MAXILLARIA. lol 



The scajyes are always one-flowered, and clothed with A — 6 or more 

 sheathing bracts that are at first green and foliaceous, but become 

 brown and scarioiis before the flower fades. 



Two sectional divisions of the Maxillarias have been made in 

 reference to tlie habit of the plants. 



1. AcAULES, in which the rhizome is short and inconspicuous, and 

 in which therefore the pseudo-bulbs are clustered as in r/randiflora^ 

 Parkeri, j)ictfi., Sa?ideriana, veiiusta, etc. 



2. Caulescentes, in which the rhizome is produced beyond the 

 pseudo bulbs, and the plant assumes a scandent haliit as tenuifoUa, 

 variabilis, etc 



The generic name is derived from maxillce, " the jaws of an insect," 

 from the fancied resemblance of the column and lip of some of the 

 species to those organs. 



The geographical limits of the Maxillarias cannot be very clearly 

 stated owing to the immense area in tropical America that still 

 remains botanically unexplored. In general terms they may be said 

 to be dispersed over tropical America from southern Brazil to 

 Mexico and the West Indies^ being most numerous probably 

 on the Cordilleras of the Andes where they ascend to 5^000 

 feet or more. 



Cultural Xote.—h\ a large genus like Maxillaria, in Avhich much 

 diversity of station occurs among the species, some living in the hot 

 valleys of Brazil and Guiana, others in the West India islands, and 

 others again ascending the Andes to several thousand feet, the 

 geographical position of a species is the best indication of the 

 temperature in which it should be cultivated in the glass-houses of 

 Europe. In other respects the general cultural routine may be thus 

 formulated : — The plants should be potted when new roots begin to 

 appear, in a compost of two-thirds fibrous peat and one-third sphagnum 

 moss placed on a drainage of clean broken crocks that fill the pots 

 up to about two-thirds of their depth. After potting, water sliould 

 be carefuUy applied till the plants root freely, when a larger r^uantity 

 should be given regularly till the new growths are mature. As the 

 Maxillarias are usually found growing more or less in shade, they 

 should not be exposed to direct sunlight during the hottest season ; 

 they should receive at all times as much ventilation as external 

 circumstances admit. For Maxillaria Sanderiana a teak basket such 

 as that represented in the figure at page 160, and which can be 

 suspended near the glass, is the best. 



