ODONTOGLOSSUM ASPERSUM. 
[Puate 245.] 
Native of Mexico (supposed to be a natural hybrid). 
Epiphytal. Psewdobulbs oblong or roundish-ovate, compressed, becoming rugose 
in age, monophyllous. ves ligulate-oblong acute, channelled, four to five inches 
long. Scape radical, issuing from the axil of an accessory leaf, about six inches 
high, erect, bearing one or two lanceolate scales, and a short corymbiform raceme 
of five or six erect flowers, each having a lanceolate acute bract at its base. 
Flowers of moderate size, about three inches across; sepals lanceolate acuminate, 
keeled behind, entire, nearly two inches long, spreading, creamy white, covered by 
oblong irregular mostly transverse bright oa blotches, which are divided by 
narrow lines of the ground colour; petals oblong acuminate, slightly wavy, upwards 
of half an inch broad, creamy white with a few brown blotches at the base only; 
lip cordate acute, the margins erose, with a yellow quadrate callus marked by thin 
brown lines and having an emarginate bidentate appendage in front. Colwmn half 
an inch long, green at the base, purplish rose above. 
OponToGLossuMm AsPpERSUM, Reichenbach fil., in Gardeners’ Chronicle, N.s., xi., 
266; Id., xvi, 780; Williams, Orchid-Grower's Manual, 6 ed., 424, with figure. 
The Odontoglossum we now illustrate is a very pretty and distinct Orchid. It 
is supposed to be a natural hybrid between Odontoglosswm maculatum and O. Rossii, 
and though it is most like O. maculatum, it certainly does resemble both species in 
some of its features. We have had masses of O. Rossii with which O. aspersum | 
was intermixed, and both of them blooming at the same time, but the present 
plant is rarely met with, and is still a scarce plant. It is so much like O. Rossi: 
in its manner of growth that it cannot be distinguished from that species except 
when in bloom. It is very free in producing its flowers, which are distinct from 
those of any other kind. Our drawing was taken from a nicely grown plant in 
the collection of W. Lee, Esy., Downside, Leatherhead. : 
Odontoglossum aspersum is a compact tufted plant, of small growth, attaining, 
like O. Rossii, the height of six to eight inches, and is furnished with lively evergreen 
foliage. The sepals and petals are yellowish white, mottled on the inner surface 
with numerous brown blotches; the petals are much broader than the keeled sepals, 
and have a few brown spots at their base only; the lip is creamy white with 
yellow crests. This plant produces its flowers during the winter months, and _ lasts 
in beauty for several weeks. It is one of the Mexican species, a most useful 
plant, and if grown with the varieties of O. Rossii produces a good contrast with 
their spotted white flowers. 
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