Tas. 8007. 
CATASETUM caristyAnum. 
Amazon District. 
ORCHIDACER. Tribe VANDEA. 
Catasetum, Rich.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 551; Rolfe in 
Journ. Linn. Soe. vol, xxvii. p. 206. 
C. christyanum, Reichb. f. in Gard. Chron. 1882, i. p. 588; 1895, ii. 
pp- 617, 618, fig. 104; species ex affinitate C. saccati, Lindl., sepalis 
petalisque angustioribus, labello trifido laciniis refractis distinctum. 
Herba epiphytica, circa 1 ped. alta. Psewdobulbi fusiformi-oblongi, 4-6 poll. 
longi, vaginis vestiti. Folia oblongo-lanceolata, acuta vel acuminata, 
plicata, 3-5-nervia, 6-9 poll. longa, pallide viridia. Scapzi axillares, prope 
basin pseudobulbi -producti, arcuati, circa 1 ped. longi, prope basin 
vaginis tubulosis vestiti; racemi laxi, multiflori. Bractez oblong, 
acute, paullo concave, 4-8 lin. longs. Pedicelli 1-2 poll. longi. Flores 
circa 4 poll, diametro, pallide virides, sepala et petala_rufo-brunneo- 
maculata, labellum viride brunneo suffusum, os sacci album. Sepala 
patentia, lineari-lanceolata, acuminata vel acuta, circa 2 poll. longa; 
lateralia subfalcata. Petala sepalis similia cum sepalo postico galeam 
formantia. Labellum trifidam, lobis reflexis; lobus intermedius late 
ovato-oblongus vel suborbicularis, apiculatus, circa 6 lin. longus, margine 
profunde fimbriatus, lobi laterales rotundati, profunde fimbriati; saccus 
latus, obtusus ; os transverse oblongum, medio constrictum ; callus conicus, 
obtusus. Colwmna clavata, circa 1 poll. longa; antenne graciles, 
divergentes ; anthera longe apiculata. 
Catasetum is one of the most remarkable genera of 
Orchids. Its flowers are quaint in structure, very poly- 
morphic in the different sections of which it is composed, 
and unisexual, the two sexes being completely diverse in 
appearance. The females are produced very rarely, and 
of the sixty or more described species they are only known 
in about a third. They are also remarkably uniform in 
_ appearance, as compared with the other sex, and indeed 
‘difficult to determine in the absence of the males. ‘This 
diversity is very well illustrated by the plate of C. Randii, 
Rolfe (B. M. t. 7470), which is the solitary example out 
of nineteen species already figured in this Magazine where 
both sexes are represented. 
Catasetum christyanum was originally flowered by Mr. 
Thomas Christy, F.L.S., at Sydenham, and was. described 
in 1882, but since that time it has appeared in numerous 
collections. It is a striking species, most nearly allied to 
C. saccatum, Lindl., which seems to have been lost sight of 
Aprin Ist, 1905. 
