NovEMBER, 1922.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. gaye 
ORCHIDS OF CENTRAL AMERICA 
MONG the features of interest in the programme of the forthcoming: 
Al Ghent Quinquennial Exhibition are the classes for Orchids from 
special localities. These sections are not only of considerable attraction: 
from a geographical point of view, but they stimulate our interest in many of 
the good old species of former days. 
A Gold Medal and roo francs are offered as the first prize for the best 
collection of Orchids from Central America, and as this area is particularly 
rich in notable species, there will no doubt be several interesting exhibits. 
A genus largely represented in this locality is Pleurothallis, and although 
upwards of 100 species have been described as coming from the above 
district, it is questionable whether many of them are in cultivation. A more 
important and even larger genus is Epidendrum, of which nearly 200 species 
inhabit Central America. Among the best known are E. prismatocarpum, 
discovered by Warscewicz, in 1849, on the volcano of Chiriqui, in Veragua ; 
E. radicans, introduced from Guatemala, in 1839, by Ure Skinner, who 
stated that in its native country it grows among long grass and dried leaves 
and blooms from October to January, the flowers being brilliant red; FE. 
vitellinum, with its attractive flowers of cinnabar-red colour; E. falcatum, 
discovered by Hartweg, in 1837, growing on rocks and loose stones near 
Oaxaca in Mexico, and of interest because it always grows in an inverted: 
position ; “and E. Stamfordianum, which is peculiar on account of its 
branching spike coming from the base of the bulb. 
Oncidiums come next in importance, some eighty species inhabiting this 
area. Among the popular members of the genus are O. tigrinum, described 
as long ago as 1825, and still of much interest to amateurs ; O. sphacelatum, 
with its branched spike of numerous flowers, which in the bud state have 
the sepals and petals turned back like inverted horns; O. ornithorhynchum, 
sometimes known as the Bird’s Bill Oncidium on account of its beaked 
anther; ©. altissimum, always of interest as being one of the first 
Oncidiums known; O. ampliatum, with its handsome yellow flowers that 
open in the months of April and May; and O. incurvum, so named on 
account of the tendency of the petals to curve inwards when the flowers 
first open. 
Although many Maxillarias inhabit Central Am ; 
find favour with amateurs, possibly because the attractions of some are still 
unknown. A species occasionally seen is M. meleagris, bearing y on 
flowers thickly speckled with crimson-red, and described by Lindley in 1844 }- 
also M. nigrescens, with its singular dark flowers of lurid colour ; M. 
tufescens, originally imported by Messrs. Low & Cos and which flowered 
for the first time in England in 1834; M. tenuifolia, discovered by Hartweg. 
erica, only a few of them 
