Glancing over the whole range
* Lelia anceps, L. albida, L. autumnalis, L. furfuracea, L. rubescens, L. superbiens.
+ This hybrid might be adduced in support of Reichenbach’s proposal to merge Cattleya into
Kpidendrum (Xen. Orch. II. p. 26), but one bigeneric hybrid does not combine the two genera
from which it sprung any more than one swallow makes a summer.
+ Gard. Chron. V. s, 3 (1889), p. 437.
$ Hybridisation of Orchids, by H. J. Veitch, in Journ. Royal Hort. Soc. vol. VII. p. 34.
HYBRIDISATION. 95
of hybridising operations and the results obtained from them, we may
safely reply that thus far the stability of the genera (as established by
Bentham) is scarcely affected, for the dozen or so of genera concerned
in the parentage of these hybrids, both wild and artificially raised, falls
far short of the number of those in which experiments have been made
but which quite failed to produce results. Moreover, the progenies
derived from these bigeneric crosses are extremely restricted; in more
than one case a single plant only has been raised. The genera concerned
can thence scarcely be said thus far to be affected by these crosses,
but the systematic place of some of them seems to call for revision—
thus Calanthe placed by Bentham in the sub-tribe Ca@Logyne# next to
Pholidota has a much closer affinity with Phaius, and should be placed
next to it in the sub-tribe Burrrex. Colax merged by Bentham into
Lyeaste should be restored and placed next to Zygopetalum, and
Sophronitis should precede Tetramicra (Leptotes).
A special nomenclature that shall designate, so far as regards the
genera, the origin of these hybrids is manifestly a most convenient
one both for scientific and for garden use. We have therefore
unhesitatingly adopted the course initiated many years ago by Dr.
Maxwell T’. Masters in naming a hybrid raised by Mr. Veitch Senior,
at Exeter, from Lapageria rosea and Philesia buwifolia, Philageria x
Veitchii, that is—by compounding in the most feasible way the names
of the two genera concerned.
The hybrid raised artificially between any two species is not
always exactly intermediate between them so far as can be discerned
by the sum total of morphological or naked-eye characters. There
is often a greater or less divergence towards one parent, especially
in those cases in which a species has shown a very marked potency
to hybridise with other species.
A few instances of such may be easily selected. Among Dendrobes
D. nobile has strongly impressed its general features on every hybrid
in which it has participated in the parentage whether as pollen or
seed parent. Among Cypripedes the influence of C. Spicerianum is as
strongly marked as D. nobile among Dendrobes. C. Sch/imz/ has in like
manner greatly preponderated throughout the large group of hybrids
known as the Sedenii group, of which it is one of the original parents.
Cypripedium Fairieanum has proved a potent agent in hybridisation,
but it has hitherto been used chiefly, if not solely, as the pollen parent.
The characters of C. villosum, C. insigne and C. venustum have also
much preponderated in the flowers of the progenies of which these
species are the pollen parents.
Cattleya labiata and its Colombian varieties have been crossed with
26 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
nearly all the other species of Cattleya and with most of the Brazilian
Lelias, with the almost universal result that the flowers of the progenies
have deviated but little from the /abiata type, but their colours are
often much modified by the other parent.
Many instances can be cited in which the pollen parent has greatly
influenced the characters of the flower, and the seed parent the
vegetative organs of the progeny. On the other hand the opposite
has occurred, so that it is at present impossible to deduce any general
law respecting the relative potency as regards sex of the parents of
those hybrids which diverge from the precise intermediate form.
The reverse cross of any two species does not always produce identical
forms with the first cross, although generally sufficiently near to be
ranked as varieties only. There are, however, some very remarkable
exceptions. Cypripedium x Aphrodite raised by us from C, Lawrence-
anum g and C. niveum gQ is very distinct in form and colour from
C. x Antigoné raised from the reverse cross of the same pair of
species.
When the minute structure of the tissues of hybrids and_ their
parents are examined and compared, we learn from an exceedingly
interesting series of investigations undertaken by Dr. J. M. Macfarlane
in the laboratory of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, that from a
large number of hybrid plants together with their parents so examined
and compared, the structural blending of the parents in the cells
and cell contents in all the organs of the hybrid is nearly equal.
The blending of the appearances presented by the parents is seen
in a remarkable manner in all the minute anatomical details, in the
size, outhne, amount of thickening and localisation of growth of the
cell-wall, in the structure of the epidermal out-growths, hairs, papille,
etc., and also in the number of the stomata of the leaves. In the
hybrids all these are as a rule, so far as the investigations have
been carried, intermediate between those of the parents.*
The hybrid orchids examined by Dr, Macfarlane were, up to date
of publication, confined to two raised by ourselves, viz., Cypripedium x
Leeanum and Masdevallia ~« Chelsont. An instructive instance is
afforded by the flower of the last-named hybrid of the perfect structural
blending of the two parents in the hybrid. Masdevallia x Chelsoni
was raised from M. amabilis and M. Veitchiana, the cross being effected
both ways and progenies obtained from both crosses. The brilliant
coloration of the flowers of both the hybrid and its parents is, in part,
owing to the crimson papille which are scattered in great numbers
* Gard. Chron. VIL. s. 3 (1890), p. 543, and in Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, vol. XXXVII. p. 203.
97
HYBRIDISATION.
over the surface of the sepals. When examined under the microscope
the papille of WZ. amabilis are seen to be cone-shaped, those of
M. Veitchiana are spheroidal, but those of the hybrid are club-shaped
and exactly intermediate between those of the two parents. This is
Sections of epidermis from lateral sepals of—1, Masdevallia Veitchiana, bearing spheroidal hairs; 2, M.
amabilis, bearing cone-shaped hairs ; 3, M. X Chelsoni, bearing club-shaped hairs. All X 450.
well shown in the accompanying illustrations which are copied from the
plates in Dr. Macfarlane’s paper, in the Transactions of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh.
98 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION—CLIMATOLOGY.
The geographical distribution of the most important genera, in a
horticultural sense, is fully sketched under each genus and further
illustrated by maps on which the habitats of the species, so far as
they have been ascertained, are indicated. It is only necessary to
note here some general facts relating to the region over which the
epiphytal orchids are spread and the climatic phenomena of that region.
With the epiphytal orchids are associated some terrestrial and sub-
terrestrial genera whose habitats lie within this region, as the
Cypripedia (section SenenrpepiA and sub-section Cortace®), Phaius,
Thunia, Spathoglottis, Calanthe and others. Its geographical limits may
be broadly stated to be the 30th parallel of north and the 35th parallel
of south latitude; the region of epiphytal orchids is thence a broad
zone, having for its breadth a little more than one-third of the
entire distance between the poles and, roughly speaking, including
about three-sevenths of the land area of the globe. Beyond this
zone the epiphytal orchids have spread only into two localities
remote from each other, very sparingly indeed and as _ outlying
members of the genera to which they belong, northwards into
Japan and southwards into New Zealand. ‘These two localities,
together with some of the islands of the Pacific Ocean on which
orchids included in tropical genera are found, are not shown on the
maps illustrating the climate of the region.
But while the geographical limits of epiphytal and other orchids
belonging to tropical types are those defined above, a very important
modification has to be made with respect to the actual area over
which they are spread. While the temperature of the whole region
except on the summits of the higher mountain ranges is sufficiently
high to maintain epiphytal life, there are extensive tracts within it
where owing to physical causes the other equally essential condition,
that of humidity, is either altogether absent, or is present in
insufficient quantity, or for too short a period to enable epiphytal
orchids to live.
Thus in the eastern section there are—in Asia, the Arabian deserts,
the arid plains of Persia and north-west India, the table-land of the
Deccan and Mysore; the greater part of the Australian continent; and
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION——-CLIMATOLOGY. 99
in Africa, the Sahara and Kalahari deserts north and south of the
equatorial zone. In the western section there are—the arid region
of northern Mexico in North America; the almost treeless regions
known as the savannahs of Venezuela and Guiana, the Campos of
Brazil and the Pampas of Bolivia and Argentina. Besides these larger
tracts, there are many other places where, owing to local causes, the
tropical rains are either intercepted or so greatly reduced in quantity
that orchid life cannot exist. In all these tracts the atmosphere is
not only almost always dry, but the daily thermometric range is also
too great to admit of any but the scantiest vegetation to exist and
that of certain types only.
The aggregate area of these dry and arid tracts is probably not
less than one-half of the whole region, which reduces the actual
area over which the tropical orchids are spread to about one-fourth
of the Jand surface of the globe.
The general climatic phenomena of the region are dependent on
the vertical position of the sun in respect to the earth; but the
sun does not remain vertical over the same parallel of latitude owing
to the obliquity of the earth’s axis to the plane of the ecliptic, the
great circle that traces the annual course of the sun in the heavens ;
the limits of the sun’s annual excursion on each side of the equator
are indicated by the tropics, which are nearly 234 degrees north
and south of it. The sun is thence north of the equator one half
of the year and south of it the other half. Now where the sun
is vertical its heating power is greatest, and there accordingly the
aérial currents known as the trade winds originate, evaporation is most
rapid and the precipitation of rain the greatest. The heated air as
it ascends is accompanied by the vapour raised by evaporation and
which is lighter than the ascending air; both expand as_ they
ascend and both part with a portion of the heat with which they
were first charged until the vapour is sufficiently chilled to be
precipitated first as cloud, then as rain. The parallel over which
the sun is vertical with a narrow space on each side of it is known
as “the region of calms.” Of course this belt shifts with the
annual course of the sun, and is thence at and near the equator
twice in the year; and hence it is that the equatorial climate is
more equable than in other parts of the region; the variations in
temperature, both annual and diurnal, are least and the rainfall is
most regular and continuous.
100 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
“When the sun is south of the equator the earth’s surface north
of it is no longer under the same influence but under that of the
atmospheric currents flowing in from north or north-east to supply the
place of the ascending heated air. The moving air owing to the great
extent of land surface in the northern hemisphere is, at first, but slightly
charged with moisture, and as it travels from north to south becomes
warmer; it is comparatively a dry wind and consequently its capacity
to contain vapour is continually augmenting. Similarly when the sun
is north of the equator, the like phenomena occur on the south of it,
but not equally so owing to the greater extent of ocean surface in the
southern hemisphere. It is plain from these considerations that each
place between the tropics must have its dry and wet season; dry when
the sun is on the opposite side of the equator, and wet when the sun
is overhead.” *
The trade winds and the general phenomena just described where
confined to the ocean are regular and constant, but on the continents
they are subject to much variation, owing to the configuration of
the land, the trend and height of the mountain ranges, and to
many local causes; but generally speaking within the region under
review the variations are periodical or seasonal.
The most extensive of these periodical changes are the monsoons which
take the place of the regular trade winds in the Indo-Malayan region.
The south-west monsoon loaded with vapour raised from the Indian
Ocean when it meets the western Ghauts of India precipitates so much
rain along the coast districts stretching from Bombay to the extreme
south of India that some localities within it are the wettest spots
known; similar phenomena occurs along the mountains of Aracan and
Lower Burmah; and again along the lower Himalayan zone owing to
the enormous amount of vapour ascending from the Bay of Bengal
being drifted towards the mountains, and which being condensed by
contact with the higher and colder zone is precipitated into the lower
valleys, the precipitation increasing in amount in proceeding eastwards
to the Khasia Hills and Manipur where it attains its maximum.
In the western hemisphere similar phenomena occur but on a smaller
scale, Thus, in southern Mexico and Guatemala south-easterly winds
prevail during the wet season from December to April, and north-
westerly winds during the remainder of the year. The vapour raised
in the south Atlantic Ocean during the sun’s excursion between the
equator and the southern tropic is carried by the south-east trade wind
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GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION—CLIMATOLOGY. 101
range, the Serra do Mar. Similarly the enormous evaporation from the
north Atlantic is constantly drifted towards the Cordilleras of Venezuela
and Colombia by which it is arrested and condensed, the rains on the
upper slopes of these mountains being continuous nearly throughout
the year.
The distribution of orchid life over the region under review will
now be clearly understood. Within what is often called the
equatorial zone, a space extending to about twelve degrees on each
side of the equator, and which includes nearly the whole of the
Malaysian Archipelago and a great part of the continents of Africa
and South America the climatic conditions are such that epiphytal
and other tropical orchids are generally distributed, even in Africa, of
whose tropical vegetation much yet remains to be investigated. It
is within this zone that monopodial orchids attain their greatest
development; in Malaysia are found gigantic Stauropses and Gram-
matophyllums; in Africa giant Angrzcums cling to massive Baobab
and Iron-wood trees; and of sympodial orchids gigantic Eulophias
and Lissochili occur in certain places in the Congo and other regions
of equatorial Africa in such quantities as to supply a feature in
the landscape. Beyond this zone, both on the northern and southern
sides, the distribution of orchid life is much more irregular, being
immensely influenced by local causes, especially by the direction of
the trade and periodical winds by which the evaporation of the ocean
is carried into certain localities more than in others, and also by
the height and trend of the mountain ranges.
