Tas. 5941, 
OPHRYS LUTEA. 
Native of Southern Europe and N. Africa. 
Nat. Ord. OrcuipE#.—Tribe. Opurypex. 
Genus Opurys, Linn. (Lindl., Gen. and Sp. Orch., p. 872). 
Opurrs lutea ; foliis oblongis, sepalis ovato-oblongis obtusis viridibus incur- 
vis, petalis lineari-oblongis obtusis glabris, labello ambitu obtuse sub- 
quadrato convexo basi subcuneato 3-lobo lobis aureis planiusculis latis 
intermedio 2-lobo lobulis rotundatis, lateralibus rotundatis, disco fusco- 
purpureo medio fascia violacea 2-cruri notato. 
Opnrys lutea, Cav. Ic., vol. ii. p. 46, t. 160; Lindl., Gen. & Sp. Orchid., 
p. 872; Sweet, Brit. Fl. Gard., vol. iii. t. 206; Hook., Exot. Fl., t. 10; 
Reich, Pl. Crit., t. 857; Ic. Fl. Germ., t. 446; Moggridge Contrib. 
Flor. Mentone, t. 46; O. insectifera, var. y Linn., Sp. Pl., p. 949. 
Naturalists, no less than Horticulturists, must regret the 
withdrawal of that magnificent collection of. European 
Orchidez from the grounds of H. R. H. the Comte de Paris at 
Twickenham, to which allusion has been made under tabs. 
5844 and 5712 of this work, and selections from which have 
been exhibited for several years past at the Horticultural 
Exhibitions of London. To this source we are indebted for 
the specimen of the singular Opsrys here figured, which, 
though it has been flowered at Kew and elsewhere in England, 
at various times, has nowhere else been brought to anything 
like the perfection that it attains at Twickenham. Not that 
the cultivation of the European tuberous orchids presents any 
real difficulty ; all that is wanted to ensure success being care 
and common sense. Sweet indeed, so long ago as 1827, said of 
this very species, “it succeeds well in a warm border by the 
side of a wall in a southern aspect; the soil to be sandy 
loam, and if a little pounded chalk be mixed with it, all the 
better ;” he adds that worms are its chief enemy, which toss 
DECEMBER Ist, 1871. 
