Part 14

Habitat in PERU, (alt. 8000 ft.,) Hall, Hartweg, Linden.

DESCRIPTION.

A very stately plant. PSEUDOBULBS ovate-oblong compressed, 2 or 3 inches long, 1 (or ? 2) leaved. LEAVES one to one and a half feet long, linear-lanceolate acute, shorter than the upright branching zigzag many-flowered PANICLES. BRACTS keeled, acute, much shorter than the ovaries. SEPALS and PETALS nearly equal, unguiculate, acuminate, undulated, white with beautiful purple spots on their lower portions. LIP white, or nearly so, shorter than the petals, ovate-lanceolate, the apex acuminate and exceedingly recurved, having at its sides two membranous lamellæ, divided into three unequal parts, those in front the larger and projecting forwards like horns or fingers with a blunt callus lying between them. COLUMN not half the length of the lip, and destitute of wings.

This is a very distinct species, as remarkable among Odontoglossa with its white and purple flowers, as is Oncidium incurvum, with blossoms of similar hues, among the innumerable members of that still more extensive genus. Although originally discovered by Colonel Hall more than a quarter of a century ago, no genuine plants--there have been impostors in plenty--seem to have reached Europe alive before the year 1871, when it was introduced by M. Linden; by whom also, in the following spring, flowering specimens were exhibited at South Kensington and universally admired. According to Lindley, the species is nearly allied to his O. ramosissimum, from which, indeed, he at one time failed to distinguish it. M. Linden's plant, which is faithfully rendered in Mr. Fitch's drawing, does not exactly answer to the descriptions in the Folia Orchidacea either of O. angustatum or O. ramosissimum, but is apparently a connecting link between the two, whence I infer the probability that both the above supposed species will eventually be found to be one and the same.

The plant is still exceedingly scarce, and as it is indistinguishable in habit from many other Odontoglossa derived from the same rich country (Peru), I would warn cultivators against purchasing any specimens that have not actually proved themselves to be true. It belongs to the cooler sections of its race, and must be treated accordingly.

Plate XXVII

PLATE XXVII.

ODONTOGLOSSUM CORONARIUM.

ROYAL ODONTOGLOSSUM.

O. (TRYMENIUM) rhizomate caulescente, pseudobulbis brunneis ovalibus compressis monophyllis, foliis rigidis coriaceis basi canaliculatis acutis racemo multifloro dense racemoso subæqualibus vel longioribus, bracteis linearibus canaliculatis ovario triplô brevioribus, sepalis petalisque subrotundis unguiculatis planis margine crispis, labello longê cuneato retuso basi auriculis unidentatis subfalcatis obtusis subtus in unam connatis acuto, inter auriculas tuberculis duobus hoc didymo illo inferiore simplici; clinandrio subserrato lobis rotundatis (Lindl.)

ODONTOGLOSSUM CORONARIUM, Lindl. Folia Orchid.; Linden, Pescatorea, t. 47.

Habitat in N. GRENADA, propè La Baja, Pamplona, (alt. 7000 ft.,) Schlim.

DESCRIPTION.

A stout and rigid plant. PSEUDOBULBS oval, compressed, 3 or more inches long, of a brownish hue, placed at intervals on a stiff caulescent RHIZOME. LEAVES one on each pseudobulb, leathery, sharp-pointed, channelled near the base, a foot or more long, equal to or longer than the flower-scapes. BRACTS linear channelled, only one third the length of the ovary. RACEMES about a foot high, upright, bearing from a dozen to twenty flowers in a dense mass. SEPALS and PETALS equal, subrotund, unguiculate, smooth, with their margins crisp or curled, about an inch long, of a rich reddish coppery brown on the upper surface, shining as if they had been varnished, yellowish underneath. LIP yellow, retuse, about same length as the petals, obovate, rounded at apex, narrowed and wedge-shaped at the base, where the sides arrange themselves into two narrow blunt falcate horns which are united on the under side. CREST consisting of three processes. COLUMN slightly curved with two truncate rounded wings.

This species has been long known, but it was slow in making its appearance, and slow likewise in flowering after it had reached us. During the last four years both Messrs. Veitch and M. Linden have succeeded in importing it alive, but it has only produced flowers in two or three instances; the finest specimens I have seen being those exhibited by Lord Londesborough during the present spring (1874). Even in its native country it seems to be a shy flowerer. As it is never met with lower than 7000 feet on the mountains of Pamplona, it of course requires a cooler treatment than many of its congeners which affect a lower level. The shining surface of the sepals and petals is very remarkable, and has the appearance of being due to a coat of the best varnish. Another species, O. brevifolium, found in lofty mountains in Peru, is closely allied to this, if indeed, which I greatly doubt, it be anything more than a very high-level variety of it.

Plate XXVIII

PLATE XXVIII.

ODONTOGLOSSUM BLANDUM.

PLEASANT ODONTOGLOSSUM.

O. (EUODONTOGLOSSUM) pseudobulbis ovatis 1-2-phyllis, foliis lineari-lanceolatis acutis racemis multifloris subæqualibus, sepalis petalisque cuneato-lanceis acuminatis; labelli ungue bilamellato, lamellis oblongis antice obtusangulis, laminâ ab ungue cuneato velutino ampliato ovatâ acuminatâ crispulâ, cornubus brevibus geminis ante lamellas, antepositis falcibus geminis, tumore parvo interjecto; cirrhis columnæ basi angulatæ bifidis setaceis.

ODONTOGLOSSUM BLANDUM, Rchb. fil. in Gardeners' Chronicle, p. 1342 (1872).

Habitat in OCAÑA, Blunt, Roezl.

DESCRIPTION.

PLANT about a span across, in a compact mass.

PSEUDOBULBS ovate, somewhat compressed, about an inch long, bearing 1 (rarely 2) narrow lanceolate LEAVES of about the same length as the slender nodding many-flowered RACEMES. The FLOWERS, of which there are from six to twelve (or more) crowded together on the racemes, are all expanded at the same time, and emit a pleasant honey-like smell. SEPALS and PETALS nearly equal, less than an inch long, lanceolate, acuminate, of a creamy white sprinkled over with numerous crimson dots. LIP about the same length as the sepals, and of the same hue, but destitute of spots except at the apex, the central portion bearing a large crimson mark nearly in the form of the letter W; the lip's base is formed of two parallel blunt lamellæ out of which springs the main limb which is broadly ovate, curled and jagged at the edges and recurved and acuminate at its extremity; at the point of junction with the unguis or claw occur two horned falcate processes, between which a small tumour is interposed, at foot of which are two short and blunt horns. COLUMN short, bifid, angular with three or four straggling cirrhi or filaments on either side.

This pretty little Odontoglossum comes from Ocaña, where it was first discovered by Mr. Low's collector many years ago. At that time none of the plants reached England alive, but some dried specimens that found their way to Professor Reichenbach, enabled the great German Orchidist to name and describe the species; which turns out to be nearly allied to O. nævium. It has been met with by M. Roezl and other collectors, but is still a rare plant, as its constitution is apt to succumb under a long journey by sea and land. The specimens from which Mr. Fitch prepared his drawing, flowered in the spring of 1871, in the collection of the Royal Horticultural Society;--the plants having been purchased at one of Stevens' sales, among a "miscellaneous lot" of doubtful things. The species is a free-flowerer, and sends out an agreeable honey-like odour, but in point of beauty is scarcely a rival for O. nævium. It seems to require rather more heat than the latter species, which is one of the coolest of cool Orchids.

Plate XXIX

PLATE XXIX.