817 
AERANTHES grandiflora. 
Large-flowered Aeranthes. 
—— 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Nat. ord. ORcHIDEE.— Sect. IV. Epidendrem. 
AERANTHES. Labellum calcaratum, membranaceum, integrum, cum 
processu unguiformi columne cui laciniz antice adnascuntur articulatum. 
Perianthium ringens. Pollinia 2, cava, hiuc perforata, filo nullo! glan- 
dulà duplice. Herbe parasitica, perennes, radicibus filiformibus. Folia 
disticha. Flores mazimi, solitarii, pallidi. Sepala cornuta, aqualia. 
A. grandiflora, foliis apice bilobis valde inzequalibus scapo radicali vaginato 
debili brevioribus, calcare emarginato. 
Herba parasitica, non bulbosa. Radices fibrose, glabra. Folia disti- 
cha, ligulata, undulata, apice valde inaequaliter biloba, glaucescentia. Sca- 
pus radicalis, debilis, foliis longior, vaginis aridis, duris, lineatis vestitus, 
serie continuatá florifer. Flos solitarius, magnus, inodorus. Perianthium 
ringens, pallide. flavum. Sepala equalia, carnosa, lucida, glaberrima, semi- 
diaphana, ad basin pallide viridia, versus apicem flava, patentia, canalicu- 
lata, acuminata, quasi cornuta; exteriora ovato-lanceolata, lateralibus ad 
basin connatis antice usque ad articulum labelli productis, rotkndatis, eus 
ungue columna subtus connatis; interiora breviora, cordata, abrupt? acumi- 
nata, marginibus posticis conniventibus, anticis cum columná connatis. La- 
bellum album, liberum, lanceolatum, integerrimum, ad basin, subre andum, 
cum calcare et pede columna articulatum ; calcar e processu unguiformi co- 
lumna productum, breve, incurvum, ote a té constricto, basi inflato, de- 
presso, emarginato, viridi, intus piloso. Columna brevis, teres, in p 
membranaceum, alatum, cum laciniis interioribus ad marginem, anticis sub- 
tùs connatum, demum calcaratum producta, antice utringue alata, alis semi- 
ovatis, conniventibus, supra izum-horizontaliter porrectis. Gynizas sub- 
rotundus, excavatus, infani ibularis. Anthera terminalis, opercularis, bilo- 
cularis, decidua. Pollinia 2, rotunda, cava, hinc perforata, filo nullo, glan- 
dulis duabus. 
Roots of this singular plant were sent, in a living state, 
from St. Mary's, Madagascar, by the late Mr. Forbes, in 
1823, to the Horticultural Society, in whose garden our 
drawing was taken in June last. It is there successfully 
cultivated in decomposed woody soil, in the same manner 
as other plants of the same family. — A . 
So little has hitherto been done in describing the Orchi- 
deous plants of tropical countries, that new forms are con- 
tinually presenting themselves, and requiring the establish- 
ment of new genera for their reception. The distinctions 
upon which these are to be founded, however minute 
they may occasionally appear, are singularly permanent 
and decisive. Thus the genus now proposed, which, in 
many respects, is allied to Aerides, ef which A. odoratum 
must be cónsidered the type, has a decidedly different 
VOL. X. M 
