PLATE XII. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM GLORIOSUM. 
FINE ODONTOGLOSSUM. 
O. (EvopoNroGLossum, Lindl.) pseudobulbis ovatis confertis diphyllis, foliis lato-lanceolatis 
acutis scapo valido paniculato multifloro brevioribus, sepalis petalisque oblongo-ligulatis 
acuminatis stellatis, labello a basi cordatä ligulato acuminato, basin versus utrinque 
angulato, ceterum hine illine denticulato, callo depresso quadrilobulo nune quadridentato 
ante basin, columná clavatá apice utrinque cirrho setaceo medio inferne unidentato. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM GLORIOSUM, Reichenbach fil. Bonpl. ii. 278 ; idem in Gardeners’ Chronicle (New Plants, n. 293, 1865), et in Walpers, 
Annales, vi. fasc. 6. 
Habitat in N. GRANADA, Soto. 8-9000 p., Schlim ; Ocaña, 6000 p., Wagener ; Bogotá, Weir. 
DESCRIPTION. 
PSEUDOBULES ovale, 2-leaved, growing closely together, 3 or 4 inches long, turning to a dark colour when old. Draves 
broadly-lanceolate, acute, shorter than the stout much-branched many-flowered panicle.  Frowærs exceedingly variable 
in size and form and colour ; the example in the Plate representing one of the largest varieties, and the vignette one 
of the least. Usually they are about 2 inches across, of a pale ochrish or greenish-yellow, blotched, or sometimes 
minutely spotted, with dark-chestnul. Srrars and Purans nearly equal, lanceolate, acute (often narrower than in the 
figure), slightly waved. ire ligulate, smooth (not crisp) at the margin, very much attenuated in front, but heart- 
shaped at the base, towards which it is abruptly carinate, and furnished with 2 upright large sharp double teeth. 
COLUMN clavate, with hairy cirrhi on either side near its apex, and a solitary tooth near the middle. 
This remarkable Odontoglossum was long since discovered in New Granada by Schlim and Wagener, in whose 
herbaria its stately many-flowered panicles formed so striking a feature that Professor Reichenbach did not hesitate to 
give the plant the name of gloriosum ; an epithet which—now that we have the plant amongst us in a living state— 
may perhaps be thought to be somewhat beyond its merits. It must indeed be admitted that the fresh blossoms, which 
are of a faint yellowish-green, scarcely realize the expectations which the rich colour and profusion of flowers in the 
dried specimens had very naturally raised. Nor are all the varieties of equal merit, some being much smaller and paler 
than others. 
The species has lately been imported in large quantities, both by Messrs. H. Low and Co., of Clapton, and by the 
Horticultural Society, who received it in 1864 from Mr. Weir, by whom it was gathered in the neighbourhood of 
Bogotá. It flowers freely, and at all seasons of the year; nor does it appear to care so much as many of its congeners 
for a few degrees more or less of heat or cold. 1 believe it has already bloomed in almost every collection of note; 
though the spikes, as was of course to be expected, are as yet far from equal to the wild specimens.* The figure was 
* Tt may be well, once for all, to state that in the case of species that have not been long imported, and which have therefore not had time 
to acquire their full strength, the number and arrangement of flowers in the figures is taken from native specimens where such are available. It 
sometimes happens that the “ wild” standard is never reached in cultivation, but it is more frequently exceeded. 
