ODONTOGLOSSUM CERVANTESII. 
(Cervantes' Tooth-tongue.) 
Class. Order. 
GYNANDRIA. MONANDRIA 
Natural Order. 
ORCHXDACEjE. 
Generic Character. — Perianth showy, equal ; sepals j bulbs ovate, angular. Leaves solitary, oblong, with a 
and petals narrow, acuminate, free. Labellum undi- j narrow channelled petiole. Scape few flowered. Bracts 
vided, destitute of a spur, furnished with a short claw, | sheathing, membranous, very acute, equitant, elon- 
which is continuous with the base of the column, 
having a crested spreading plate at the base. Column 
erect, membranous at the margin, winged on each side 
of the apex. Anthers two-celled. Pollen-masses two, 
solid, with a linear caudicule, and a crooked gland. 
gated. Sepals membranous, oblong-lanceolate, acute. 
Petals broader, subunguiculate, acute. Lip subcor- 
dately ovate, acute, unguiculate ; unguis fleshy, 
cyathiform, pubescent, bidentate in front, tubercled, 
and with two pilose processes before the cup. Column 
Specific Character. — Plant epiphytal. Pseudo- [ pubescent, with rounded ears. 
Dr. Lindley, in his recent enumeration of the tooth-tongue Orchids, has 
arranged the species under three sections. In the one, he observes, " the anther- 
bed is surrounded by a deep fringe, or membranous border ; the two others are 
without that fringe. The first constitutes the sub-genus (?) Trymenium ; the 
second and third are Odontoglossum proper. Of the second the lip is always 
white, and generally broad and flat. Of the third, the lip is generally yellow, 
never white, and most commonly narrow." 0. citrosmum and 0. pulcheUum are 
examples of the first ; the magnificent 0. grande of the third ; and the beautiful 
species represented in our figure is an illustration of the second. 
The vast amassment of imported Orchids in the Hackney Nursery has not 
furnished a more valuable species for some time. The plant is small and neat, the 
flowers of a pleasing delicate hue, beautifully marked, and elegantly arranged. A 
specimen, which Messrs. Loddiges received from Oaxaea, flowered last March ; and 
about the same time another species, Q. memhranacea, displayed blossoms of an 
equally handsome and very similar character. That plant, however, as Dr. 
Lindley remarks in the " Botanical Register," " has perfectly white flowers, 
with the exception of concentric broken crimson bands, which occupy the lower 
part of all the segments of the flower; its petals and lip are very blunt, and the 
latter is very deeply heart-shaped ; while in O. Cervantesii, on the other hand, 
the lip is scarcely heart-shaped, and has no band-like markings ; it, and the petals 
are particularly acute, and the ground-tint of the flower is a delicate flesh- colour. 
The teeth, too, which stand in front of the saucer- shaped stalk of the lip, are 
longer in the latter species." 
VOL. XII. — 'NO. CXLI. C C 
