1 68 TRICHOCENTRUM. 



labellum only, and is parallel with the ovary (not divergent). Tke 



lip is adnata to the base of the column, not continuous with it. 



The inflorescence is much shorter and fewer-flowered. 



About a dozen species are known to science, which admit of a 



division into two sections according to their habit — one with flat 



and horizontal leaves, as TricJiocentnan albo-purpureum, T. iwaculatum, 



etc. ; and the other with equitant, vertical leaves, as T. triquetrum. 



The Trichocentra are dispersed over tropical America from Mexico 



to Brazil ; they are dwarf stemless plants with tufted leathery leaves 



that affix themselves to the branches and trunks of trees, some 



occurring on the Cordilleras of the Andes growing under conditions 



described in page 166, others along the hot damp valleys of Guiana 



and northern Brazil. 



The genus was founded by Poppig and Endlicher on Trichocentrum 

 pulchrum, a species detected by the first-named botanist near 

 Pampayaco in Peru (Ecuador?), but which has not been introduced 

 into European gardens. The generic name is derived from Bp'it, rpiyoq, 

 " a hair,'' and Kivrpov, " a spur," probably in reference to the 

 slender spur of several of the species, but as Dr. Lindley remarked, 

 the applicability of the name is not apparent nor is it explained 

 by the author.* 



Cultural Note. — Affixed to blocks of wood or placed in shallow pans 

 and suspended near the glass is the most suitable arrangement for 

 all the species of Trichocentrum yet introduced. The temperature 

 is suggested by the geographical station of the species ; for those 

 inhabiting the Cordilleras of the Andes an intermediate temperature 

 is sufficient, while those from the hot valleys of Guiana and Brazil 

 should be placed in the East Indian house. 



Trichocentrum albo-purpureum. 



Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute, 3 — 5 inches long, coriaceous, 

 almost fleshy. Peduncles very short, bi-bracteate, 1 — 2 flowered. Flowers 

 1| — 2 inches in diameter ; sepals and petals similar, elliptic-oblong, 

 obscurely keeled behind, tawny brown with greenish tips, the sepals 

 acute, the petals obtuse ; lip with a short broad claw, sub-quadrate, 

 two-lobed at the apex ; white with a large purple spot on each side 

 of the crest which consists of four thin keels, in front of which is 

 a buff-yellow spot ; spur slender, cylindric, whitish. Column short, 

 produced above into two falcate horns. 



Trichocentrum albo-purpureum, Rchb. in Gard. Chron, 1866, p. 219, icon. xyl. 

 Bot. Mag. t. 5688. Williams' Orch. Alb. IF. t. 204. Lindenia, IT. t. 85. 



* Bot. Reg. sub. 1951. 



