a eae ee ee ne Oe ae 
Tas. 4700. 
CATTLEYA ELEGaNs. 
Elegant Cattleya. 
Nat. Ord. OrcutpEm.—GyNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Gen. Char. Sepala membranacea vel carnosa, patentia, sequalia. Petala seepius 
majora. Labellum cucullatum, columnam involvens, trilobum vel indivisum. Co- 
lumna clavata, elongata, semiteres, marginata, cum labello articulata. Anthera 
carnosa, 4-locularis, septorum marginibus membranaceis. Pollinia 4, caudiculis 
totidem replicatis—Herbee epiphyte (Americana) pseudobulbose. Folia solitaria 
vel bina, coriacea. Flores terminales speciosissimi, sepe e spatha magna erumpentes. 
Lindl. 
CaTtieya elegans ; pseudobulbis teretibus cauliformibus elongatis, folio solitario 
lineari-oblongo coriaceo, sepalis oblongis acutis petalis lato-lanceolatis acutis, 
. labelli trilobi lobis lateralibus elongatis obtusis columnam involventibus in- 
termedio apice latissimo transverso subunguiculato vix emarginato undulato- 
crispata, basi leviusculo (* venis callisque deficientibus”). 
CattTLeya elegans. “ Morren, Annales de Gand, p. 185.” 
Received from Messrs. Backhouse, York Nursery, as a new 
species of Cattleya, from St. Catharine’s, Brazil. It appears 
however to have been published by Professor Morren, at Ghent, 
under the name of C. elegans, which name we therefore here 
adopt, but without subscribing to the opinion that it is a truly. 
distinct species. From various specimens we have received, both 
living and dried, from Mr. Spruce, of Cattleya superba (figured at 
our ‘Tab. 4083), from the Amazon, it is very evident that that 
species varies extremely in the relative length and breadth of the 
leaves, as well as of the pseudo-bulbs ; some of the leaves being 
elliptical, rotundate, while others were long and narrow, like the 
present. The colour in all such flowers we know to be exceed- | 
ingly variable: here the side-lobes of the labellum are nearly 
white, with a deep purple tinge at the apices, while, on the other 
hand, the central lobe is a very deep and rich purple to the very 
We are thus reduced to the absence of the elevated lines, 
and of the two callosities at the very base of the middle lobe, as 
described in Mr. Backhouse’s letter to us—for we regret that we 
FEBRUARY Ist, 1853. 
