Close 
ea, DXXUI. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM x SPECTABILE t. inp. 
THE REMARKABLE ODONTOGLOT. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM. Vide Lindenia, I, p. 11. 
Odontoglossum X spectabile. Hybridum O. X excellenti valde affine, apud naturam productum. 
Odontoglossum X spectabile L. Linn. in Fourn. des Orchid., VII, pp. 60 et 68 (1896). — Ill. Hort., ser. 6, 
III, p. 127 (1896). — Lindenia, XI, p. 75 (1896): — Orch. Rev., IV, p. 158 (1896). 
his magnificent natural hybrid, another of the recent introductions - 
4) of the Horticurture INTERNATIONALE, made its first appearance in the 
Horticultural World at London, at the Meeting of the Royal Horti- 
ites Society, held on the 7" of last April; it was exhibited with. a series 
of new Odontoglossum by the large Brussels Etablishment and was awarded 
the “ Silver Banksian Medal; , it was specially distinguished, for, besides the 
collective prize above mentioned, it was separately honoured by a Certificate 
of Merit. A few days after, on the 19” of the same month, it was shown at 
Brussels at the Meeting of the OrcHipEENNE where, with several of its cognates 
figured on the foregoing plates of this publication; it also obtained a most 
brilliant success. 
The lovely flowers of O. x sfectabile are of a good size; about 4 inches 
in diameter. The sepals and petals are broadly oblong, acute or shortly acumi- 
nate, the edges are rather wavy, especially of the petals, in colour they are 
of a bright, pale orange-yellow, slightly tinted with white in the lower part; 
they bear several chesnut-brown blotches more or less rounded, rather large, 
not very numerous and very irregular on the sepals, numerous and much 
smaller on the petals. The lip in shape bears some resemblance to that of © 
O. x excellens, it is pure white excepting a broad central zone of a beautiful 
pale yellow; it has several very irregular, uneven reddish-brown blotches, and 
it is ornamented towards the base with numerous short bright purple veins. 
The column is of a yellowish-white, more or less variegated with purple-brown. 
All the Orchidists are of the opinion that O. spfectabile is undoubtedly a 
hybrid. Tay also agree on recognizing in it a great affinity with O. excellens 
Reus. F.; but is this resemblance sufficient to affirm that it is only a form of 
the latter and consequently to annex it to this species as a variety? We judge 
that until artificial hybridization allows us to determine with certitude, it might 
be bold to affirm the positive filiation of a great number of natural hybrids, 
and that it is more prudent only to express hypotheses on the subject. 
