Tab. 7196. 

 PHAL^NOPSIS Esmeralda. 



Native of Cochin China. 



Nat. Ord. Okchide^:. — Tribe Vande.,£. 

 Genus Piial.enopsis, Blume ; (Benth. et Hook.f. Gen. PI. vol. iii. p. 573.) 



Phauknopsis Esmeralda; foliis 4-8-pollicaribus oblongis acutis, pedunculo 

 elongate suberecto, racemo 6-10 floro erecto, floribus 1— li poll, latia roseis 

 albis purpureisve, sepalis lateralibus late triangulari-ovatis base late pede 

 columnar adnatis, dorsali spathulato obovato, petalis obovatis sepalo 

 dorsali paullo minoribus, labello unguiculato 3-lobo, lobis lateralibus 

 oblongis obovatis rotundatisve erectis, terminali lato obtuso, disco 

 inter lobos laterales calloso, ungue utrinque auricula parva elongata 

 instructa, columna crassa basi dilatata. 



P. Esmeralda, Beichb. f. in Gard. Chron. 1874, vol. ii. p.'582; Revue Horticol. 

 1877, p. 106, 107, fig. 17-19; Floral Mag. 1879, t. 358; Orchidoph. 1881, 

 p. 9, cum Ic. ; Warner & Williams, Orchid. Alb. vol. vii. t. 321 ; Bolfe in 

 Gard. Chron. 1886, vol. ii. p. 276 ; Rook. f. Fl. Brit. Ind. vol. vi. p. 31 ; 

 Veitch. Man. Orchid, part vii. p. 27. 



P. antennifera, Beichb. /. in Gard. Chron. 1879, vol. i. 398 ; 1882, vol. ii. 520 ; 

 Bolfe I.e. 1886, vol. ii. p. 176. 



P. Regnieriana, Beichb. f. 1. c. 1877, vol. ii. p. 746. 



P. Buissoniana, Beichb. f. 1. c. 1888, vol. ii. p. 295. 



I share the opinion expressed by Messrs. Rolf e and Veitch, 

 that the four species cited above are really one and the same, 

 varying a good deal in the size of the flower, and greatly 

 in colouring, from a dark purple, as figured by Warner and 

 Williams in their Orchid Album, to pale purple as in the 

 plate in the Floral Magazine, and to white with red streaks 

 in the lip as described by Mr. Rolfe in his var. candidula. 

 In fact, as remarked in Veitch' s Manual, " the colour 

 variations are too numerous to admit of separate notice." 

 Further, as observed in the same excellent work, P. 

 Esmeralda differs from all other described species of 

 Phalsenopsis in several very important points, especially the 

 erect many-flowered racemes, and the structure of the lip, 

 which is clawed and bears no cirrhi either at the apex or 

 on the disk, but two narrow auricles (called cirrhi by 

 Veitch) on the very pronounced claw, one on each side, like 

 the small supplementary lobes of Trichoglottis. I very 

 much doubt indeed if these so-called cirrhi of P. 



September 1st, 1891. 



