104 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [APRIL, 1923. 
vol. xxiv., p. 187, where under a note, ‘“‘ Orchids at Kew,” it is stated that 
“Pleurothallis hamata, Rolfe, a native of Costa Rica, is blooming very 
freely.” As this is the only published reference to the species that Mr. 
Oakes Ames has been able to find, a detailed description of the plant is 
now given. 
The history of Epidendrum pentotis is given on pages 18-19 of this useful 
publication. After referring to Rolfe’s account in the Orchid Review, 
vol. xvi., p. 189, and vol. xxii., p. 280, we read that this species is 
represented in Reichenbach’s Herbarium at Vienna by about twelve flowers 
mounted on a single sheet. In 1915 Dr. Rudolf Schlechter proposed a new 
species, to which he gave the name Epidendrum Beyrodtianum (Orchis ix., 
p- 49, t. 4). Mr. Oakes Ames states that “ On the evidence of Schlechter’s 
diagnosis and plate published in Orchis, and on the evidence of drawings 
from the type, preserved in my herbarium, it would seem that Schlechter’s 
species is conspecific with E. pentotis. It has the elongated pseudobulbs 
characteristic of the Heyde and Lux specimens from Guatemala, and 
flowers equal in size to those of E. pentotis as represented in Reichenbach’s 
Herbarium. It is interesting to note that Schlechter distinguished his 
species, in part, from E. pentotis by means of its longer, more slender 
pseudobulbs, a distinction for which it is difficult to discover justification, 
as Reichenbach did not describe pseudobulbs or leaves. Furthermore, the 
type specimen of E. pentotis consists only of flowers and a sketch.” 
Reference is made to Epidendrum laterale exhibited by Mr. J. J. Neale 
at the Royal Horticultural Society, August 27th, 1912, and recorded (Orchid 
Review, xx., p. 280), as “a curious little plant bearing two spikes of green 
flowers from rudimentary growths, as in E. Stamfordianum.” On the same 
day Mr. O’Brien brought the plant before the R.H.S. Scientific Committee, 
and remarked that the inflorescence is produced on a rudimentary 
pseudobulb, as in E. Stamfordianum (probably the only similar case), a 
peculiarity that seems to show that the normal mode of flowering is from 
the base of the mature pseudobulb. A Botanical Certificate was awarded 
to this plant. (Orchid Review, xx., p. 320). Mr. Oakes Ames states that “the 
first characterisation of the species that approaches a botanical description 
was published in the Orchid Review for 1920, p- 160. Here the species is 
treated in a very rambling style under the heading Epidendrum laterale, 
Rolfe, and we are informed that it isa nativeof Costa Rica.” In 1918 Dr. 
Schlechter published Epidendrum Rousseauz (Beihefte Bot. Centralbl. 36, 
Abt. 2, 407) from material collected in Panama by Mrs. Rousseau. Mr. 
Oakes Ames considers this to be identical with E. laterale, and concludes 
by stating that “as E. laterale was not properly characterised prior to 1918, 
it would seem that E. Rousseauz is the name by which this curious species 
should be known.” 