A few well-known instances need only here be noted. In the eastern
section—the mountains of Aracan and Moulmein which receive the
south-west monsoon on their western slopes are the richest Dendrobe
and Vanda districts known. The Khasia Hills and the lower Himalayan
zone upon which, as already stated, is precipitated much of the enormous
evaporation raised in the Bay of Bengal is also an exceptionally rich
Dendrobium region, and is besides the home of the finest Calogynes
and. Cymbidiums yet discovered. In the western section—on the
Cordilleras of Venezuela and Colombia are aggregated most of the finest
Odontoglots, Cattleyas of the Jabiata type, Miltonias, Lycastes, Masde-
vallias, and numerous others highly valued by cultivators, caused by
the constant action of the north-east trade wind in rendering the
climate peculiarly suited to orchid life. And from the action of
the south-east trade wind, the coast range of Brazil with the country
in its immediate vicinity is the home of many of the most beautiful
Cattleyas, Lelias, Oncids, Zygopetalums, Sophronites and other orchids
prized for their large and brilliant flowers.
102 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
On the mountain ranges of great altitude as the Himalaya in the
eastern and the Andes of Colombia and Peru in the western section,
the vertical range of orchids is considerable. On the Andes they ascend to
elevations where the average annual temperature is less than in the
lower and median latitudes of the temperate zone, some even ascending
to the immediate vicinity of perpetual snow as Epidendrum frigidum,
Oneidium cucullatum var. nubigenum, Odontoglossnm densiflorum, and
others. It must not, however, be inferred that such orchids are hardy,
that is to say—that they can be cultivated in the open air in this
or any other country equally remote from the equator. Those epiphytal
orchids that occur at the highest altitudes, as the species just mentioned,
some of the Odontoglots of Colombia, the Masdevallias and Epidendra
of Peru, etc., are never subjected to such extremes of temperature as
is sometimes experienced in the south of France, in Italy, and the
middle and southern States of North America, and under which they
would perish. Apart from physical obstacles as the Himalaya in Asia,
the Sahara in Africa, the arid tracts of northern Mexico and the
Pampas of Argentina which prevent the spread of such orchids beyond
their present sphere, climate alone would prove fatal to them.
But little explanation is needed of the accompanying maps which
have been prepared especially for this work by Mr. Edward Stanford,
of Charing Cross. The red lines called isothermal lines, or simply
isotherms, mark the limits of areas of equal temperatures expressed
in degrees Centigrade for reasons to be presently stated; these are
the annual mean temperatures at sea-level. The annual mean
temperature of places above sea-level, especially on mountain ranges,
may be approximately found by deducting one degree Centigrade
for every 600 feet of altitude from the given mean. The gradations
of blue colour indicate the annual average rainfall according to the
references on the maps.
The following considerations should have weight in favour of the
adoption of the Centigrade thermometric scale in _ horticultural
practice in the place of the Fahrenheit scale.
The temperature of crystallisation or the freezing point as it is familiarly
called, if the water be kept under the same pressure is constant; the
normal pressure of the atmosphere at sea-level when the barometric column
is 30 inches is about fifteen pounds to the square inch. The temperature
of condensation from the state of steam, in common parlance the boiling
point, is also constant as long as the pressure remains the same. There are
thence two invariable standard points of temperature. On the thermometric
scale the space between the freezing and boiling points was divided by
Celsius into 100 equal parts whence this scale has obtained the name of
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION—CLIMATOLOGY. 103
the Centigrade; it is now generally
in use on the Continent and almost
universally in scientific investigations.
On Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the in-
strument in common use in this country,
the freezing point is marked 32° on
an old assumption that the greatest
terrestrial cold was zero, an assumption
that has long since been proved in
various ways and places to be fallacious;
the boiling point is 212°, the interval
between the two being 180°, so that 5°
Centigrade is equal to 9° Fahrenheit.
The annexed diagram shows the com-
parative value of the degree in each
scale.
The division of the interval between
the two invariable points into 100 parts
is itself so suggestive and simple both
in theory and practice as to require
no justification. On the other hand,
as already shown, the placing of the
freezing point at 32° is quite arbitrary,
and the division of the interval between
the freezing and boiling points into
180 units is equally arbitrary, and so
far as the number itself is concerned,
is supported by no data derivable from
ascertained thermal laws. Practically
the Fahrenheit degree is too small to
be appreciated by the most attentive
of orchid cultivators, but to whom
the Centigrade degree becomes an
appreciable quantity, and consequently
5°, 10°, 15° C., ete, are recognisable
conditions of temperature apparent to
the senses. But such temperatures as are expressed by 40°, 50°, 60° F,,
ete, are complex notions rendered so by the circumstance that they
do not themselves represent the number of units above an invariable
point, but must be reduced to it by deducting the arbitrary number
32.
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104 GENERAL REVIEW OF ‘TITE ORCHIDER,
CLASSIFICATION.
In the early part of the century the Orcutpem were studied by
several eminent botanists, including Oloff Swartz, one of the
immediate successors of Linneus in the Chair of Botany at Upsal,
L. C. Richard, Dupetit-Thouars, Dr. Robert Brown, C. L. Blume
and others, all of whom have left special treatises on them.* — It
was especially the observations of Robert Brown backed by the
excellent drawings of Francis Bauer which induced Lindley to devote
himself to the order of which he became the great master. It was
Robert Brown too, as Mr. Bentham justly observes,t who _ first
established the principles of the classification of the Orcuimre® on a
solid basis, and on this basis as materials came to hand Lindley
worked out, chiefly in the Botanical Register which he edited for
many years, the systematic arrangement of the species which has
supplied the foundation of every subsequent classification. ‘The results
of his labours are summarised in his Genera und Species of Orchid-
aceous Plants, the first portion of which appeared in 1830, the
remaining parts being afterwards published at greater or less intervals,
the concluding one being issued in i840, Between 1852 and 1859
Lindley revised and re-systematised many of the genera, incorporating
in them the accumulated fresh material, consisting of a vast number
of new orchids of every description that had been discovered in
the interval. These revised genera were published from time to time
under the name of Folia Orehidacea,
Dr. Lindley’s system is thus summarised in the introduction to his
Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants.
I.—Anther one only. (Monanpr#).
A.—Pollen masses waxy.
Tribe 1.—Manaxiner. No ecaudicle or separable stigmatic gland.
Tribe 2—Epmpenpre®. Bot. Reg. Il. sub, +. 220;
114 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE,
the damp close jungle in which all tropical orchids were then
supposed to have their home.
About this period 1823—25 a change in the method of treating
epiphytal orchids was made in the Royal Gardens at Kew. A
portion of the end of the propagating house was set aside for
them, and a bed was formed consisting of loose turfy soil inter-
spersed with small portions of stems of trees on which plants were
placed where many of them grew freely for a time, most of them
rooting into the soil and clinging to the pieces of wood.* The
only result obtained by this mode of treatment was, that the plants
lived on a little longer than they had previously done. During
the period 1824—27, Mr. Lockhart, Curator of the Botanic Garden,
‘I'rinidad, sent to the Royal Garden many of the orchids indigenous
to the island including Stanhopea insignis, Oncidium Papilio, Cata-
setum tridentatum, LIonopsis pallidifora, and others, some of them
being sent growing on portions of branches as cut from the trees,
and which being accompanied by instructions from Mr, Lockhart as
to how they should be treated, eventually led to some improvement
in orchid culture in England.
The want of success that attended the preservation of the plants
for any length of time was supposed to be due to some peculiar
difficulty in their cultivation, and it was resolved that an attempt
should be made in the garden of the Horticultural Society to over-
come it. A stove was accordingly set apart for their exclusive
culture, and when subsequently Mr. (afterwards Dr.) John Lindley
was appointed assistant secretary to the Society, the chief direction
of it fell into bis hands. ‘All the earliest experiments were
unsuccessful, the plants were lost as quickly as they were received,
and when a single specimen was preserved out of an entire collection,
some success was thought to have been attained.’ This led Lindley
to inquire more closely into the conditions under which orchids grew
in their native countries, and which, if accurately ascertained, would,
he believed, supply data for a more successful cultivation of them,
The results of his inquiry and the inferences he drew from
them are summarised in a paper which he read before the Society
in May, 1830. It is evident from this paper that the information
* John Smith (primus), Curator of the Royal Gardens at Kew, in Gard. Chron. XXIII.
\1885), p. 144.
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. ss
he obtained was far too restricted, and held good only for a limited
area; hence from such imperfect premises the conclusions could
searcely be otherwise than fallacious.
For example—The Society’s collectors in Brazil informed him that
“they exclusively occupy damp woods and rich valleys among vegetation
of a most luxuriant description, by which they are embowered.” The
word “exclusively” was unfortunate, for we now know that most of the
finest of the Brazilian Cattleyas and Lelias occur at considerable
elevations and often in exposed situations. Dr. Wallich, to whom we
owe the first introduction of many fine Indian Dendrobes, told him
that “In Nepal, the thicker the forest, the more shady the trees, the
richer and blacker the natural soil, the more profuse are the orchids.
There they flourish by the sides of diipping springs, in deep shady
recesses in inconceivable quantity, and with an astonishing degree of
luxuriance.” Dr. Lindley then proceeds to say that high temperature
and excessive humidity are essential to the well-being of these plants.
The hottest countries if dry and the dampest if cool are destitute of
them, while there is no instance of a country both hot and damp in
which they do not swarm, citing in illustration of this, the Malay
Archipelago, the estuaries of the Ganges and Irawaddy, Sierra Leone,
Madagascar, and the West Indies. He omits, doubtless quite uninten-
tionally, all mention of the higher slopes leading to the Tierra fria
of Mexico, both on the Atlantic and Pacific slopes, and also the higher
zone of the Andean Cordilleras from Venezuela to Upper Peru, the
region of the Odontoglots, Masdevallias, Cattleyas, etc., where the climate
is both cool and damp, a region which Humboldt and Bonpland had
proclaimed to the world many years before to be rich in epiphytal
orchids of the most remarkable forms and of the most exquisite colours.
At the same time it should be borne in mind that Griffith had not
yet ascended the Khasia Hills, nor Sir J. D. Hooker and-Cathcart the
Sikkim Himalayas, nor Parish and Benson the mountains of Moulmein
and Lower Burmah; the so-called temperate orchids of the Eastern
hemisphere were unknown to Dr. Lindley at the date of reading the
paper we have quoted.
From the data thus adduced Lindley framed his cultural recom-
mendations, the most essential conditions of which were deep shade
and excessive humidity, to which he added good drainage that appears
previously to have been generally neglected, but making no mention
of ventilation. So predominant had Lindley’s influence become in
all matters pertaining to orchids, whether as the chief botanical
authority on them, or from tbe position he held in the Society,
that the unhealthy régime of cultural treatment approved by him
116 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE&.
became, as it were, the only orthodox one and was generally persisted
in, in all its essential pvints, for a long series of years, so that when
Mr, Bateman, about the year 1837, formulated a course of treatment
for tropical orchids in the introduction to his Orchidacee of Mexico
and (Guatemala it differed but little from Dr. Lindley’s recom-
mendations except an important direction to give the plants a
season of rest by reducing the temperature im winter and _ to
attend to the condition of the atmosphere of the house. It is,
however, only just to the memory of Dr. Lindley to add _ that
when later, as more correct information came to hand respecting
the habitats of orchids and their environment in situ he never
hesitated to give cultivators a friendly warning—thus in the Botanical
Register for 1835 under tab. 1699 (Oncidium ampliatum) we find the
following remarks :—
“Tt is well known that the most considerable part of the epiphytal
OrcHIDEX is found in the greatest vigour in damp sultry woods of
tropical countries ; and accordingly we endeavour in our artificial
cultivation to form an atmosphere for them as nearly as possible that
which they would naturally breathe in such stations. That this is
attended with very great success is obvious from such plants as _ the
one now figured (Oneidium ampliatum), and from the numerous splendid
specimens which are from time to time appearing in the collections
of Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Grey of Groby, the Messrs. Harrison,
Bateman, Huntley, Loddiges, Knight and the Horticultural Society.
“But it is sufficiently evident that although this kind of treatment
is admirably suited to a considerable number, there are others which
grow most unwillingly, or scarcely survive under such circumstances.
For instance Dendrobium speciosum languishes in situations where the
Stanhopeas are in their greatest splendour; and the Chinese Bletias
almost perish by the side of Eulophia and Zygopetalum. This arises
from the great difference in their respective constitutions, which are
each adapted to distinct conditions of life, and our failure arises from
our mistaking a general principle for a universal law. If a great
majority of the epiphytal OrcHmEx® swarm in damp tropical forests,
there is a considerable minority which live in an entirely different
climate. Thus in the genus Oncidium, On. nubigenum is only found
on the cool mountains of Peru (Ecuador) at the height of 13—-14,000
feet; it will therefore require a treatment altogether distinct from
many others of the genus. Dendrobium moniliforme again occurs only
in Japan as far north as 37° or 38° or the parallel of Lisbon and
is periodically subject to a very low temperature.”
