( 3966 ) 



Maxillaria acutipetala. Sharp-petaled 

 Maxillaria. 



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Class and Order. 

 Gynandria Monandria. 



( Nat. Ord. — Orchide^:. ) 



Generic Character . 



Perianthium connivens, raro patens. Sepala lateralia 

 cum basi columna3 connata. Petala subconformia. Label- 

 lum trilobum, cucullatum, sessile, cum basi producta co~ 

 lumnae articulatum. Columna semiteres aptera. Anthera 

 subbilocularis. Pollinia 2, bipartite !ia v. integra, caudi- 

 cula brevi, glandula transversa. — Epiphytae ( AmericanceJ 

 pseudo-bulbosce, acaules v. caulescentes. Folia spicati v. 

 coriacea. Pedunculi radicates, axillares v. terminates, uni- 

 v. muttiflori. Lindl. 



Specific Name and Character. 



Maxillaria acutipetala ; pseudo-bulbis oblongo-ovatis an- 

 gulatis diphyllis, foliis lato-linearibus acutis, scapis 

 radicalibus uni- bifloris, sepalis petalisque oblongis 

 acutis patentibus subconformibus, labello oblongo tri- 

 lobo centro striato basique lineis elevatis subquinque, 

 lobis lateralibus brevibus columnam involventibus in- 

 termedio acuto reflexo. 



Allied, on the one hand, to M. tenuifolia, Lindlev, Bot. 

 Reg. 1839, t. 8, and, on the other, to M. picta, Hook., Bot. 

 Mag. t. 3154, but abundantly distinct from both. It was 

 sent to the Royal Gardens at Kew by Mr. Barclay, their 

 Collector, in H. M. Surveying Ship, the Sulphur, from 

 Central America, and I am not aware of its being in any 

 other collection. It flowers in March and April, and the 



very 



