86 EPIDENDRDM. 



racliis after the lowermost flowers have expanded^ the raceme continues 

 iu bloom four or five months.* A variety called candidum, differing 

 nothing from the species except in the flower being dull white instead 

 of magenta-crimson, is described in the Gardeners' Chronicle, XXV. 

 (1886), p. 362. The specific name, literally "' spider's-tongue/' refers 

 to the form of the labellum. 



E. aromaticum. 



ExcYCLiUM. Pseiido-bulbs sub-globose, smooth, pea-green, 2 — 3 inches 

 in diameter, di-triphyllous. Leaves linear, rigid, 9 — 12 inches long. 

 Scape 2 — 3 times as long as the leaves, much branched. Flowers 

 numerous, fragrant, about an inch in diameter ; sepals and petals oblong- 

 lanceolate, pale primrose-yellow ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes oblong, 

 oblique, appressed to the column except at their apex, the middle 

 lobe rotund, whitish streaked with red. 



Epidendrum aromaticum, Batem. Orch. Mex. ct Guat. t. 10. (1843). Lindl. Fol. 



Orch. Ep. No. 55. Saunders, Ref. Bot. II. t. 89. E. incumbens, Lindl. in Bot. 



Reg. 1840, misc. No. 84. 



Native of Guatemala, whence it was sent to Mr, Batem an by Mr. G. 

 Ure Skinner, in 1835. Its pleasant fragrance is its chief recommendation. 

 The colour of the sepals and petals varies in different plants from 

 dull olive-green shaded with brown to pale primrose-yellow. 



E. atropurpureum. 



ExcYCLiUM, Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 3 — 4 inches long, di-triphyllous. Leaves 

 lanceolate or linear-oblong, 12—1.5 inches long, often dull greenish 

 purple. Peduncles stoutish, erect, half as long again as the leaves, and 

 terminating in a 5 — 10 flowered raceme. Flowers among the largest in 

 the genus, 2J inches in diameter ; sepals and petals obovate-oblong with 

 incurved tips, chocolate-brown in the centre, pale yellow-green at the base 

 and apex ; lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes oblong, erect with the tips 

 turned away from the column, white streaked with pale purple ; the middle 

 lobe broadly obcordate, undulate, white with a purple blotch near the 

 base. Column triquetral, white ; anther orange-yellow. 



Epidendrum atropurpureum, Wildenow, Sp. PI. IV. p. 115 (1805), ex. Rchb. in 

 Bonplaudia, 1854, p. 19. Williams' Orch. Alb. IV. t. 149. E. macrochilum, 

 Hook. Bot. Mai), t. 3534 (1836). Lindl. Fol. Orch. Ep. No. 79. The Garden, 

 XXXIL (1887)' t. 619. 



var. — Randianum. 



Leaves uf a deep purplish hue, longer and narrower than in the 

 type. Flowers somewhat larger Avith broader sepals and petals that 

 are scarcely undulated, these organs are russet-brown bordered with 

 light yellow-green; side lobes of lip broader, more rotund and more 



* As in Epidendrum cinnabar) man, E. erectum, E. elongatiim, E. xanihinum and other 

 species in sub-section Amphigloftideu;. 



