ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESII DECORUM. 
[PLate 251.] 
Native of Mexico, 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs ovate, angular, tufted, invested at the base with brown 
ovate scales. Leaves solitary, persistent, oblong-ligulate ‘acute, channelled, narrowed 
below into a short stalk-like base. Scapes springing from the base of the pseudo- 
bulbs, furnished below with subappressed whitish-brown _ linear-lanceolate scales, and 
terminating in a raceme of two-ranked flowers four to six in number, each  sub- 
tended by a more or less spreading bract of the same form and colour as_ those 
found below the blossoms. Flowers two and a half inches across, beautifully marked 
with concentric bars of crimson, the back of the flower also decorated in a similar way; 
sepals ovate acuminate, spreading, white, the base marked with numerous lines of 
crimson concentrically arranged; petals roundish ovate obtuse, spreading, pure white 
with a dark green patch at the base, and broken concentric crimson lines like 
those of the sepals beyond; Jip broadly cordiform, conspicuously undulated at the 
edges, white with fewer and heavier concentric bands of crimson and some distinct 
bars of crimson scattered in other directions, the most prominent running from the 
centre towards the circumference. Column white, yellowish at the base, with obtuse 
‘spreading wings faintly spotted with rose colour. 
OponroGLossuM CERVANTESII DEcoRUM, Reichenbach fil. MS.; Gardeners’ Chronicle, 
‘NS, viL, 219; ix., 43; Williams, Orchid-Grower’s Manual, 6 ed., 427. 
This is one of the choicest of small-growing Odontoglots. The species itself 
is a very beautiful one, and a gem in its way, but the one we here figure is 
still finer, being a splendidly spotted variety and larger in its flowers. It is very 
rare, which is to be regretted, as so lovely a plant ought to be in every collection. 
The original form of Odontoglossum Cervantesii, which will be found in our fourth 
volume at Plate 161, is a charming free-blooming species, and on account of its 
graceful spikes, each producing several flowers, it should be extensively grown, as it 
takes up a very small space when suspended so that it can be seen to advantage. 
O. Rossii and its varieties are good company for it, flowering at the same time, 
but none of them are equal to our present subject. 
Our figure of Odontoglossum Cervantesii decorum was taken from a_ finely- 
bloomed specimen in the well-known collection of W. Lee, Esq., Downside, Leather- 
head, where we have had the pleasure of sketching many rare plants. The one 
now before us is a dwarf compact evergreen epiphyte, and, like the species, produces 
. short angular bulbs and ligulate leaves; it, moreover, bears very beautiful flowers, 
as will be seen by our illustration. The flowers are large, nearly three inches 
across, and are borne several on a’ spike; the sepals and petals are white tinged 
