TaB. 8597. 
MORMODES TIGRINUM. 
Upper Amazon. 
ORCHIDACEAE. Tribe VANDEAE. 
Mormopss, Lindl.; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. iii. p. 552. 
Mormodes tigrinum, Rodr. Gen. et*Sp. Orch. Nov. vol. i. p. 181; Cogn. in 
Mart. Flor. Bras. vol. iii. pars 5, p. 885, t. 82; a M. igneo, Lindl., seapis 
brevioribus, floribus copiose brunneo-maculatis et labello breviore differt. 
Herba epiphytica; pseudobulbi erecti, fusiformi-oblongi, multi-articulati, recti 
vel vix arcuati, 10-17 cm. longi, 2°5-4 em. lati, apice subattenuati, 
paucifolii, vaginis membranaceis arcte adpressis vestitis. Folia elongato- — 
lanceolata, acuta, subundulata, plicata, arcuata, 30-50 cm. longa, 4-6 cm. © 
lata. Scapi axillares, erecti, crassiusculi, 10-15 cm. longi, basi vaginis 
paucis tubulosis vestiti, multiflori; bracteae ovato-oblongae, subacutae 
vel obtusae, concavae, 5-8 mm. longae ; pedicelli 2°5-38 cm. longi. Flores 
mediocres, speciosi. Sepala patentia vel reflexa, oblongo-lanceolata, 
subacuta, 2°5-8 cm. longa, ochroleuca, copiose purpureo-maculata. 
Petala elliptico-oblonga, subacuta, 2°5-3 em. longa, ochroleuca, copiose 
purpureo-maculata. Labellum carnosum, basi angustum, erectum, dein 
oblique incurvo-ascendens, indivisum, late  subdeltoideo-reniforme, 
2°5-8 cm. longum, apice acutiusculum, marginibus valde revolutis 
expansis 2-2°5 cm. longis, luteum, copiose brunneo-maculatum. Columna 
oblique incurva, clavata, apiculata, 1°5 cm. longa; anthera apiculata; 
pollinia 2, cerea, oblonga, stipiti loriformi affixa ; glandula squamiformis. 
—R. A. Rore. 
The striking Orchid which forms the subject of our 
illustration belongs to the genus Mormodes, which is 
most nearly allied to Catasetwm, Rich., but differs there- 
from in its hermaphrodite flowers, and in the oblique 
twisting to one side of the lip, the margins of which are 
also sharply recurved so as to form a tube which rests 
upon the equally oblique apex of the column. The 
method of fertilisation was discussed by the late 
Mr. Darwin. The species was originally discovered in 
the forests of the Rio Negro and was described in 1877, 
from specimens collected there, by the late Mr. Barbosa 
Rodrigues. Some twelve years afterwards it was again met 
with in the Rio Negro district and was then introduced 
to cultivation by Messrs. Sander and Sons, St. Albans, 
in whose establishment a plant flowered in 1890. Ata 
later date it was introduced afresh, this time from the 
Frsruary, 1915. 
