Plate XX. 



L.ELI A SUPKIMUKNS. 





A remarkably handsome epiphyte, having oblong-fufiiform pscudobulfa, n foot <» r eighteen inches long, l^ ^ring a 

 pair of oblongs acute, rigid, leather) larrcs at the top* Hie flowewiem* alio grott i^in thu top of Ibc bulbs 

 between the leave*, and attain (bin or five <-r lomctimes even eight or nine feel in length The flowers are from 

 fifteen i" tweut) in number, forming a raceme at the top of i!»* rtcm, and often menyuring wven inch 

 across; the Mrpab are lancc-diaped and acute, the pctali loinewhat broader and blunter, both of a rich i 

 ircc-orionr* veined with dark red; Lite lip i* oblong-fiddleAapcd, three^lobcd, the lateral lobea mrriin** over 

 Uie column, the middle lobe oblong cnuugin ite, deep crimson, tlio disk yollmv, bearing fire wav) crctta. 



I.\it\ m n ki-usx, /.;-..■ .■. /;. , j . .... v ffi ... '- . L 1840, misc. 87; lifitrman^ Ordrida&Q iff JUarfco cwd QuatemQltii t 58 , 



tlooktr t Bo/miccl 3/flj/tfzjftf, t, 4090; ftufoit* Miynzhw of lManp % xl Oj 

 Iixha sniraaiES^ tt'iihrnhachfit Xeuia OrcMdacea, ii- 4G; At. IFo/junr 1 Atiwfei ffototfta Sydmatlixr, vi IIS. 



11 This most magnificent of all plants I have sent several times. It Hovers in November, and in some 

 instances bears from eighteen (0 twenty (lowers, on sterna from nine to twelve feel long.** So wrote 

 .Mr. Skinner, of ibis noble Orchid, which was introduced by him many years ago from Guatemala, of which 

 country it i* a native. Many of our readers hare, no doubt, heard of or seen the magnificent specimen 

 which was grown in the Horticultural Society's Garden, at Chiswick, some ton or fifteen years since, and 

 which has been known to bear nine spikes of flower* at one time; this plant was live feet in diameter, and 

 a grand sight when in bloom,— certainly worth travelling miles to sec. AVc believe it was seal over, in 

 one muss, by Mr- Ilarlweg, the Society's collector, and we may therefore imagine how grandly it must grow 

 in its native country. The plant is not scarce, being in almost all collections, and purchasable at a reason- 

 able price. There are two varieties in cultivation, differing in growth, one having considerably shorter bulh3 

 than the other, the flowers being the same in both except as to size, those of the *hort*bulbcd flower not 



bemtf quite so large a-* (hose of tin; other, 



Tiiis plant i^ our of the finest and most distinct of ils splendid genus. Our figure was taken from a 

 plant in our own collection, which bore thirteen flowers on one spike, each flower measuring -even inches 

 across, and of a beautiful colour, distinct from nil Other />W We are much gratified to be able to offer 

 so good an illustration of this tine species, which has of late been very much neglected. It docs not deserve 

 this, but undoubtedly a few years n#i it wa* thought much more of than now. We trust however, that our 

 figure will be the means of again drawing public attention towards it. and that we may hereafter tec it more 

 frequently and assiduously cultivated, for it is undoubtedly one of the finest plants that can be grown for the 

 winter decoration of Orchid-houses, its spikes of fifteen or twenty flowers making a grand .how. 



There are no other Ulm like this in growth, but the Schomh*r S lm % another family of Orchids, arc 

 often sold for it. Pew of Utcso Schomburgkias :ire worth growing, their flowon being small; but they pro- 

 doce their spikes in the same manner na the /xclia*. that is, from the top of the bulb, four to five feet in 

 length, with the Rowers at the end. and none but those who arc well acquainted with the plants can dis- 

 tinguish the one from the other until they come into flower. 



Tl,a lAtU* is not so compact in growth as some other Orchids. The bulbs attain the height of a fool 



or eighteen inehes, and bear on the top two leaves, which are s« to nine inches in length, and three inches in 



rftb, and of u dark-green colour. The flowering stems are- also produced from the top of the bulb, between 



