ODONTOGLOSSUM INSLEAYI SPLENDENS. 
[PuaTE 215.] 
Native of Mexico. 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovate, compressed, striate, three inches high and two inches. 
broad, diphyllous, Leaves ligulate-lanceolate acute, about two inches wide, of a leathery 
texture. Scape erect, from the base of the pseudobulbs, bearing from four to six 
blossoms. Flowers large and stout, four and a half inches across, spreading; sepals 
(dorsal) ovate, narrowed to the base, acuminate, almost wholly of a light chestnut- 
brown colour margined with a row of spots of a deeper brown, the tip and extreme 
edge yellow, which colour occasionally breaks through the brown spotting in transverse 
lines ; lateral sepals and petals more oblong in form, but similarly coloured; lip ve 
bright yellow,. obreniform, clawed, the claw purplish red banded with yellow, the lim 
wholly yellow in the central part with a compound row of purple-red_ spots, which 
become larger and more elongated towards the bage, where they are more or less 
curved or kidney-shaped; the callosities of the lip, of which a small one occupies 
both sides of the hinder lobe, and an interposed forcipate one runs out into a pair 
of horns, are of a deep orange-yellow with purplish spots. 
OponTocLossumM INSLEAYI sPLENDENS, Reichenbach Ju, in Gardeners’. Chronicle, 
1868, 1038; Williams, Orchid-Grower’s Manual, 6 ed., 445. 
The accompanying plate represents a very fine Odontoglot of the O. grande 
section—a group, the members of which are for the most part of a showy character, and 
are quite distinct from those of the O. crispum or Alexandre type, of which latter, 
we have so many different forms from time to time brought under our notice. We 
are, however, glad to be able to show to our readers that superior varieties are 
being met with in the O. Insleayi section, since these furnish colours that are wanted 
among the cool Orchids. There have been large importations of the species now 
under notice, and we hope that still further varieties may be found amongst them; and 
also that other useful species may reward the researches of our energetic collectors, 
who, moreover, we may expect and hope, will find many more ornamental species in 
their exploration of the vast extent of country through which they have to travel 
in searching the native habitats of these plants. 
Our drawing was taken from an imported plant which we received from Mexico 
some few years ago, along with others representimg the typical form of the species. 
It bloomed three years ago -and delighted us with its distinct and showy blossoms. 
We have no doubt that other Orchid growers have bloomed the same form, but if 
so it has not come under our notice. 
Odontoglossum Insleayi splendens is an evergreen plant of epiphytal growth, like 
O. grande, and it blooms in the same way. The flowers measure four and a half 
