ORCHIDS. 



91 



streaked "with, crimson and yellow. Spring and early 

 summer. Peruvian Andes. 



Houlletia.— Xamed in honour of 'M. Houllet, a 

 French gardener who travelled in Brazil, and sent 

 home numerous nevr and interesting plants to the 

 Jardin des Plantes in 

 Paris. The genus is 

 allied to Staahopea. 

 hut is nevertheless 

 ahundantly distinct. 

 Brongniart. who es- 

 tablished the genus, 

 says ' ' It differs from 

 Stanhopea in. the 

 spreading sepals and 

 petals, and in the lip 

 being articulated in 

 the middle, with two 

 horns on its lower 

 half directed towards 

 the column." They 

 may be known by 

 their short ovate or 

 conical ]Dseudo-bulbs, 

 which are more or 

 less grooved, and 

 bear on the apex a 

 solitary, long, petio- 

 late, plaited leaf ; the 

 raceme issues from 

 the side of the 

 pseudo-bulb near the 

 base, and is mostly 

 erect, bearing nu- 

 merous large, curious, 

 and very handsome 

 flowers. A few spe- 

 cies only have up to 

 the present time been 

 discovered, but as 

 these are found in 

 such distant parts of 

 America, there are 

 no doubt many more 

 species or varieties 

 still imknown, which 



one day may arrive to gladden the heart of some 

 enthusiastic Orchidologist. 



Houlletias are all mountain plants, and are often- 

 times found beside streams and rivulets, where they 

 enjoy an abundant supply of moisture during the 

 growing season, and in such situations they do 

 not have a very severe drying up even when at 

 rest. Cultivators should make a note of this. Pot 

 them in a mixture of peat and Sphagnum, with 



Heliia sax&uinolexia 



a little sharp silver sand. Cool end of Brazilian 

 House. 



H. Brocklehiirstiana. — Pseudo-bulb ovate, bearing 

 a long and broad, petiolate, plaited dark green leaf, 

 upwards of a foot long; raceme erect, longer than 

 the leaves, five to six-flowered, each measuring 

 nearly four inches in 

 diameter, and very 

 fragrant ; sepals and 

 petals oblong-obtuse, 

 spreading, nearly 

 equal, orange-yellow, 

 mottled with reddish- 

 brown, and spotted 

 T\-ith blood-red ; lip 

 yellow, purple at the 

 apex, s^Dotted with 

 bro^-n, and furnished 

 with two short fln- 

 gers which point to- 

 wards the column. 

 This species was fir.st 

 discovered on the 

 Organ Mountains in 

 the neighboui'hood of 

 Ptio Janeiro, and re- 

 quires more heat 

 than the other kinds. 

 Summer months. 

 Brazil. 



S. ocloratissiina. — 

 Pseudo-bulbs o^-ate, 

 furrowed ; the soli- 

 tary leaf is long and 

 narrow, with a very 

 long petiole ; scape 

 erect, five to six- 

 flowered, deliciously 

 sweet ; sejDals and 

 petals oblong - acu- 

 minate, the latter 

 narrowest, of a 

 uniform brick - red ; 

 lip very curious, 

 and with the large 

 column piu-e white, 

 tipped with pale yel- 

 low. Summer months. It is found growing beside 

 small streams in the province of Ocana, Xew 

 Grenada, and also on the banks of the Rio Mag- 

 dalena in Columbia. 



H. odoratissima, var. ardioquiensis. — This is a rare 

 and splendid form, differing in its much larger 

 flowers ; the petals large and blunt, and of a rick 

 blood-red, suffused ^-ith purple. Summer months- 

 Province of Antioquia, Columbia. 



