twenty leagues due North of the city of Guatemala. Here 

 it exists in immense quantities, the finest specimens grow- 

 ing out of the crevices of rocks, and sheltered from the 

 North winds. Some of the plants had bulbs of the height 

 of twenty-two inches, with flower-stems four yards long, 

 and bearing upwards of twenty flowers (one, of which I 

 sent you the dried specimen, had twenty-two). On the 

 morning on which I made this excursion (November 27), 

 when I got to the town of Comalapa, the ground was cov- 

 ered with hoar-frost, the L^elias, however, as has been 

 already mentioned, were usually screened from the North, 

 and where this was not the case, the plants had a stunted 

 appearance. The name given to this species by the Coma- 

 lapa Indians is 'Coteach-Kiaj,' meaning simply, ' red flower ;' 

 but by the English who speak Spanish, it was termed f La 

 verga del Senor San Jose,' i. e., ' the wand of our Lord Saint 

 Joseph.' " — Mr, Skinner's Letter to Mr. Bateman. 



It is from the dried specimen above mentioned that Miss Drake 

 made the beautiful drawing, published in Mr. Bateman's work, and 

 considering the circumstances under which it was executed, and the 

 difficulty of making a figure from a pressed flower of an Orchideous 

 plant, it is surprising how well she has performed her task. In our 

 case, we have the advantage of a living plant, and the first and only one 

 that has yet flowered in this country, which took place in the spring of 

 this year, in the valuable collection of Mrs. Wray, of Oakfield, Chel- 

 tenham, who kindly forwarded the noble specimen here figured. 

 Splendid though it is, it yet falls short in size and in colour of the original 

 specimen above mentioned of Mr. Skinner : but there is enough to 

 entitle it to the name it bears. Looking at the habit of the plant, and 

 the foliage, and the general form of the flowers, one does not see at once 

 how the genus is to be distinguished from Cattleya. "Cattleyje proxi- 

 mum," Dr. Lindley says, " sed labello postico et polliniis 8 diver- 

 sum." Mrs. Wray finds that it succeeds well only in a cool stove, as 

 is now known to be the case, and foretold by Mr. Skinner, with many 

 of the Orchide^ from Guatemala and Mexico. 



Descr. Caudex creeping, terete, as thick as a finger, sending out 

 white, fleshy fibres, and having pseudo-bulbs five to six or eight inches 

 long, of an oblong form, furrowed on the surface, more or less sheathed 

 with scales, and tapering below into a stalk ; at the apex bearing one, 

 or more generally two moderately-sized, coriaceous, oblong, dark-green 

 leaves. From the inner base of these leaves the scape arises to a con- 

 siderable length, and, in the present instance, bears a nearly globose 

 spike of rather closely-placed, large, handsome, purple flowers, beauti- 

 fully variegated with yellow. Sepals and petals nearly equal, the 

 latter somewhat broader, all of them spreading, oblong-lanceolate, 

 rather obtuse, lilac-purple, paler below. Lip resembling that of a 

 Cattleya, elongated, equal in length with the sepals, the sides and 

 two side-lobes turned upwards, embracing and almost surrounding the 

 column, the middle lobe large, broad obcordate, waved and crisped ; 

 the disk covered with six longitudinal, prominent, crisped lamella?: 

 the general colour is yellow, with a deep-purple, broad margin ; and the 

 lower half obliquely streaked with purple. 



