CATTLEYA ELDORADO SPLENDENS. 



[Plate 310.] 



Mttive of the Bio Jfegro district in Brazil. 



Epiphytal. Pseudobulhs stout, erect, clavate, furrowed, some six or eiglit inches 

 high, bearing upon the -summit a single oblong ligulate, obtuse, erect leaf, which 



IS thick and coriaceous in texture, and deep green. Peduncle issuing from a large 

 oblong acute spathe, bearing one to three flowers, each of which is upwards of 

 five inches across ; sepals oblong, lanceolate, clear rose colour ; petals ovate-obtuse, 

 unguiculate, slightly undulate on the edges, much larger than the sepals, but of 

 the same clear rose-coloured hue ; lip large, cucuUate, somewhat quadrate, and 

 emarginate in front, spreading and deeply toothed round the edge ; the throat is rich 

 deep orange (as in the typical plant), banded all round with a circle of white, the 

 anterior portion being rich violet-purple, which colour also extends round the whole 

 margin, whilst the convolute portion of the lip is of the same colour as the 

 petals. 



Cattleya Eldorado, Hort. Lmden; Flore des Serves, t. 1826; Williams, Orchid- 

 Growers' Manual, 6 ed., p. 181; De Puydt, Les Orchidees, t. 8. 



Cattleya Eldorado splendens. Linden, L' Illustration Horticole, 1870, t. 7; 

 Williams, Orchid-Growers' Manual, 6 ed., p. 181. 



In the year 1866, Mr. Gustav Wallis, then travelling in Brazil for M. Linden, 

 when exploring the low-lying district near where the waters of the Rio Negro are 

 poured into those of the Amazon, he discovered a new Cattleya, which, on being sent 

 to Brussels, received the name of C. Eldorado ; the plants sent home grew well, and 

 in the following year some of them were exhibited in bloom by M. Linden. The form 

 of C. Eldorado which we now figure is also one of M. Linden's introductions, 

 and is far more beautiful than the typical plant. 



We have already figured many different species and varieties of handsome 

 Cattleyas in this work, but C. Eldorado splendens will ever stand in the 

 rank, even am oncost such a collection of rare beauties. And althouo-h there have 

 been large quantities of the ordinary type introduced by M. Binot and other 

 importers, this splendid variety is still rare. There is great dissimilarity in the 

 different importations, varying from pure white to deep rose, and intermediate 

 colours, which, indeed, is the case in most consignments of Orchids, and especially 



■ 



so with Cattleya.s. 



Our artist was kindly permitted to make his drawing of this variety from a 

 well-grown plant in the collection of Eeginald Young, Esq., Fringilla, Linnet Lane, 

 UUet Road, Liverpool, in whose collection are many fine specimens of various Orchids, 

 which are under the careful management of Mr. Poyntz, the gardener. 



