42 



ERIA armeniaca. 



Apricot- co loured Eria . 



GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Orchidace^e, § Malaxide^;. 

 ERIA. Botanical Register, vol. 9./ol. 904. 



E. armeniaca (Lanatse) ; pseudobulbis ovalibus compressis tripliyllis, foliis 

 oblongo-lanceolatis coriaceis Iambus, racemo tomeutoso radicali basi 

 vaginato stricto foliis sequali v. longiore, foliis scapi bracteisque lanceo- 

 latis acuminatis subcoriaceis (armeniacis), labelli lobis lateralibus denti- 

 formibus intermedio rhorabeo crispo; lamellis 5 rectis baud crispatis 

 lateralibus abbreviatis divergentibus intermedia versus apiceru labelli 

 producta. Bot. Reg. 1841. misc. 70. 



Of the many species of this large Orchidaceous genus 

 there is no great number handsome enough to claim the 

 attention of the cultivator ; for their flowers are either pale, 

 or small, or dingy. That however now represented is a de- 

 cided exception to the general character of the species, its 

 gay apricot-coloured bracts amply compensating for the dull- 

 ness of the flowers themselves. 



It belongs to a set in which the bracts are always richly 

 coloured ; but no others of which have yet been seen in 

 Europe. Dr. Blume enumerates several ; one with yellow, 

 and another with red bracts changing to brilliant orange. 

 Even here the interior of the flower will repay a careful 

 examination, in consequence of the beautiful form and rich 

 colouring of the lip, as shewn at fig. 1. 



Mr. Cuming found it in the Philippine islands, in the 

 I. dos Negros and elsewhere, and sent it to Messrs. Loddiges, 

 with whom it has flowered. Its flowering stem is about a 

 foot high. 



It should be potted in turfy peat or sphagnum, and grown 



