ADDISONIA 63 
(Plate 72) 
DENDROBIUM ATROVIOLACEUM 
Deep Purple-lipped Dendrobium 
Native of New Guinea 
Family ORCHIDACEAE OrcHID Family 
Dendrobium atroviolaceum Rolfe, Gard. Chron. 67: 512. 1890, 
This epiphytic orchid has furrowed pseudobulbs usually three to 
six inches long, rarely longer, and up to one half inch broad at the 
middle and tapering at the base; they bear at the apex two or 
three leaves which are oblong-elliptic, rather acute, and measure 
three to five inches long and an inch to two inches wide. From the 
apex of the pseudobulb arises a single spike of four to eight flowers, 
which are usually about two inches in diameter. ‘The spreading 
sepals are yellowish white, marked, especially toward the base, 
with spots of violet-purple, the dorsal sepal an inch to an inch and 
a quarter long, ovate and obtuse, the lateral ones a little smaller, 
ovate-triangular and shortly acuminate, falcate, and forming a 
prominent chin at the base. ‘The erect petals, similar to the sepals 
in color and size, are broadly oblong or obovate, acute, with the 
margins undulate toward the base. e greenish fleshy lip is 
about as long as the petals and is distinctly three-lobed; the erect 
th 
three furrows below and two above. ‘The column is nearly a half 
inch long, greenish-white, the front violet-purple, the apex with two 
sharp reflexed teeth. 
This orchid, its coloration peculiar and unusual in the genus, 
is found in the warmest and deepest parts of the eastern portion 
of New Guinea, whence it was introduced into cultivation in Eng- 
land by Veitch & Sons in 1890. Its successful culture requires 
a hot humid house. ‘The illustration was prepared from a plant 
which has been in the collections of the New York Botanical 
Garden for about ten years. 
The genus Dendrobium is confined to the Old World, inhabiting 
the tropical regions of Asia and Australia, and the larger tropical 
islands of the Pacific, with a few species in Japan. 
GrorcE V, NAsH. 
EXPLANATION Of PLATE. Fig. 1.—Pseudobulb. Fig. 2.—Flowering stem. 
Fig. 3.—Flower, Fig. 4.—Column, side view. X 2. Fig. 5.—Column, front 
view, X 2. Fig. 6.—Anther, X 4. Fig. 7.—Pollinia, X 6. 
