ODONTOGLOSSUM EDWARDI. 
[PLaTeE 465. ] 
Native of Ecuador. 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovoid, somewhat compressed, between four and _ five 
inches long, stout, deep green, usually bearing a pair of leaves, which are strap- 
shaped, tapering to a sharp point at the apex, folded at the base, keeled beneath, 
and of the same deep green as the pseudobulbs. Scape springing from the base of 
the fully formed growth, rising to about four feet in height, paniculate and many- 
flowered. Flowers somewhat small, of a dark purplish hue, and deliciously fragrant ; 
sepals and petals about equal, spreading, oblong ovate, prettily waved and undulated 
at the margins; /ip shorter than the sepals, tongue-shaped, bearing a fleshy crest, 
which is deep yellow; in some varieties this is slightly paler. Column short, 
narrowly winged. 
OponTocLossumM Epwarpi, Jeichenbach fil, Gardeners’ Chronicle, x., pk 
Botanical Magazine, t. 6771. L’Orchidophile, 1891, p. 241. Reichenbachia, i., t. 26. 
Williams’ Orchid Grower's Manual, 6th ed., p. 439. 
This very handsome and distinct Odontoglossum was first brought to our notice 
by the celebrated traveller and collector, Edward Klaboch, after whom it is named. 
It first flowered in this country in 1880, in the famous collection of the late 
H. J. Buchan, Esq., of Southampton, then under the care of Mr. Osborn; since that 
time it has become more frequent in collections, but very little variety has occurred 
amongst the plants that have flowered. The plant known as Odontoglossum ioplocon, 
though seen but once by us, appears to be but a variety of O. Hdwardi; its striking 
colour, however, induces us to hope that some larger-flowered form of the same hue 
yet lurks in the Andes of Ecuador to reward the labours of an ardent searcher, 
and to add fresh lustre to the genus Odontoglossum. The plant here depicted 
flowered in our own collection, in the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper 
Holloway. The deep colour of the sepals and petals, and the rich yellow crest 
upon the lip, mark it as an excellent variety of the species now under consideration. 
Odontoglossum Edwardi is a robust-growing evergreen plant, making pseudo- 
bulbs and leaves of about the same deep green colour, and producing a strong 
branching spike of bloom; the individual flowers, however, are small, measuring 
only about an inch across, but they are numerous, and yield a delicious perfume, 
whilst the colour is rich purplish mauve, which renders it so conspicuous and 
‘distinct from all its kindred. We are unable to state at what altitude it was 
found, but we presume that it grows at a considerable elevation above the level 
of the sea, for we have found it to thrive best when treated quite cool, and we 
| : \ 
HH 
