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THE ORCHID WORLD. 



[Nov. -Dec. , igi6. 



cerinum. Among other plants bearing his 

 name mention may be made of Selenipedmm 

 caudatum Warscewiczii, which differs from 

 the type chiefly in the deeper and brighter 

 colour of the flowers, and the genus 

 Warscewiczella, which is often included under 

 Zygopetalum. 



MORMODES. 



MORTMODES IS one of a group of 

 genera characterised by fleshy stems 

 and strange-looking flowers. Dr. 

 Lindley long ago graphically remarked of 

 this group of Orchids : " That we find among 

 them the most astonishing deviations from 

 ordinary structure and the most startling 

 variations from what appears to be the rule 

 m other parts of the organic world." All this 

 still holds good but in a modified sense, for 

 many of the deviations in form and structure 

 occurring in Mormodes, Catasetum and 

 Cycnoches that were inexplicable puzzles to 

 Lindley and his contemporaries have since 

 been shown to be not mere "freaks" or 

 " sports " of nature, but necessary conditions 

 of the plant's organisation, probably evolved 

 from a simpler state in the course of a long 

 series of ages. 



The most striking floral peculiarities in 

 Mormodes are seen m the column and lip, 

 especially in the first-named organ, which is 

 twisted one-quarter round so as to cause the 

 anther to face sideways ; the beak of the 

 column, or, rather, the small hinge by which 

 the anther case is articulated with the column 

 is so sensitive that when the beak is touched, 

 ever so lightly, the whole of the pollinary 

 apparatus is released and tossed upwards with 

 a jerk to some distance. The labellum, too, 

 is a remarkable organ, and although a 

 polymorphous one it always has the same 

 relative position to the column, that is, it is 

 bent upwards and inwards and arches more 

 or less over it. 



The original Mormodes luxatum is more 

 acceptable for the delightfifl fragrance than 

 for the colour of its flowers which is dull 

 lemon-yellow ; in the variety eburneum the 



colour IS much purer, rendering the flowers 

 quite handsome. The typical form was 

 discovered by Ross in 1839 near Valladolid, 

 in Mexico, while collecting Orchids for Mr. 

 George Barker, of Birmingham, in whose 

 collection at Springfield it flowered in 1842. 

 The variety seems to have first appeared in 

 the collection of Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., 

 about the year 1878 ; it is a stately plant, 

 delicate in the pure ivory tint and scent of its 

 flowers, and quaint in its twisted shell-shaped 

 lip. 



StaNHOPEA OCULATA. — A very handsome 

 species, first imported in 1829 by Messrs. 

 Loddiges from Xalapa in Mexico through 

 Deppe. It flowered in their nursery in June, 

 1 83 1, and three years later in Mr. Bateman's 

 collection at Knypersley. It was shortly 

 afterwards sent from Guatemala by Mr. G. 

 Ure Skinner to Mr. Harris, of Kingsbury, 

 and to other correspondents. It is one of the 

 best known of Stanhopeas and also one of 

 the most variable in the colour and spotting 

 of its flowers. As a species it is distinguished 

 by its long narrow lip, of which the horns of 

 the mesochile are short, broad, and at a 

 considerable angle to the epichile. Mr. 

 Skinner, in a communication to Mr. Harris 

 respecting the habitat of Stanhopea oculata 

 in Guatemala, stated that he found it growing 

 on the same tree as Oncidium leucochilum 

 in the higher temperatures, and recommended 

 for its culture in Europe that it should be kept 

 m a temperature not colder than 13 degrees 

 C. (55 degrees F.) nor warmer than 

 21 degrees C. (70 degrees F.), that it should 

 be well watered from June to September, and 

 from October till May only slightly watered 

 every evening at sunset to resemble the dews 

 of its native home — not, it must be recol- 

 lected, so heavy as people represent them in 

 Europe, the region being high and very 

 different from a coast climate. The seasons 

 are the same as in England, the coldest 

 weather being from December to February 

 when the thermometer sometimes sinks to 

 3 degrees to 5 degrees C. (36 degrees to 

 42 degrees F.) at sunrise. 



