125 
PHAIUS ALBUS. 
(white-flowered PHAIUS.) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
GYNANDRIA. MONANDRIA. 
NATURAL ORDER, 
ORCHIDACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Sepals and petals nearly equal, spreading, free. Lahellum frequently cucullate, 
adhering to the base of the column, spurred, entire or three-lobed. Column erect, attached to the 
ovaries, half-cylindrical, marginate, elongate. Anthers eight-celled. Pollen masses eight, nearly 
equal. 
Specific Character.— P/a/i^ caulescent. Leaves oblong, lanceolate, acute, glaucous beneath. Racemes 
terminal, three to five-flowered, shorter than the leaves. Sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, 
acute, nearly equal. Labellum oblong, cucuUate, toothed, beautifully streaked with purple. 
This may be said to be one of the most delicate, as well as the most lovely, 
of Orchidaceous plants, the flowers being large and pure white, pencilled in the 
most exquisite manner with purple on the lip; when in flower, it has a strik- 
ingly beautiful appearance, particularly as the flowers are produced at the ex- 
tremities of the shoots when these are in full leaf. 
The habit of this plant is very remarkable, and is certainly not an unin- 
teresting feature in its character. At one season of the year, it is seen in a 
leafless and torpid state, its stems having the appearance of dried and lifeless 
branches ; at another period of its growth, it exhibits its finely pointed and 
glaucous leaves in a state of the most lively verdure ; and subsequently the 
flowers are produced, which vie in beauty with the choicest of Nature's pro- 
ductions. After flowering, the stems will speedily become matured, and shed 
their foliage, when the plant will again assume the appearance of a decayed 
piece of wood. What can be more interesting than to watch Nature in all her 
progressive stages, particularly in those productions in which the changes are so 
obvious and regular? and who, upon observing the perfect order which prevails 
