SCUTICARTIA STEELII. 
[Puate 55. ] 
Native of British Guiana. 
Epiphytal. hizome short, articulated, branched, ebulbous, the branches mono- 
phyllous. Leaves flagelliform, as thick as a swan’s quill, channelled, subulate at 
the apex, two to four feet long, drooping. Scape radical, short, one to three 
flowered. Flower large, fragrant, with the perianth connivent; sepals oblong, the 
lateral ones produced at the base into a blunt chin, pale primrose-yellow, blotched 
with deep reddish brown; petals of the same form and colour as the sepals; lp 
three-lobed, pale yellow, striately marked with brownish crimson, especially on the 
lateral lobes, which are roundish erect, the intermediate one bilobed, with roundish, 
subcuneate, divergent divisions, and bearing at the base an oblong callus having three 
obtuse orange-coloured teeth in front. Column semiterete, decurrent with the base 
of the lateral sepals, so as to form a blunt spur or chin; pollen-masses four, 
sessile, in pairs, on a dilated transverse gland, acuminate at both ends. 
Scuticarnia SrreLu, Lindley, Botanical Register, xxix., mise.; p. 14; Reichenbach 
fu., in Walpers’ Annales Botamices Systematice, vi., 551 ; Williams, Orchid Grower's 
Manual, 5 ed., 292. 
Maxiiaria Street, Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 3573; Lindley, Botanical 
Register, t. 1986. 
_ This is a small genus of Orchids separated from Mazwillaria by Dr. Lindley, 
and generally adopted. The few species are distinct in their habit of growth, as 
also in reference to the manner in which they produce their flowers. That which 
we now figure is one of the best as yet known. Our drawing was taken from a 
plant in the collection of W. McDonald, Esq., Woodlands, Perth, who has many 
fine specimen Orchids, and among them some choice species. We may state that 
Mr. McDonald often sends us specimens of beautiful Orchids, such as we are always 
very glad to receive from any growers, either for the purpose of naming, or with 
the view to their illustration in the Album. 
Scuticaria Steelii is a native of British Guiana. The foliage is terete, pendulous, 
and of a dark green colour, three to four feet in length, and tapering off to a 
point; in fact it is almost like a rush in its form. The flower spikes proceed 
from the rhizome at the base of the leaves; they are about two inches high and 
generally three-flowered. The sepals and petals are yellow, irregularly spotted with 
brownish crimson, while the lip is yellow, ‘striped with crimson. The plant blooms 
at different times of the year, and continues a long time in perfection. When in 
flower it is a very attractive object, those who see it in bloom being astonished 
to find such a beautiful inflorescence proceeding from the peculiar rush-like foliage, 
