265 
ONCIDI.UM INSLEAYII. 
, (mr. insleay's oncidxum.) 
CLASS. OllDEH. 
GYNANDRIA. MONANDRIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
ORCHIDACE^. 
Generic Character. — Perianth showy. Sepals often undnlatcd, lateral ones sometimes connate with the 
lower part of the labellum. Petals similar. Labellum largest, spurless, continuous with the column, 
variously lobed, tubercled or crested at the base. Column free, semicylindrical, winged at the top 
on both sides. Anthers usually two-celled ; rostellum sometimes shortened, sometimes elongated and 
beaked. Pollen-masses two, furrowed behind ; caudicula plain ; gland oblong. 
Specific Character. — J* /an^ epiphytal. Ps5MC?o-6M/ft5 ovate, compressed, slightly furrowed, two-leaved. 
Leaves erect, thick, elliptically sword-shaped, partially undulated, recurved at the top. Raceme 
simple, erect, or partly drooping. Sepals and petals oblong, almost equal, undulated. Labellum 
obovate, retusi?, arrow-shaped at the base, with depressed tubercles on both sides of the lower part, 
and a one-toofhed plate in the middle. Column with slender curled wings. 
The great number of species in the genus Oncidium, which have flowers only- 
varying slightly in the combination of their brown and yellow tints, seems to 
render each acquisition in which the colours of the blossoms are in any degree 
similar, of comparatively small value. Such, however, is the extreme richness of 
hue in the flowers of the present beautiful plant, that, connected with their 
great size and pleasing arrangement, this property redeems them entirely from 
falling beneath notice, and places the species in the very first rank of orchidaceous 
plants. 
It is a native of Oaxaca, in Mexico, whence it appears to have been introduced 
to this country by George Barker, Esq., of Birmingham ; — this gentleman 
having succeeded in blooming it two or three years back, named it after his 
gardener, Mr. Insleay. Messrs. Loddiges also imported it from the same district, 
and it flowered in their nursery in the autumn of ] 840, when the drawing now 
furnished was made. 
In the Miscellaneous Notices of the Botanical Register, Mr. Barker s plant is 
described as producing a rigid, erect raceme of flowers ; but the specimen from 
VOL. VIII. NO. XCVI. M M 
