68 ONCIDIUM. 



Masdevallias {Masdevallia Chimcera, etc.) ; that is to say — after the 

 first flower has expanded and which is apparently terminal^ a second 

 flower is produced from the joint immediately below the ovary^ and 

 which usually (not always) expands after the first flower has faded; 

 in like raanuer a third flower is produced from the node below the 

 ovary of the second, then a fourth in the same way; in fact an 

 indefinite succession of flowers may be produced in this manner till the 

 plant is exhausted or till some check is applied. The most obvious 

 structural peculiarities are — the excessive elongation and parallelism 

 (when first open) of the dorsal sepal and petals, and their dull 

 coloration, while the lateral sepals are dilated and as brightly 

 coloured as the labellum. The curious glandular appendages of the 

 column wings are also deserving of notice. 



Oncidium Papilio was introduced from Trinidad, in 1824, by Sir 

 Ralph Woodford, the Governor, who sent living plants to several 

 collections, one of which flowered for the first time in this country 

 in the nursery of Mr. Colville, at Chelsea, in the spring of the 

 following year; but the earliest efforts to cultivate it in glass-houses 

 in Great Britain do not appear to have been very successful, judging 

 from the distorted flowers that were first figured. Of the sub- 

 varieties, of which there are many, none require especial notice 

 except that known in gardens as majits or giganteum ; this is the 

 finest of all the Papilio forms, the dorsal sepal and petals sometimes 

 attaining a length of 5 — 7 inches. 



The bizarre appearance of the flowers suggested the specific name 

 of Papilio or the Butterfly. 



On. pectorale. 



Pseudo bulbs ovoid, compressed, IJ — 2 inches long, diphyllous. Leaves 



linear-lanceolate, 6 — 8 inches long. Scapes longer than the leaves, 



racemose, hut sometimes paniculate, many flowered. Flowers 1| — -2 



inches in diameter ; sepals oval-oblong, chestnut-brown barred and 



margined with yellow, the lateral two connate to about one-half of their 



length ; petals similar but larger, chestnut-brown with a nari'ow yellow 



border and a few yellow spots ; lip auriculate at the base, the blade 



clawed, sub-orbicular, undulate with a cleft in the anterior margin, 



bright yellow ; crest convex, tuberculose, the tubercles blackish crimson. 



Column wings rounded, brown spotted with yellow. 



Oncidium pectorale, Lindl. Sert. Orch. t. 39 (1838). Id. Fol. Orch. Oncid, No. 62. 

 On. Pollettianum, Rchb. in Gard. Chion. XXVI. (1886), p. 326. 



