Tas. V. 
CYCNOCHES’ VENTRICOSUM. 
VENTRICOSE-LIPPED CYCNOCHES. 
Trisus: VANDE2@.—Loinptey. 
CYCNOCHES.—Lindley, Gen. et Sp. Orch. 154. 
PERIANTHIUM explanatum. Sepala lateralia lanceolata, basi paululum sub 
labello connato; supremo angustiore. Petala latiora, falcata, decurva. Labellum 
Jiberum, ecalcaratum, columna continuum, lanceo!atum aut ventricosum, inte- 
gerrimum, ungue abrupto calloso. Columna elongata, arcuata, teres, apice 
clavata, auriculis duabus falcatis ad latera clinandrii. Anthera bilocularis. 
Pollinia 2, postice sulcata, subpedicellata, caudicula lineari, glandula grossé, 
Herbe epiphyte, caulibus incrassatis vestigiis foliorum cinctis. Folia plicata 
lanceolata, basi vaginantia. Racemi multiflori, penduli, ex axillis foliorum 
superiorum orti. Flores maximi, odorati. 
Cycnocuzs sepalis petalis que lanceolatis acuminatis reflexis, labello integro ventricoso acuminato, 
basi calloso, ungue brevi; columna arcuaté sepalo supremo duplo breviore. 
Habitat in Guatemala.—SKinner. 
Descriptio. 
An EpipuytTe. Srrms fleshy, slightly compressed, about a foot high, bearing five or six 
lanceolate, acute, plicated LEAVES, of which the uppermost are the longest. After the flowering 
season, these leaves fall off, the stem becomes shorter and more swollen, and is then deeply marked by 
longitudinal lines, as well as by horizontal contractions, at the points from whence the leaves fell. 
From the axils of the upper leaves proceed the RACEMES, sometimes two or more at the same time, 
but more usually in succession ; each of these bears about jive FLOWERS, which open simultaneously, 
lasting about three days. The raceme is at Jirst horizontal, but is afterwards weighed down by the 
flowers, which, consequently, are always seen in an inverted position. SEPALS lanceolate, acuminate, 
the upper one being rather narrower, and the lateral ones slightly unguiculate. Purrats broader 
than the sepals, curved downwards, of a light green colour, as are also the sepals. LIP somewhat 
heart-shaped, very much swollen on the upper side, hollow underneath, of the purest white, communi- 
cating with the column by a short CLAW, which, at its junction with the base of the lip, presents a 
black callosity. CoLumn round and club-shaped, only half the length of the upper sepal, and 
at its extremity, bearing two small falcate horns, which guard the ANTHER. CAPSULE very large, 
oblong, bearing innumerable minute SEEDS. 
AMONG the Orchidaceous genera, Cycnoches will ever be conspicuous, as yielding one of the 
most notable examples of the strange propensity of its tribe to mimic the forms of animated nature. 
The Genus was founded by Professor Linp.ey, upon a remarkable plant from Surinam(the C. Loddigesii), 
the sepals and petals of which bore as close a resemblance to the expanded wings of a swan, as did the 
column to the long arching neck of the same graceful bird; and these peculiarities are well expressed in 
the name Cyenoches (Anglice, “swan-neck”). For upwards of four years, the genus had consisted of only 
a solitary species, when a second made its appearance in the person of our present subject, which was 
* So called from xixvoc, a swan, and avy}, a neck, in allusion to the column of this plant, which is curved like the neck of a swan.—LinDLEy. 
