58 



CATTLEYA labiata ; var. MossIeb. 

 Mrs. Mosses Cattleya. 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 

 Nat. Ord. Orchidace^ § EpidendrejE. 

 CATTLEYA. Botanical Register, vol. xi.fol. 953. 



'C. labiata; sepalis lineari-lanceolatis, petalis membranaceis undulatis mult5 



latioribus, labello obovato crispo-undulato obtuso v. emarginato disco 



Isevi, pseudobulbis oblongis siilcatis. 

 a. petalis lanceolatis andulatis, labelli disco sanguineo. 

 C labiata. Lindl. coll. hot. t. 33. Gen. et Sp. orch. 116. Hooker exot.fi. t. 



157. Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1856. 

 /3. petalis oblongis subcrispis, labelli disco luteo sanguineo punctate aut 



picto. 

 C. Mossise. Hooker in Bot. Mag. t. 3669. 



A native of La Guayra, whence . it was imported by the 

 London Nurserymen in considerable quantity some time since ; 

 and it is consequently dispersed through the country more 

 plentifully than was imagined when it first flowered in Mr. 

 Moss's garden at Liverpool. Since that period it has been 

 sent me by several of my correspondents, and has appeared in 

 the London exhibitions. The specimen from which the annexed 

 figure was taken was communicated by Sir Philip Egerton, 

 Bart., who bought it of Mr. Joseph Knight, in the King's 

 Road. 



Beautiful a plant as this is, and different as it sometimes 

 appears to be from C. labiata^ I am satisfied that it is a mere 

 variety of that species, from which it differs principally in the 

 lip being yellow, mottled with crimson, instead of deep blood 

 red. The characters relied upon to separate it are —1. Its 

 branching stem ; 2. its furrowed pseudobulbs ; 3. its broader 

 sepals and petals and larger flowers; 4. its unguiculate petals; 

 and 5. its colour : but none of these distinctions can be relied 

 upon. 



