110 SACCOLABIUM. 



the second was described by him as a Vanda bat omitted in his 

 monograph C'f the genus published a few years later in the Folia 

 Orchidacea ; \ three belong to the section Calceolaria of Hooker 

 [Latilahellatce of the Genera Vlantanim), characterised chiefly by the 

 hemispheric sac of the labellum, of which S. cakeolare (Lindl.) is the 

 type species, but S. hellinum (Rchb.) is the best known in cultivation; 

 and the remaining fonr to Specios-E of Hooker {Genuince of the 

 Genera Plantarum) which, as the name implies, includes species with 

 hio-hly coloured flowers, as S. ciin-ifulium, S. ampullaceum, etc. 



The characters that mainly distinguish Saccolabium from the allied 



genera Ehynchostylis, Aerides, and Amanda, are seen chiefly in the form 



of the labellum and its attachment to the column. Under Ehynchostylis 



we have stated the characters by which that genus is separated from 



Saccolabium ; from Aerides Saccolabium is separated by the column 



not being produced into a foot, and the very different form of the 



spur or sac of the labellum ; from Vanda it is chiefly distinguished by 



the form of the perianth segments, especially of the labellum. These 



penera, as at present circumscribed, are fairly natural ones ; they, however, 



overlap each other at places along the frontier lines that have been set 



up between them, so that the placing of the same species under more 



than one of these genera by different botanists has been inevitable, and 



hence the number of synonyms that occur in the literary references. 



The o-eneric name Saccolabium is derived from saccus, "'a bag,'^ 



and labium, " a lip,^' in reference to the saccate labellum, afterwards 



needlessly altered by its author, Blurne, to Saccochilus, from gukkoq 



and \ti\oQ, the Greek equivalents for saccus and labium. 



Cultural Note. — Coming from one of the hottest regions of the globe, 

 and where the season of rest of the vegetation of that region is of very 

 limited duration, the Saccolabiums require the highest temperature 

 usually maintained in the glassdiouses of Europe, and a constantly moist 

 atmosphere that should approach saturation during the growing season. 

 Generally speaking the cultural treatment formulated under Aerides is 

 that best suited for Saccolabium and Ehynchostylis. 



Saccolabium acutifolium. 



Stem as thick as an ordinary writing pencil, not more than a foot 

 high under cultivation. Leaves linear-oblong, sub-acuminate, 4 — 6 inches 

 long. Eacemes much shorter than the leaves, dense, many flowered. 

 Flowers crowded, fleshy, f inch in diameter ; sepals and petals light 

 greenish yellow spotted with red-brown, obovate- oblong, obtuse, the petals 



t They are retained under Saccolabium by Rentham, Gen. Plant. III. p. 579, but referred tO 

 Vanda by Sir J. D. Hooker, Fl. Brit, Ind. VI. p. 53, 



