Tas. 8103. 
LY CASTE pyeErtana, 
Peru. 
Orcuipacea., Tribe VANDER. 
LycasteE, Lindl.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 547. 
Lycaste dyeriana, Sander, ew Rolfe in Kew Bulletin, 1898, p. 195; Orch. Rev. 
1898, p. 303; Gard. Chron. 1895, vol. ii. p. 49; a casteris speciebus habitu 
pendulo et foliis glaucis differt. 
Herba epiphytica, cespitosa, pendula. Pseudobulbi ovoideo-orbiculares, sub- 
compressi, obscure angulati, circa 14 poll. lati, diphylli. Folia pendula, 
lanceolata, acuminata, basi attenuata, glauca, 6-11 poll. longa, 1-1} poll. 
lata. Scapi a basi pseudobulborum producti, penduli, medio vagina 
spathacea obtecti, 3-5 poll. longi. Bracteze spathaces, late elliptico- 
oblong, apiculate, glauce, 9-10 lin. longe. Flores pallide virides. 
Sepalum posticam lanceolato-oblongum, subobtusum, 13-2 poll. longum, 
7-9 lin. latum ; sepala lateralia oblonga, subobtusa, obscure carinata, 13-2 
poll longa, 8-10 lin. lata. Petala oblonga, subobtusa, 12-12 poll. longa, 
5-6 lin. lata. Labellum 1-1} poll. longum, obscure trilobum ; lobi laterales 
suberecti, basi angusti, prope apicem dilatati et obtusi; lobo intermedio 
elliptico denticulato convexo apice reflexo et obtuso ; discus canaliculatus ; 
callus oblongus bilobus margine incrassato. Colwmna clavata, incurva, 
8 lin. longa, alis anguste auriculatis. Mentum conicnm, obtusum, 4 lin. 
longum. 
Lycaste dyeriana, Sander, like Cattleya citrina, Lindl. 
(Bot. Mag. t. 3742),* and Masdevallia deorsa, Roife 
(t. 7766), in their respective genera, is quite anomalous in 
habit, differing from its allies in having acquired a 
pendulous habit, which extends to the entire plant, 
pseudobulbs, leaves and flowers. A similar habit has been 
acquired by the species of the small genus Scuticaria and 
some other epiphytes, and it has been observed by Rodway 
that such plants are usually found on the edges of the 
branches of the trees on which they grow, while the centre 
is occupied by erect and more robust epiphytes, and the 
habit is regarded as adaptive, natural selection gradually 
fitting them to their environment. 
The species figured was introduced by Messrs. F. 
Sander & Sons, St. Albans, and exhibited by them at the 
Royal Horticultural Society on July 9th, 1895, when it 
received a Botanical Certificate. A plant received at Kew 
died, but another received in 1903 from the Royal Botanic 
* By mistake, that plant is drawn erect and only the flower pendulous, 
NovemBer 1st,$1906. 
