178 TRICHOPILIA. 



comparatively speaking, limited. They occur on the Andes of South 



America at a moderate elevation, from the equator northwards to 



Caracas, and crossing the isthmus they spread through Costa Eica 



into southern Mexico. Three or four of the most 



admired species have their home on the volcano of 



Chiriqui and the not very distant peak of Turialba, 



and this is the greatest aggregation of the species 



known. The genus was founded by Lindley on the 



Mexican species Trichopilia tortilis, the very curious 



appendage at the apex of the column suggesting 



the generic name which is derived from Qpi^, rpiyoq, 



" a hair/' and tt'iXiov, '' a cap.'' This remarkable 



structure is shown in the annexed figure of the 



column of the type species. 



Cultural Note. — The Trichopilias may be grown in pots or in teak 



baskets, many cultivators preferring the latter on account of the facility 



with which they can be suspended near the glass, where the plants 



can receive as much light as possible in tbe short and dull days of 



our changeable climate. A mixture of peat and sphagnum with good 



drainage is the best compost for them, and on this the pseudo-bulbs 



should be placed, not inserted in it. For the Central American and 



Mexican species, a temperature that can be raised to 21° C. (70° F.) 



during the growing season is the most suitable. Trichopilia fragrans 



and its varieties may be grown in the Odontoglossum house. 



Trichopilia coccinea. 



Pseudo-bulbs narrowly oblong, compressed, 2 — 3 inches long. Leaves 

 ligulate, acute, 6 — 9 inches long. Peduncles deflexed, as long as the 

 pseudo-bulbs, sheathed at the base by closely imbricating bracts, one- 

 flowered. Sepals and petals linear-lanceolate, acute, 2^ inches long, more 

 or less twisted, brownish green; lip 3 inches long, four-lobed, the basal 

 lobes rolled over the column into the form of a wide-mouthed funnel, 

 white externally, deep carmine-crimson witbin ; the two front lobes nearly 

 flat, sub-orbicular, rose-carmine striated, paler, sometimes white at the 

 margin. 



Trichopilia coccinea, Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard. II. p. 80, pi. 54 (1851-2). 

 Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 91. 



var.— crispa. 



Peduncles two-flowered ; the sepals and petals sometimes tinted with 

 dull rose-carmine, the margin of the lip irregularly but somewhat 

 strongly crisped. 



T. coccinea crispa, Morren in Belg. hort. 1874, p. 92 (in part). T. crispa, Lindl, 



in Gard, Chron. 1857, p. 342. T. gloxiuiieflora, Ivlotzsch- 



