376 



CASSELL'S POPULAK GARDEXIXG. 



bro\\Ti ; lip large, flat, and spreading, rich, deep gold 

 colour, crest and base deep velvety-black. Summer 

 :rionths. Organ Mountains, Brazil. 



(). cucuUatum. — This is a small-gTOwing species, 

 which, requires suspending upon a block or in a 

 basket, and placed in the coolest end of the Peruvian 

 House ; pseudo-bulbs small, oblong, bearing a single 

 iinear-oblong leaf, the whole plant not above six 

 inches high ; spike erect, bearing three to six 

 liowers, which last long in full beauty ; sepals and 

 petals small, dull der^p brown ; lip large and 

 spreading, emarginate in front, considerably above 

 an in.li across, rosy-purple, spotted with deep pur- 

 plo, crests orange-yellow. This is the normal form 

 of the plant, but it is so variable that scarcely two 

 are exactly alike. Winter and spring months. 

 Mountain forests of Ecuador, 6,000 to 13,000 feet 

 elevation. 



0. curtiiya. — In general aj^pearance this plant re- 

 sembles 0. crispum, and it requires to be treated in 

 the same manner ; spike erect, bearing a large and 

 many-flow ered panicle of lovely blooms ; sepals and 

 petals yellow, transversely banded with reddish- 

 brown spots ; lip rich golden-yellow, with a band of 

 brownish-purple spots near the margin. Spring and 

 early sumnier. Brazil. 



0. hccinatocldlam. — This rare and beautiful plant 

 belongs to the group of which '0. lur'vJum may 

 be taken as a type ; they are quite destitute of 

 p>-'eudo-bulbs, but have erect, thick, and fleshy 

 leaves. In this speries the leaves are oblong, thick, 

 and fleshy, and taper to a point, dark green with 

 dull brown spots ; spike erect ; raceme dense ; sepals 

 and petals spathulate, greenish-yellow, blotched with 

 chestnut and speckled with purple ; lip large, rich 

 crimson, passing into bright rose towards the base. 

 Autumn months. Xew Grenada. 



0. incurvum. — An elegant plant with ol'long com- 

 pressed pseudo-bulbs, which, are ribbed and pale 

 gTcen ; leaves in pairs, narrow, and lanceolate ; scape 

 erect, branching, about three feet high, and many- 

 flowered ; sepals and petals long and narrow, wliite, 

 transversely blotched with reddish-pui-ple or brown ; 

 lip white, stained at the base and on the crest with 

 reddish. - purple. Autumn and winter months. 

 Mexico. 



0. Kramcrianum. — This is one of the Butterfly 

 Oncids, and thrives best upon a block of wood or in a 

 basket ; pseudo-bulbs short and cylindrical, corru- 

 gated, dark green, tinged with brown, bearing a 

 solitary leathery leaf, which is deep hea^y green, 

 netted and spotted with reddish- crimson ; spike 

 erect, some two feet long, forming knotted joints 

 at intervals of a few inches, and bearing on the 

 apex a single butterfly- shaped flower ; the sepals 

 are narrow and stand erect, whilst the petals are 



broad and deflexed, the ground-colour rich golden- 

 yellow, over which is spread a profusion of chestnut 

 blotches and spots, the edges beautifully undulated : 

 lip same colour- as sepals, plain in the centre, with a 

 marginal baud of rich brown, where it is undulated 

 and fringed. It is almo.st a pei-petual bloomer, if the 

 old spikes are not cut ofl:. Centi-al America, on Chim- 

 borazo, at 3.000 feet elevation. A variety of O. FapUio. 



0. Lanccaanm. — This grand species requires more 

 heat than any other member of the genus. It is 

 quite destitute of pseudo-bulbs; leaves large, erect, 

 thick and coriaceous, caiinate, bright green, pro- 

 fusely ornamented with reddish-brown spots ; spike 

 erect, one to two feet high, many-flowered ; flowers 

 powerfully scented like vanilla ; sepals and petals 

 large and of great substance, greenish-yellow^ barred 

 and blotched with reddish-ciimson ; Hp large, thick, 

 and fleshy ; the lower portion deep rich violet, the 

 basal half passing into rose. In one variety the 

 Iowlt portion of the lip is white. Summer months. 

 Demerara and Surinam. 



0. IcitcochUinii. — An old but beautiful species, which 

 seems to luxuriate naturally in a region where the 

 temperature never exceeds 70", and often falls to 

 36"-^: the pseudo -bulbs are stout, oblong, and ribbed : 

 spike erect, several feet high, branched, and many- 

 flowered ; sepals and petals greenish- white, trans- 

 versely streaked with brown or reddish-crimson : 

 lip large and flat, pure white. "Winter months. 

 Guatemala. 



0. mocrantlxum. — Pseudo-bulbs large, flask-shaped, 

 three to four inches high, becoming furrowed with 

 age, bearing a pair of narrowly-lanceolate leaves 

 a foot or more long: panicle climbing, several feet 

 in length, and bearing numerous thick and fleshy 

 flowers some four inches across ; sepals and petals 

 roundish, so as to form ouite a full flower, golden- 

 yellow, tinged with dull brown ; lip small, hastate : 

 side lobes purplish-brown, yellow in front, with 

 a white crest. Sjii ing and early summer, lasting a 

 very long time in full beauty. Peru and Xew 

 Grenada, at 7,000 to 1-1.000 feet elevation. 



0. Marsltali'iauHii). — In appearance this much 

 resembles 0. cris^pum, previously described, and it 

 should be treated in the same manner : when the 

 flowers open it is thoroughly distinct fi'om any other 

 species; the scape is erect and much branched, 

 bearing an immense number of its large rich golden- 

 yellow flowers, which are blotched and spotted with 

 bright brown. Summer months. Organ Mountains, 

 Brazil. 



0. ormthorhynchum. — The pseudo-bulbs and leaves 

 of this species are of a uniform pale green, and 

 seldom exceed a foot in height ; the spike is much 

 branched, and bears a profusion of its rather small 

 soft rose-coloured flowers, which have a perfume 



