74 ORCHIDS 



Bulbophyllum. 

 B. anceps {lio/fe). — Flowers of moderate size; dorsal sepal and 

 petals yellowish, dotted with purple ; lateral sepals white, striped 

 with purple ; lip purple ; racemes lax. Leaves oblong, obtuse. 

 Pseudo - bulbs very broad, compressed. Borneo, 1892. An 

 elegant species. (Lindenia, viii., t. 351.) 



B. barbigerum (LiiidL). — An interesting little plant, with 

 pseudo-bulbs less than lin. in diameter, bearing one oblong, 

 fleshy leaf. The flower-spike springs from the base of the 

 pseudo-bulb and carries eight to twelve flowers. The sepals are 

 pointed, and of a chocolate-brown colour ; the petals small and 

 inconspicuous ; and the lip, which is long and narrow, is of a 

 yellowish tint, terminating in a brush of dark purple silk-like 

 hairs. The lip is set in a rocking motion by the least current 

 of air. Sierra Leone, 1836. (Fig. 22,; B. M, t. 5288.) 



B. Beccarii {Rchb. /.). — This is one of the most extra- 

 ordinary members, not only of the Orchid family, but of the 

 whole Vegetable Kingdom. Its flowers have the reputation of 

 giving off the vilest odour of any known plant. It is a gigantic 

 Orchid, with rhizomes big enough to encircle the large trees on 

 which it grows — resembling, it is said, the coils of a serpent. 

 The leaf is the largest of any of the 07-chideiv, measuring 2ft. 

 in length by 15ft. in breadth ; it is also very thick and leathery. 

 The fiowers, which are produced in dense, pendulous racemes, 

 measure .'jin. in diameter. They are of a light brown, painted 

 with violet, the lip being brown, with a violet hue, while the 

 peduncles are rosy, with violet lines. When this plant was first 

 flowered at Kew, some years ago, the stench from the flowers 

 was so powerful as to render the Orchid-house unbearable, and a 

 lady who attempted to make a drawing of the plant fainted 

 because of the smell. Originally found by Thomas Lobb in 

 Borneo in 18^3, and again by Doctor Beccari, in 1867. (B. I\L, 

 t. 6567.) 



B. calamarium {I.indl.).~\ pretty little plant, with short, 

 dark green, leathery leaves, roundish pseudo-bulbs, and a slender 

 scape I ft. to I J, ft. high, bearing a spike of yellow and purple 

 flowers 4in. long : the lip is deeply and elegantly fringed. Sierra 

 Leone, 1843. (K- ^I-, t- 4088.) 



B. Dayanum (7?<7?/'. /).— Flowers lin. in diameter, ciliated 

 with long hairs; sepals greenish, with purple streaks; petals blood- 

 red, with yellow margins ; lip green, with red ridges on the disk ; 

 scape wanting, leaves 3in. long, elliptic, reddish beneath. Pseudo- 

 bulbs lin. long, crowded. Tenasserim, 1865. (B. M., t. 61 19.) 



B. Dearei {Rchb. /).— This is probably the handsomest of 

 the genus, having large, showy flowers, 3in. in width. The 



