Part 8

PSEUDOBULBS rather long and narrow, compressed, about 3 inches in length. LEAVES, one on each pseudobulb, less than a span long, membranous, sharp-pointed, narrowed at the base into a channelled petiole. BRACTS about an inch long, scariose, very acuminate. SCAPE longer than the leaves, only partially covered by the bracts, bearing from 2 to half-a-dozen flowers of a very delicate texture, and of snowy whiteness with the exception of the yellow crest on the lip and a few brown blotches on the lower half of the sepals and (though in a less degree) of the petals also. SEPALS rather narrow, oblong, acute. PETALS broader than the sepals and waved at the margin. LIP with a heart-shaped crenulate plate (occasionally suffused with a rosy tint), and a yellow 3-lobed callus at its base, the front portion of which is longer than the lateral ones (which are turned inwards from the base upwards), and split into two divergent members. COLUMN slender, clavate, wingless.

This pretty species was first described by Professor Reichenbach, from materials derived from the collection of Mr. Warner, of Broomfield, in compliment to whom he named it. It also flowered with the late Mr. Cauty, of Liverpool, who kindly sent me the specimens from which the figure was prepared, but these were smaller and less rich in their colouring than those of Mr. Warner.

We have no precise information as to the locality where O. Warnerianum grows wild, but there can be no doubt that it comes from some part of Mexico, whence we have other species, e.g. O. Rossii, O. Ehrenbergii, and O. nebulosum, to all of which it is nearly allied. It flowers in the later autumn and winter months, but like most of the other members of its section (Leucoglossum), is of a delicate habit, and requires to be very carefully handled. It seems to prefer a moderate heat and perhaps a slightly drier atmosphere than that in which the New Granada and Peruvian Odontoglossa evidently delight; the compost or materials in which the roots grow, should on no account be allowed to become sodden.

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

PLATE XIII. FIG. 2.

ODONTOGLOSSUM STELLATUM.

STELLATE ODONTOGLOSSUM.

O. (LEUCOGLOSSUM, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovalibus compressis, foliis solitariis lanceolatis recurvis, scapis erectis 1-2-floris brevioribus, bracteis ovarii triquetri medium non attingentibus, sepalis petalisque æqualibus linearibus acuminatis herbaceis, labello rhomboideo subrotundo grosse dentato appendice unguis truncatâ quadridentatâ apice liberâ.

ODONTOGLOSSUM STELLATUM, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1841, Misc. 25; Fol. Orch. n. 18.

ODONTOGLOSSUM EROSUM, Reichenbach fil. Bonpl. ii. 99; A. Rich. Gal. in Ann. Sc. Nat. Jan. 1845.

Habitat in GUATEMALA, Skinner; MEXICO, Hartweg; VERAGUAS, Warszewicz.

DESCRIPTION.

PSEUDOBULBS oval, compressed, about an inch long, glossy, bearing solitary lanceolate somewhat recurved LEAVES, which are shorter than the upright 1-(rarely 2-)flowered SCAPES. BRACTS not half so long as the three-cornered ovary. SEPALS and PETALS equal, linear, acuminate, of a dull olive-green, with a few faint transverse streaks of brown on their inner side. LIP white, rhomboidal, subrotund, with its edges eroded, and its unguis, or claw, hollow, truncate, free, and divided at top into two, or rather into four lobes, the two foremost of which resemble teeth. COLUMN slender, wingless.

There is an air of quaintness about this little Odontoglossum which, insignificant though it be, is spread over a range of territory far more extensive than is occupied by any other member of the genus; for it has been found in Mexico by Hartweg, in Guatemala (on the Volcan del Fuego) by Skinner, and in Veraguas by Warszewicz!

At Knypersley, where the figure was taken, the species flowers freely in the winter and spring, and is managed (in a cool house) without the slightest difficulty.

DISSECTIONS.--1. Column and lip (magnified), seen sideways; 2. Ditto, ditto, in front.

Plate XIV

PLATE XIV.

ODONTOGLOSSUM ALEXANDRÆ.

