23 
* CHYSIS bractescens. 
Bracteated Chysis. 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Nat, ord. Oxcurpaces, § EprpENDRIZ. 
CHYSIS. Botanical Register, vol. 23. fol. 1937. 
C. bractescens ; bracteis cucullatis venosis foliaceis ovario longioribus, sepalis 
petalisque ovatis obtusis, labelli lobis lateralibus obtusis intermedio 
minore carnoso bilobo hypochilio plicato lamellis 5 carnosis subsequalibus 
~ parallelis basi pubescentibus, columna latissim4 carnosi cymbiformi 
anticé pubescente. Bot. Rey. 1840. mise. no. 131. 
Caules fusiformes, carnosi, palmares. Folia ovato-lanceolata, basi cucullata, 
imbricantia, undulata, acuminata, subplicata. Racemus lateralis, horizontalis, 
foliis brevior, 4-5-florus. Bracteze magne, foliacee, reticulate, obtuse, con- 
cave, cucullate, laze, ovario longiores. Flores magni, cerei, candidi, coriacet. 
Sepala lateralia dorsali latiora, obtusa, margine incurva. Petala oblonga, 
erecta, obtusa, basi angustata. Labellum intis luteum, extis candidum ; 
hypochilii lobis lateralibus erectis rotundatis, cristis 5 levibus parallelis basi 
pubescentibus, epichilio bilobo nudo complicato. Columna Jatissima, cymbi- 
Sormis, carnosa, antice pubescens, in pedem producta. 
A fine epiphyte from Mexico, whence it was imported by 
George Barker, Esq. who flowered it in April 1840. It 
forms the third of the genus now known, and is readily dis- 
tinguished by its large white, not yellow, flowers, and great 
inflated leafy bracts. Its pollen-masses (fig. 1) show yet more 
strongly than those of the original species the singular struc- 
ture upon which the genus is founded. 
In this, as in most other Orchidacee, the most exact 
attention should be paid to the markings and elevations of 
the labellum, for they furnish the most constant and exact 
characters for distinguishing species. Figures or descriptions 
* See Botanical Register, vol. 23. fol. 1937. 
April, 1841. I 