And during his long editorship of the Gardeners’ Chronicle Lindley
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. LIE 4
constantly published such items of information as came to hand that
he believed would afford useful hints to cultivators.
The splendid specimens alluded to by Lindley were chiefly Brazilian
Maxillarias, West Indian Epidendra, Cataseta and Mormodes from the
hot valleys of Guiana and Central America, Saccolabiums and Dendrobes
from the Indian jungle and the like; not the grand Cattleyas, elegant
Odontoglots and brilliant Masdevellias that form the most conspicuous
ornaments of the collections of our time, for such of these as were
then imported were doomed to certain destruction in the hot steamy,
unventilated stoves to which they were consigned on their arrival in
England, and to the temperature of which they were as great
strangers as to our severest winter frosts. And thus perished within
a few months most of the earliest introduced Cattleyas, Lielias,
Odontoglots and Oncids, but not without a protest from men who
had seen them and other orchids growing in the temperate and
cool alpine regions within the tropics. So early as 1835, Allen
Cunningham reported to Dr. Lindley how different were the conditions
under which Australian orchids grew in their native country from
those to which they were subjected in the hot-houses of England,
and that they should soon perish in them seemed to him but a
very natural consequence.* Then followed Mr. G. Ure Skinner who
gathered many orchids on the Cordilleras of Guatemala, Gibson who
collected them on the Khasia Hills for the Duke of Devonshire,
Gardner on the Organ Mountains, William Lobb on the Peruvian
Andes, and Motley on the mountains of Java. These, one and
all, gave monitory warnings against the folly of subjecting orchids
which naturally grew in a temperate climate, to the stifling heat of
an Indian jungle. In fact, it was high time such warnings should
be given, for as private collections were being formed and multiplied
and high prices were being paid for the choice kinds, epiphytal
orchids were being poured into the country in a continually increasing
stream, only too often to tantalise the purchasers with a transitory
sight of their lovely flowers and curious forms, and then to languish
and die. For more than half a century England was, as Sir Joseph
Hooker once observed, “‘the grave of tropical orchids.”’
But a change of system was at length approaching, not brought
about so much by the remonstrance of travellers like those just
* Bot. Reg. 1835, sub. t. 1699.
118 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
mentioned as by the intelligence and sagacity of a few practical
gardeners on whom had been laid the responsibility of cultivating
the costly collections of their employers. One of the first of these
was Joseph Cooper, gardener to LHarl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth,
near Rotherham, Yorkshire. Dr. (afterwards Sir William) Hooker
who visited the orchid house at Wentworth in 1835 was surprised
at the degree of success with which the plants were cultivated there,
and adds :—“I must confess that the sight of this collection, whether
the vigorous growth and beauty of the foliage, or the number of
splendid species blossoming at one time be considered, far exceeded
my warmest anticipations.’ *Cooper’s chief deviations from the
established practice consisted in growing the orchids in a _ lower
mean temperature and the admission of fresh air into the house,
Contemporary with Cooper and residing at a comparatively short
distance from him was a far more eminent horticulturist and of
whom it is not too much to say that through him was brought about
in the course of time a greater improvement in orchid culture than
was ever effected by any single man. This was Joseph Paxton,
gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. The Chatsworth
collection began to be formed about the year 1833, and three years
later it contained upwards of 300 species. In 1837 the Duke of
Devonshire sent Gibson on a mission to the Khasia Hills which
resulted in the addition of a large number of species from that
region, many of them introduced for the first time into Huropean
gardens. ‘The collection was also being constantly increased from
various sources so that within ten years from its first formation it
became the largest private collection in the country. With so large
a range of subjects for observation and experiment and with the
ample resources of Chatsworth at his command, Paxton gradually
put into practice a more rational method of culture which eventually
led to the cultural system now followed, although years elapsed before
his example and teaching had any marked influence.
In 1834 Paxton commenced the publication of his Magazine of Botany
which he continued to edit until December, 1849, when it was dis-
continued in the form in which he had founded it, but was followed
for a short period by a similar serial edited by Dr. Lindley and called
Paxton’s Flower Garden, throughout which orchids occupy a prominent
* Bot. Mag. sub, t. 3395.
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. 119
place. In the earlier volumes of the Magazine Paxton published
various articles relating to the Chatsworth and other collections of
orchids, and in them may be traced the steps by which he, in the
first place, emancipated himself from the prevailing erroneous methods
of treatment and afterwards gradually substituted more scientific and
consequently more successful ones. Evidence of these were afforded to
Dr. Lindley who visited Chatsworth in 1838 and who thus recorded his
impressions :—-““The success with which epiphytes are cultivated by
Mr. Paxton is wonderful, and the climate in which this is effected,
instead of being so hot and damp that the plants can only be seen
with as much peril as if one had to visit them in an Indian jungle,
is as mild and delightful as that of Madeira.” * Then follows an
account of the cultural treatment adopted at Chatsworth by Paxton
of which the salient points need only be noted here; they were—
separate houses or compartments of houses for orchids from different
climates—a lower average temperature than was usually maintained by
the cultivators of orchids at that time—a more efficient ventilation
by which a larger volume of fresh air was admitted into the houses,
especially during the growing season—the maintaining of a moist
atmosphere by occasionally watering the paths and stages of the house
—an improved method of potting with especial regard to efficient
drainage and greater attention to root development..
Orchid baskets used by Loddiges about 1840.
(Copied from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.)
The example of Paxton and the frequent occurrence of failures
in the collections under their charge were not lost upon many
intelligent gardeners who had opportunities of becoming acquainted
with Paxton or had access to his writings. Among the earliest of
these was Donald Beaton, a man of remarkable industry and keen
perception, and characterised by Sir William Hooker as “one of the
ablest and most scientific gardeners of this country,’+ and during
* Bot. Reg. XXIV. (1838) sub. t. 5 ex. Sertum Orchidaceum.
+ Bot. Mag. sub. t. 3804,
120 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
the latter period of his life a regular contributor to the Cottage
Gardener (now Journal of Horticulture). From the circumstances
under which he was placed while gardener successively to Mr. Gordon
at Haffield, Mr. Harris at Kilburn, and Sir William Middleton. at
Shrubland Park, the two last named being amateurs of orchids,
more than perhaps from choice, he paid much attention to these
plants, and from his various contributions to the botanical and
horticultural publications of his time it is instructive to trace the
changes he successively made in his modes of treatment, changes
that were impressed upon him by the force of accurate observation
and reflection; how at first he adopted the erroneous practices then
prevalent respecting orchid culture, but which he stigmatised as
“hideous,” ‘frightful’? when, after a few years’ experience, he had
become one of the best cultivators of orchids of his time.
Miltonia Clowesii on a block of wood at Messrs. Loddiges in 1842.
(Copied from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.)
.
In 1836, while in the service of Mr. Gordon, he contributed some notes
on orchids to Paxton’s Magazine of Botany,* from which we extract the —
* Vol. IL. p. 263.
—;
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. 121
following passages, which are quite characteristic of his style ;—“I never
did nor never could purchase any of these plants, consequently I only
in the first instance received the smallest bit of most of my plants, and
I have succeeded far beyond my expectations. The last two winters I
removed my larger plants from my regular orchid-house for wintering,
and kept my smallest plants in a regular heat of from 70 to 80 degrees
(F.), and had a good crop of cucumbers to the bargain. I never water
them overhead in the winter, but the house is kept moist.” He does
not inform us how long he kept his plants alive under that treatment,
but eaperientia docet, and no gardener was more apt to avail himself of
the teachings of experience than Beaton, for five years later
was with Mr. Harris at Kilburn—we find him writing to Sir William
Hooker on the treatment of some orchids that had been gathered in
the high mountainous districts of Michoacan in Mexico by Galeotti,
including Lelia autumnalis, L. albida, L. glauca, Cattleya citrina,
Oncidium leucochilum and other well-known kinds, which he kept
in a winter temperature of 40° to 45° F. (4° to 7° C.); he was thence
one of the first who ventured to grow orchids in so low a temperature.
He was apparently surprised at his own success, for he adds with
remarkable foresight—‘ You will thus see how desirable it is for the
extension of the cultivation of this family that we should procure all
the species that are to be found in the higher altitudes in Mexico
and other places, to enable amateurs of limited means to cultivate a
few beautiful plants of OrcuipE®; for hitherto this fine tribe of plants
has only been enjoyed by the wealthier classes.”* From that time
Beaton insisted upon more attention being paid than hitherto to the
clmatie conditions under which orchids grow, especially at high altitudes
within the tropics, and the consequent necessity of adapting their cultural
treatment accordingly.
About this time a pamphlet On the Management of Orchidaceous
Plants was printed for private circulation by Mr. J. C. Lyons,t an
amateur living at Ladiston, in Ireland. It contained a_ general
essay on the cultivation of orchids and a calendar of operations,
probably the first ever issued in a complete form. ‘The cultural
directions were mainly those followed by most growers at that
period, but the author recommends a distinction being made
between those orchids that grow naturally in shade in damp _ hot
places, and those that grow in an elevated situation in a drier
atmosphere and in direct sunlight. His chief deviation from the
ordinary practice of his time was the admission of steam from
when he
* Bot. Mag. sub. t. 3804 (1841).
+ His name is preserved in Schomburgkia Lyonsti,
Ae GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
the boiler into the house every evening during summer, and by
syringing the plants in imitation of a gentle shower ‘not driven
against them with an upsetting force.’ His chief novelty was the
use of slate baskets, the construction of which is shown in the
accompanying woodcut copied from the Gardeners’ Chronicle,
Contemporary with Beaton and prominent among the cultivators of
orchids during the fifth decade of the century were Thomas Appleby,
gardencr to Mr. Brocklehurst, of The Fence, near Macclesfield; James
Brewster, gardener to Mrs. Wray at Oakfield, Cheltenham; and a little
later than these, George Gordon, Superintendent of the Horticultural
Society’s Garden at Chiswick; John Mylam, gardener to Mr. Sigismund
Rucker at West Hill, Wandsworth; and the late Mr.
B. S. Wilhams, of Holloway, at that time gardener to
Mr. Charles B. Warner, of The Woodlands, Hoddesdon.
The results of their experience which they communi-
cated from time to time to the horticultural press
together with the fine specimens of cultural skill they
exhibited at the Horticultural Society’s Shows at
Chiswick and other places had a marked influence
on the orchid culture of that and the following
decade (1850—60), and did much to hasten the end
of the unhealthy régime that had so long held sway.
Long, however, before this period a revolution had
been slowly but surely effected, which had an enormous
influence on the cultivation of plants under glass, and
contributed in no small degree to the improvement in
orchid culture that subsequently followed. This was
the heating of glass-houses by means of hot-water
Ficn. Oia dae pipes, which were first used for this purpose on a
sinte used. by Er small scale by Mr. Anthony Bacon, of Aberaman in
Glamorganshire, and afterwards by the same gentleman
at Elcot, near Newbury. The inventor of the process is said to have
been a Mr. Atkinson. ‘The change from the system of heating by
means of the brick flue with the tan bed to that of heating by
hot water was nothing less than the substitution of an almost
perfect control over the heating power with a great diminution of
the labour of attending to the fires, for a very imperfect control
with unremitting attention day and night; and added to this was
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE, 123
the admission of fresh warmed air in lieu of no ventilation at all,
to say nothing of the smoke and noxious vapours that were constantly
escaping through the cracks and fissures of the flues.
With better appliances and with a more copious record of experience
gained by different cultivators, and especially with the aid of more
accurate information respecting the habitats and climate in which
the species naturally occur, the cultivation of epiphytal orchids could
scarcely fail to make some progress, but the progress was slow and
along certain lines only, so that looking back upon the state of
orchid culture forty years ago and upon what we are now
accustomed to see daily, one can scarcely suppress a feeling of
astonishment that its history should present to us the phase it
does. During the decade 1840—50 the existence of the beautiful
Leelias, Odontoglots, Oncids and other orchids inhabiting the highlands
of Mexico and Guatemala had become well known from the discoveries
of Skinner, Karwinsky, Galeotti and others; and the mission of
Linden to Colombia in 1842—3 revealed to science and to horti-
culture the surprising wealth of Cattleyas and Odontoglots inhabiting
the Cordilleras of that region, the existence of which had _ been
foreshadowed in the beginning of the century in the works of
Humboldt and Bonpland. ‘These plants which are now found to be
among the easiest of orchids to cultivate were, during the period
under review, brought to Hurope in considerable numbers but
only to perish under the barbarous treatment in the hot-houses to
which they were consigned.
