OECHIDS. 



235 



C. hicolor, but the flowers are very distiuLt from any 

 other : they are also deliciously fragrant : sepals and 

 petals pale orange, tinged with green, and spotted 

 and streaked with pru-ple : lip ovate, deep velvety- 

 rose, veined with rich purple ; throat ytdlow. Au- 

 tunm months. Brazil. 



C. iragniru. — Although described as a species, 

 there can be little doubt that it is a variety of 

 C. Jlo^shP. It was originally found growing with 

 that species, which it resembles in every detail 

 saving colour ; the flowers are pm-e white, with a 

 stain of deep yellow in the throat. June and July. 

 La Guap-a. 



C\ TTal'keria/ia . — Sometimes foimd in collections 

 under the name of C. hulbosa. It is a charming- 

 species of dvarf habit, and requires to be grown 

 upon a block ; pseudo-bulbs short, stout, and oval, 

 bearing a solitary coriaceous, oblong, deep green 

 leaf ; peduncle erect, one to two-flowered : flowers 

 five inches or more in diameter, and deliciously 

 fragrant : sepals oblong-acute : petals much broader, 

 ovate, with wa^y margins : all clear bright rose- 

 colom^ : lip rosy-purple, stained with yellow towards 

 the base. It lasts a very long time in full beauty. 

 The flowering season is May and Jime, but some- 

 times it blooms twice in the season. Brazil. 



C. inrnierli. — This evidently belongs to the lahiata 

 section, to which indeed it is a dangerous rival. 

 The original form introduced proved it to be one of 

 the very finest of its race, but more recent importa- 

 tions have shown that it is subject to great variation. 

 With something of the lahiata growth, the peduncle 

 bears three to five superb flowers, full six inches in 

 diameter : sepals lanceolate - acute ; petals ovate, 

 very broad and crisp at the edges : all deep rose, 

 shaded with lilac : lip very large, deeply bi-lobed in 

 front, where it is intense rich crimson and beauti- 

 fully fringed : behind this it is creamy- white, and 

 the thi'oat is orange. It is named in honoru- of Mr. 

 E. TTarner, of Bloomfield, Chelmsford— a worthy 

 monument of his great love for these plants. Sum- 

 mer months. Brazil. 



Cliysis. — A small genus of remarkably showy 

 plants. The name conies from clii/sis. melting," and 

 refers to the pollen masses, which have the aj^pear- 

 ance of being run together or fused. 



Chysis may bf known by their stout spindle- 

 shaped pseudo-bulbs, which are sometimes upwards 

 of a foot long, and clothed with large leafy bracts ; 

 the leaves are large, membranous, and plaited, light 

 gi'een, and deciduous ; sepals slightly connate ; petals 

 confonning to the sepals ; lip threc-lobed ; column 

 deeply channelled at the base ; pollen masses, eight — 

 four stout and four thin. These plants are found as 

 epiphytes, growing on the forest trees, but though 



they thrive admirably in cultivation upon blocks, 

 theii- great weight renders it necessary to place 

 them either in baskets or pots ; the material should 

 consist of rough peat fibre and li\-ing Sphagnum 

 Moss, and a few pieces of charcoal. The flower- 

 spike comes up with the young growth, and the 

 blooms expand when the shoot is about half-grown ; 

 during this time they require an abundant sup- 

 ply of water, but when the pseudo-bulbs are fully 

 matui'ed they may be kept qmte dry, and in a 

 cooler temperature than when gTOwing. Brazilian 

 House. 



C. bractcsce)is. — The stout pseudo-bulbs are enve- 

 loped in large leafy bracts ; the spike is rather 

 short, bearing thi-ee to six flowers ; sepals and petals 

 thick and fleshy, pure waxy- white: the lip white, 

 stained with yellow at the base. Apiil and May. 

 Mexico. 



C. I(vvis. — A handsome species. The raceme is 

 many-flowered : sepals and petals clear pale yellow, 

 suffused with orange ; lip three-lobed, the side lobes 

 yellow, forming a hood over the column ; front lobe 

 crisp round the edge, orange-yellow, blotched and 

 streaked with crimson. It blooms dui'ing ]May and 

 Jime, and retains its full beauty for several weeks. 

 Gruatemala and Mexico. 



C. Liuiraiprpiii. — This beautiful species inhabits 

 the branches of the forest trees near the sea-coast. 

 The pseudo-bulbs are shorter and more ovate than 

 the previously enumerated lands ; scape five to six- 

 flowered : sex^als and petals of great substance, nearly 

 equal : blush-white suffused with rosy-pink, which 

 passes into pui-ple towards the tips ; lip thi'ee-lobed ; 

 the lateral lobes are too small to cover the colimin ; 

 yellow, streaked with crimson ; middle lobe flat, 

 fleshy, pinkish-Hlac, streaked and lined with purple. 

 March to May. Province of Tabasco, Mexico. 



Cirrliopetalum. — The name is derived from 

 cirrJti's, '''a tenchil," and pctalon, "a flower-leaf," in 

 allusion to the pecuHar ligulate sepals. It is a large 

 family, and very nearly allied to BolhophyUum, 

 from which it is chiefly distinguished by the very 

 long lateral sepals and umbellate inflorescence. The 

 formation of the flowers of CuThopetalums is very 

 singular, and this, coupled with their bright colours, 

 renders them favourites whenever seen. In the 

 earlier days of Orchids, a lover of these plants thus 

 records his first impressions of C. chincnsc. He 

 says : ''There is no longer any occasion for specula- 

 tive minds to occupy themselves with the important 

 investigation of the cause that may have induced 

 the Chinese to invent strange figures of men and 

 women, with their chins in perpetual motion, for 

 here is the explanation. We have here a plant from 

 China, one of whose lobes is so like a tongue and 



