LiELIA ALBIDA. 



[Plate 138.] 



JfaUve of Mexico 



Epiphytal. Fseudohulbs ovate, clustered, about tlie size of pigeon's eggs, becoming 

 furrowed in age, marked about the middle by a transverse ring or scar, dipliyllous. 

 Leaves narrow lanceolate acute, somewliat leathery, of a deep green colour. Scape 

 terminal, slender, two or three times as long as the leaves, bearing a raceme of 

 five to eight flowers, and furnished with rigid sessile ovate bracts. Flowers wliitc, 

 powerfully sweet-scented, with an odour resembling that of the glandular leaves of 

 the Chinese ^ Primrose, but ha™g a honey-like sweetness superadded, rather small as 

 compared with other species of the genus, being a little over two inches in expanse 

 m each direction ; sepals oblong-lanceolate acute, spreading, plane, mucronulate, ivory- 

 white ; petals oblong ovate, subundulate, rather shorter than the sepals, recurved at 

 the tip, mucronulate, also of an ivory white; lip obovate, three-lobcd, the lateral 

 lobes obtuse, of a rosy hue externally, inside veined with red-pink, erect, that *is 

 folded up against the column, the middle lobe roundish-oblong oljtuse, obscurely 

 apiculate, recurved, slightly tinted with rose; disk with three yellow crests running 

 out in the front lobe into a pale red bar or central line, with rosy veins on each 

 side which give a faint rosy tint to the surface, the two lateral crests yellow spotted 



with dark reddish-purple. Column elongate, dabrous, crimson-purple on the inner 

 lace. - o o 



L^LiA ALBIDA, Bciteman, in Botanical Register, 1839, misc. 4; Lindley, Botanical 

 Register, 1839, t. 54; Hooker, Botanical Magazine, t. 3957. 



. Bletia ALBIDA, BeicJienhach fil, in Walpers' Annales Botanices Systenmtlcm, 

 ^^., 428. ^ ^ 



...v- 



In Lwlia alhida we introduce to the notice of our readers a very pretty smaU- 

 groxving Orchid, which produces good useful flower spikes according to the vigour of 

 the pseudobulbs, and which should therefore be gro^n in every coUcction. It bloomB 

 ^^uring the autumn months, and is a plant of quite a distinct character. Ue have 

 niany large-flowered grand species of this genus unsurpassed by any other Orchid, 

 '^ut the smaller growing kinds come in very useful where space is an object, and 

 ^^ ^e grown suspended from the roof, or on back wall of the house provided they 

 gft plenty of light and air, wHch they require in order to enable them to grow 

 rigorously and flower freely. • We are indebted to Herbert J. AdanLS b <]. 

 e^eath, Enfield, for the specimen from which our drawing wa. token, and .uuc 



very successfully grown in his ^^l^^^^^^^^' ^^^^^^, _. , l,,Ht, a. will be 



Kos 

 tad b 



een 



LcBlia alhida is an evergreen plant, and of compact-grownig numr, ^ 

 from th. «...^.....-. "^v.../ T. ..n^n..s its flower scapes from the top of 



seen from the accompanyino; figure. It prodv 



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