ONCIDIUM, 33 



On. curtum. 



Pseudo-bulbs oblong, 3 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves ligulate, acute, 

 6 — 12 inches long. Scapes 24 — 36 or more inches long, loosely panicled, 

 many flowered. Flowers 2 inches in diameter ; sepals clawed, oval- 

 oblong, obtuse, chestnut-brown more or less barred with liright yellow, 

 the dorsal one concave, the lateral two connate to one-third of their 

 length and hidden by the lip ; petals oval-oblong, emarginate, wavy, 

 broader than the sepals, chestnut-brown margined with yellow ; lip with 

 two small oblong yellow auricles at the base and a fan-shaj^ed emarginate 

 blade, bright yellow with a broad margined zone of chestnut-brown 

 spots ; crest consisting of an erect central rounded plate with two smaller 

 plates behind, all warted, two rounded teeth in front and numerous 

 warts on each side. Column wings small, truncate. 



Oncidium curtnm, Lindl. in BoL Beg. 1847, t. 68. Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid. N"o. 36. 



Introduced by us from the Organ Mountains in Brazil^ in 18 ll — 2, 

 througli William Lobb, whence it has been sparingly imported since. 

 Like most Oncids the species is variable in the colour of its flowers, 

 which sometimes closely resemble those of the much later introduced 

 Oncidkim prcetextiim, but from which On. curtum may be easily 

 distinguished by the very difl'erent crest of the lip and often by its 

 much, brighter colours. The specific name curtum, "shortened," refers 

 to the truncate wings of the column. 



On. dasytyle. 



Pseudo-bulbs about the size of a walnut, compressed, ancipitous and 



furrowed when old, mono-diphyllous. Leaves linear-lanceolate, sub-acute, 



5 — 6 inches long. Scapes slender, 12 — 18 inches long, racemose or 



paniculate, few flowered. Flowers 1| inches in diameter, the dorsal sepal 



and petals sub-equal, elliptic-lanceolate, acuminate, pale yellow blotched 



with red-brown ; the lateral sepals connate to the middle, longer than 



the dorsal one and of a duller colour; lip pale yellow, clawed and 



auriculate at the base, the blade large, broadly reniform ; crest cordiform, 



two-lobed, blackish crimson. Column wings sub-quadrate, anther beaked. 



Oncidium dasytyle, Rchb. in Gard. Chrou. 1873, pp. 253, 432. Bot. Mag. t. 6494. 



First introduced by the late Mr. B. S. Williams, of Holloway, who 



imported it in 1872 from the Organ Mountains along with other 



well-known Oncids from that region. It is one of the prettiest of 



the winter-flowering species; its dark-coloured crest is peculiar, to 



which its specific name refers, and which is derived from Saavg (dasus), 



"thick," and rvXt] (tule), "a callosity." 



