Plate XXVI. 



DKXDROMr.M MACROPHYLLl M (iKJAXTKl'M. 



A magnificent epiphyte, with stout, terete, pendulous, striated vtccn*, upmmlsof four fret in length, touring whin 

 young brood, orato-elliplkaV many-ribbed leave*, with a sub-cordate base, and whin mature, crowded with 



large Howere, two or more from everj node Tlu flowery which ire very banda ■. measure nearly *i\ in> he* 



across, and arc of a delicate mauve-tinted me, but the lip i- marked near its 1^ with a dark blotch, an inch 

 acra*, and of a deep, rich blood-purple. Tbcscp i- lanceolate and nearlj plane; the petal* nre more than 

 twice as broad, ovatoJanceolatc, and fttightly wavy at ihe margin; and the lip, which is externally of a deep 

 mc-piirpK whew folded oter at the base, has En front a cordate-ovate acuminate form, mid a fimbriated 

 margin. 



DccDHOim u uackoputucu ™r t oicjaxtki u A ■" v. flan* v, IS54, 210; Btichtnlwh jft, OtfaJto 



At Orckid&nSammlnng, ton a. Jr. Schiller^ 2G- 



Itewtomi » n pi tei i ear. oiaixmm, //< I eft /A, IFaiperi Annate Itotmica Sytttmatic*, \\. 283. 



Some Uvenly years ago, Dendntbinm mtwrophyllum* OIIC of the ino-l magnificent of its familv, mid our 

 of which our illustration represents a superior variety, was introduced from the Philippine (stands to llw 

 collection of the Messrs. Loddiges, with whom it Gist blossomed in 1S:(9. Though then in a condition 

 which has since been utterly eclipsed through tin* drill of our Orchid ',touvi> ( it was seen lo bo a species 

 possessing uncommon beauty, and ai once made its way into Ike favour of cultivators, notwithstanding Unit 

 its gorgeous Uowcra emit a perfume resembling that of dried rhubarb roots. Ft w one of the specie* 

 referred lo the section Eml^ulrohmm, and lias also been railed J), macranfhtm. 



There are several varieties of Bendrabium macrophgtlHm^ but the one we now figure bears the fine* 

 flowers, and has also the largest leaves, and the longest and stoutest stems ; ii is in foet easily separated 

 by its thick, flesh;, veined Icaws, and by the enormous length to which the stems attain when well grown 

 — as inueh as one-third larger in size and length than the ordiimry forms of the *|>ccics. Tiic flower* are 

 lighter in colour than in macrophgtlum itself, which, like all other Orchids, varies a good deal, sometimes 

 producing Dowers of an intense roso*colour. 



Our drawing was taken from a noble plant in the well-known collection of John Dav, Esq., 

 of Tottenham, This plan! bloomed hiM year in such beauty that one could hardly imagine any- 

 thing nearer perfection : it was certainly one of the most finely-grown plants we have seen, the nendeni 

 ma being four feet six inches in length, each of them bearing more than fifty of the large cxquisUclr- 

 tinted flowers, Mr. Day's specimen was grown in a wooden basket suspended from the roof, and the long 

 pendulous pallid niems* clothed with flowers, hanging amongst the frond* of Tree-ferns, had an exceedingly 

 good ctrcct, the ferns supplying the want of natural foliage. In the case of plant? like the present, which 

 flower without foliage, the addition of a few ferns adds very much to their beauty. 



This Dendrobrfam tnacrophyltum giganlen^ which, like the original, is a .Manilla plant, b. as already 

 stated, of deciduous habit, and generally loses its leaves just as it begins lo show flower, some time after the 

 growth is completed. The stems are thick, round, and furrowed, of a pale colour, furnished with leaves 

 which are arranged on its opposite sidea, and nre of a bright green colour, and prominently nerved- The 

 flowers are generally produced in pair*, or sometimes in threes, from the joints of the stem, on either side 

 alternately, and are of Urge size, each measuring at least >i\ inches across, the sepals and petals of a beau- 

 tiful rose-purple, and the Up two inches; long, and of the same colour, beautifully fringed and marked at 



