1851 



* ONCIDIUM altissimum. 

 Tallest Oncidium. 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Orchidace^, § Vande^e. 

 ONCIDIUM.— Suprd, vol. 13. fol. J 050. 



0. altissimum ; pseudobulbis subrotundis compressis ancipltibus, foliis distichls 



ensiformibus carinatis acutis scapo decurvo multo brevioribus, racemo sim- 

 plicl, sepalis petalisque labelli longitudine lineari-lanceolatis undulatis, 

 - labello apice dilatato bilobo medio constrlcto basi auriculato, crista ennea- 

 dactyla, columnee alis rotundatis crenulatis. 

 Epidendrum altissimum. Jacq. stirp. amer. 2'29. t. 141. 



Planta elegans, parasitica arborum. Radices teretes,Jihros(E, cinerece, 

 numeroscB. Folia acuta, ensiformi-oblonga, avenia, nitida, integerrima, 

 crassiiiscula, pollicetn lata, sesqui-pollicem longa, hasi carinata, cceterum 

 plana : orta singula e 7iodo t'el tuber-e ovato, compresso, glabra, ovi interdum 

 anserini magnitudine ; qui ipse insidet basifolii alius radicalis, unius alte- 

 riusve, et similis. Inter hoc nodumque exsurgit scapus solitarius, teres, 

 glaber, colore ferrugineo, tenuis, inclinatus, quadripedalis, superne race- 

 mosus ; qui ad pedunculos et nodos vestitur spathis membranaceis, lanceo- 

 latis, cinereisque. Pedunculi bijlori vel trijlori plerumque, distiche alterni. 

 Flores inodori,Jfavi cum macidis fuscis, numerosi. His sunt petala oblonga, 

 distincta, utrinque acuta, undulata, subcequalia. Nectarii labii inferioris 

 lacinia media est suhquadrata, fiavaque tola sine maculis. Reliqua in 

 charactere obtinent, sicuti in Epidendro (Oncidio) carthaginensi. Jacq. 



1. c. 229. 



I long ago suspected that two distinct species were con- 

 founded under the name of O. altissimum, and I even dis- 

 tinguished, by the name of O. Baueri, what appeared to be 

 a different species from the Epidendrum altissimum of Jacquin, 

 which is the original authority for the former name. I was 

 afterwards led to suppose that O. Baueri was a mere form of 

 O. altissimum, and I accordingly reduced it to a simple 



* See folio 1542. 

 VOL. xxir. F 



