ODONTOGLOSSUM CIRRHOSUM. 
[ PLATE 151. | 
Native of the Ecuadorean Andes: Mindo, ete. 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs elongate oblong, narrowed at the apex, two to three inches 
long, compressed, two-edged, monophyllous, with one or two pairs of accessory leaves 
sheathing the base of the bulb, evergreen. Leaves ligulate oblong acute, channelled 
at the base. Scape radical, springing from the axil of one of the accessory leaves, 
bearing a spreading or somewhat drooping raceme or panicle of numerous flowers, 
each flower having an ovate bract at the base of its pedicel. Flowers large, but 
starry, the long narrow sepals, in fair-sized flowers, expanding to a breadth of four 
inches and a depth of five inches, white, thickly spotted with bright chocolate-purple ; 
sepals narrow lanceolate acuminate, the dorsal one two and a half inches long, and 
less than half an inch broad, slightly undulated, lengthened out to a_ slender 
attenuated recurved or cirrhiform point, marked with numerous unequally disposed 
moderate-sized spots of bright chocolate purple, the back of the flower faintly spotted, 
and the base narrowed down to its point of attachment; petals similar in size and 
general form, but rather shorter, more expanded at the base, and more undulated at 
the margin, similarly marked, or with a few of the spots near the base smaller; lip 
shorter, with the side lobes curving round the column, the expanded front portion 
heart-shaped, with the upper edges spreading, and the long caudate apex directed 
downwards, the spreading sides marked with several (6—8) veins of deep crimson, 
the rest bright yellow, excepting the elongated tail-like apex, which is white, spotted 
with chocolate-purple like the other parts of the flower; on the disk there is borne 
a crest of two prominent ascending yellow horns. Column trigonous, short, bearing 
a pair of cirrhi at the apex, whence the name. 
ODONTOGLOssuM ctRRHOsUM, Lindley, Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 
211; Jd., Folia Orchidacea, art. Odontoglossum, No. 5; Reichenbach fil., in Walpers 
Annales Botanices Systematice, vi. 827; Id., Gardeners’ Chronicle, N. 8., Vv. 501, 508, 
figs. 91, 92> ix, -18], fig. 33; Illustration Horticole, t. 301; Floral Magazine, x. s., 
t. 222; Williams, Orchid Grower's Manual, 5 ed., 231, with figure. 
Odontoglossum cirrhosum is one of the prettiest of the small-growing Odontoglots, 
and one that varies a good deal, but all the forms are useful for cutting and 
decorative purposes. Our plate represents a very beautifully spotted variety, and 
resembles the one we first flowered when the species was newly imported. There 
is a variety with larger flowers, which is called O. cirrhoswm Klabochorum, and a 
beautiful variety it is. The species has been imported in large quantities, and is 
most useful for small houses, as the cultivator may grow a good quantity, and it 
may be bought at a cheap rate. ‘There is a strong-growing form which throws up 
tall panicles of flowers, but as this variety does not produce so many flowers, and 
as it takes up more room, it is consequently not of the same value for decorative 
