Plate V.— Fig. 2. 



SOPHRONITTS GRANDIFLORA, 



Cnttlcyn coccincn, liotanical Register, folio 1919, in the letter-press* 

 Epidcndrc ponceau, Descmtrtilzs drawings, pi. 10,/>. 27- 



A most brilliant litilu epiphyte, found in Brsi7.il by M. Descourtilz. upon the* high mountains 

 thai separate the district of Banana! from thai of Ilha Grande. It grow* there in abundance 

 upon fallen iiud decaying tree*; its scentless flowers appear in Juno. 



At first I took it for a spceto of Caitleyu. of which it has all ihe habit; but upon a mora 

 attentive examination of M. IV*courtilxs description and figure, I have satisfied myself thai it is n 

 distinct genus, differing from Catthya in having eight |>olIcn -masses, a pseudo.bnlh rather than a 

 stem for the leaves to grow on, and no spathnccou* bract within which the flowers are engendered. 

 In the number of pollen masse* it agree* with Lwlia ; hut ihnl genus is very different in its resupinatr 

 flowcra, pseudo-bulbs, and long C4piilunt spathaceous bracts. The original *prcies of Sophronilis 

 agreed with this in colour, habit, and many other particulars* but it has the petals smaller, not longer, 

 than the sepals : a circumstance that seems to point to a different order of developemenl ; I am. 

 however, upon the whole disponed to agree with Mr. Batcnuui in referring this to the genu* 



SophroaJti& 



M. Descourtilz describes the plant a> follows : 



" Hoots encrusted together, long, flexuose, dead-white, fixed at the base of a short rhixoma, 

 which is articulated lik«> the Polypes called Isis. having on the upper pari fusiform, long rsEuno- 

 nt'J.us. winch are smooth hut not shining, and often enveloped in a dry, wrinkled, grayish violet 

 fthcadl. Leap solitary, terminal, thick, firm, tongue-shaped* poinicd. channelled at (be base, 

 PEDUNCLE simple, cylindrical, twisted, bright green, having at its base a broad sharp bract, and at 

 it* upper end two smaller opposite bracts which form a bifurcation ; from their axil spring* a filiform 

 violet ovary, terminated by a broad flatly expanded flower, Fmiwkh with all its parts of a bright 

 vermilion, red. or orange ; the sepal* narrow, ovate; the petal* much broader, forming lateral 

 wings; nil streaked with deep red longitudinal lines, and having a satiny violet cast externally. 



Lip something like the standard of a leguminous plant inverted, dear yellow, with a brood 

 nasturtium-coloured bonier and diverging vein* of the same colour, cucullate at the base, slightly 

 3-lobed, with the middle division ovate, obtuse, and much shorter than the sepals. There are many 

 varieties, passing from ycllow-orangc to the deepest cinnabar-red, but in all of them the exterior of the 

 flower is a dead cinnabar-n^l. with no visible streaks or veins- CoLUMS short, triangular, having two 



lateral white dilatations or wings, bordered by bright erimson. Axtiiku convex, greenish, divided 



internullv into four membranous cells, winch are thickest at their upper half, and cover eight clear- 

 yellow pollen masses, of a triangular form and arranged in two rows." 



