Das; 7530: 
GONGORA trtcoror. 
Native of Costa Rica. 
Nat. Ord. OncHIDEZ.—Tribe VaAnDEs. 
Genus Goneora, Ruiz & Pav.; (Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 549.) 
Goncora ?ricolor; pseudobulbis ovoideis alte costatis interstitiis concavis, 
foliis ovato-oblongis acuminatis 5-costatis, racemi rachi compressa et 
angulata fusco-rubra, sepalis lateralibus reflexis ovato-lanceolatis acumi- 
natis rubro-purpureis maculisque paucis pallidis variegatis, marginibus ~ 
recurvis, costa pallida, sepalo dorsali ultra columnam lanceolato, sepalis 
lanceolato-subulatis incurvis apicibus setaceis, petalis parvis, labelli 
aurei hypochilio cuneiforme saccato a latere compresso basi dorso bitu- 
berculato apice truncato, angulis superioribus acutis infra apicem 
aristatis, epichilio hypochilio wquilongo infundibulari apice in rostrum 
recurvum produco, columna basique elongata sepali dorsalis rubro- 
punctatis. 
Gongora tricolor, Reichb. f. in Bonplandia, vol. ii. (1854) p. 93; in Walp, Ann. 
vol. vi. p. 594. 
G. maculata, var. tricolor; Lindl. Bot. Reg. vol. xxx. (1844) Mise. n. 40; et 
vol. xxiii. (1847) t. 69. 
In systematic botany there is no more difficult task than 
that of accurately and intelligibly describing the floral 
organs of Orchids, and I think that the maximum of diffi- 
culty is reached in the case of Gongora. This arises from 
the confluence of the lower half (long claw) of the narrow 
dorsal sepal with the lower half of the long column into a 
pillar carrying the bases of the small subulate or horn-like 
petals adnate to it, almost to its summit; to the reflexion of 
the lateral sepals, which are quite unlike the dorsal; and to 
the complicated structure of the comparatively small lip, 
which is attached by a mere point to the summit of the 
ovary, and is directed backwards horizontally from the 
rest of the perianth. These characters give a dislocated 
appearance to flowers, the forms and relations of whose 
organs can hardly be understood without a good drawing. 
Add to these difficulties that of defining the shades of 
colours of the often parti-coloured floral organs, which in 
the case of Orchids is necessary for systematic purposes. 
There are several tropical 8. American Gongoras so 
closely allied to G. tricolor in every detail of the structure 
Aprr'L 1st, 1897. 