Nevertheless epiphytal orchids in increasing numbers continued to
arrive both from the east and west. Communications to the horti-
cultural press respecting them became more frequent and more
copious, and courses of cultural treatment were formulated for them
by well-known cultivators. One of the most elaborate of these was
communicated by Gordon and published in the Journal of the
Horticultural Society for 1849, and which may thence be assumed
to be the method of culture approved by the Council of the
Society at that epoch. The system advocated in that paper was
undoubtedly in advance of its time and was, as Gordon himself
admits, at variance in some points with the methods commonly
followed. Some of the fundamental principles of orchid culture
enunciated by Gordon were vitiated by assumptions that became
124 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDER.
very prevalent at that time but were not then known to be
fallacious; for instance—he held that the climates (temperatures)
in which orchids grow naturally should be imitated as closely as
possible in the glass-houses in which they were cultivated—thence
leaving out of consideration other phenomena attendant on climate
and on account of which it is impossible to imitate artificially, and
in very many cases even approximately, the climate of a tropical
region in the glass-houses of a country situated in so high a latitude
as ours. He also accepted the common belief of that period and
which was only dispelled after a long series of losses and disaster,
that the supply of fresh air required by orchids is but small, and
he accordingly recommended that the houses in which they were
cultivated should be ventilated at the top only.
In 1851 appeared a series of articles in the Gardeners’? Chronicle
by Mr. B. S. Williams entitled ‘Orchids for the Million,” adopting
a popular phrase of the period but which was not destined to be
realised in the sense intended by the author. These articles with
some additions and alterations subsequently formed the first edition
of The Orchid Grower’s Munual which with the following editions
obtained a large circulation and exercised a considerable influence
on orchid culture for many years afterwards. The cultural details
recommended by the author and put into practice by him at
Hoddesdon approach more nearly the cultural routine followed at
the present time than any course of treatment that had previously
been formulated. They mark with tolerable distinctness the degree
of progress attained in orchid culture at the epoch of publication
and show the gradual transition that was being made towards the
more successful methods of the present time. With the view of
bringing this clearly before the reader we have put in a condensed
form the fundamental principles of orchid culture enunciated by
Mr. Williams in 1851. From the papers we are quoting it is
clear that the author shared in the prevalent belief that the
temperatures (climates as they were then called) in which orchids
grew naturally should be imitated in practice, the possibility of
imitating those climates in all their bearings not having been then
realised, and he accordingly gives somewhat higher temperatures than
those now generally maintained. ‘To the following directions, however,
few exceptions can be taken by cultivators.
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. 125
Orchids must have a period of rest in a dry and comparatively cool
atmosphere, and during growth a high temperature and moist atmosphere
should be maintained.
A moist atmosphere may be maintained by “damping down,” that is
to say, by sprinkling water over the stages, walls, and paths of the
houses.
Water should be applied according to the season of the year, with-
held in winter, given copiously during active growth, a gradual increase
in quantity after growth commences and a gradual decrease when the
season’s growth approaches completion.
Pots according to the size of the plants should be used with an
ample drainage of broken crocks and charcoal. The compost should
consist of fibrous peat and sphagnum moss.
For Aérides, Vandas, Phalenopsis, Saccolabiums and other Indian
orchids, and also Angraecums, blocks of the wood of the apple, pear,
plum or even of cork if obtainable are best; or baskets made of hazel
or maple wood.
Hot-water pipes should be used for heating the houses. | Fresh air
should be admitted by ventilators near the ground close to the hot-
water pipes, and egress allowed by ventilators at the top.
The plants should have as much light as possible. Shading should
be used on hot bright days and at such times as when there is risk
of injury to the foliage.
And yet so deeply rooted was the notion that all orchids must
be cultivated in a hot and damp atmosphere that the admonitions
and teachings of the orchid growers we have named seem to
have had but little effect generally. Cattleyas, Odontoglots and
other orchids from the temperate region of the Central and
South American Cordilleras were in most collections placed in
the Hast Indian house, to the heat and close atmosphere of which
they soon succumbed. ‘To such an extent were the losses felt
that Lindley in a remarkabie article published in the Gardeners’
Ohronicle towards the end of 1859 pronounced their treatment ‘a
deplorable failure,’ and which Mr. Bateman a few years later
characterised as “‘incredible folly.’ * But the spell which had held
orchid culture in thraldom for more than thirty years was at length
broken ; the wisdom of the advice vainly tendered so long ago by
Paxton, Beaton and others began to be recognised and put into
practice. Separate houses or compartments of houses better con-
structed and better ventilated, in which warm, intermediate, and
* Monograph of Odontoglossum, Intr. p. 1.
126 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDES.
cool temperatures were maintained, were in use for most orchid
collections at the beginning of the seventh decade. With the
simultaneous dispatch of Weir by the Royal Horticultural
Society, of Blunt by Messrs. Low and Co. of Clapton, and of
Schliim by M. Linden of Brussels, was inaugurated a new era in
orchid culture. °
We have now arrived at an epoch within the memory of most
living cultivators and which may not be inaptly regarded as the
commencement of the period of modern orchid culture. In the
body of this work we have given the routine of cultural treatment
mainly adopted by the most successful cultivators of the present
time. With improved means and appliances and with a more accurate
knowledge of the physical conditions under which they grow in
their native country, the cultivation of very many of the finest
epiphytal orchids from the tropical regions of both the Old and
the New World has become as assured as that of the most ordinary
stove and greenhouse plants. Added to this the greatly increased
facilities of importation, combined with more rapid transport, have
resulted in bringing them within the reach of a much larger circle
of amateurs.
Still much remains to be accomplished, but past achievements
should encourage future efforts, and there is surely no reason to
despair; let us rather keep in view the defects that remain and try
to discover a remedy for them. ‘To cite instances:—Not many can
yet boast of growing successfully for half-a-dozen consecutive years
such orchids as Cattleya citrina, Lelia albida, DL. majalis, LD. fur-
Furacea, I, autunnalis, Hpidendrum vitellinum, TH. nvemorale and others
from the Mexican highlands. he great genus Oncidium is known
to include more than three hundred species, of which number more
than one-half have at one time or another been introduced into
European gardens, but scarcely one-sixth of these have yet proved
amenable to the most assiduous care that has been bestowed upon
them. Oncidium Jonesianum, one of the most admired of the genus
and eagerly sought after by all amateurs, was imported for the first
time in considerable numbers in 1878, but in less than five years
afterwards scarcely a single plant remained alive in Hurope. ‘The
fasciculate Dendrobes afford another instance of a group of orchids
that often prove provokingly disappointing to the cultivator; of th’
~~
A RETROSPECT OF ORCHID CULTURE. 12
included species, Veudrobium Bensonie, D. Wardianum, 1D. crassinode,
D. Devonianum, D. lituijlorum, D. MacCarthie and many others are
notoriously short-lived in the orchid houses of Kurope. Several fine
Dendrobes of the ormose (nigro-hirsute) group even when imported
in large masses gradually decline after their first flowering till they
die outright. he Australian Dendrobes too, a most curious and
interesting group, have never, with two or three exceptions, been
successfully cultivated; but the climate of Australia with all its
attendant phenomena is now as well known as that of Wales or
Cornwall, and the conditions under which the plants grow are clearly
understood; better results than hitherto should thence be looked for,
A few more instances must not be passed over—a lovely section
of Epidendra, known in gardens as Barkerias, have thus far baftled
the efforts of the most experienced cultivators; the noble group
of Zygopetala belonging to the sections Huntneya, Bortua and
WarscewiczEtLa refuse to thrive in our houses; and lastly such
remarkable orchids as Chysis bractescens, Cattleya superba, Colax
jugosus, Grammangis Hllisii, Diacrium bicornutum and others that could
be named are still regarded as difficult plants to cultivate, in which
category must also be included that wonderful series of orchids with
unisexual flowers referred to Catasetum and Cycnoches, and _ the
scarcely less strange but closely allied genus Mormodes.
There is thence a wide field still open for the exercise of cultural
skill, and a long list of species remain to be rendered tractable to
cultivation. It is, however, satisfactory to note that much is being
accomplished in the desired direction and that the records in the
horticultural press of the successful treatment of plants hitherto
refractory, are becoming more frequent from year to year,
128 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA,
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST.
Our retrospect of orchid culture would be imperfect without some
notice of the most prominent amateurs of orchids who formed collections
chiefly between 1825 and 1850, for prior to the first-named date
epiphytal orchids were regarded as little else than curiosities for
Botanic Gardens and beyond the sphere of the cultivator of ordinary
plants. We introduce this notice with the object of preserving from
oblivion the honourable mention made of disinterested but withal
enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen in contemporary botanical and
horticultural publications which are now but rarely consulted except
by botanists, for through them a large number of beautiful plants
were brought for the first time within the cognisance of science
and horticulture, and which contributed more than any cause that
we know of to promote orchid culture in this country.
One of the earliest and most eminent of these was Mr. William
Cattley, of Barnet, to whom the noble genus Cattleya is dedicated.
He was not only a cultivator but an introducer of exotic plants,
and through his correspondents abroad he was enabled to enrich
the stoves and greenhouses of this country with several beautiful
species previously unknown. At his death in 1832 his collection
passed into the hands of Mr. Knight, of Chelsea. Contemporary with
Mr. Cattley and surviving him were Mrs. Arnold Harrison and
Mr. Richard Harrison, of Liverpool, whose collections of orchids,
consisted chiefly of South American species which were sent to them
by their brother Mr. William Harrison, a merchant residing at Rio
de Janeiro, through whom many fine Brazilian orchids were received
for the first time in England. The name of the lady is kept in
remembrance by Bifrenaria Harrisonie, and that of Mr. W. Harrison
by Oncidium Harrisonianum. Mr. Bateman states that Mr. Richard
Harrison was the first to commence the practice of growing
“specimens,” and his residence at Aigburth became a sort of Mecca
to which the faithful orchid grower made his annual pilgrimage.*
His collection was dispersed in 1842.
We may here mention two other ladies of Liverpool who “ taking
* Orch. Mex, et Guat. Introduction.
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST. 129
advantage of the commercial facilities of the town and by its
intercourse with the New World have introduced from thence its
most beautiful productions.’’* One was Mrs. Moss, of Otterspool,
whose name is commemorated in the popular Cattleya Mossie. The
other was Mrs. Horsfall, after whom was named the beautiful [pomca
Horsfallie by Sir William Hooker.
During the period 1830—40 was formed the celebrated collection
of Earl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth Woodhouse, near Rotherham,
already referred to.t The genus Muiltonia commemorates the great
services rendered to Natural History by that nobleman. Also the
still more celebrated one at Chatsworth, for many years superintended
by Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Paxton. Cyibidiuin Devonianum,
Dendrobium Devonianum, Galeandra Devoniana will carry the memory
of the Duke of Devonshire who formed it, far into the future. On a
more modest scale than these was that of the Rev. J. T. Huntley
in Huntingdonshire, whose name is preserved in the section Hunrngya
of Zygopetalum. One of the motives for taking up the cultivation
of orchids was peculiarly his own and is thus expressed by Mr.
Bateman—‘“‘he liked the plants because those fiends, the hybridisers,
could not touch them.’ t
In friendly correspondence with Mr. Huntley and, in fact, with most
orchid cultivators of note of that period was Mr. Bateman himself,
the most accomplished amateur of his time, the patriarch of ‘Orchid
Worthies” and still providentially with us, but who has long since
given up the cultivation of his favourites. It was his intention to
have written a short sketch of his carecr as a cultivator of orchids
for this work, but the infirmities of age have rendered its fulfilment
impossible; the loss of his personal narrative will be deplored by
every lover of orchids, whilst the cause of it cannot fail to awaken
the warmest sympathy. In a letter to Mr. Veitch, dated Friday
(March 9th, 1894), he writes :—
“T gladly undertook to send you some of my acta as an_ orchid
grower, but alas, I find it cannot be done. A year ago I found
myself compelled to give up writing for a Protestant newspaper on
account of pains in the head caused thereby, and I now find a similar
* Bot. Mag. sub. 3669 (1839).
+ See p. 118.
f Orchid Conference, Journ. of Royal Hort. Soc. p. 49. Lt is needless to conjecture what
his views would have been had he been spared so long as his friend Mr. Bateman.
130 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
obstruction when I attempt to write for you. I thought it would
have been a much easier task, but I am painfully deceived, for although
I tried every day to squeeze something out of my brain nothing came
except the little MS. sent herewith.”
We insert the contents of the little MS. with feelings of unfeigned
respect; to this short narrative there must ever be attached an
exceptional interest as the latest production of the venerable amateur
who has watched the progress of orchid culture through the greater
part of the century.
