28 



DENDROBIUM taurinum. 

 Bull-headed Dendrobium. 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Orchidaceje § Yandex. 

 DENDROBIUM. Swz. 



§ Spatulata (Lindl. in London Journ. of Botany, 2. 235.;. Cornu breve. 



Petala elongata. Racemus pedunculatus oppositifolius. Caulis erectus 



teres. 

 D. taurinum. 



Whether or not it is possible to divide the great, and un- 

 natural genus Dendrobium by any really stable characters is 

 uncertain. It certainly appears to contain several distinct types 

 of structure, but up to the present time I have sought in vain 

 for any thing sufficiently precise on which to found generic 

 characters. 



Among the sections of the genus no one is better marked 

 than this, which consists of species with a stiff erect habit, 

 racemes of flowers placed on a long peduncle opposite theleaves, 

 large showy flowers, and the petals remarkably longer than the 

 sepals. But beyond this I can find nothing that differs from 

 Dendrobium ; and as the three first characters are merely of 

 habit, the last can hardly be regarded of enough importance 

 to authorise the establishment of a genus. For this reason I 

 proposed in the London Journal of Botany to combine them, 

 under the name of Dendrobia spatulata, into a new section of 

 the genus. 



Of plants with this structure I know six completely ; and 

 a seventh is probably to be added. Of these the following 

 is an enumeration. 



1. D. taurinum (the subject of the accompanying plate) ; fohis oblongis ob- 

 lique emarginatis, racemo oblongo, sepali* ovatis obtusiusculu, pctalU 



June, 1843. * 



