8 



MAXILLARiA tenuifolia. 

 Slender-leaved Maxillaiia. 



GYNANDRIA MOl^lANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. ORCHiDACEiE, § Vande^e. 



MAXILLARIA. Bot. Register, foL 897. 



M. tenuifolia ; caulescens, pseudobulbis ovato-oblongis compressis monophyllis 

 squaniis longioribus, foliis lineari-lanceolatls acutis recurvis, pedunculis 

 axillaribus solitariis basi squamatis, ovario denudato arcuato, floribus cernuis, 

 sepalis ovato-lanceolatis margine revolutis subsqualibus reflexis lateralibus 

 basi suba^qualibus, petalis ovatis obtusis conniventibus, labello oblongo in- 

 diviso apice ovato reflexo infra apicem utrinque contracto, callo disci oblongo 

 integerriino. Bot, Reg. sub folio, 1986. 



A native of Mexico, in the vicinity of Vera Cruz, where 

 it was found by Mr. Theodore Hartweg, an excellent natu- 

 ralist, employed by the Horticultural Society of London, in 

 Mexico, upon a mission which would have already produced 

 most important additions to our gardens, had not his collec- 

 tions been unfortunately detained at Tampico in consequence 

 of the French blockade of that port. 



The species inhabits trees in Mexico, and probably is 

 local, as it does not appear in any of the collections brought 

 from the interior of the country. It belongs to the first or 

 axillifloral section of the genus, the distinctive character of 

 which is to have caulescent stems, covered with pseudo-bulbs, 

 and having the flowers appearing from the axils of scales 

 covering the stem. These, which are the most genuine form 

 of Maxillaria, are the least beautiful part of the genus, and 

 constitute a perfectly natural group, at first sight very diffe- 

 rent from the kinds which, like M. aromatica, have naked 

 pseudo-bulbs rising immediately from the surface of the 

 earth. But, upon comparing the two sections with each 

 other, it will be found that the only essential diff'erence be- 

 tween them consists in the one having erect and the other 

 prostrate rhizomata ; the scales, or imperfect leaves, of the 



