' 



1.ATL 



xxviu. 



L/ELIA CINNAJJAm.XA, 



L. v'mnalHirinft (lfctimiait tuss.) ; psi'tulubulbis ryluulr<UH^-ampullacci& elongatis, 

 ftiliis binis bad tlisctviis oblongta Bubrccurvis et imdulatfe, sca|n> tcntii asm»- 

 (lento luliis nmlto longioro 4->llorn, spalls ]>rt;tii*qur ohlongo-lincaribu^ ol>* 

 tusis :iH|it;ilihiis, luh< Hi convoluti rccurvi lobis lataralibus ami is iiitcrimnlio 

 ovnli crisjKiin: lincis 3 rlcvniis in axiii. 



Tlrt colour nf tin (lowers of this brilliant *pe< ir.% mid its graceful manner of growth, raider it 

 oho of tlio most ornamental aperies which we possess ; for it is perhaps impossible to match exactly 

 the jH'.'tilini- tint* of its blossom* among the race to which it belongs. That of Eiiidetidrum vitclli- 

 mini and cinnabnrinum. two *j>ecies of great beauty, of which the former is in cultivation, approach 

 the nearest ; hut their colours an* really very different. 



The species is n nniivc of Hrnzil. whence it wn* introduced in ilie year IrVJG hy Mr, Youti" 

 Nurseryman* Kpsom ; and in the spring of 1837 it was exhibited in flower at one of tin* incctin/'s 

 of the Horticultural Society in Kegcnt Street. Subsequently it ha* appeared in oilier collection* ; 

 ami I owe the opportunity of preparing the accompanying figure to material* supplied to me hy 

 Mr, Hatcman and M.»r- Loddigc*, It (lowers freely in the month of April. 



The PflBODO-ttVLBS are from four to five inches long, erect, clustered, thickest at the base, and 

 tapering upward*, *o a* to resemble a vrine-Hask stretched longer, closely invited with wittered 

 scales, and having at the apex one or two leave*, which are separated at the base hy a considerable 

 interval. The LEAVES are altout a.* long as the psemlo+hullts, of » narrow oblong figure, slightly five- 

 or seven-nerve*!, and an* curved downwards hy their own weigllL From the ftpex of the pseudo- 

 bulbs springs the scape, a foot or more long, very slcndor P green, with about three withered scales 

 attached 10 it at marly equal distances ; il is unable to hear the weight of four or five flowers thai 

 spring from its end, and consequently it is bowed downwards; and as it swings in the air from 

 among its dense foliage hanging from a bough of a trce.it must look like a inany-Jieaded reptile, 

 watching impatiently for its prey. The iibact* arc extremely small sharp-pointed scale* Each 

 FUHVF.R is rated on a stalk which, taken together with tlio ovary, measures about an inch mid half 

 in length. The CALYX ami COROLLA arc of a most brilliant ye How -scar let ; their divisions arc of 

 nearly the Mime size, linear, obtuse, the back sepal being straight, the two anterior and the petals 

 being falcate in the direction of the LADELLtm. The latter (tig. 2) i* of the same rich colour as the 

 other parts, but it is gaily pointed with numerous oblique bright purple veins, which lose themselves 

 toward* the point* of tlio lateral ami base of the middle lobes : it is clotcly wrapped round thu 

 column, except at the upper end. when? il curves backwards ; along the middle are three elevated 

 line* ; tit its bate is a passage, passing down the side the ovary, and indicating that the labelhim i* 

 really calearatc. but that its spur is adherent to the flowcr-fttalk, as in Pelargonium ; the mouth 

 of this passage is shewn at fig, 2, a. The POLlBlt-M asses are eight, arranged as in the accompanying 

 figure I. 



When this plant was first ICOA by me I had no opportunity of examining its |>oI I en -masses, and 

 took it lor a Catlleya. of which it has rather more the habit ihan of the Lealiaa at that lime known ; 

 but reCCM discoveries have shewn thai there may be L«?lias with the habit of Cult leva, as in thi* 

 ease, ami CeUleyOS with the habit uf Lftlia, a* in C. citrina. The diffcreuee between them is not 







