26 



to Catasetum, its most marked characteristic being the long, 

 slender, and gracefully arched column which suggested the name, 

 Cycnoch.es, signifying " swan-neck." Only two forms of flowers 

 have been observed to occur on single plants of this genus, and 

 these are usually borne upon two distinct racemes produced from 

 opposite sides of the stem. In 1836 Dr. Lindley received from a 

 gentleman in Birmingham a specimen of a Cycnoches which 

 differed from the species then known, C. Loddigesii, in having a 

 column dilated and hooded at the apex and in being quite devoid 

 of scent. This he considered a distinct species, and accordingly 

 named it C. cucullata, but very shortly afterwards he observed 

 in the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society a plant bearing 

 two racemes, "on one were the fragrant flowers of C. Loddigesii, 

 and on the other the scentless flowers of C. cucullata." 



Well indeed might the same author observe in the " Vegetable 

 Kingdom," " Such cases shake to the foundation our ideas of the 

 stability of genera and species, and prepare the mind for more 

 startling discoveries than could have been otherwise anticipated." 



Since that time about six or seven so-called species have been 

 introduced from tropical America, in many of which a similar 

 tendency to produce distinct forms of flowers on the same plant 

 has been noticed, and it is thus extremely difficult to define 

 the specific characters. Cycnoches Warscewiczii is one of the 

 more recent introductions, and a specimen exhibited at one of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's meetings a few years ago 

 showed the dimorphic character extremely well. On one side of 

 the plant was a long drooping raceme of numerous small, dull 

 yellow flowers, with reflexed sepals and petals, a peculiar fringed 

 labellum supported on a stalk, and a slender arching column. 

 Just above, upon the opposite side of the stem, was a short 

 raceme of perhaps half-a-dozen flowers, considerably larger in 

 size, of a greenish hue, and broad flat sepals and petals, a short 

 thick column and a somewhat heart-shaped labellum. It appears 

 probable that in this case the large flower (Fig. 8) is the seed- 

 bearing form ; for the other (Fig. 9) although it produces pollinia, 

 seems imperfect in the ovary, and thus the different structures 

 have some bearing upon the phenomenon of fertilisation, an ap- 

 proximation to the monoecious type. It is a curious fact that while 

 the three species C. ventricosum, C. Loddigesii and heterochilon 

 have flowers similar to the large form of C. Warscewiczii C. 

 pentadactylon, C. aureum, C. maculatum and C. Egertonianum 

 bear flowers resembling the small form with a fringed stalked 

 labellum. 



Vanda, or Renanthera Lowii, is also peculiar in this respect. It 

 produces several slender pendulous racemes 6 or 8 feet long, the 

 majority of the flowers being of a reddish colour, veined with 

 yellow, but near the base of the inflorescence are two flowers 



