figured in the London Flor. and Bat. Magazines. 259 



inceps vnr. Barlceri.-iKa Lindl. Mr. Barker's \'ariety. A stove epiphyte; growing a foot 

 lii^lij "itli liluc tlouers; appearing in December; a native of IMexico. Bot. Ueg., 1947. 



" In general appearance, like Lae'lia anceps." A beautiful 

 plant, with delicate lilac sepals and petals, the lip marked, on 

 the inner side, with deep rich purplish red, which has a very- 

 striking appearance. From one to three flowers are produced 

 on a spike, a foot high. It was introduced fi'om Mexico by 

 Messrs. Lowe & Co., and flowered in the rich collection of 

 George Barker, Esq., of Birmingham. It is supposed to be 

 common in some parts of Mexico; cultivated in the same man- 

 ner as the cattleyas. (Bat. Reg.., April.) 



TRICHOCE'XTRUM (from tricux, a hair, and irn(ro», either a spec ora rentre; Imt the appii- 

 cabjlity of the mode is not ap|i.irent, nor is it exphiincd hy its autlior, i\lr. Poppig.) 

 fiiscuin Liiiill. Brown-flowcrcd Trielioceiitrum. A stove epiphyte; growins: a few iiiclies 

 high; with white and crimson (lowers; appearing in July; a native uf Mexico. But. Reg., 

 1951. 



This is a very pretty plant, though less showy than many of 

 the epiphytes: the flowers appear on short pendulous stems: 

 the sepals are of a greenish red, and the labellum of a pure 

 white, touched with deep crimson at the base. It was import- 

 ed by Knight, of the King's Road, in whose nursery it flower- 

 ed in July last. It is stated to be " by no means of difBcult 

 cultivation." [Bot. Reg., April.) 



JVLonachanthi et JMyanthi cristata. — Dr. Lindley gives, under 

 these names, a figure of one of the most singular productions of 

 nature. He states that " in November, 1836, His Grace the 

 Duke of Devonshire was so kind as to put into my hands the 

 extraordinary flower represented in the accompanying plate, 

 which may be regarded as one of the greatest curiosities that our 

 gardens ever produced. Accustomed, as botanists now are, to 

 the freaks and masqueradings of nature, and to the strangest de- 

 parture from all rules, at every step among orchidaceous plants, 

 there is certainly nothing upon record to be for a moment com- 

 pared with the case before us. It is that of a plant of J[Iyanthus 

 cristatus changing into a jyionachanthus., related to JMonachan- 

 thus viridis, and combining, in its own proper person, no fewer 

 than three supposed genera, J\Iyanthus, Jllonachanthus, and Cata- 

 setuni. 



" I doubt very much whether any one would have believed in 

 the possibility of such transmutations upon weaker evidence than 

 that I am about to produce. At least, for my own jiart, I am 

 much in the position of the person who, upon being assured of 

 the truth of an improbable story, exclaimed, ' Why, sir, I 

 would not believe it if I saw it myself !' I am the first botanist 

 who ever witnessed any of these changes: my observation was 

 put upon record several years ago, and yet, when I read it again, 

 in ]833, I really believed I must have been mistaken, and doubt- 

 ed my own positive testimony. In this very Botanical Register, 



