1920 



* OXCIDIUM cn'spum. 



Curled-jiowercd Oncidlum. 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. LIBRART 



JVo<. ord. Orchidace^, § Vande^. Mi>^ YORK 



ONCIDIUM. Suprd, vol. 13. fol. 1050. B«>T A N IC At 



OARUtiiN 



X § 1. a. • G«n. et Sp. Oreh. 197. 



O. crispum; pseudobulbis oblongis sulcatis riigosis diphyllis, foliis laiiccolatis coriaceis 

 acutis, scapo simpliei multifloro, sepalis (obovatis) recurvis undulatis obtusis laterali- 

 bus semicounatis, petalis tluplo majoribus subrotundis undulatis unguiculatis, labcUi 

 lobis lateralibus cornuformibus recurvis nanis inferniedio maximo uiiguiculato sub- 

 rotundo cordato undulato, crista subliastata acuminata tuberculis subuniserialibus 

 circumdata, cohimnjE alis rotuudatis denticulatis carnosis. 



0. erispum. Lodd. Bot. cab. t. 1854. Gen. et Sp. Orck-IST. Hooker in But. Mag. 



t. 3499. 



The first notice I had of the existence of this species was the finding, 

 in the Herbarium of Sir William Hooker, a drawing and one single dried 

 flower of it, which had been sent from tlie Organ Mountains in Brazil, 

 with a memorandum that from fifty to sixty flowers frequently grow on 

 a stalk. A small specimen of it shortly after flowered with Messrs. 

 Loddiges, and it has subseqnentl}' blossomed in many collections, but 

 never with the vigour that it possesses in its wild state. 



Even as we know it, it is a stately, noble looking object, with its very 

 large deep ehesnut flowers ; but if it can be brought to its full degree of 

 vigour, we shall have little in its tribe that can vie with it in appearance. 



The plant that furnished the accompanying drawing grew in the hot- 

 house of Richard Harrison, Esq., Liverpool, in May 1830. 



The genus Oncidium is one of the most distinct in the whole of the 

 extensive natural order to which it belongs, and in general it is easily 

 enough determined ; but even here, as in all such cases, there are species 

 that do not exactly belong to it, or to any other genus. Some instances of 

 these I shall give in the next number of the Register ; for the present I 

 confine myself to the genuine and certain species. These, which abound 

 in the tropical parts of America, extend also so far into colder regions, 

 that one species, O. nubigenum, occurs on the mountains of Peru, at the 

 height of 14,000 feet above the sea, where the air must nearly freeze. A 

 large'number of them occur in our gardens ; of these many are among 

 the older inhabitants of stoves, others are of such recent introduction as 

 hardly yet to be known even by name ; among the last are more particu- 

 larly to be named the lovely rose-coloured O. ornithorliynchiuu from 

 Mexico, and a beautiful little species, O.lunatinn, a native of Demerara. 

 The genus Oncidium will not however be seen in all its glory till we pos- 

 sess O. tigrinum from Mexico, O. pictum from Peru, and O. macranthum 

 from Guayaquil. The first and last of these equal O. erispum in the size of 

 their flowers ; the other is probably tlie finest of the yellow species. 



I am acquainted with the following in addition to those already 

 published. 



A. § 1. a.* 



1. O. maculosum ; pseudobulbis ovalibus compressis, foliis lanceolatis aeutis, scapo stricto 



maculoso apice paniculato, sepalis oviilibus aeutis reflexis lateralibus basi connatis, 

 petalis oblongis obtusis, labello maximo basi pubescente obsolete quadrilobo reni- 

 formi : laeiniis lateralibus minimis auriculoeformibus, crista oWonga e tuberoulis 

 pluribus digitiforniibus eonstante, columnse alis inferiorihus truncatis superioribus 



i'alcatis integerrirais majoribus. Brazil, von Martins. A fine species in tbe way 



of Oncidium bifolium. 



2. O. varicosum ; pseudobulbis oblongis subtetragonis diphyllis, foliis rigidis spathulato- 



lanceolatis scapo gracili pyramidali subsimpliciter racemoso ter brevioribus, floribus 



• See folio 1542. 



VOL. xxiir. B 



