524 FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
house Orchids, furnishing many of the most beautiful of what are 
popularly known as “cool” Orchids. The group to which this and the 
following genus belong are characterised by a usually short, stout rhizome, 
bearing more or less crowded pseudo-bulbs, crowned by one or two leaves, 
and from four to six leaves about the base. These leaves are sword- 
shaped or lance-shaped, leathery, and are not plaited lengthways, as in 
some earlier genera. The flowers have the sepals separate and spreading, 
the petals nearly equal, the lip crested and its base parallel with the 
column, which is usually long, narrow at the base and with wings or 
ears at the summit. Pollen-masses two, with a slender caudicle attached 
to an oval gland. They are natives of the Andes of Tropical America, 
from Bolivia to Mexico, at an altitude of 5000 to 10,000 feet. 
The first living Odontoglot to be introduced was 0. 
bictonrense, which came from Guatemala in the year 1835 ; 
it was long a favourite among growers, and is still to be seen in most 
collections. O. cordatwm arrived from Mexico a couple of years later, 
whence also came O. maculatum in 1838, and O. Insleay? and O. citrosmum 
in 1840. 0. grande, which appeared in 1839, was from Guatemala, and 
in the same year came O. Rossii from Mexico. Two other good species 
—0. citrosmum and 0. Insleayi—were introduced from Mexico in 1840, 
and the next year came OV. lewve and O. pulchellum from Guatemala. 
Other well-known sorts we may mention are O. mawillare, from Mexico 
in 1846, O. Pescatoret from Columbia in 1851, 0. Lindeni from Columbia 
in 1852, O. Hallii from Peru in 1865, O. cristatum from Ecuador in 1869, 
and 0. blandwm from Columbia in 1870. The date of 0. erispwm—as 
of some others—is not recorded. An Odontoglot was introduced from 
Columbia in the sixties and named O. Alexandre out of compliment to 
the Princess of Wales, and known by that name until quite recently ; but 
it proved to be the species which Lindley had previously described as O. 
crispum, and O. erispwm it is to-day, though the name of Alexandre 
still lingers in Orchid-houses and trade lists. Hitherto the genus 
has not yielded many hybrids, notwithstanding the persistency of 
breeders. Three have been recorded, and others are known to be 
maturing. 
History. 
ODONTOGLOSSUM BLANDUM (fair). Flowers yellowish 
white, with narrow sepals and petals; lip crisped. 
O. cirRHosUM (curled or fringed). Pseudo-bulbs strap-shaped. 
Flowers white, spotted with dark purplish violet; lip wedge-shaped, 
with radiating lines and a few spots of purplish violet. Racemes many- 
flowered. Introduced from Ecuador, 1876. 
O. cirRosMUM (Lemon-scented). Flowers numerous on drooping 
Principal Species. 
