Tab. 5701. 



IPSEA SPECIOSA. 

 Beautiful Ipsea. 



Nat. Ord. Orchideje. — Gynandria Moxaxdria. 



Gen. Char. Sepala explanata, sequalia; lateralia basi obliqua, subsaocata, 

 cum pede columns connata. Tetala paulo minora, obovato-oblonga. La- 

 helium cum basi columns articulatum, concavum, late 3-lobum, lobis late- 

 ralibus magnis erectis subacutis, intermedio porrecto oblongo obtuso, disco 

 obtuse carinato et canaliculato. Colwmna semiteres, elongata, basi et apice 

 paulo incrassato. Anthera parva ; pollinia 8, cereacea, caudiculis 4 pul- 

 vereis, per paria cohrerentia, altero cujusvis paris minore. — Herba iota 

 pubescens, epic/cea, rhizomate tuberoso carnoso. Folia 1-2, graminea, elon- 

 gato-lanceolata, plicata. Scapus strictus, gracilis, elongaivs, bracteis spatha- 

 ceis ornatus, \-1-ftorvs. Flores ampli, speciosi,flavi. ' 



Ipsea speciosa. Lindh Gen. et Sp. Orchid, p. 124. Wight, Ic. PL In,! 

 Or. t. 1GG3. 



A very beautiful terrestrial Orchid, one of the very few 

 golden-flowered species of that class, with the habit of a 

 Bletia ; it is a native of Ceylon, whence a number of its 

 tubers were sent to the Royal Gardens, in 1866, by Mr. 

 Thwaites ; of these some were distributed to various culti- 

 vators, and others planted here under different conditions. 

 These grew freely ; but the only person who has hitherto 

 succeeded in flowering the plant is Mr. Bateman, who exhi- 

 bited it in January of the present year. If it can only be 

 made to flower as easily as the Bletias, it will indeed become 

 a very valuable addition to every Orchid collection. 



Descr. Whole plant finely pubescent. Rhizomes terres- 

 trial, tuberous, hard, fleshy, as large as a nut or larger, often 

 fascicled, subglobose, with conical tops, furnished with the 

 fibrous remains of old leaves. Jjeaf usually solitary from the 

 rhizome, appearing before the flower, four to eight inches long, 

 narrow lanceolate, tapering into a petiole, half an inch to 

 three-quarters of an inch wide, plaited, green. Scape lateral 

 on the rhizomes, very slender, erect, one to two feet high, 

 one- to two-flowered, with distant spathaceous bracts ; spathes 



APRIL 1st, 1868. 



