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ODONTOGLOSSUM PESCATOREI lm. 



Pseudobulbis ovatis subcompressis diphyllis, foliis loratis acutis carinatis basi angustatis, paniculis suberectis diffusis multifloris, bracteis minutis, 

 floribus speciosis, sepalis patentibus elliptico-oblongis apiculatis, petalis subconformibus latioribus levitcr undulatis, labello pandurato, lobis lateralibus rotun- 

 datis, intcrmcdio semicirculari apiculato undulato, cristae lamellis lateralibus cartilagineis laceris, lineis duabus elevatis divergentibus interjectis, columna clavata, 

 alis rotundatis subintegris v. denticulatis. 



Odontoglossum Pescatorei, Lind. ex Lindl. in Paxt. Fl. Gard., III. (1852-3), p. 83, t. 90; Lindl. Fol. Orch., Odont., p. 19 ; Lem. Jard. Fleur., IV., 

 t. 331 ; Pescatorei, t. I ; Batem. Monogr. Odont., t. 5 ; Warn. Sel. Orch., ser. 1, t. 25 ; Fl. d. Serres, t. 1624 ; Gartenflora, XXIV., p. 195, t. 835, fig. B ; 111. 

 Hort., XXVIII., p. 7, t. 407 ; Gard. Chron., 1884, II., p. 332, fig. 62 ; id., 1885, II., p. 212, fig. 46 ; id., 1888, I., p. 245, fig. 40 ; id., 1889, II., pp. 684, 685, fig. 

 93 ; Warn. & Will. Orchid Album, IV., t. 175 ; Veitch Man. Orch., I., pp. 58, 59, cum xyl.; Revue Hort. Beige, 1888, p. 160, fig. 14. 



The beautiful Odontoglossum Pescatorei is a native of one of the north-west branches of the eastern Cordillera of New Granada, near Ocana, where 

 according to Kalbreyer it is spread over an area of about thirty square leagues, being very abundant on the Sierra Palado, the Alta Santa Rosa, and some 

 other localities, its vertical range being from about 6,000 to 9,000 feet elevation. It was discovered by Messrs. Funck and Schlim in 1847, who shortly after- 

 wards sent plants to M. Linden, of Brussels, in whose establishment they flowered for the first time in Europe in 185 1. It is a very distinct species, and 

 though bearing a certain resemblance to O. crispum, it is easily distinguished by the pandurate lip, the very distinct arrangement of the keels on the side lobes 

 of the lip, and the nearly or quite entire wings of the column. Several very beautiful varieties are now known, but all of them have the characters just pointed 

 out, the variation being confined to the colour and size of the flowers. The species was dedicated to M. Pescatore, who was then the possessor of one of the 

 finest collections in Europe. A'. A. Rolfe. 



It is well nigh half a century ago since the collectors, Funck and Schlim, first discovered this superb and variable 

 Odontoglossum, which has also been known as O. nobile, but was, perhaps, more appropriately dedicated to M. Pescatore, 

 of St. Cloud, near Paris, who was one of the most liberal and successful of the earlier patrons of Orchid culture in 

 Europe. We are not alone in thinking that there is yet a glorious future for Pescatore's Odontoglot, even although it 

 has never so far enjoyed the popularity of its sister species, O. crispum. As well grown it is not easy to imagine 

 anything more lovely and fairy-like than a plant of this species bearing from fifty to a hundred flowers upon a single 

 panicle. There is a neatness and fineness of make in both the bulbs, foliage, and flowers of this species that at once 

 elevates it in the eyes of the true connaisseur in the Orchid world, while as in O. crispum there is a whole world of 

 variety, scarcely any two plants yielding precisely the same inflorescence. Its home is on the north-western Cordilleras 

 near Ocana, in Columbia, South America, from 6,000 to 9,000 feet in altitude, and it is still abundant on Sierra Palado 

 and Alta San Rosa on stems and branches of trees. 



The plant first flowered in Europe, at Brussels, in 1851— that is to say, four years after its discovery, and it 

 has ever since had an honoured place in all good collections. Of late years, collectors having been able to get nearer to 

 the borderlands and further from the central type, or focus spot, so to speak, of the species, varieties of the most beautiful 

 and startling kind have cropped up amongst the importations. One has only to glance over the many coloured figures in 

 as many works to get some idea of the variations in this noble plant ; but few, if any, can surpass Baron Schroder's 

 superb O. Pescatorei- Veitchianum, with its bold, wine-purple blotches on a snowy ground. It has been said that " the 

 Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots," but on the best of evidence we know that the latter half of 

 the programme is quite a common performance on the part of these exquisite flowers, since not only the depth or quantity 

 of colouring varies, but also its local distribution on the petals and labellum from year to year. Thus on the first bloom- 

 ing of Veitch's Pescatorei its markings took the form of two concentric uninterrupted zones, but as the plant gained 

 strength in the fresh air of Windsor Forest its markings became bold and decided blotches, although still keeping some- 

 what the concentric arrangement. This much is also true in part of all the O. crispum varieties as well. The other 

 spotted or blotched varieties best known for perfection of form and richness of colouring are Schroderi, imported by our- 

 selves ; Lawrenceanum, Lowianum, and Thompsonianum, which our illustration very closely resembles. In Lowianum 

 the dotting and spots are on a light puce or mauve ground, while in Schroderianum the dark markings are confined to 

 the basal portion of the perianth segments. In the collection of Baron Schroder is a snow-white variety which is 

 exquisitely beautiful. 



We have, however, of late years been fortunate in obtaining many natural hybrids, which have more or less distinct 

 yellow or sulphur-tinted sepals and petals, instead of the pure white of the type. For the purpose of obtaining a glimpse 



