COEYANTHES MACULATA PUNCTATA. 



[Plate 98.] 



Kative of Demerara. 





t 



Epiphytal, Pseudohulhs ovate or sometirncs narrowed and elongate, fur 

 two to three inches long, tapering upwnrds, clustered. Leaves two, from the apex 



of each pseudobulb, broadly lanceolate, plicate, subnicnibranaceous, light green, about 



a foot long. Scape radical, pendent, one and a half foot long, brownish piirpl 

 bearing a raceme of several flowers. Bnufs Inrge, membranaceous, ovate-lnuccolate, 

 two or thi-ee sheathing ones on the scape, and one at the base of each pedicel. 

 Floivers large, very peculiar in form, ochraceous yellow, curiou.sly spotted and 

 blotched with deep wine-purple ; sepals conduplicatc Hcxuosc, membranaceous, the 

 dorsal one small, oblong, the lateral ones broad, at first spreading, but at length 

 becoming rcflexed and resembling bats' wings, pale ochraceous yellow, the surface 

 thickly spotted with small dots of deep wine-purple ; petals oblong, erect, twisted, 

 much smaller than the sepals, of the same colour, but having the spots larger; 

 lip stipitate, continuous with the base of the column, cup-shaped, having a large 

 helmet-shaped pedunculate appendage, the cup yellowish, the appendage creamy 

 white, spotted and blotched on both surfaces with deep wine-purple, the purple 

 colour almost covering the anterior side. Column terete, recurved, two horned at 

 the base, two winged. 



CoRYAXTHES MACULATA PUNCTATA, Lindleij, Folla Orchidacea, art. Coryanthcs, 

 No. 2. ; Meiclienhach JiL, in Walpers Annales Botanices Systematica, vi., 598. 



CoRYANTHES PUNCTATA, Lindlcy, Botanical Register, t. 1793. 



Coryanthes is a most curious and interesting genus of Orchids, and but few 

 species have yet come under our notice.. We have long known C. macrantha and C. 

 speciosa, which are two distinct kinds. That which we now figure is much like C. 

 macrantha, with the exception that the crimson colouring is darker. Our drawing was 

 taken from a fine specimen in the superb collection of W. McDonald, Esq., Wood- 

 lands, Perth, who is a great admirer of good Orchids. 



CoryantJhes maculata punctata is an evergreen plant, with short, thick pseudo- 

 bulbs about two inches in height, bearing light green foliage about a foot in height. 

 The flower spike proceeds from the base of the pseudubulbs, several flowers being 

 produced together on the same scape ; they are yellow, spotted with crimson. The 

 plant, which blooms during October and November lasts but a few days in flower ; 

 it is, however, w^ell worth growing on account of the extraordinary form of its 

 flowers. Before they open they remind one of a Chinese foot ; " after opening they 

 form a kind of cup having above it a pair of fleshy horns from which a liquid 

 is distilled which drops into the cup. » 



