DENDROBIUM TAURINUM. 
(Bull-headed flowered Dendrobium. 
GYNANDRIA. 
Order. 
MONANDRIA. 
ORCHIDACEiE. 
Specific CHARACTER.~Pton< epiphytal. Stems cylin- 
drical, very tall. Leaves oblong, obliquely emarginate. 
Racemes drooping, many-flowered. Sepals ovate, ob- 
tuse. Petals linear, twisted, twice as long as the sepals. 
Labellum oblong, crisped at the summit, with three 
elevated lines down the centre, acute. 
Generic Character — Sepals membranaceous, erect 
or spreading, lateral ones largest, connate with the 
column at the base. Petals often much larger than the 
sepals, sometimes smaller, always membranaceous. 
Labellum jointed or connate with the foot of the 
column, always sessile, undivided or three-lobed, com- 
monly membranaceous, sometimes appendiculate. 
Column semi-cylindrical, much prolonged at the base. 
Anthers two-celled. Pollen-masses four. 
Concerning the extensive group to which this very handsome species belongs, 
Dr. Lindley says, in the Botanical Register, " whether or not it is possible to 
divide the great and unnatural genus Dendrobium by any really stable characters, 
is uncertain. It certainly appears to contain several distinct types of structure ; 
but, up to the present time, I have sought in vain for anything sufficiently precise 
on which to found generic characters. 
" Among the sections of the genus no one is better marked than that which 
consists of species with a stiff erect habit, racemes of flowers placed on a long- 
peduncle opposite the leaves, large showy flowers, and the petals remarkably 
longer than the sepals. But beyond this, I can find nothing that differs from 
Dendrobium ; and as the three first characters are merely of habit, the last can 
hardly be regarded of enough importance to authorize the establishment of a 
genus."" 
This division has been distinguished by Dr. Lindley by the name of the 
Spatulate section ; and within it is comprised the plant before us. D. taurinum 
was imported from Manilla by Messrs. Loddiges, and flowered in the Hackney 
Nursery last autumn. Mr. Cuming was its discoverer and introducer. Its aspect 
approximates greatly to that of the curious D. undulatum. But though the stems 
of D. taurinum are quite as tall, and the foliage a little similar, the former are not 
nearly so much swollen towards the base. The flowers are borne in noble racemes 
VOL. X. NO. CXVIII, F F 
