20 ORCHIDS OF JAMAICA 



Epidendrum Vanilla^ and included the vanilla beans of commerce 

 and the leaves and flowers of another species. 



The pods of both V. pompona Scbiede and V. planifoUa are 

 used in commerce, and as V. pompona is much more widely 

 spread than V. planifoUa, it is probable that its pods were 

 more common in early times before cultivation was resorted to. 

 v. pompona is not so much cultivated at present as V. planifoUa, 

 as its pods are not nearly so valuable commercially. 



Judging from the habitat given by Miller for the plant 

 cultivated by him, from the thickness of the pod (" scarce an 

 inch broad "), and from the shape of the leaves '' oblongo-ovatis," 

 it seems more probable that his plant was V. pompona rather 

 than v. planifoUa. 



V. inodora Schiede has much the same distribution on the 

 mainland as V. pompona, and extends also to the West Indies. 

 The stem and leaves of this species may have been sent to 

 England as specimens of Vanilla, and certainly some of the 

 old drawings suggest V. inodora rather than V. pompona or 

 V. planifoUa, e.g. Catesby's plate (Nat. Hist. Carol., App. t. 7), 

 which is quoted by Miller as his V. mexicana. Miller also 

 states in his generic description that the lip " runs out into a 

 long point," and this cannot apply to either V. pompona or V. 

 planifoUa, but may well refer to V. inodora.l^ 



[V. pompona Schiede in Linnsea iv. 573 (1829) ; leaves and 

 flowers like those of V. phseaniha but larger; capsule thick, 

 somewhat 3-cornered in section. — Bolfe op. cit. 465 ; Gogn. op. 

 cit. 323. V. grandiflora Lindl. Gen. d Sp. Orel. 435 (1840). 

 Banille Merian PI. Ind. t. 25 (1768). 



Trinidad, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, B. Guiana, 

 Surinam, Cayenne. 



Like V. planifoUa but larger. Leaves ovate-oblong, 14-25 cm. 1., 

 5-11 cm. br. Bacemes 6-8 fld., 2-5 cm. 1. Bracts broadly elliptico- 

 oblong, 10-18 mm. 1. Flowers greenish-yellow, perianth 3| in. 1. Sepals 

 and petals 8-8 • 5 cm. 1., oblong-lanceolate, subspathulate. Lip 9-9 • 5 cm. 1.^ 

 adnate to the column almost to the middle, constricted for some distance 

 below, limb obscurely 3-lobed, veins somewhat thick, with tuft pointing 

 downwards, median lobe broadly rounded, apex emarginate and apiculate. 

 Column hairy anteriorly, 6-7 cm. 1. Capsule linear-oblong, obtusely 

 3-cornered, 10-15 cm, 1. 



The description of this species, which is cultivated in the Hope 

 Gardens, is inserted for comparison.] 



4. PELEXIA Lindl. 



Terrestrial herbs, with roots clustered. Leaves radical, 

 long-stalked, at base of a simple stem, with several sheaths. 

 Flowers of medium size, with very short stalks, in a somewhat 

 lax spike. Bracts narrow or lanceolate. Sepals, median erect, 

 connate with the petals ; lateral linear, connate at the base into 



