THE ORCHID REVIEW. 69 



by Robert Brown in 1813 {Ait. Hort. Kcw., ed. 2, v., p. 216). It was based 

 on Epidendrum cucullatum, Sims (Bot. Mag., t. 543), which had been intro- 

 duced from the West Indies by Rear Admiral William Bligh, in 1793, and 

 " flowered for the first time in this country in the bark stove of Edward 

 Woodford, Esq., Vauxhall," in September, 1801. B. cuspidata (Hook. Bot. 

 Mag., t. 3722) was described in 1840, from a plant which flowered in the 

 collection of John Moss, Esq., of Otterspool, Liverpool, and which had 

 been received from Trinidad with various other Orchids. It was said to 

 differ from B. cucullata in having the front lobe of the lip entire, but it has 

 since been reduced to a form of B. cucullata. B. odoratissima was described 

 by Regel in 1852 {Gartenfl., i., p. 325, t. ^), from a specimen which 

 flowered in the Zurich Botanic Garden, and which had been sent from 

 Colombia by Wagener. The species is fairly common, and ranges from 

 South Mexico and British Honduras, through several of the West Indian 

 islands, to Venezuela. It is remarkable for the long and slender beak to 

 the ovary, which sometimes attains a length of over five inches. 



The section Grandiflor^e is markedly different from the other two in 

 its erect habit, broad flattened leaves, and large flowers, with broad obtuse 

 sepals and petals, and broad ample lip ; on which account its two species 

 were transferred to Lselia by Bentham. But a comparison of its characters 

 shows a far closer agreement with Brassavola, for which reason it must be 

 returned to the genus to which it was originally assigned by Lindley. The 

 remarkable beaked ovary is unknown in Laelia, while the characters of the 

 column, the lacerated anther-bed, and colour of the flowers, are in agree- 

 ment with those of Brassavola, not with Laelia, to which indeed the resem- 

 blance is only superficial. Both the species are natives of Central America, 

 and one of them is remarkable for its deeply fringed lip, and the greatly 

 attenuated beak of the ovary. 



10. B. glauca was described by Lindley in 1839 (Bot. Reg., xxv., 

 Misc., p. 47) as follows: — "A most curious Orchidaceous plant, obtained 

 near Vera Cruz for the Horticultural Society by Mr. Hartweg. Its habit 

 is so much that of a Cattleya that till it flowered it was expected to belong 

 to that genus. It however proves to be a Brassavola, with very large 

 flowers." Shortly afterwards it was figured in Bateman's Orchidacece of 

 Mexico and Guatemala (t. 16), when it was stated that the species was 

 originally found near Xalapa.. in Mexico, by Henchman, who sent a single 

 plant to England, and was afterwards imported more abundantly by a 

 Frenchman named Deschamps, who brought over a large quantity of 

 Orchidaceae and Cacti for sale. It was also figured in the Botanical Register 

 (xxvi., t. 44), when Lindley added that it had since been received from 

 Guatemala, where Mr. Skinner found it growing on oaks in company with 

 Oncidium maculatum. Bentham transferred it to Lselia, and it has generally 



