23 



* CHYSIS bractescens. 

 Bracteated Chysis. 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Orchidace^e, § Epidendri^e. 

 CHTSIS. Botanical Register, vol. 23. fol. 1937. 



C. bractescens ; bracteis cucullatis venosis foliaceis ovario longioribus, sepalis 

 petalisque ovatis obtusis, labelli lobis lateralibus obtusis intermedio 

 minore carnoso bilobo bypochilio plicato lamellis 5 carnosis subaequalibus 

 parallelis basi pubescentibus, columna latissima carnosa cyrnbifbrmi 

 antice pubescente. Bot. Reg. 1840. misc. no. 131. 



Caules fusiformes, carnosi,pahnares. Folia ovato-lanceolata, basi cucullata, 

 imbricantia, undulata, acuminata, subplicata. Racemus lateralis, horizontalis, 

 foliis brevior, A-b-jlorns. Bracteae magna, foliacecs, reticidatce, obtusce, con- 

 caves, cucullatce, laxce, ovario longiores. Flores magni, cerei, candidi, coriacei. 

 Sepala lateralia dorsali latiora, obtusa, margine incurva. Petala oblonga, 

 erecta, obtusa, basi angustata. Labellum intus luteum, extlis candidum ; 

 hypochilii lobis lateralibus erectis rotundatis, cristis 5 Icevibus pai'allelis basi 

 pubescentibus, epichilio bilobo nudo complicato. Columna latissima, cymbi- 

 formis, carnosa, antice pubescens, in pedem producta. 



A fine epiphyte from Mexico, whence it was imported by 

 George Barker, Esq. who flowered it in April 1840. It 

 forms the third of the genus now known, and is readily dis- 

 tinguished by its large white, not yellow, flowers, and great 

 inflated leafy bracts. Its pollen-masses (fig. 1) show yet more 

 strongly than those of the original species the singular struc- 

 ture upon which the genus is founded. 



In this, as in most other Orchidacese, the most exact 

 attention should be paid to the markings and elevations of 

 the labellum, for they furnish the most constant and exact 

 characters for distinguishing species. Figures or descriptions 



* See Botanical Register, vol. 23. fol. 1937. 

 April, 1841. i 



