May, 1923-] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 133 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESII. 
HIS attractive species is one of the oldest members of the Odonto- 
C glossum genus, having been described by the Spanish botanists La 
Lave and Lexara in 1825 (Orch. Opusc., 37), and by them dedicated to 
Vincentio Cervantes, a Mexican professor of Botany. Its native habitat is 
Guatemala and Mexico, whence plants were obtained by Messrs. Loddiges, 
of Hackney, about the year 1844. The flowers are 1}-2 inches in diameter, 
white, with chocolate-red tangential streaks around the base of the 
segments. ‘The variety decorum has larger flowers with broader segments, 
especially the lip, and the streaks of colour are more inclined to 
be purple ; it is figured in the Orchid Album, vi., t. 251. O. Cervantesii is 
ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESII. O. LAIRESSEI. 
aclose relation of O. Rossii, and requires similar treatment, that is to say, 
cool treatment with carefully arranged shading during the periods of bright 
sunshine. As the bulbs are comparatively small and the leaves somewhat 
short, the plants should not be hidden away amongst the taller and more 
robust plants of the genus. Shallow pots or pans are suitable, and if these 
are placed on top of a larger inverted pot the plants will be brought some- 
what on a level with other occupants of the house. Some cultivators prefer 
suspending the pans from the roof, which is a good plan during the greater 
part of the year, but in the height of summer there is ne risk of the 
surrounding atmosphere becoming too hot and dry. This latter difficulty 
can be overcome by removing the plants to the staging, or taking care that 
ample shading is provided. 
