.^.VD THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



Cryptochilus. 



generic name is in allusion to the partiallv-hidden lip— 

 from krrj'tos, hidden, and c/ifilos, a lip. The' species should 

 be grown in pots or shallow pans in a compost of equal 

 portions of sphagnum and fibrous peat, \vith ample drainage. 



CRYPTOPHORANTHUS. 



Rolfe founded this curious genus of the tribe Epidendi-ecv. 

 It has the habit of Pleurothallis isection AggregatcE), but 

 differs from that genus in the sepals being united into a 

 short tube at the base, and again united at the apex, the 

 only wa}- into the flower being by the small windowdike 

 openings, one on either side. The structural peculiarity is 

 responsible alike for the popular name of Window-bearing 

 Orchid, and the generic one from kryptos (hidden), //^o;-^^ (to 

 bear\ and anthos ;a flower). From Jlasdcz'allia the genus 

 differs in habit, as also in the characters just gi\'en. The 

 eight species known to cultivation are natives of the 

 West Indies, the Andes, and Brazil. Similar culture to 

 that recommended for the C/iijiurra section of Masde\-allias 

 will suffice. The chief species are here described, but 

 all are of botanic rather than of general interest. 



C. atropurpureus (Rolfe). — As the specific name suggests, the 

 flowers are dark purple, solitary, and ^in. long in the bud ; the 

 petals are oblique and three-cusped ; the lip is obtuse, sagittate, 

 crested in the middle. Leaves oblong, narrowed at the base, 

 almost equalling the stem ; sheaths ventricose. Height 6in. A 

 native of the ^\'est Indies, and introduced therefrom as long ago 

 as 1S3S. Syn. Pleurofliallis atropurpurca. (B. ]M., t. 4164, under 

 name of Masdeva/Iia fciiesti-ata. ) 



C. Dayanus (Rolfe). — This is a more recent introduction than 

 the preceding, having been here about twenty-two years. Upper 

 sepal yellowish-white, with seven membranous keels, spotted with 

 purple ; inferior connate sepals orange, with some purple-brown 

 spots and borders towards the apex. Leaves flat, dark green 

 above, purple beneath, 4.|,in. by 3in. Colombia, 1880. Syn. 

 Masdevallia Dayana. (G. C, 18S6, xxvi., 428, fig. 86.) 



C. gracilentus (Rolfe). — The blackish-purple flowers of this 

 species are produced either solitary or in pairs. The leaves are 

 oblong, acute, minutely three-toothed. Stems slender, sin. to yin. 

 high, including the leaves. Costa Rica, 1875. Syn. Masdevallia 

 Zracilenta. 



