BIFRENARIA AURANTIACA. 
[PLaTE 386. ] 
Native of Brazil and Demerara. 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs broadly ovate, compressed, monophyllous. Leaves oblong 
ovate, acute, plicate, tapering below into a short footstalk. Scape erect, spring- 
ing from the base of the pseudobulb, some six or eight inches high, bearing 
several rich yellow flowers, which are somewhat obscurely spotted with orange. 
Sepals and petals oblong, spreading, and nearly uniform in size and shape, slightly 
undulate; dip three-lobed, clawed, articulated with the base of the column ; late 
lobes oblong, deflexed, anterior lobe large, bifid, bearing a fleshy excrescence near 
the base. Column sub-cylindrical. 
BIFRENARIA AURANTIACA, Lindley, Botanical Register, xxii., t. 1875; Botanical 
Magazine, t. 3597. 
Bifrenaria aurantiaca belongs to one of the smallest genera of the Orchidaceae, 
and its nearest ally is Lycaste; indeed, some of the species have been transferred to 
that genus. This plant is similar in growth to Lycaste Harrisonie (an old 
species that is far too little grown), and its flowers are produced upon short erect 
spikes in a similar manner. It is a showy species, as may be readily inferred by 
a glance at our present illustration, being also of easy culture. Although it has 
been an inhabitant of our gardens for upwards of fifty years, it deserves far more 
extended cultivation than is accorded it. 
The specimen from which our figure was taken was grown in the fine collection 
which has been brought together by R. H. Measures, Esq., The Woodlands, 
Streatham, in whose garden it produced a grand effect, and we were pleased to 
obtain a figure for the Axspum of such an old and good plant. The one in 
question was suspended at the end of a house at just the right level with the line 
of vision, and it presented a splendid appearance, with its bright yellow flowers 
and splendid large dark green foliage, in just such a position as to display its 
attractions to the best advantage. 
Bifrenaria is a name given to some of the Maxillaria-like plants, which have 
two bridle-like attachments to their pollen-masses instead of four, and B. aurantiaca 
is one of them. It is an evergreen species, with rounded compressed pseudobulbs 
and dark green plaited leaves. The spike is produced from the side of the 
pseudobulbs near the base, and bears a raceme of several flowers, which individually 
are some three inches across and of a bright yellow colour. It blooms during the 
winter months after the growths are completed, and the flowers last a considerable 
time in full beauty. = : — oS 
