ONCIDS 527 
agreeing with Odontoglossum, but with the two lateral sepals sometimes 
united beneath the lip,and the lip itself continuous with the column,and with 
tubercles or a crest at its base. The column is shorter and not narrowed 
at the base, as in Odontoglossum. They are natives of Tropical America 
and the West Indies, their vertical distribution ranging from the hot moist 
valleys to the tops of mountains 12,000 or 14,000 feet above sea-level. 
Oncidiums were discovered sufficiently early to suffer 
from that general stewing process of cultivation(!) to 
which we have already referred. The first species introduced as living 
plants were O. carthaginense, from the West Indies, in 1791, and 
flowered for the first time in a garden in Vauxhall in 1804, 0. altis- 
sumum and 0. triquetrum were brought from the West Indies in 
1793 by Admiral Bligh, and presented to the Royal Gardens, Kew. In 
1818 0. barbatum and O. flecuwoswm came from Brazil; 0. lwridum 
from the West Indies in 1822; 0. Cebolleta from Brazil in 1823. 0. 
Papilio, perhaps the most remarkable of all Orchids, was introduced 
from Trinidad in 1824; the allied O. kramerianum from Ecuador in 
1852, was flowered in a garden in Hamburg, where it was named in com- 
pliment to the gardener, Kramer. It may be said that amateur Orchid- 
growing, as a fashionable cult, owes its origin to O. Papilio, for at a 
horticultural show in the year 1830 the Duke of Devonshire saw a 
specimen in flower, and was so struck by it that he desired to grow such 
magnificent plants himself. He built special houses for their accommoda- 
tion, and sent out his own collectors ; and his example was followed by a 
few other wealthy men. O. or nithorh yncum was introduced from 
Mexico in 1826, and O. pulchellum in the same year from the West Indies. 
0. anvpliatum was brought from Central Amercia in 1832, O. lanceanwm 
from Guiana in 1834, and the rich-flowered O. Forbesii from Brazil in 
1837. 0. splendidwm came from Guatemala in 1862, 0. macranthum 
from Tropical America in 1867, and the beautiful dwarf 0. Phalenopsis 
from Ecuador in 1869. 
ONCIDIUM AMPLIATUM (enlarged). Pseudo-bulbs large, 
‘compressed, spotted and streaked with reddish brown. 
Flowers large, clear yellow, in a much-branched panicle ; April to June. 
Stove. Costa Rica. 
O. BATEMANNIANUM (Bateman’s). ~Pseudo-bulbs ovoid, 4 inches long, 
two-leaved ; panicles tall, branched ; flowers 1} inch across, bright yellow, 
barred and blotched with brown. Greenhouse. Brazil. 
O. CONCOLOR (one-coloured). A dwarf plant with ovate two-leaved 
pseudo-bulbs and drooping crowded stems of bright canary yellow flowers, 
2 inches across. One of the most popular. Greenhouse. May. Brazil. 
History. 
Peinaives Species, 
