Part 7

ODONTOGLOSSUM EPIDENDROIDES, Lindl. fil. (non Hb. Kth. N.G.).

Habitat in PAMPLONA (in sylvis humidis), 8500 ft., Linden; Ocaña, 9000 ft., Schlim; Ocaña (floribus majoribus), Wagener; Bogotá, Weir.

DESCRIPTION.

PSEUDOBULBS about 3 inches long, ovate-oblong, compressed, 2-leaved, sometimes a little spotted. LEAVES lanceolate, from a span to a foot long, rather leathery, sharp-pointed. RACEME rather longer than the leaves, bearing from half-a-dozen to a dozen flowers. BRACTS oblong, acute, about one-third the length of the ovary. SEPALS and PETALS nearly equal, an inch or more long, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, of a yellowish-green, with a few large chestnut blotches, the arrangement of which varies in different specimens. LIP shorter than the petals, narrow, unguiculate, hastate, 3-lobed; the lateral lobes forming two blunt angles, the middle lobe longer, linear-lanceolate, deflexed, with two large upright slightly-curved horns placed on either side of the disk; at its base the lip is keeled and united with the column after the fashion of the Trichopilias; its colour is usually a pale yellow or yellowish-white with large chestnut bands. COLUMN downy, furnished near the summit with two narrow erect upright acuminate auricles.

The name of this plant, associated as it is with the memory of the distinguished botanist who has lately passed from among us, is to me suggestive of the most melancholy reflections. Mourn indeed I must, the loss of one who had been my steady friend for five-and-thirty years, and by whose labours among the members of my favourite tribe, I have been enabled to follow a pursuit that has never ceased to be a joy and solace amid all the cares and vicissitudes of life!

O. Lindleyanum was so named by Professor Reichenbach, in honour of the great Orchidist whose mantle seems now to have fallen upon himself. It is closely allied to the O. epidendroides of Humboldt and Kunth, from which indeed Dr. Lindley failed to distinguish it, but if the characters of the two species, as represented in the 'Xenia,' prove to be constant, no doubt the German Professor was right in separating them.

Several travellers, including Schlim, Wagener, Warszewicz, and Weir, appear to have met with the plant in various localities in New Granada, but always at a great elevation, hence it must of course be classed among the coolest section of Orchids. It has flowered in the gardens of the Horticultural Society, to which it was sent by their zealous collector Mr. Weir, and also in the collection of Mr. Rucker, where Mr. Fitch made his drawing in the spring of last year (1865).

DISSECTIONS.--1. Lip and column, seen sideways; 2. Ditto seen in front: magnified.

Plate XII

PLATE XII.

ODONTOGLOSSUM GLORIOSUM.

FINE ODONTOGLOSSUM.

O. (EUODONTOGLOSSUM, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovatis confertis diphyllis, foliis lato-lanceolatis acutis scapo valido paniculato multifloro brevioribus, sepalis petalisque oblongo-ligulatis acuminatis stellatis, labello a basi cordatâ ligulato acuminato, basin versus utrinque angulato, ceterum hinc illinc denticulato, callo depresso quadrilobulo nunc quadridentato ante basin, columnâ clavatâ apice utrinque cirrho setaceo medio inferne unidentato.

ODONTOGLOSSUM GLORIOSUM, Reichenbach fil. Bonpl. ii. 278; idem in Gardeners' Chronicle (New Plants, n. 293, 1865), et in Walpers, Annales, vi. fasc. 6.

Habitat in N. GRANADA, Soto. 8-9000 p., Schlim; Ocaña, 6000 p., Wagener; Bogotá, Weir.

DESCRIPTION.

PSEUDOBULBS ovate, 2-leaved, growing closely together, 3 or 4 inches long, turning to a dark colour when old. LEAVES broadly-lanceolate, acute, shorter than the stout much-branched many-flowered panicle. FLOWERS exceedingly variable in size and form and colour; the example in the Plate representing one of the largest varieties, and the vignette one of the least. Usually they are about 2 inches across, of a pale ochrish or greenish-yellow, blotched, or sometimes minutely spotted, with dark-chestnut. SEPALS and PETALS nearly equal, lanceolate, acute (often narrower than in the figure), slightly waved. LIP ligulate, smooth (not crisp) at the margin, very much attenuated in front, but heart-shaped at the base, towards which it is abruptly carinate, and furnished with 2 upright large sharp double teeth. COLUMN clavate, with hairy cirrhi on either side near its apex, and a solitary tooth near the middle.

This remarkable Odontoglossum was long since discovered in New Granada by Schlim and Wagener, in whose herbaria its stately many-flowered panicles formed so striking a feature that Professor Reichenbach did not hesitate to give the plant the name of gloriosum; an epithet which--now that we have the plant amongst us in a living state--may perhaps be thought to be somewhat beyond its merits. It must indeed be admitted that the fresh blossoms, which are of a faint yellowish-green, scarcely realize the expectations which the rich colour and profusion of flowers in the dried specimens had very naturally raised. Nor are all the varieties of equal merit, some being much smaller and paler than others.

The species has lately been imported in large quantities, both by Messrs. H. Low and Co., of Clapton, and by the Horticultural Society, who received it in 1864 from Mr. Weir, by whom it was gathered in the neighbourhood of Bogotá. It flowers freely, and at all seasons of the year; nor does it appear to care so much as many of its congeners for a few degrees more or less of heat or cold. I believe it has already bloomed in almost every collection of note; though the spikes, as was of course to be expected, are as yet far from equal to the wild specimens. The figure was taken from a plant in Mr. Day's garden, where I saw, in November last, nearly a dozen distinct varieties in blow, some of them rivalling the example given in the Plate, while others were as insignificant as that which is shown in the vignette. The blossoms continue fresh for at least a fortnight, and emit a pleasant honey-like scent.

DISSECTIONS.--1. Lip (magnified), seen sideways; 2. Ditto, seen in front.

Plate XIII

PLATE XIII. FIG. 1.

ODONTOGLOSSUM WARNERIANUM,

MR. WARNER'S ODONTOGLOSSUM.

O. (LEUCOGLOSSUM, Lindl.) pseudobulbis subelongatis compressis monophyllis, foliis membranaceis oblongis in petiolum canaliculatum angustatis scapo 2-6-floro brevioribus, bracteis uncialibus acuminatis, sepalis lineari-lanceolatis acutis, petalis latioribus undulatis, labelli callo cuneato ovato, antice abrupte trilobo, lobis lateralibus angulatis, lobo medio forcipato bicruri, longiori, lateribus calli a basi versus apicem involutis, laminâ cordato-triangulâ obtusâ, margine minute crispulâ crenulatâ, columnâ gracili clavatâ apterâ.

ODONTOGLOSSUM WARNERIANUM, Reichenbach fil. in Mohl and Schl. Bot. Zeit. 1864, 297; idem in Gardeners' Chronicle, 1865, New Plants, n. 294.

Habitat in MEXICO (?).

DESCRIPTION.