Early Struggles.—*1 was devoted to orchids long before I knew
what an orchid was, indeed, the word itself was quite strange to me
when I heard my mother apply it to a beautiful plant with spotted
leaves and speckled flowers which I had gathered in a country lane
and regarded with great admiration. ‘That,’ she said, ‘is an orchis’
(O. mascula). I must have been then about eight years old, but I
was more than eighteen when, the scene being shifted to Oxford, I
stepped into a nursery situated where Keble College now stands and
kept by the veteran Fairbairn, who had been gardener to Prince
Leopold and Sir Joseph Banks.* This sealed my fate! Presently Mr.
Fairbairn drew my attention to a curious plant with a few leathery
leaves and several stout roots feeling their way amongst a number of
small pieces of wood to which it was expected they would become
permanently attached. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘is a piece of the famous
Chinese air-plant (Renanthera coccinea) which flowered under my care
when gardener to H.R.H. Prince Leopold, at Bushey Park; would
you like to see a drawing of it?’ ‘As you please. It was certainly
a vision of beauty that Mr. Fairbairn, opening a volume of the
Botanical Magazine, t. 2997—2998, shewed me, for here was a perfect
portrait of the Chinese air-plant, full size and correctly coloured. Of
course I fell in love at first sight, and as Mr. F. only asked a
guinea for his plant (high prices were not yet in vogue), it soon
changed hands and travelled with me to Knypersley when the Christmas
holidays began. I had caught my orchid, but how to treat it I
knew not.”
This was the beginning of the collection afterwards formed by
Mr. Bateman at Knypersley Hall, in Cheshire, which he enriched by
sending a collector at his own expense to Demerara in 1833, but
although the mission fell short of expectation, the success was
sufficient to encourage others to embark in similar adventures. He
was soon afterwards more than compensated for the disappointment
by Mr. George Ure Skinner, a merchant trading with Guatemala, at
“See p. Liat
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST. 131
that time an unworked mine in Natural History, and where there
was believed to be a rich store of orchids. Having heard of Mr.
Skinner through the specimens of birds and insects which he
presented to the Natural History Museum at Manchester, Mr. Bateman
wrote to him in March, 1834, and explained by means of sketches
of some orchids what kind of plants he wished to see introduced
from that country into England. Mr. Skinner responded to the
appeal in a manner that far exceeded the expectation of the writer,
and in less than ten years all the finest orchids of Guatemala were
in cultivation in British gardens, most of which flowered for the first
tine in Mr. Bateman’s stove at Knypersley. The many rew and
beautiful orchids thus brought to light, together with the energy
displayed by that gentleman both in practice and by his publications
to promote orchid culture, secured for him a _ very prominent
position among the orchid authorities of this country. So early as
1837 Sir William Hooker dedicated to him the volume of the
Botanical Magazine for that year which Mr. Bateman fancifully
designated the aNNus mirRABILIS of Orchidology.
It was in 1837 that Gibson brought to Chatsworth the rich collection
he gathered on the Khasia Hills. In that same year Mr. Skinner sent
to England the finest of the Guatemalian orchids ; Cuming sent home
his first consignment from the Philippine Islands including the first
Phalznopsis received alive in England, a single plant of P. Aphrodite.
The brothers Schomburek made their first contribution from British
Guiana; and lastly a Frenchman named Deschamps brought from Vera
Cruz a large consignment of Mexican orchids, nearly the whole of which
was disposed of in England. Probably not less than 300 species
were seen in England for the first time in that memorable year.
The Orchidomania which had been rapidly spreading became greatly
intensified by such an unusual addition of new forms. “From that
time houses for their accommodation were raised in every direction ;
pots for their exclusive use were sold in the shops of London; their
blossoms were imitated by the most fashionable manufacturers of artificial
flowers; and the most munificent prizes were offered by horticultural
societies for the finest specimens.”*
Probably no one contributed more to bring about this great change
in the aspect of orchid culture than Mr. George Ure Skinner, pre-
eminently one of the ‘Orchid Worthies” of Hngland, by whose
untiring energy and disinterestedness the most beautiful orchids
* Batem. Orch. Mex. et Guat. Introduction.
132 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
of Central America became denizens for the first time of the glass-
houses of Great Britain. The following particulars extracted chiefly
from an address delivered before the Royal Horticultural Society
in February 1867, by Mr. Bateman, will be read with imterest :—
“From the moment he received the letter (supra) he laboured
incessantly to drag from their hiding places the forest treasures of
Guatemala and transfer them to the shores of his native land. In
pursuit of this object there was scarcely a sacrifice he did not make,
or a danger or hardship he did not brave. In sickness or in health,
amid the calls of business or the perils of war, whether detained in
quarantine on the shores of the Atlantic, or shipwrecked on the rocks
of the Pacific, he never suffered an opportunity to escape him of
adding to the long array of his botanical discoveries.”
“Never shall I forget my delight,” says Mr. Bateman, “on opening
the first box of orchids he sent me, all carefully packed and in the
best possible condition. Though gathered at random every plant was
new. Masses of Hpidendrum Skinneri (the first to flower and thence
named after him) divers other Epidendra, Oncidium Cavendishianum,
On. leucochilum, and Odontoglossum bictonense, the first Odontoglot that
ever reached England alive.”
His subsequent discoveries and introductions are noted in their respective
places in the Synopsis of Genera and Species that follow ; it is sufficient
to mention here Cattleya Skinneri and Lycaste Skinnert which alone
will keep his name in memory so long as orchids continue to be
cultivated, And among his other discoveries, Schomburgkia Tibicinis,
Epidendrum cnemidophorum, E. Stamfordianum and Odontoglossum grande
have an exceptional botanical interest in addition to their great horticultural
merit.
Mr. Skinner also made many valuable contributions to ornithology,
and the collections of birds in this country were enriched by him
with many rare and beautiful specimens, including several species of
humming birds,
After the dispersion of Mr. Bateman’s collection, Mr. Skinner
greatly assisted the Polish collector Von Warscewicz, who brought to
Europe many beautiful orchids previously unknown, * for such was_ his
enthusiasm for orchids that either personally or through his agents he
continued to search for new species to the end of his life. His later
collections were entrusted to his friend, the late James Veitch of
Chelsea. He died at Aspinwall, on the isthmus of Panama, January 9th,
1867.
While Mr. Bateman was cultivating orchids at Knypersley, two
* Warscewicz’s most interesting discoveries were made in 1848—9, during a very difficult
and dangerous journey on foot with Indians along the mountain route from Chiapas in
Mexico to Panama.
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST. 133
other collections in that part of England obtained considerable
celebrity among orchid amateurs. One belonged to the Rey. John
Clowes at Broughton Hall, Manchester; the house in which his
collection was cultivated was of somewhat novel construction, the
most prominent feature of it being a raised central gallery from
which the plants placed on the shelves of a sloping stage on each
side could be viewed from above.* His collection was left by will
to the Royal Gardens at Kew, whither it was removed on the death
of Mr. Clowes in 1846. The fine Anguloa from South America
worthily commemorates his name. The second collection was that of
Mr. Thomas Brocklehurst at The Fence, near Macclesfield, mentioned
in the previous article;+ his name is kept in memory by the type
Orchid baskets used by the Rey. John Clowes,
(Copied from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.)
species of Houlletia. Contemporary with these was another collection
that had been formed by Sir Charles Lemon, at Carclew in Cornwall,
and which appears to have been an extensive one for that period.
Several fine orchids were communicated from it to Dr. Lindley for
figuring and description in the Botanical Register.
Far superior to these collections in the number of - species
and varieties cultivated and in the length of time it was maintained
in efficiency was that of another distinguished “Orchid Worthy,”
Mr. Sigismund Rucker at West Hill, Wandsworth, which had _ its
commencement towards the end of the fourth decade and which was
not finally dispersed till the death of that gentleman in 1875. The
* A plan of this house is given by Mr. Bateman in the Introduction to the Orchidacew
of Mexico and Guatemala,
+ See p. 122,
134 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®. ~
house in which Mr. Rucker’s orchids were first cultivated seems to
have been better constructed than the orchid houses generally of
that period, being more roomy and susceptible of better ventilation ;*
a circumstance which doubtless contributed much to the great success
attained by Mr. Rucker in that early period of orchid culture, and
whose specimens when exhibited rarely failed to secure the highest
Vanda Roxburghi as cultivated by Mr. Sigismund Rucker in 1840,
(Copied from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.)
awards at the various horticultural exhibitions in and around London.
Anguloa Ruckeri, Dendrobium Ruckeri and other species were dedi-
cated to him.
At the time Mr. Rucker began to cultivate orchids Mr. George
Barker, of Springfield, near Birmingham, possessed one of the best
* A plan of Mr. Rucker’s first orchid house is given in the Introduction to Mr. Bateman’s
Orchidaceew of Mexico and Guatemala,
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST. 135
collections of them in the Midlands which he greatly enriched by sending
Ross, one of his gardeners, on a special mission to Mexico to collect
the best orchids of that country. Ross started on his mission in
1837, the annus mirabilis of orchidology, but his collection did not
reach England till the following year. It included the beautiful
Odontoglossum Rossii,* Acineta Barkeri and many others noted in their
respective places in the following pages. Mr. Barker subsequently
Lyeaste Skinneri in Mrs. Wray’s collection at Oakfield, Cheltenham, in 1845,
(Copied from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany.)
jomed with Mr. Rucker, the Rev. John Clowes and a few others
in contributing to the expenses of Linden’s mission to Colombia in
1842—3. His name is commemorated by Lindley’s genus Barkeria,
now made sectional under Hpidendrum. After his death in 1845
his collection passed into the hands of Mr, Blandy, of Reading.
During Ross’ mission to Mexico and for a short time after his
* This is probably the Odontoglossum apterum of the Mexican botanists La Llave and
Lexarza,
136 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDEA,
return many species of the Orcuipem and Cactrem of Mexico were
sent to the collections of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey
and Mr. Harris, of Kingsbury, by Her Majesty’s Consul-General,
Mr. John Parkinson.
sefore the fifth decade of the century was far advanced two lady
amateurs had acquired a high reputation in the horticultural world
an account of their extensive collections of exotic plants, especially
of orchids which were regarded at the time as among the best
cultivated in the country. These were Mrs. Wray, of Oakfield,
Cheltenham, to whom Sir William Hooker dedicated the 67th volume
of the DPotanical Magazine (1841), and Mrs. Lawrence, of Kaling Park,
to whom he dedicated the volume of the following year. In one
of the earliest numbers of the Gardeners’ Chronicle* a description
with figures is given of the orchid house at Kaling Park, of which
Dr. Lindley observed that it was precisely that which theory would
have suggested for such a purpose. Like that of Mr. Rucker’s at
Wandsworth, it seems to have been an improvement on the houses
generally used for orchid culture at that epoch, and in it were
grown the many fine specimens that afterwards obtained the highest
awards at the shows of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick, and
of the Royal Botanic Society at Regent’s Park. The influence of
Mrs. Lawrence in promoting horticulture was, however, far more
reaching in its effects after her death than during her lifetime,
for her love of plants was inherited in a still higher degree by her
son, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., the respected President of the
Royal Horticultural Society.
In friendly competition with these and other amateurs of that
time at the shows of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick and
the Royal Botanic Society at Regent?s Park was Mr. Charles B,
Warner, of Hoddesdon, who exhibited many fine specimens of cultural
skill in orchids from his collection, which was under the charge of
the late B. S. Williams. In the enumeration of the species
cultivated at Hoddesdont we miss the grand Cattleyas of the labiata
group, the finest of the Odontoglots from the Cordilleras of Colombia
and Peru, and the brilliant Masdevallias from the same region; but
* No. 3, vol. I. p. 36 (1841), and reproduced in vol. IX, ser, 3 (1891), p. 8,
+ Gard, Chron, 1851, passim,
ORCHID AMATEURS OF THE PAST. 157
the last-named genus was scarcely known to horticulturists at that
time; we find, however, Stanhopeas, Coryanthes and Cycnoches well
represented, an evidence of these interesting genera being appreciated
by the amateurs of orchids of that period. Among other collections
formed at this period, and which afterwards acquired a high reputation
for their extent and the success with which they were cultivated,
should be mentioned that of Mr. Robert Hanbury at Stamford Hill,
subsequently removed to The Poles, near Ware; and that of Mr.
J. D. Llewelyn at Penllergare, Swansea, the latter still maintained in
a high state of efficiency by his son, Sir J. T. D. Llewelyn, Bart.
Mr. Rucker’s collection of orchids at West Hill, Wandsworth,
has been mentioned above as having been maintained in efficiency
for the long series of upwards of forty years, a somewhat rare
fact in the early history of orchid culture. During that long
period the successive improvements introduced were adopted till
the modern methods of cultural treatment became fully applied.
This collection thence historically connects the present state of
orchid culture with that of the past. While the West Hill collec-
tion was still in its infancy another was being formed by one of
the worthiest of the “Orchid Worthies,’ and which was maintained
for as long a period and in like manner passed through the various
phases of orchid culture described in the preceding pages. The
collection we allude to was that of the late Mr. John Day at
Tottenham, and with a short notice of this and the owner we may
appropriately conclude our retrospect.
