[ 99 ] 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESII zi. e¢ Lex. 
VAR. DECORUM Res. ¢ 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESI. Pseudobulbis ovatis angulatis, foliis solitariis oblongis in petiolum canaliculatum angustatis, scapo paucifloro, 
bracteis vaginisque membranaccis acutissimis equitantibus elongatis, sepalis membranaccis oblongo-lanceolatis acutis, petalis latioribus subunguiculatis acutis, 
labello subcordato-ovato acuto unguiculato ungue carnoso cyathiformi pubescente antice bidentato medio tuberculato processubus 2 pilosis ante cyathum, 
columnz pubescentibus auriculis rotundatis. 
ODONTOGLOssUM CERVANTESIH], Llav. et Lex. Nov. Veg. Descr., II., Orch. Opuse. (1824-5), p. 34; Lindl. Bot. Reg, XXXL, t. 36; id., Fol. Orch., 
Odont, p. 10; Paxt. Fl. Gard., I, p. 69, t. 15 ; id., Mag. Bot, XIL, p. 193, cum ic.; Ill. Hort, L,, t. 12; Warn. et Will. Orchid Album, IV.,, t. 167 ; Pescatorea, 
t.5; Ill. Hort, XXV., t. 313; Veitch Man. Orch, pt. 1, pp. 15, 16, cum xyl. 
O. MEMBRANACEUM, Lindl. Sert. Orch,, sub t. 25 ; id., Bot. Reg., Misc, p. 51; id., XXXIL, t. 34; Bot. Mag, t. 4923; Ann. de Gand, I, p. 99, t. 10. 
VAR. DECORUM. Floribus majoribus, labello crenulato. 
VAR. DECORUM, Rchb. f,, Gard. Chron., 1877, pt. 1, p. 219; id., 1878, pt. 1, p. 43; Fl. Mag, n. s., 1877, t. 254, Warn. & Will. Orchid Album, VI,, t. 251. 
Odontoglossum Cervantesii was originally described upwards of sixty years ago by the Mexican botanists La Llave and Lexarza, and appears to have 
been first introduced to England by Messrs. Loddiges, of Hackney, from the neighbourhood of Oaxaca, about the year 1844, as it flowered in their collection 
in February, 1845, when a figure was prepared for the Botanical Register. It is dedicated to Vincentio Cervantes, a Mexican professor of botany. It is found 
chiefly in South Mexico, but is said to range over a considerable extent of country, from the Irapean mountains southwards into Guatemala. It is somewhat 
variable, both in size and colour. In the latter respect it varies from pure white to light rose in the ground colour, and in the extent of the markings on the 
sepals and petals. It is closely allied to O. Rossii, Lindl. but is readily distinguished by important differences in the crest and column wings, as well as the 
general shape and colour of the flower. The variety decorum, here figured, seems to have appeared for the first time in 1877, when it was exhibited by Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart. M.P., at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on February 14, when it was awarded a First-class Certificate as a great 
improvment on the old O. Cervantesii, both in size of flower, denser markings, and brighter colour, The lip is also distinctly crenulate. It may possibly be a 
distinct geographical variety, but its habitat does not appear to have been recorded. R.A. Rolfe. 
Icones analytic, Labellum. Columna fronte et a latere visa. 
Tuis is the largest and most handsome variety of this charming little Odontoglot, being extremely rare and exquisitely 
charming in its singular colouring and the great size and beauty of its flowers as compared with the type. It is found 
only in a small district in Mexico on the Pacific side, never occuring among the plants whose habitat is on the border 
of Guatemala. The variety known as decorum, Rchb. f., is heavily blotched at the upper part of the lip, and the spotting 
in the sepals and petals across the whole lower half of them, forming a perfectly circular ring. Odontoglossum Cervantesii 
has been known for fifty years, and such large quantities have been gathered from time to time that it has now become 
very scarce, occuring only in small quantities, at long distances apart, in isolated woods, generally growing on a species 
of oak. Tens of thousands of trees on which this species grew in great numbers have within the last twenty years 
been felled for various purposes, and hundreds of thousands of plants destroyed ; this is mainly due to the ever-increasing 
railroad making in Mexico. 
It succeeds well in the Odontoglossum house near the glass—not so much on account of the extra light it receives 
in such a position as the cool humidity with which it is surrounded. In its native home rain falls more or less for eight 
months of the year, and heavy nightly dews are the rule. It may be said that the pseudo-bulbs and leaves of this plant 
are every night bathed in moisture, which is usually dried up by the sun or wind of the morning. The roots traverse the 
rough bark of the trees, under a carpet of moss and lichen, which in the morning sun glisten with drops of water like a 
myriad of brilliants. A very interesting collection might be formed of this and similar small-growing kinds—perfect 
orchid gems which would occupy only a small space. } 
Our plate was taken from a plant in the collection of W. E. B. Farnham, Esq., Quorn Lodge, Loughborough. 
