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MAXILLARIA tenuifolia. 
Slender-leaved Maxillaria. 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Nat. ord. ORCHIDACE2, S VANDER, 
MAXILLARIA. Bot. Register, fol. 897. 
M. tenuifolia ; caulescens, pseudobulbis ovato-oblongis compressis monophyllis 
squamis longioribus, foliis lineari-lanceolatis acutis recurvis, pedunculis 
axillaribus solitariis basi squamatis, ovario denudato arcuato, floribus cernuis, 
sepalis ovato-lanceolatis margine revolutis subequalibus reflexis lateralibus 
basi subequalibus, petalis ovatis obtusis conniventibus, labello oblongo in- 
diviso apice ovato reflexo infra apicem utrinque contracto, callo disci oblongo 
integerrimo. Bot. Reg. sub folio, 1986. 
A native of Mexico, in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, where 
it was found by Mr. Theodore Hartweg, an excellent natu- 
ralist, employed by the Horticultural Society of London, in 
Mexico, upon a mission which would have already produced 
most important additions to our gardens, had not his collec- 
tions been unfortunately detained at Tampico in consequence 
of the French blockade of that port. 
The species inhabits trees in Mexico, and probably is 
local, as it does not appear in any of the collections brought 
from the interior of the country. It belongs to the first or 
axillifloral section of the genus, the distinctive character of 
which is to have caulescent stems, covered with pseudo-bulbs, 
and having the flowers appearing from the axils of scales 
covering the stem. These, which are the most genuine form 
of Maxillaria, are the least beautiful part of the genus, and 
constitute a perfectly natural group, at first sight very diffe- 
rent from the kinds which, like M. aromatica, have naked 
pseudo-bulbs rising immediately from the surface of the 
earth. But, upon comparing the two sections with each 
other, it will be found that the only essential difference be- 
* tween them consists in the one having erect and the other 
prostrate rhizomata ; the scales, or imperfect leaves, of the 