In Mr. John Day orchidology had one of its most ardent votaries,
for although he had among his earlier contemporaries Mrs. Wray of
Cheltenham, Mrs. Lawrence of Haling, and Mr. Rucker of Wandsworth
and other familiar names, he soon acquired a distinguished position
among the amateurs of that period, all of whom he long survived
and at length remained well nigh the sole connecting link between
the older pioneers in orchid culture and the amateur growers of
the present time. Mr. Day first acquired a love of orchids from
occasional visits to the nurseries of Messrs. Loddiges at Hackney,
from whom he purchased the first batch of plants that formed the
nucleus of his collection at Tottenham. From that time he followed
up his favourite pursuit with all the ardour of an enthusiast,
constantly acquiring novelties till his collection became one of the
L
138 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
richest and most famous in Europe. In this collection many of
the most admired orchids flowered for the first time in this country
and among them were Odontoglossum crispum, Aérides crassifolium,
Angrecum Ellisii, Cattleya Walkeriana, Ielia elegans Wolstenholmie,
named after Mr. Day’s sister, Cypripedium Stonei and its wonderful
variety platytenium, of which he acquired the only plant that has
ever been imported. Mr. Day’s love of orchids led him to travel
to their native homes with the object of better understanding their
habits and environment in situ; the districts selected for this purpose
were northern and southern India, Ceylon, Jamaica and Brazil, all of
which with the exception of the first named he visited within the
_last ten years of his life; in fact, no amateur of his time possessed
a greater practical knowledge of orchids than Mr. Day, whose name
will be perpetuated into the far future by Celogyne Dayana, Cypri-
pedium Dayanum, Lelia pumila Dayana, Cryptophoranthus Dayanus
and others.
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION
OF ORCHIDS.
The most striking development in the orchid culture of the present
time is seen in the raising of hybrids and métis or mixed forms not
immediately derived from two recognised species. To such an extent
is muling being carried on, not only in the establishments of
professional growers but also in the collections of amateurs, that
among Cypripedes, at least, the progenies so obtained have become
as varied in colour and form as those of many of our most familiar
florists’ flowers. In Cattleya, Lelia, Calanthe, Dendrobium, Masdevallia
and Phaius hybrid forms are now very numerous; in other less
popular genera the progress of muling has been much slower, so
that in none of them does the number of hybrids raised artificially
at present (1894) exceed half-a-dozen, while in some of them it is
restricted to one or two. Nevertheless scarcely a year passes without
a new genus being added to the list of those in which hybrids
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 139
have been obtained, and not only so but even bigeneric hybrids or
hybrids between species of different genera are on the increase.
The hybridisation of orchids in its scientific aspect has been already
touched upon.* Its history and progress may now be traced and
some of the most important results enumerated.
One of the first, probably the first to attempt to raise orchids
from seed produced by the cross fertilisation of different species was
Dean Herbert, who has obtained an enduring name in science for his
masterly systematic arrangement of the AMARYLLIDE®, and in horticulture
for having been the first to raise hybrid Narcissi and other hybrids
in the genera included in the family of plants he so long and so
assiduously studied. In a paper “On Hybridisation among Vegetables ”’
published in the Journal of the Horticultural Society of London for
1847+ occurs the following remarkable passage :—
“ Cross-breeding among orchidaceous plants would perhaps lead to very
startling results; but unfortunately they are not easily raised from seed.
I have however raised Bletia, Cattleya, Herminium monorchis and Ophrys
aranifera from seed; and if I were not during the greater part of the
year absent from the place where my plants are deposited I think I
could succeed in obtaining crosses in that Order. I had well-formed
pods last spring of Orchis by pollen of Ophrys as well as of other
species of Orchis which had been forced; and if I had remained on
the spot I think I should have obtained some cross-bred orchidaceous
seed. An intelligent gardener may do much for science by attempts
of this kind if he keeps accurate notes of what he attempts and does
not jump at immature conclusions.”
Two years later an article “On Growing Orchids from Seeds” was
contributed to the Gardeners’ Chronicle by the late Dr. Moore, Curator
of the Royal Botanic Garden at Glasnevin.{ In this article he states
that within the five years previous to its publication, seedlings of
the following species were raised in the orchid house at Glasnevin,
namely, Epidendrum elongatum, l!. crassifolium, Cattleya Forlesti and
Phaius (Thunia) albus, the seeds of which all vegetated freely. He
gives no information respecting the fertilisation of the plants from
which these orchids were raised, but it may be inferred from the
tenor of the article that they were not hybrids but had been
* See page 89.
+ Vol. II. p. 104.
+ Gard, Chron. 1849, p. 549,
140 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE.
obtained from flowers fertilised with their own or with the pollen
of other flowers of the same species.* Dr. Moore especially dwelt
on the difficulty in preserving the young seedlings alive during the
first year of their existence.
A little later, Robert Gallier, Gardener to Mr. Tildesley at West
Bromwich in Staffordshire, communicated to the Gardeners’. Chronicle
an account of his attempt to raise orchids from seed.t Im this
communication he states that he crossed Dendrobium nobile with D.
chrysanthum which produced a pod of seeds; he sowed these in three
ways (on three different substrata), but only obtained five plants, and
these he succeeded in keeping alive only for a few weeks. ‘This is
the earliest recorded instance we find of hybridisation among orchids
being effected by a bond fide gardener; the evidence is, however,
entirely his own and moreover the cross was an isolated one with
very imperfect results, nor does it seem to have been followed by
any further trial or experiment by the same operator.
At that period (1850—60) there was a prevalent notion among
horticulturists that muling smong orchids was an impossibility.
To Dean Herbert and Dr. Moore, who were well acquainted with
the structure of orchid flowers, their fertilisation by hand presented
no difficulty; to horticulturists and gardeners it was quite different.
Not only had they, in common with many others, not the slightest
suspicion of the fertilisation of orchids by insect agency, but, more-
over, very few of them possessed even an elementary knowledge of
botany. ‘They could, it is true, distinguish accurately the stamens
and pistils of many flowers familiar to them, and they were aware
of the functions of those organs, but the confluence of those organs
into the solid column of an orchid flower was to them a profound
mystery. It was unfortunate too that Dean Herbert’s injunction to
keep accurate notes of what was attempted was not followed in
the early days of orchid hybridisation, whence the uncertainty that
still hangs over the parentage of some of the earlier acquisitions.
Gallier’s futile attempt detracts nothing from the credit due to
Dominy as the first successful hybridiser of orchids who took up the
* Gard. Chron. 1849, p. 661.
t+ Dr. Lindley in Gard. Chron. 1858, p. 4, states that Prescottia plantaginea, a terrestrial
orchid related to our native Spiranthes and Neottias, was raised abundantly from seed in
1822 in the garden of the Horticultural Society at Chiswick,
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 141
subject in our Hxeter nursery about the year 1853. The possibility
of muling orchids was suggested to him by Mr. John Harris, a
surgeon of Exeter, who pointed out to him the reproductive organs
seated in the column, and showed that the application of the pollinia
to the stigmatic surface was analogous to the dusting of the stigma
of other flowers with pollen.
This simple fact being once fairly grasped, the work of hybridisation
proceeded apace, and from that time to the present experiments
have been carried on uninterruptedly in our horticultural establishments.
The flowers of showy species of Cattleya, Lelia, Calanthe, etc., were
fertilised with the pollinia of other species, and even the flowers
of supposed different but of course allied genera were also operated
upon in the same way. Capsules were produced in abundance which
in due course proved their maturity by dehiscing and thus the desired
seed was at hand. Then arose a great difficulty, a difficulty which
still exists, namely, to discover the most suitable method of raising
seedlings. he seeds of orchids are minute chaffy bodies of extreme
lightness; so minute are they that an ordinary pocket lens is powerless
to enable one to know whether the seeds are likely to contain a
germ or are mere lifeless dust. When growing wild it is evident
that the contents of the mature capsules after dehiscence are more
or less scattered by the wind, perhaps wafted to great distances
until they settle on the branches of trees, on shelving rocks or other
suitable substrata where the seeds can germinate and the seedlings
firmly affix themselves. Following or at least believing that we were
following Nature, so far as the altered circumstances of artificial
cultivation allowed, every method or available means that could be
thought of was brought into request to secure the germination of
the seed. It was sown upon blocks of wood, pieces of tree-fern
stems, strips of cork, upon the moss that surfaced the pots of the
growing plants, in fact, in any situation which seemed to promise
favourable results. Among the most cogent causes of failure in the
raising of seedling orchids there can be no doubt that the greatest
are the altered conditions of climate, especially the deficiency of sun-
light, and the artificial treatment to which the plants are necessarily
subject in the glass-houses of Europe. ‘The capsules neither can nor
do attain the perfection natural to them in their native countries,
and it is more than probable that, independently of the capsules
142 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
grown in our houses being the production of cross-breeding, they do
not yield a fractional part of the quantity of good seed they would
do in their native land; and so with their progeny—the tender seed-
lings are brought into growth under circumstances so different from
what they would have been in the native home of the parent plants,
that it is not at all surprising that multitudes of them perish in
their earliest infancy. ‘The capsules are not only less perfect in our
houses than they would be in a state of nature, but they also
require a longer time to arrive at maturity, a circumstance that
inust tell against the progeny.*
Such are some of the difficulties the raisers of orchids from seed
haye to contend against; we will here enumerate the most remark-
able results only, as all or nearly all the hybrids known to be im
cultivation up to the date of publication of the different parts of
this work are described in their respective places. We commence
with those raised in our own houses.
Dominy began to hybridise orchids at our Exeter nursery in 1853,
and continued his operations for some time after removing to Chelsea
in 1864. Seden began at Chelsea in 1866, and has worked un-
interruptedly from that time to the present. Our experience therefore
extends over a period of forty years, during which the field of
operations has been greatly enlarged, especially of late years, our
experiments being made upon many hundreds of crosses, not only
between allied species but also between species of different genera,
Among the results obtained by Dominy at Exeter Calanthe Domini
raised from CU. Masuca and C. furcata,t the last named being the
pollen parent, will always be regarded with interest as being the
first hybrid orchid raised by hand that flowered. It flowered for
the first time in October, 1856, on which occasion the inflorescence
was shown by the late Mr. James Veitch to Dr. Lindley, who
exclaimed on seeing it, “You will drive the botanists mad,” an
expression quite characteristic of the rigid systematists who lived
prior to the publication of Darwin’s Fertilisation of Orchids, and to
H. J. Veitch on the Hybridisation of Orchids read at the Orchid Conference at South
Kensington in May, 1885, and published in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural
Society.
+ A white-flowered species somewhat resembling Calanthe veratrifolia, a native of the
Philippines and Java. It was introduced from the first-named locality by Cuming about the
year 1840, but it has long since disappeared from cultivation,
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 145
whom, as Mr. Bateman has oft repeated, all hybrid productions were
an abomination. The first hybrid Cattleya that flowered was named
C. hybrida, a plant now lost, but which was soon followed by
the flowering of C. x Brabantie. The first hybrid Cypripedium to
flower was C, x Harrisianum, which justly commemorates the name
of Mr. Harris who first pointed out to Dominy the feasibility of
muling orchids. Among other noteworthy acquisitions ‘raised at
Exeter were Lelia x exoniensis, Dominy’s chef @wuvre from a cultivator’s
point of view, and Calanthe x Veitchii, long since recognised as one
of the handsomest and most useful winter-flowering orchids, and in
recent times a potent agent im the parentage of many new and
beautiful Calanthes that have been raised artificially. Mention must
also be made of Cattleya x Dominiana, Lelia x Pilcheriana, a true
Lela, and Phaiocalanthe irrorata, a generic hybrid which has a
special interest of its own in its scientific bearing and in its being
the forerunner of similar crosses by Seden and others already
noticed.* Among Dominy’s later acquisitions which flowered for the
first time at Chelsea is Cypripedium x Dominianum, the first hybrid
Selenipedium ever raised; the very distinct C. x vewillarium, the
forerunner of a group of handsome Cypripedes in which the rare
and beautiful C. Fairieanum has participated in the parentage, Lelia
x caloglossa and LL. x Veitchiana. For fifteen years, as the editor
of the Orchid Review justly observes, his record was unbroken,
but at length others attracted by his success entered the field.
Before recording the acquisitions of operators not connected with
the Veitchian establishment we vill pass in review the most
important additions to the list of hybrids made by Seden, Dominy’s
successor.
The first that flowered was Cypripedium Sedenii. This was a
remarkable cross in many respects; it was in fact raised from two
crosses, C. Schlimii x C. longifolium and the same two vice versa,
It will be observed that in this case one of the parents, O. longi-
folium, is much more robust in habit and growth than the other
parent, C. Schlimii. No perceptible difference was observed between
the plants raised from the two separate crosses; they agree in habit,
foliage, structure and colour of flower, in fact im every particular.
