142 CYCNOCHES. 



at Westonbirtj in Gloucestersliire, which had been acquired from 

 Messrs. Rollisson, of Tooting. Dr. Lindley mistook the phenomenon 

 for a sport of a different species, Gycnoches ventricosum, which Mr. 

 Bateman had figured in his Orchidacece of Mexico and Guatemala 

 under the name of G. Egertonianum, whence arose an indescribable 

 confusion and many '' sensational " things were written concerning 

 it, as the sexual dimorphism of Cycnoches was then unknown. 



We are indebted to Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., for the raceme of 

 male flowers described above and which were very richly coloured. 

 The species was dedicated to Sir Philip Egerton, a zealous patron of 

 horticulture and the possessor of an excellent collection of orchids. 



C. Loddigesii. 



Stems and leaves as in Cijcnuches chlorochilon. Kacemes pendulous, 

 as long or longer than the stems, 5 — 7 or more flowered. Male 

 flowers large and fragrant; sepals and petals greenish brown obscurely 

 spotted with brown, the dorsal sepal linear-oblong, acute ; the lateral 

 sepals and petals broadly lanceolate, acute, sub-falcate ; lip narrowly 

 oblong, sub-acuminate, fleshy, and convex, the basal half whitish, the 

 apical half yellow, the whole surface sparingly spotted with red. 

 Column long, slender, incurved, dark purple ; the anther yellow-green 

 spotted with purple. 



Gycnoches Loddigesii, Lindl. Gen. et Sp. Orch. p. 154 (1832). Id. in Bot. Reg. 



t. 1742. Bot. Mag. t. 4215. Rchb. in Walp. Ann. VI. p. 559. 



The above description is that of the male flowers ; the female 

 flowers we have not seen, but they appeared soon after the intro- 

 duction of the species in the collection of Mr. Wilmore at Oldfield, 

 near Birmingham, who sent one to Dr. Lindley for identification ; 

 this flower had "broad petals, a short column hooded and dilated 

 at the apex, and a broad roundish hp gibbous at the base, and 

 with its stalk much shorter than the column; it was, however, 

 destitute of scent, while Gycnoches Loddigesii has a delicious odour 

 of vanilla.'^ At first Lindley assumed it to be a new species and 

 named it 0. cucidlatum, but shortly afterwards a Gycnoches in the 

 garden of the Horticultural Society produced from opposite sides of 

 the same stem two racemes, one with the fragrant flowers of G. 

 Loddigesii and the other with the scentless flowers of G. cucidlatum.* 



Gijcnoches Loddigesii was originally discovered in 1834 by Mr. John 

 Henry Lance in the forests of Surinam, and was sent by him to 



* Bot. Ileg. sub, t. 1951. 