PRINCESS OF WALES' ODONTOGLOSSUM (BLUNT'S VARIETY).

O. (ISANTHIUM, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovatis compressis 1- vel 2-phyllis, racemo simplici multifloro foliis subæquali, bracteis minoribus cochleatis acutis, floribus membranaceis pedicellis æquantibus, sepalis petalisque sæpius subæqualibus (interdum petalis multo latioribus), sepalis lanceolatis acuminatis petalis ovato-lanceolatis acutis undulato-laceris, labello breviore unguiculato formâ diversissimâ, nunc sepalis conformi nunc subpanduriformi, apice emarginato (sæpius mucrone adjecto) margine undulato integro vel sæpius dentato acuto apice recurvo, disco maculato, cristâ simplici bilamellatâ. Columna arcuata clavata, alata, alis laceris.

ODONTOGLOSSUM ALEXANDRÆ, Bateman in Gardeners' Chronicle, 1864; et in Proceedings R. Hort. Soc. p. 186 (1864).

ODONTOGLOSSUM BLUNTII, Reichenbach fil.

Habitat in NOV. GRANADA, prope Pacho, 7-8000 p., Weir, Blunt.

DESCRIPTION.

An Epiphyte. PSEUDOBULBS smooth, slightly compressed, sometimes broadly ovate, but occasionally tapering, 2 to 3 inches long, and bearing 1 or 2 linear lanceolate-pointed LEAVES, which are from a few inches to a foot long, and frequently of rather lax character; a reddish tint is also sometimes met with both in the leaves and pseudobulbs. RACEMES always simple, about the length of--sometimes longer than--the leaves, and carrying from two or three to a dozen or more large membranous and beautiful FLOWERS, which vary exceedingly both in size, form, and colouring. Usually they are from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and about equal to the pedicels. BRACTS about half an inch long, pointed, fitting close to the stem. SEPALS lanceolate acuminate, white or rosy-white, with sometimes one or more brown or purple spots on each. PETALS usually--though not invariably--wider than the sepals, and resembling them in form and colour, but destitute of spots; both in the sepals and petals the edges are usually more or less curled or waved. LIP recurved at the apex, exceedingly variable in its outline; in some examples almost exactly resembling the sepals, in others taking more or less a panduriform shape (in which case the apex, instead of pointed, is round, emarginate, with a point or mucro); the edges too, which are sometimes entire, are much more frequently jagged or toothed; the short unguis, or claw, is longitudinally callose; and where it expands into the disk, ends in two straight pointed and diverging teeth, which, like the claw, are yellow, the rest of the lip being white, with or without spots of the same character as those found in the sepals; there are a few red or brown lines which radiate or spread out like a fan on either side of the teeth composing the crest, but they do not, as in O. PESCATOREI, form a detached flap. COLUMN short, arched, club-shaped, with broad truncate wings that are more or less jagged or fringed.

This most charming Odontoglossum was discovered in 1863 by Mr. Weir, at an elevation of from 7000 to 8000 feet, in the gloomy forests that clothe the slopes of the lofty mountain-ranges at the rear of the City of Santa Fé de Bogotá. As the wild specimens of the flowers that he sent home to the Horticultural Society indicated not only a new species, but one of surpassing beauty, I did not hesitate at once to dedicate it to the illustrious Princess whose name it will henceforth bear. Since the first description of the plant appeared in the 'Gardeners' Chronicle' many living plants have been received both by the Royal Horticultural Society and by Messrs. Hugh Low and Co., of Clapton, several of which have bloomed and, even in their first feeble attempts to flower, have more than justified the very high expectations formed of the plant which, as it gathers strength, cannot fail to become an established favourite with all Orchid-lovers.

It proves to be a most variable species, and I am not surprised that my accomplished friend Professor Reichenbach should have considered the first examples sent to him from Clapton to differ so materially from those of O. Alexandræ, as described by myself, as to justify his regarding them as a distinct form, to which, in honour of Messrs. Low's very zealous collector, he gave the designation of Bluntii. Since then, however, so many intermediate varieties have made their appearance that it is clearly impossible to regard the two supposed species as really distinct.