* See p. 93.
144. GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE,
It was also a great horticultural acquisition, for while the robust
parent has flowers that cannot be called attractive, and the other
parent is a difficult subject for the cultivator to deal with, the off-
spring has a most robust constitution, is remarkably floriferous with
well-shaped flowers of a pleasing shade of pink, and it has been
utilised for further experiments with the result that our gardens
have been enriched by a race of hybrids of the greatest possible
value from a decorative standpoint.* This group of hybrids which
we have called the Sedenii group includes, among others, the following
forms subsequently raised by Seden, namely, C. x albo-purpureum,
CU. x Schroedere the finest of all of them for size and colour, C. x
cardinale, C. x Sedenii candidulum, C. x leucorhodum, C. x Brysa,
C. x Perseus and CO. x Phiedra. Scarcely less remarkable for distinct-
ness and beauty among the numerous hybrid Cypripedes obtained
by the same raiser are the following in the coriaceous section :—
C. x enanthum, CU. x selligerum, O. x Morganiv, C. x microchilum,
C. x Aphrodite, C. x Leeanum superbum, C. x Niobe, C. x H.
Ballantine, C. x T. B. Haywood, all well-known forms but of which
the following remarks will not appear superfluous:—O. x cnanthum
was the first secondary hybrid Cypripede raised, that is to say, a
hybrid of which one parent is itself a hybrid, and in the progeny
occurred the variability in colour since frequently observed among
secondary hybrids. C. x Morganie is remarkable for its striking
resemblance to the largest of all known Cypripedes, CU. Stonei platy-
tenium, and a still closer resemblance to it is seen in CU. x Morganice
Langleyense, of which C. Stonei platyteniwm is the pollen parent;
O. x Aphrodite and OC. x microchilum were the first hybrids in
which ©. nivewm participated, while C. x Niobe and CU. x H. Ballan-
tine have each of them the rare and beautiful CU. Fairieanwm for one
parent, and their flowers are among the most elaborately pencilled
and veined yet obtained.
Passing to the popular genera Lelia and Cattleya—The first
Lelia to flower raised by Seden was JL. x flammea, a secondary
hybrid from L. x cinnabarina crossed with L. x Pilcheri, for many
years quite unique in colour but now approached in that respect by
his later acquisitions DL. x Hippolyta and LL. x Latona. This was
* Orchid Review, I. p. 37.
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 145
followed by L. x Sedenii, a brilliant and distinct form from Cattleya
superba x Lelia elegans, of which a single plant only was saved.
Then succeeded Cattleya x Mastersonie from C. Loddigesii x C. labiata,
and 0. x Chamberlainiana from C. guttata Leopoldii x C. labiata
Dowiana, both of which are among the most beautiful Cattleyas yet
raised from the crossing of labiata forms with other species. Lelia
x triopthalma, L. x bella and L. x calistoglossa are still among the
most admired of those hybrids with a Leelio-Cattleya parentage, but
the first place in this category must be given to Leliocatileya x
Digbyana-Mossie, the parentage of which is expressed by the name;
it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and distinct not only
of all hybrids but of all orchids; it is also a most interesting cross
from a scientific standpoint, as proving the propriety of removing
the first named or pollen parent from Brassavola to Lelia. Among
later acquisitions with a Lelio-Cattleya parentage, DL. x Ascania, L.
x Pallas, L. x Victoria, L. x evimia and IL. x Proserpine will long
retain a place in orchid collections.
The remarkable generic hybrids raised in our nursery have been
already mentioned.* More interesting hybrids than those obtained
from the genera grouped around Epidendrum, and in which
Sophronitis grandiflora has participated in the parentage, or more
far-reaching in their probable relation to hybrids that may be
obtained in the near future have never been raised. The first of
these was Sophrocattleya Batemaniana, of which Cattleya intermedia
is the pollen parent; it is named after the veteran orchidist to
signalise his renunciation of his former abhorrence of hybrids.t This
was followed by an equally beautiful form of which Cattleya Loddigesii
is the second parent and is called Sophrocattleya Calypso, and still
more recently by Sophrocattleya Veitchii, of which Lelia elegans is
the seed parent,t and Epiphronitis Veitchii, of which Epidendrum
radicans is the pollen parent.
Seden’s first acquisition in Dendrobium was the sweet-scented
D. x Endocharis which flowered for the first time in 1875; this was
followed by D. x Rhodostoma, the most distinct and one of the
handsomest of hybrid Dendrobes. He subsequently raised D. x
* See p. 91. + Journ. of Royal Hort. Soc. Oreh. Conf. p. 49.
+ Lelia elegans is a Lelio-Cattleya, half Cattleya and half Lelia ; it is therefore inexpedient
to burden the nomenclature with a new compound to express so slight a technical difference.
146 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDER.
splendidissimum from the same parentage as D. x Ainsworthit, of
which therefore it is strictly but a fine variety, and this was after-
wards followed by its variety grandijlorum, the facile princeps of
the group of hybrids obtained from D. nobile and D. aureum. Later
additions were made in D. x ewosmum, a secondary hybrid, and
which like most secondary hybrids proved a variable progeny, D. x
Schneiderianum, previously raised from the same parentage by Holmes,
D. x Virginia, D. x Euryalus, D. x Cordelia, and D. x Aspasia
subsequently obtained by Mr. Winn, of Birmingham, from the same
pair of species (D. Wardianum x D. aureum).
Among the finest Calanthes raised by Seden are . x Sedenti, a
secondary hybrid with (C. x Veitehii for one parent; the very distinct
CO. x lentiginosa also a secondary hybrid raised from C. x Veitehii
and C. labrosa, the sub-variety carminata of this hybrid is one of the
darkest-coloured Calanthes of the Vestrrm section yet obtained; and
C. x Gigas, one of the most robust forms in the section. Quite distinct
from al] these and bearing a strong analogy to Dominy’s bigeneric
hybrid Phaiocalanthe irrorata but far superior to it is Phaiocalanthe
Sedeniana, but still unfortunately very rare, so few plants being
obtainable from generic crosses; and lastly Phaiocalanthe insperata
from Phaius grandifolius and Calanthe masuca, and thence the first
Phaiocalanthe in which a species of the VerarriroLim has _partici-
pated in the parentage, the more remarkable since all attempts to
cross species of the Vestirm section of Calanthe with species of the
VeRATRIFOLIZ have hitherto failed.
Of the genera in which Seden was the first operator to obtain
artificially raised hybrids, Chysis was the earliest. In this restricted
genus two were raised, Chysis x Chelsoni and C. x Sedenii. Nearly
contemporary with the first flowering of Chysis x Chelsonti was that
of Zygopetalum x Sedenii, followed some years later by the generic
hybrids Zygocolaw leopardinus and Z%. Veitchii. In Epidendrum, L. x
Obrienianum was the first hybrid raised, and more recently the
beautiful E£. x Endresio-Wallisii. The first hybrid Masdevallia raised
artificially was M. x Chelsonii which flowered in 1880, followed later
by M. x Gairiana, M. x glaphyrantha, M. x LEllisiana, and M. x
caudata-Estrade, all beautiful additions to the genus, and also the
progeny from M. Veitehiana x M. Barleana already mentioned.*
See p. 91,
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 147
Very beautiful and distinct hybrids were subsequently obtained in
Phalenopsis and named respectively Icthschildiana, Harriette, F. L.
Ames, John Seden and Vesta; and in other genera Cymbidium x
ehurneo-Lowianum and Phaius x amabilis.
One of the most interesting and, in a horticultural sense, one of
the most useful of our latest acquisitions is Disa x Veitchii
raised from J). grandiflora fertilised with the pollen of D. racemosa.
In this hybrid we have the handsomest garden plant yet raised
artificially in the Tribe Opurypg® which we have not brought within
the scope of this work. he genus Disa has been further enriched
by two hybrids which have been raised in the Royal Gardens at
Kew, one from PD. tripetaloides ¢ and D. grandiflora 9 called D. x
hewensis ; the other from D. x Veitehii g and D. tripetaloides 9
called D. x Premier.
We will now proceed to enumerate the most noteworthy
results obtained by other operators, but our review of them
must necessarily be a restricted one, especially of those that
have flowered since the issue of the various parts of this work in
which a description of them would otherwise have been inserted.
Of a very large proportion of these we know nothing beyond the
notices of them that have appeared from time to time in the
periodical press, and of such we can only mention those that have
been distinguished by some award or by a consensus of opinion
respecting their merit. Another large contingent consists of pro-
genies that have been derived from the same or reverse crosses as
others that preceded them, and they must therefore, in the case of
true hybrids, bear so near a resemblance to the older forms as to be
synonymous with, or simply varieties of them. All such are purposely
omitted where observed; and also all secondary hybrids in which
the variability of the progenies is much greater. And lastly, there
is another category of hybrids and métis whose origin is unknown
or doubtful, and for which it is not easy to find a place im a
systematic treatise on orchids.
Before Dominy had terminated his labours as an hybridist, and
even before the first efforts of Seden had borne fruit, two handsome
Cypripedes had been raised by Cross, Gardener to Lady Ashburton
at Melchet Court in Hampshire: Oypripedium x Ashburtonie from
CO. barbatum x C. insigne flowered in 1871; C. x Crossii from C,
148 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDER.
insigne x CO. venustwm flowered two years later. Both hybrids are
quite intermediate in character.
In the spring of 1874 Dendrobium x Ainsworthii flowered for the
first time in Dr. Ainsworth’s collection at Lower Broughton, near
Manchester. It was obtained by Mitchell, Dr. Ainsworth’s gardener,
from D. aureum x D. nobile. Plants from the same cross were,
however, raised by West about the same time at the Fairfield
Nursery, near Manchester. Mitchell subsequently raised Cattleya x
Mitchelli from O. guttata Leopoldi x U. labiata Triane; the plant is
said to have been thirteen years old when it flowered for the first
time; also Cypripedium x Ainsworthti, a secondary hybrid with C. x
Sedenii for one parent.
Two more hybrids shortly afterwards appeared in Manchester but
raised by another operator, these were Cypripedium x Swanianum
and Dendrobium x Leechianum, obtained by Swan, Gardener to Mr.
Leech, of Fallowfield; the last named from the reverse cross of that
which produced D. x Arnsworthii, and so closely resembling it that
it can only be regarded as a variety of it.
Between 1876 and 1887 appeared a series of hybrid Cypripedes raised
by the late Mr. J. C. Bowring, of Forest Farm, Windsor, of which
Cypripedium x concinnum and C. x gemmiferum are HucyprirepiA and
CU. x conchiferum and U, x stenophyllum are Seveuntpepia. He subse-
quently raised several others, some of them from the same pairs of
species as previously obtained by other operators. In the same epoch
was brought to light a batch of seedlings whose origin is not certainly
known, raised by Mr. Robert Warner, of Broomfield, near Chelmsford.
From their marked resemblance to each other and all possessing charac-
ters of UC. venustum they may be assumed to have resulted from one
cross in which C. venustum participated; they were named by
Reichenbach OC. x discolor, C. x chloroneurum, C. x politum, C. x Meirax
and U. x melanophthalmum. Later from the same source appeared
another batch from a different parentage and named (0. x Williamsi-
anum, CU. x Amesianum and C. x Measuresianum. C. x villosum and
U. venustum participated in the parentage of all these; in CG. x
Williamsianum CO. villosum participated, mediately probably through
C. x Harrisianum. Following close upon Mr. Bowring’s earlier pro-
ductions have appeared a long series of Cypripedes raised by Mr.
D. O. Drewett, of Riding-Mill-on-Tyne, of which fifteen or more
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 149
have been named and published. Some of the later announcements
have been derived from new crosses and are described as distinct
and handsome additions to the genus; of such are 0. x pavoninum,
0. x Beatrice, C. x Alice, C0. x Constanze and C. x Juno. Here
may be mentioned a series of Cypripedes which appeared con-
temporaneously with many of Mr. Drewett’s productions, and which
had their origin in one of the richest collections of Cypripedes ever
brought together, that of Mr. R. H. Measures, at The Woodlands,
Streatham. Among the best acquisitions made in The Woodlands
collection are C. x basileum, CU. x Cymatodes, C. x Venus, C. x
Cytherea, OC. x Hera, C. Fairieano-Lawrenceanum, besides several very
beantiful secondary hybrids. Another large group of hybrid Cypripedes
has originated in the collection of Mr. R. I. Measures, at Cambridge
Lodge, Camberwell.* Very noteworthy are C. x Apollo, CU. x Bellina,
O. x Diana,} C. x Flora, C. x Hisa, all primary hybrids, and in
addition several secondary hybrids and many others obtained from
the same or the reverse cross aS some previously raised by other
operators, and being identical the first names have been properly
retained for them.
