﻿THE ORCHID REVIEW. 



[March, 1904- 



Dendrobium, though the pollinia are those of the latter genus. The flowers- 

 bear a considerable general resemblance to Cymbidium, especially to the 

 Australian species, and thus the specific name, cymbidioides, is sufficiently 

 appropriate. D. triflorum, however, is not well named, for the flowers 

 on the raceme vary in number from two to six, according to the 

 strength of the pseudobulbs. The coloured drawing sent by Reinwardt 

 to Lindley shows a three-flowered raceme, but that was evidently 

 a mere accident, for such is also the case with the drawing of 

 D. cymbidioides, which sometimes produces as many as eight flowers on 



R. A. Rolfe. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM FACETUM. 



Odoxtoglossum facetum is an interesting and beautiful plant, which was 

 described by Reichenbach over twenty years ago (Gard. Chron., i., 1881, 

 p. 563), but which has been subsequently almost lost sight of. I have 

 never been able to ascertain what it really was, and am the more pleased to 

 find that it has not been completely lost. A plant has just flowered in the 

 collection of Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart., Clare Lawn, East Sheen, and the 

 inflorescence has been sent to Kew for preservation. Mr. Young states that 

 it was purchased at the sale of the Tautz collection about fourteen years 

 ago, and I have little doubt that it came from the original stock. 

 Reichenbach remarked: — " This is an unusually fine thing, quite a dandy 

 among the supposed hybrid Odontoglossums, whence I deduced the name. 

 You cannot look too much at it to see its elegance, its remarkable 

 undulations, fine teeth, lovely keels, and rich fringes. It came from Mr. 

 Bull's stabilimentoy As to its characters, he observed: — "This has 

 lanceolate straight sepals, like those of the old Odontoglossum luteo- 

 purpureum, or even more like those of O. mulus, light yellow, with very 

 large rather cinnamon-coloured blotches. The petals are lanceolate, straight r . 

 with numerous line teeth, light yellow, covered with numerous small- 

 cinnamon-coloured blotches. The lip is almost circular, short, finely 

 fringed, convolute, undulate, light yellow. It has a radiating semicircle of 

 keels, intermediate as it were between those of O. Hallii and O. tripudians,. 

 the anterior ones being blades with numerous fringes, including a single 

 shallow keel, the side ones — four on each side — shorter, lower, acute, with, 

 a few dorsal teeth. There is a horseshoe-formed brown marking in front of 

 the keel, and some brown spots on and between them. The column has 

 very multifid wings. If a guess were permitted one might believe this tO' 

 be a hybrid between O. Hallii and luteopurpureum, or Hallii and 

 tripudians. The lip and its keel are very much like those organs in O* 

 Hallii." 



