24 



LiELlA acuminata. 



Tapering LaiVia . 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Okchidace^e, § Epidendre^e. 

 L^ELIA. Botanical Register, vol. 21. fol. 1751. 



L. acuminata ; pseudo-bulbis ovatis compressis rugosis, foliis solitariis emar- 

 ginatis scapo erecto brevioribus, floribus corymbosis, bracteis linearibus 

 acuminatis ovario duplo brevioribus sepalis linearibus petalisque lanceo- 

 latis undulatis acuminatis, labelli lobis lateralibus rotundatis intermedio 

 lanceolato undulato acuminate 



When a short notice of this plant was published at p. 17 

 of the miscellaneous notices of this volume, nothing more was 

 known of it than that it had produced a scape with two flowers 

 upon it, in the collections of both Sir Charles Lemon and the 

 Horticultural Society ; and that a supposed variety with 

 violet flowers had blossomed in the same way with Messrs. 

 Loddiges. 



It now appears, from a native specimen sent home by 

 Mr. Hartweg, that it forms a fine corymb of eight flowers, 

 and that it is in fact so very beautiful that the Guatemalese call 

 it " Flor de Jesus." He found it on the trunk of Crescentia 

 Cujete, the Calabash tree, a favourite haunt of Qrchidacese, 

 at a place called Retatulen, in the month of December. 



From L. rubescens, its nearest ally, it differs in its larger 

 wrinkled pseudo-bulbs, larger and more corymbose flowers, 

 and in the different form of the labellum. 



The following is Mr. Booth's account of the plant as it 

 flowered at Carclew. 



" This plant was received by Sir Charles Lemon, Bart, 

 from the Horticultural Society in May, 1840, and flowered at 

 Carclew in January, 1841. Although a weak specimen it 

 produced two scapes with a couple of flowers on each, suffi- 

 cient to shew that, like the others of this delightful genus, it 

 is not only deserving attention but will amply repay with its 

 truly delicate and fragrant flowers any extra trouble that may 

 be taken in its cultivation. It has been hitherto grown in a 

 pot of decayed vegetable lumps, but I suspect it would have 



May, 1841. k 



