MILTON I A PHAL/ENOPSIS nic/.o/so,,. 



Pseudobulbis ovoideo-oblongis subcompressis mono-diphyllis pallide viridibus, foliis linearibus acutis v. acuminatis basi complicatis pallide viridibus, 

 scapis foliis brevioribus paucifloris, floribus speciosis planis, sepalis elliptico-oblongis subacutis, petalis obovato-ellipticis obtusis, labello trilobo, lobis laterali- 

 bus brevibus rotundatis, medio multo latioribus emarginatis v. bilobis, disco velutino, carinis bis ad basin una in medio antepositis carinulis bis antice nunc 

 unilamelligeris verrucosis quibusdam utrinque circumjectis, columna brevi alis abbreviatis integris. 



MlLTONlA PHAL^ENOPSIS, Nicholson Diet. Gard., IL, pp. 367, 369, fig. 571 ; Veitch Man. Orch., VIII., pp. 102, 103, cum xyl. 



Odontoglossum Phal/ENOPSIS, Lind. et Rchb. f. in Bonplandia, II. (1854), p. 278 ; Pescatorea, t. 44 ; Batem. Monogr. Odont, t 3 ; 111. Hort., III., 

 t. 109 ; id., XXVIII., P : 55, t. 417 (var. luxurians); Warn. Sel. Orch., I., t. 30. 



This beautiful species is an ally of Miltonia vexillaria and M. Roezlii, species which were formerly referred to Odontoglossum, but now generally 

 considered as forming a somewhat peculiar section of Miltonia. M. Phalaenopsis was the first of the group introduced to Europe. It was discovered by 

 Schlim, and sent to M. Linden's establishment in 1850, and it was described some four years later from dried specimens. It is said to have flowered for the 

 first time in Europe in June, 1856, when it was exhibited both at Ghent and in London. It is a native of New Grenada and grows near Ocafia, and its 

 principal station is on the western slopes of the eastern Cordillera, almost parallel with the River Magdalena, where it grows chiefly on the trunks and 

 branches, always in humid situations and in more or less shade, at 4,000 — 5,000 feet elevation. It is also said to occur in the Carara district under similar 

 conditions, but at a lower elevation. It stands next to the Costa Rican M. Endresii in a systematic arrangement, as that species has also small, roundish 

 side lobes to the lip, though the two are distinct enough in most other particulars. It also bears some resemblance to M. Roezlii, which, however, is readily 

 distinguished by the absence of the rounded side lobes of the lip. M. Phalaenopsis has white flowers, with some radiating light purple streaks on the basal 

 part of the front lobe of the lip, which are often more or less suffused into two blotches. The basal part of the side lobes is yellow. R. A. Rolfe. 



This, the first introduced, and the prettiest of the little group formerly placed under Odontoglossum, but now by 

 common accord placed with the Miltonias, stands as a memorial that the perception of the gardener is not always less 

 worthy of consideration, in the matter of a plant name, than the opinion of the botanist, for its first name in gardens was 

 Miltonia pulchella, and after bearing the name Odontoglossum Phalaenopsis for over thirty years, the garden generic 

 name has to be reverted to. It would have been as well, perhaps, to have taken the specific name also. 



Schlim discovered it in 1850 and sent specimens to Europe, and it first flowered under cultivation about the year 

 1856. It is a native of New Grenada, and it is found plentifully on the trunks and branches of trees near Ocana, always 

 in humid situations, at an altitude of 4,000 to 5,000 feet. For many years Miltonia Phalaenopsis was considered very 

 difficult to grow, but with it, as with many other beautiful orchids of small growth, time has brought experience to the 

 careful grower, and it is now in most gardens grown very successfully. In its culture it is specially necessary to observe 

 that it should be kept as nearly as possible in an even, comfortable temperature, in a rather moist house, all the year 

 round. We always succeeded well with it by growing it in the cool house in summer and returning it to a shady part of 

 the intermediate house, where it was suspended near the glass of the roof, in winter. It requires a good supply of water 

 when growing, and should never be allowed to get dry, even when the growths are fully made up, for any length of time. 

 Rain-water should be used exclusively for this and other orchids of a similar soft-bulbed and tender-leaved construction. 



