Tab. 5498. 



L.^ELIA PR.ESTANS. 



Admirable Lcella. 



Nat. Ord. Orchide^:.— GrNANDurA Moxandiua. 

 Gen. Char. {Vide supra, Tab. 5144.) 



Ljslia prastans; pseudobulbis stipitatis fusiformibus costatis monophyllis, fo- 

 liis oblongis acutis, floribus solitariis, bracteis squamfeformibus abbreviatis, 

 sepalis oblongis acutis, petalis multo latioribus ovato-oblongis obtuse acutis, 

 labello libero trilobo, circa columnam omnino convoluto carnoso, carinis 4 

 vel 6 per discum, columna crassa, superne dilatata, auriculis posticis apicu- 

 laribus sibi incumbentibus. Ex Reichenbach. 



L.elia praestans. Reichen. fil. in Koch, Berlin. Allgem. Gartenzeitung , 1857, v. 

 42. jo. 336. 



L.«LiA'praestans. Lindl. Gard. Chron. 1859, p. 240. 



Bletia praestans. Reich, fil. Xenia Orch. t. 114. 



Cattle y a purnila, var. major. Lemaire, Illustration Horticole, v. 6. 1859, 

 p. 193. 



At first sight this rare and beautiful plant might be mistaken 

 for a large variety of another Lselia, with which we have been 

 Jong familiar under the various names of Cattleya pumila, C. mar- 

 ginata, or C. Pinelli, but it is in reality perfectly distinct. Pro- 

 fessor Reichenbach was the first to distinguish it, and he has 

 given a most faithful representation in one of the Plates of his 

 'Xenia Orchidacea/ his specimens having been obtained from 

 the rich collection of Consul Schiller, of Hamburg. In this 

 country the plant is still extremely rare, and I am not aware of 

 its having bloomed except in the collections of Mr. Day and 

 Mr. Marshall. It was from a plant that flowered finely in the 

 garden of the latter gentleman that the accompanying figure was 

 prepared. 



L. prcestans comes from the island of St. Catherine, and should 

 be treated like other Brazilian Laelias and Cattleyas from the 

 same locality ; but it prefers a block of hard wood to a pot, and 

 it should always be placed near the glass. Its flowering season 

 is November, and the blossoms are exceedingly durable. — /. B. 



Descr. Pseudobulbous stems rather club-shaped, three or four 

 march 1st, 1865. 



