ORCHIDS. 



91 



streaked with crimson and yellow. Spring and early 

 summer. PeruA-ian Andes. 



Houlletia.— Named in honour of M. HouUet, <t 

 French gardener who traveUed in Brazil, and sent 

 home numerous new and interesting plants to the 

 Jardin des Plantes in 

 ' Pjiris. The genus is 

 allied to Stanhopcn, 

 but is nevertheless 

 abundantly distinct. 

 Brongniart, who es- 

 tablished the genus, 

 says "It differs fi-om 

 Stanhopea in the 

 spreading sepals and 

 petals, and in the lip 

 being articulated in 

 the middle, with two 

 horns on its lower 

 half directed towards 

 the column." They 

 may be known by 

 their short ovate or 

 conical pseudo-bulbs, 

 which are more or 

 less • ■ grooved, and 

 bear on the apex a 

 solitary, long, petio- 

 late, plaited leaf ; the 

 raceme issues from 

 the side of the 

 pseudo-bulb near the 

 base, and is mostly 

 erect, bearing nu- 

 merous large, curious, 

 and very handsome 

 flowers. A fevr spe- 

 cies only have up to 

 the present time been 

 discovered, but as 

 these are found in 

 such distant parts of 

 Americsi, there are 

 no doubt many more 

 species' or varieties 

 still unknown, which 



one day may arrive to gladden the heart of some 

 enthusiastic Orchidologist. 



Houlletias are aU mountain plants, and are often- 

 times found beside streams and rivulets, where they 

 enjoy an abundant supply of moisture during the 

 growing season, and in such situations they do 

 not have a very severe drjang up even when at 

 rest. Cultivators should make a note of this. Pot 

 them in a mixture of peat and Sphagnum, with 



Cool end of Brazilian 



HeLCIA SAKGUIKOLEKTA, 



a little sharp silver sand. 

 House. 



S. Bfoeklehurstiana. — Pseudo-bulb ovate, bearing 

 a long and broad, petiolate, plaited dark green leaf, 

 upwards of a foot long; raceme erect, longer than 

 the leaves, five to six-flowered, each measuring 

 nearly four inches in 

 diameter, and very 

 fragrant ; sepals and 

 petals oblong-obtuse, 

 spreading, nearly 

 equal, orange-yellow, 

 mottled with reddish- 

 brown, and spotted 

 with blood-red; lip 

 yellow, purple at the 

 apex, spotted with 

 brown, and furnished 

 with two short fin- 

 gers which point to- 

 " wards the column. 

 This species was first 

 discovered on the 

 Organ Alountains in 

 the neighbourhood of 

 Rio Janeiro, and re- 

 quires more heat 

 than the other kinds. 

 Summer months. 

 Brazil. 



S. odoratissima. — 

 Pseudo-bulbs ovate, 

 furrowed: the soli- 

 tarj- leaf is long and 

 narrow, with a verj- 

 long petiole ; scape 

 erect, five to six- 

 flowered, deliciously 

 sweet ; sepals and ' 

 petals oblong - acu- 

 minate, the latter 

 narrowest, of a 

 uniform brick - red ; 

 lip verj' curious, 

 and with the large 

 column pure white, 

 tipped with pale yel- 

 It is found growing beside 

 province of Ocana, Kew 

 Mag- 



low. Summer months. 



small streams in the 



Grenada, and also on the banks of the Rio 



diilena in Columbia. 



M. odoraiissimal var. antioquiensU, — ^This is a rai'e 

 and splendid form, differing in its much larger 

 flowers ; the petals large and blunt, and of a rich 

 blood-red, suffused with purple. Summer months. 

 Province of Antioquia, Columbia. 



