338 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Maxillaria continued. 



Orchids. Over 100 have been enumerated as species, but 

 some of these are merely garden forms ; they are natives 

 of tropical America, extending from Brazil as far as the 

 West Indies and Mexico. Flowers more or less ringent ; 

 lateral sepals adhering to the column at their oblique 

 base ; lip hooded, jointed with the prolonged claw - like 

 foot of the column, which is narrow, ascending ; pollen 

 masses four ; scapes or peduncles at base of pseudo- 

 bulbs, or in the axils of the leaves, solitary, always one- 

 flowered. Leaves coriaceous, slender, or rather fleshy, 

 A large number of species and varieties are described. 

 but, as the majority of them produce small flowers, the 

 whole genus has fallen out of favour with most orchid- 

 growers. There are, however, some which should find a 

 place in every collection, however limited the space. 

 From a cultural point of view, few plants of this order 

 are easier to grow than those now under consideration. 

 Maxillarias thrive best when treated as pot plants, and 

 should be potted in a compost of good fibrous peat and 

 chopped sphagnum, in about equal parts. During the 

 growing season, a temperature of 60deg. to 70deg., and 

 an abundant supply of water, are essential to their 

 well-being; in the winter, less water must be given, 

 and the temperature should fall some lOdeg. or 12deg. 

 lower than during the period of growth. It is not, 

 however, advisable to thoroughly dry off during winter. 

 Propagated by divisions of the pseudo-bulbs, in spring. 

 Other species formerly included here will now be found 

 under Xylobium (which see). 

 M. acicularis (needle-leaved), fl. dark blood or chocolate- 



coloured, erect ; sepals and petals oblique or sub-ovate-spathu- 



late ; petals paler, and decurrent with the white column ; lip 



obscurely three-lobed. /. setaceo-f 



Pseudo-bulbs in clusters. 



Brazil. (B. M. 4374.) 



M. acutipetala (sharp-petaled). fl. pale orange, spotted and 

 blotched with blood-colour; sepals oblong, acute, liin. long; 

 petals smaller; lip articulated on the base of the decurrent 

 column, paler below. March and April. I. two, from the summit 

 of the pseudo-bulb, linear-oblong or almost ligulate. Pseudo- 

 bulbs deeply furrowed. Central America. A very desirable 

 orchid. (B. M. 3966.) 



M. arachnites (cobwebby), fl. yellowish ; acuminate segments 

 bent and twisted ; lip ochre, bordered with purple, and with 

 many short streaks and lines. Columbia, 1880. 



M. aromatica (aromatic). A synonym of Lyeaste armnatica. 



M. ciliata (ciliate). A synonym of Lyeaste Barringtonice. 



M. cruenta (bloody). A synonym of Lyeaste eruenta. 



M. cucullata (hooded), fl. greenish-chocolate ; sepals oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, spreading ; petals similar, but smaller, conni- 

 vent over the column ; lip jointed at the base of the column, 

 recurved; scapes radical, about 4in. long. September. I. soli- 

 tary, linear-oblong. Pseudo-bulbs surrounded by jagged mem- 

 branes. Tropical America. (B. M. 3945.) 



FIG. 528. FLOWER OF MAXILLARIA PICTA. 



M. Deppei (Deppe's). A synonym of Lyeaste Deppei. 



M. fractiflexa (twisted). /., sepals and petals drawn out into 

 long curved and twisted tails, 6in. or more in length, the tails 

 and basal parts purple ; disk white ; lip white and red. 1881. A 

 distinct species. 



| Maxillaria continued. 



H. grandiflora (large-flowered). fl. large ; sepals snow-white, 

 from IJin. to 2in. Ions, and from fin. to lin. broad, not acumi- 

 nate ; petals snow-white, smaller ; lip three-lobed, streaked with 

 yellow on the lateral lobes, and blotched with crimson inside, 

 central or intermediate portion lemon-yellow ; scape one-flowered ; 

 4m. to 9in. high. Pseudo-hulbs ovate, with sharp edge, dark 

 green, 2in. high, and one-leaved. Paraguayan Andes and Peru. 

 (I. H. 14.) 



FIG. 529. PSEUDO-BULB, LEAF, AND FLOWER OF 

 MAXILLARIA VENUSTA. 



M. Henchmannl (Henchmann's). A synonym of Jf. variabilis. 



M. irrorata (bedewed), fl. white, bordered, blotched, and 

 washed with purple, about lin. long ; lip ochre, with a purple 

 margin and two purple spots beneath ; peduncle covered with 

 broad sheaths. Andes, 1883. 



M. leptosepala (narrow-sepaled). fl. large, solitary ; sepals 

 yellowish-white, very spreading, 2iin. long ; petals similar, but 

 smaller ; lip oblong-obovate, three-lobed, with a swelling at the 

 base of the disk ; scapes two or three from the base of the pseudo- 

 bulbs. July. 1. solitary, nearly 1ft. long. Pseudo-bulbs clus- 

 tered, about 2in. long. h. 1ft. New Grenada, 1846. (B. M. 

 4434.) 



M. luteo-alba (yellowish-white).* fl. creamy- white, large, pro- 

 ceeding from the sides of the bulbs at different times of the 

 year. I. lonsr and broad, about l^ft. in height. Merida. A neat- 

 growing species. (\V. O. A. 106.) 



M. luteo-grandiflora (large-flowered yellow).* /?., sepals and 

 petals broad, creamy- white towards the base, of a tawny-orange 

 upwards, suffused with brownish-crimson ; lip creamy-white ; 

 scapes about half the length of the leaves. Winter and spring. 

 A very handsome garden plant, forming a compact mass, an ' 

 flowering very freely. (F. M. 559.) 





