Plate XXXVIII. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM VEXILLARIUM. 



A oool tfovc epiphyte of remarkable bmuly, belonging to the Vandeou* group of Orchitis, and e*pccinll\ notable 

 for the largo size of its charming */>ft rn«i>co1aiir«l flowers* Tho plant belong! to the pscudobulbous class, 

 tlic (wmlobnlbs being narrowly oblong and compressed, and from ill inch and n half to two inche* high. 'Joe 

 leave* are about a foot long, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, keeled ai the bade, equitaut at the base, and with an 

 acuminate apex. The scapes are slender, longer than the leave*, moral being frequently produced from the 

 axils of the leaves which iuiround the young pmidotmlbs j they rapport marines of three or four very large 

 blOttom*, four inches long, with (he perianth tproftd out quite fiat. The sepal* are nearly equal, obovate- 

 oblong, acute or obtuse, somewhat recurved, of a delicate row-colour, paler at the edge. The petals, which 

 are sometimes larger sometimes smaller, are of nearly the simir form as the sepals, but more acute, and of a 

 deeper row, hut aUo with a pale margin. The lip is very large, flat, roundish in outline, deeply twodobod in 

 front, narrowed to a claw at the base, where it U extended into a pair of ovate acute attending lobes ; it is 

 MitTuM-d with deep soft rose, paler al the edge, tho base being white and pale yellow streaked with red ; it 

 bear* a small twodobed cidlus at the very base, close U> the short wingless column. 



Odontoqlossoti raenXAftnm, foitfwnbacti Jtt, Gardeners (Srronldfi, 1867,901; H. 1872,667, with wooden t; Jtf. 

 1S73, 580. 644, tig. 12a; Hooker J?/., Botanical Magazine^ t. ti0;t7; U Illustration /fortlcote. third series, 

 1. 113; Flore <te* Arra, t. 2058. 



Numerous u* have been the additions during tlic |>usl few years to litis now popular and very extensive 

 genus, the fact that audi u splendid specutt as the one now* under consideration should have remained 

 unknown lo the horticultural world until last year is a sufficient proof that we have by no means exhausted 

 the store which nature has provided for our enjoyment. 



Odonlotfloimtm vexillarium has been called the queen amongst Orchids, and certainly its beauty places 

 it in the highest rank amongst these regal plants It is a native of New Grenada, whence so many fine 

 ornamental planU have been derived, and appears to have been first found by the late Mr, Bowmann ; il 

 was rtihsitfpuiilty seal to Kurope alive, but in a dyiug condition, by Mr Wallis when collecting for Mr. 

 Linden ; and next, also in a moribund state, by Mr. Itoczl ; finally, the Messrs, Vcitch and Son*, of Chelsea, 

 received a supply of living plants through their collector, Mr, II. Chesterton ; and it is from the plants so 

 obtained that the first Dowering specimens were exhibited. It has also bloomed splendidly in the line 



collection of T. ltrunton, Esq., The Ferns, ltcckcnhnm, under the skilful treatment of Mr. Henley, with 

 whom this species together with the whole of its confrere* thrives admirably. The pseudobulbs are 



somewhat oblong and compressed, attaining a length of from one to two inches, or even more in vigorous 

 examples- They bear narrowly-lanceolate leaves, which vary from six to twelve inches in length, and are 



pale green in colour. It will thus be seen that the plant now under notice is a somewhat vigorous grower. 



The flowcr-srape is longer than the leaves, and bears several flowers, which are white, suffused with soft 



deep rose both in the sepals and petals, as well as in the large two-lobcd lip. In general appearance the 



flowers very much resemble those of some Miltoma t and they arc assuredly the largest of any known specie* 



of Odonloglottuw* 



Our illustration represents the best variety of this charming plant as it was Howcred, in 187J5, by S. 



Itucker, Esq., of Wandsworth. 



Like all the rest of the genus, it is a mountain plant, lor 08 far its we are aware, none of the 

 numerous Qdwttoglowums have been found at a low elevation. The species now under consideration 

 luxuriates in various place* on the western slopes of the Andes, of Xew Grenada. Nevertheless, we have 