In enumerating the foregoing long list of Cypripedes we have
somewhat outstripped the chronological order of events; we will there-
fore record some meritorious acquisitions by operators who have
since been removed from the scene of their labours. The first of
these was Mr. Fraser, of Dencleugh, near Aberdeen, who raised the
brilliant Masdevallia x Fraseri, Cypripedium x Fraseri, and a_ fine
variety of C. x Ashburtonice called calospilum from the same pair of
species as Cross’ type. Next followed Mr. Goss, of Torquay, who
obtained Calanthe x Sandhurstiana from the same parentage as C. x
Veitchii, and which must be regarded as a highly-coloured variety
of it. And lastly Dr. Harris, of Lamberhurst, Kent, who raised
some highly interesting hybrids in Lelia and Cattleya, especially
C. x citrino-intermedia, the first hybrid in which C. citrina has been
successfully used, and so far as we know the only one. Dr. Harris
also raised C(. x Harristi, C. x Miss Harris, Lelia x Novelty, subsequently
* This is a most interesting collection, particularly rich in Masdevallias and cther
Ple urothallids.
+ A variety of C. x Eyermanianum previously raised by Messrs, Sander and Co. from the
same pair of species (C. barbatwm and C. Spicerianwm).
150 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDES.
obtained by Seden from the same parentage, and three or four
Cypripedes from the same crosses as others that preceded them and
which they resembled in every particular.
In the meantime two fine series of progenies from Calanthe and
Dendrobium were maturing in the houses of Sir Trevor Lawrence
at Burford, Dorking; the first of these to flower were the Calanthes
of the Vestitm section, to which C. x porphyrea from C. labrosa and C.
vestita must be assigned the first place for distinctness and beauty of
coloration. A fine progeny has also been obtained from C. rosea
(Limatodes rosea, Lindl.) and C. x Vevtchii, which like most progenies
with a hybrid parentage proved a variable one as regards the colour
of the flowers; among the seedlings the forms named burfordiensis,
versicolor, Victoria Regina and Veitchii lactea are very attractive, and
in addition to these one named sanguinaria, whose parentage was
omitted to be recorded, is very distinct, the whole forming a group
of orchids of the highest horticultural merit for winter decoration.
This group was followed by the flowering of a scarcely less interesting
progeny of secondary hybrids between Dendrobium x Ainsworth and
D. Findlayanum, of which the most distinct forms are named D.
chrysodiscus and D. melanodiscus, the latter being from the reverse
cross of the former. ‘To this group were subsequently added D. x
Chrysostele, raised from D. Wardianum and D. Linawianum, and D.
Juno and D. wanthocentrum from the reverse cross. Some beautiful
hybrid Cypripedes have also originated at Burford, including C. x
Tieeanum, CO. x Laurebel, U. x Morganie Burfordiense, from the same
pair of species as Seden’s hybrid; C. x concolawre, and _ several
secondary hybrids.
On the banks of the Tyne has originated another series of hybrids
in which the field of operations has been more extended and the
results consequently much more varied than in the series noted
above. These hybrids were obtained by Mr. Norman C. Cookson, of
Oakwood, Wylam-on-Tyne, and include among Cypripedes, Cypri-
pedium x Io, C. x Godseffianum, C. x plunerum, C. x Aleides, C. x
Doris, C. x nitidissimum, C. x Sandero-superbiens, C. x aurosum,
many secondary hybrids of considerable horticultural merit; and also
some of the finest acquisitions by other operators have been raised
at Oakwood from the same pairs of species and have very properly
received the same name; of such are (. x Calypso, C. x Morganie,
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 15!
0. x Niobe, O. x cardinale, C. Ashburtonie expansum, Dendrobium ~x
Ainsworthii, Calanthe x Sedenii and others. In other genera Mr.
Cookson has also raised some remarkably fine hybrids including
Oalanthe x Cooksonii, Cattleya x William Murray, Leeliocattleya x
Phebe, L. x Normaniti, Dendrobium x Venus, D. x Cassiope, D. x
Bryan, D. x Owenianum, D. x Sybil, Masdevallia x Courtauldiana,
Phaius x Cooksonii, the last named of exceptional interest from its
being the first hybrid Phaius, of which the beautiful Madagascar
species, P. tuberculosus, is one parent. The total number of hybrids
raised by Mr. Cookson is probably greater than those obtained in
any other private collection.
The genus Masdevallia has received especial attention from Captain
Hincks, of Terrace House, Richmond, Yorkshire, who had added to it
the following beautiful hybrids, M. « Hineksiana, M. x Stella, M. x
Cassiope, M. x Rushtonii and M. x Veitchiano-Hstrade. Further
additions to the genus have been made by Sir Trevor Lawrence,
Mr. D. O. Drewett, Mr. W. Thompson and Messrs. Sander and Co.
Here may be noted three hybrids of great merit obtained by three
different operators who appear to have desisted from further efforts.
The first of these is Zygopetalum x Clayii obtained many years ago
by Colonel Clay, of Wallasy, near Birkenhead; the second Dendrobium
x Schneiderianum raised by Holmes, Gardener to Mr. C. Moseley, of
Grange Thorpe, Manchester; and lastly Cypripedium = Lathamianum
by Mr. Latham, of the Botanic Garden, Birmingham.
Mr. Winn, of Selly Hill, Birmingham, has added to the list of
hybrid orchids Calanthe x Aurora, Cymbidium x Winnianum, the
second hybrid obtained in the genus, Dendrobium x Aspasia, previously
raised by Seden from the same parentage, D. x Nestor, Cypripedium x
Edith Winn, C. x Sylva and some secondary hybrids in Cypripedium.
Captain Vipan, of Wansford, Northampton, has obtained Cypripedium
x Vipanii, C. x Sanderiano-superbiens and C. x Berenice, the last
named being the first hybrid known to us between racemose species
of Eucyprivepium (philippinense x Lowii) that has flowered. In Baron
Schroeder’s magnificent collection has been raised Hpidendrum x
Delliense, Cattleya x Baroness Schroeder and Lelia x vitellina, all new
and distinct crosses; in this collection is Calanthe x Baron Schroeder,
the finest hybrid Calanthe yet raised. Sir William Marriott has
raised Lelia Marriottiana from DL. flava and Cattleya Skinner: in his
152 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDE®.
collection at the Down House, Blandford, probably the first in which
these two species have participated in the parentage, and L. x Canhamiana.
In that of Mr. W. E. Brymer, at [sington House, Dorchester, Ielio-
cattleya x Brymeriana, a hybrid of complex descent, and Dendrobium
x Benita. In that of Mr. Ingram, Elstead House, Godalming, felio-
ceattleya x Ingramti, Cypripedium x UT Unique, C. x Adonis and several
secondary hybrids in Cypripedium. Mr. Hollington, of Forty Hill,
Enfield, has obtained Cypripedium x Aylingii, C. x Muriel Hollington
and (. x Hvenor, all handsome forms of which C. nivewm is one parent.
The late Mr. Tautz, of Dibdin House, Ealing, raised two good forms
in C. x Cowleyanum and (0. x Dibdin. Mr. Vanner, of Camden Wood,
Chislehurst, has obtained Dendrobium x Vannerianum, a Cypripede in
the Selenipedium section, closely resembling CU. x leucorhodum, and
also a seedling between two varieties of Masdevallia Chimera, the
first recorded instance in the Saccolabiate Masdevallias, but the cross
having been effected between two varieties of one species the result
is not a hybrid in the accepted sense of the word. Mr. Statter,
of Stand Hall, Manchester, has raised Cypripedium x Daviesianum,
several secondary hybrids in the same genus, and Leeliocattleya Clive.
Mr. C. Richman, of Springfield, Trowbridge, exhibited at one of the
meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society in May, 1893, a distinct
hybrid Cypripede raised from C. bellatulum x C. barbatum and named
CG. x Oharles Richman. And there are probably other amateur
operators who have raised seedling orchids, but of which we have
failed to acquire any cognisance.
Turning to the hybrids obtained by professional growers, by far
the greater number of these have either originated in the establish-
ment of Messrs. Sander and Co. at St. Albans, or have been acquired
by that firm from the raisers. Their group includes a large number
of Cypripedes, several of them secondary hybrids, also several hybrids
in Cattleya, Lelia, Dendrobium, Calanthe and Masdevallia. Messrs.
B. S. Williams and Son, of Holloway, have raised or acquired from
other raisers a Leeliocattleya, some Calanthes of the vestita group,
and several Cypripedes. Messrs. Low, of Clapton, have exhibited
one Leeliocattleya, one Cypripedium of known and one of unknown
parentage. Messrs. Seeger and Tropp, of Dulwich, have exhibited
three or four secondary hybrid Cypripedes. Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, is
credited with one hybrid Cypripedium; Mr. Lewis, of Southgate,
SOME RESULTS OF THE HYBRIDISATION OF ORCHIDS. 158
with two Cattleyas and one Cypripede; and Messrs. Heath, of
Cheltenham, with one Cypripede. Messrs. Backhouse, of York, have
raised one hybrid Cattleya; and Mr. Cypher, of Cheltenham, two
handsome Dendrobes, of which one is a secondary hybrid. *
The hybrid orchids that have originated on the continent of Europe
and in the United States of America are few indeed compared with
British-raised seedlings. The first continental hybrids appeared in
the horticultural establishment of M. Bleu at Paris, who has raised
Cattleya x calummata, Cypripedium x javanico-superbiens and Miltonia
x Bleuana, the last-named from M. vevillaria; M. Roezlii, the
first hybrid obtained in the genus but which was shortly afterwards
raised by Seden from the same pair of species; and many others.
In Paris were also raised two hybrid Cypripedes by M. Bauer, of
The Muette, viz., O. x Carrierei and CU. x Laforcade?. Other hybrids
have been raised in France by M. Page, M. Paul Darblay, M.
Godefroy and Madame Block.
A small group of hybrids are announced from Vienna, raised by
M. Horn, who has charge of Baron Nathaniel Rothschild’s collection
at the Hohe Warte; his best acquisitions are Cypripedium x Horni-
anum, C. x Pandora and Lelia x Horniana. And in the Emperor
of Austria’s collection at Schdnbrunn has been raised Lycaste x
Schoenbrunnensis.
In Belgium a considerable number of hybrid or métis (mixed)
Cypripedes have been published in the horticultural press, but in
many cases the parentage has either been imperfectly rendered or
only conjectured; others are manifestly from the same or reverse
crosses of older hybrids; the largest number of these were raised
in the horticultural establishments of M. Vuylsteke and M. Vervaet
at Ghent, and of M. Linden at Brussels; the others chiefly in the
amateur collections of M. Hye-Leysen and the late M. Moens.
In America the hybridisation of orchids is quite in its infancy
and thus far some of the results of two operators only have been
announced, if we except a Cypripede of unknown origin in Mr.
Kimball’s collection at Rochester, New York. Mr. H. Graves, of
Orange, New Jersey, is the most prominent amongst amateurs; he
has raised Cypripedium x Edwardii from O. superbiens and (,
* This enumeration only holds good to date of going to press,
154 GENERAL REVIEW OF THE ORCHIDER.
Fuirieanum, presumably a distinct acquisition, C. x calloso-Argus and
several other Cypripedes, some of which are from the same pairs of
species as older hybrids, also Phaiu. x hybridus previously raised by
Mr. Drewitt, of Riding-Mill-on-Tyne. Messrs. Pitcher and Manda, of
Short Hills Nursery, New Jersey, have obtained several Cypripedes,
of which C0. Constableanwm from CU. Dayanum and C. x Fairiconum
adds one more to the vewillarium group, many other Cypripedes
most of them secondary hybrids, and Dendrobium x Roeblingianum, of
which D. Rucker’, a species now but seldom seen, is one parent.
LITERATURE.
The literature of the Orcnipem is very copious. Besides the
works especially devoted to the subject there is a large amount
dispersed through botanical works that have been compiled in Latin,
English, French, German and other HKuropean languages since the
time of lLinneus. Of the larger works devoted exclusively to
orchids there are many of the highest excellence both as regards
illustrations of particular species and the accompanying letterpress.
Others are of a more popular kind exclusively devoted to showy
species in cultivation and generally devoid of analytic figures showing
generic or specific characters. Many of the treatises on the OrcHIpEm
forming part of the Floras of different countries, or other works of
large scope have been compiled by botanists of eminence and are
among the most valuable contributions to Orchidology extant; and
scarcely less so are most of the papers on orchid subjects read
before the Linnean Society and published in the Society’s Journal.
The subjoined list of published works arranged in chronological
order includes, so far as we have been able to ascertain, all the
most important from the earliest production of Linnzus to those
of the present time. On account of the great amount of orchid
literature scattered through botanical and other periodicals since
1830 the list is far from being complete.
1753 Linneus, Species Plantarum, ed. 1, vol. II.
1762 Linneus, Species Plantarum, ed, 2, vol. II.
1789 . *
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sh ease
its)
7
‘a