Var. praestans alba.—Sepals and petals pure white, front of lip rich purple, disk 
yellow. 
LAELIA PUMILA—Var. Dayana. Native of Brazil. 
A lovely species of the second group with short, clustered, oblong, and somewhat 
club-shaped stems bearing a single oblong-elliptic, fleshy, dark green leaf. The 
scape carries a solitary 4-inch flower with rose-pink sepals and petals and a purple- 
magenta lip. The throat is creamy and has a number of purple ridges. Flowers 
in Autumn or Winter and lasts about three weeks. 
Variety alba.—Sepals and petals white, lip white veined with dark purple. 
LAELIA PURPURATA. Native of Brazil. 
A fine species of the second group with large, stout, spindle-shaped pseudobulbs, 
somewhat compressed, and bearing a broad, leathery, dark green leaf about a 
foot long. Scape erect and carries from two to five flowers which reach a width 
of 8 inches. Sepals and petals narrow at the base and broad in the upper half. 
They are white tinged and streaked with reddish purple. The large lip has a 
broad spreading front lobe with a crinkly edge. It is rich purple veined with 
darker purple. The throat is yellow lined with purple. Flowers late Spring and 
early Summer and lasts about three weeks. 
Var. Brysiana.—Sepals and petals tinted with rose-lilac, lip deep purple. 
Var. Russelliana.—Sepals and petals white tinged with lilac. Lip rose-lilac veined 
with purple. 
Var. Schroederi.—Sepals and petals white, front of lip mauve bordered with white. 
LAELIA RUBESCENS. Native of South Mexico and Guatemala. 
A small growing species with flattened ovoid pseudobulbs rarely more than 2 
inches tall, topped with a solitary oblong, leathery leaf about 4 inches in length. 
The slender, jointed scape grows from a sheath at the top of the bulb and is about 
a foot long, bearing from 4 to 7 flowers each about 24 inches across. In the 
type species the nearly equal sepals and petals are white or pale lilac, while the lip 
which is short with a large front lobe is deep lilac blotched with purple in the 
throat. The pure beauty of this flower caused it to be named “Flor de Jesu” 
(Flower of Jesus) by the missionaries who followed the Spaniards in the conquest 
of Mexico. Flowers in Winter. 
Variety alba, Has white flowers with a yellow blotch on the lip. 
Variety rosea. Has mauve flowers with a maroon blotch on the lip. 
This species and its varieties belong to the first group. 
Syn. L, acuminata and L. peduncularis. 
LAELIA SPECIOSA. Native of Mexico. 
One of the first group and possibly the loveliest of all the Laelias. Pseudobulbs are 
clustered, egg-shaped, light green in colour, wrinkling with age. They carry a 
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