BULBOPHYLLUM. 93 



of the included species it is, according to Mr. Bentham, a fairly 

 natural one. 



In consequence of the diversity in form, size and structure observable 

 in the flowers of the included species, a full diagnosis of the genus 

 would greatly exceed our limits. In the vegetative organs, too, there 

 is considerable variability among the species, some being amongst the 

 smallest orchids known, while others attain (for orchids) gigantic dimen- 

 sions. Generally the pseudo-bulbs are of small size, sometimes clustered, 

 but more frequently produced at greater or less intervals from a 

 creeping rhizome, which in one species at least, Bulbopliyllum Beccari, 

 is of extraordinary thickness. 

 Of the eighty or more species known to science, a considerable 

 number have at one time or other been received into European 

 gardens, bat in many instances soon to disappear from them. The 

 Bulbophyls have more attraction for the botanist than for the 

 amateur cultivator of orchids ; nevertheless, the singular form and 

 structure of the flowers of some, and the peculiar coloration of others 

 should render such plants objects of interest even where the more 

 showy species of other genera hold privileged sway. The species 

 presently to be described are among the most remarkable known 

 to us; they are, with one exception, figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine, from which source our descriptions have for the most 

 part been derived. 



Cultural Note. — The following species are all natives of the equatorial 

 zone, of which the climatic conditions are stated at length in the 

 introductory notes on Dendrobium. They should be grown in the 

 East-India house, where they should receive the same general treatment 

 as the Dendrobes and other occupants of that house, provision being 

 made for the rambling habit of those species that have long creeping 

 rhizomes. The smaller species thrive best suspended near the roof glass, 

 where they can receive the maximum of light and air. 



Bulbophyllum barbigerum. 



Pseudo-bulbs lenticular, less than an inch in diameter, monophyllous. 

 Leaf oblong, fleshy. Peduncles racemose along the distal half, 7 — 12 

 flowered, each flower with a broad amplexicaul bract at the base of 

 its pedicel ; sepals linear-lanceolate, tapering to a point, dull chocolate- 

 brown ; petals reduced to minute scales ; lip long, narrow, flexuose and 

 pointed, covered with a yellow felt, bearded just within the point and 

 terminating in a brush consisting of long, purple threads. Column 

 short, with two curved horns at the apex. 



Bulbophyllum barbigerum, Lindl. in Bot. Reg. 1837. t. 1912. Bot. Mag. t. 5238. 

 Native of Sierra Leone, whence it was imported by Messrs. 



