the stove of James Bateman, Jun., Esq., who named it in 
compliment to Mr. Skinner, its discoverer ; and truly wor- 
thy it is to bear the name of a gentleman who has for so 
many years, and so unweariedly, exerted himself to enrich 
our hothouses with the choicest Orcuipem of one of the 
most fertile provinces in tropical America. It is spoken of 
as a most free flowering species, if it be but well supplied 
with heat and moisture. 
Descr. The stems grow in a tufted manner, erect, at 
first rounded and leafy, scarcely a foot high, and then ter- 
minating in the long, slender peduncle with its beautiful 
raceme of flowers. Leaves lanceolate, five to six inches 
long, rather fleshy, their bases sheathing the whole stem : 
—after flowering the stem swells and becomes a narrow, 
elongated pseudo-bulb, clothed with the sheathing bases 
of the leaves. Bracteas subulate at the base of the very 
slender, pedicelliform germen. Flowers of a rich deep 
lilac-purple. Sepals and petals spreading, the former nar-. 
row-lanceolate, acuminate, the latter broadly lanceolate, 
almost ovate, acute. Lip ovate, acuminate, quite entire, 
united with the column, near the middle of the latter, having 
a yellow, fleshy crest at the base, with five deep furrows. 
Column dilated upwards, with two rounded, obtuse, pro- 
jecting wings. Anther hemispherical. 
Fig. 1. Lip and Column. 2. Column, from which the Lip is removed : 
—magnified, 
i 
ees A 
