| S 1849; 
ONCIDIUM PAPILIO MAJUS. 
; [PLate 279, ] 
Natiwe of Trinidad, Caraccas and Venezuela. 
Epiphytal. Pseudobulbs sub-rotund, compressed, becoming wrinkled with age, 
and bearing a solitary leaf. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, deep purplish brown, 
conspicuously tessellated with bright green on the upper side, the under side being 
more frequently spotted with green on the dark ground colour. Scape rising from 
the base of the mature pseudobulb, erect, jointed, flattened, two to three feet Ang 
furnished at the apex with a few thin membranaceous sheath-like bracts, from whic 
the flowers issue; wpper sepal and the petals erect, long and narrow, uniform in 
size, purplish green with a few irregular bars of dull yellow; lateral sepals much 
broader, oblong-lanccolate, deflexed, undulated at the edges, chestnut-brown, trans- 
versely streaked and barred with yellow; lip large and flat, nearly round, slightly 
bilobed in front and undulated on’ the edge, bright yellow with a broad marginal 
band of reddish brown, and bearing one or two ridges on the crest. Column with 
4 small short horn on either side, and ciliate on the wings. 
Oncrprum Papttio, Lindley, Genera. and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 203; 
Id. Botanical Magazine, t. 2795, t. 38783; Botanical Register, t. 910; Folia 
—Orchidacea Art Oncidium, No. 197; Loddiges’ Floricultural Cabinet, t. 1086; 
Knowles and Wescott, Floricultural Cabinet, t. 12; Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, 
Vv. 175; Maund, Botanist, 1, t. 10: Reichenbach, Iconographia Botanica Exotica, 
4. 62; Flore des Serres, t. 920, t. 922; Hartinger’s Paradisus, 1., t. 9; Williams, 
Orchid-Grower's Manual, 6 ed., p- 496. : 
Onciprum Paprio masus, Reichenbach fil:, Catalogue Hort. Pescatore, p. 30, 
Williams, Orchid-Grower'’s Manual, 6 ed., p. 497. 
: This very beautiful Oncidium was first introduced to our stoves from Trinidad, 
mn the year 1823, and from that time until the present day it has always remained a 
Steat favourite, under the popular name of the butterfly-plant ; from the resemblance 
of its flower to the form of some gaudy, tropical insect, the resemblance to 
Which is considerably enhanced when the plants are suspended from the roof, as 
_*ooms wave about with the least disturbance of the atmosphere, when the 
counterfeit appearance is complete, and the effect produced is very charming. There 
Sno doubt that this Oncidium has been the source of more wonder and delight 
> amateurs than any other member of the Orchidaceous family; oT — 
m the brilliant colours and peculiar structure, its habit of producing quantities of 
flowers from the same spike, extending over a long period of time, renders it 4 
Perpetual source of attraction. There are several varieties of Oncidium pi 
= having smaller and_ less brilliantly coloured flowers than the ag ss res 
~Tepresent, Lindley also describes a white variety of this plant, and Birschell, w 
2 
