49 
PHAL/ENOPSIS AM ABILIS. 
(THE INDIAN BUTTERFLY PLANT.) 
CLASS. Oil DBl(i« 
GYNANDRTA. MONANDRIA. 
NATURAL OHDKR. 
ORCHIDACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Perianth conspicuous, spreading. Sepals free ; petals larger, dilated. Labellum 
somewhat prolonged at the base, connate with the column, free, thick at the base, three-lobed ; 
lateral lobes ascending, petaloid, middle one narrower, two-tendrilled. Column recumbent on the 
ovary, semi-cylindrical ; beak gladiate. Anthers two-celled. Pollen-masses two, sub-globose, 
with a smooth spatulate caudicula, and a large heart-shaped gland. 
Specific Character. — Plant an epiphyte. Stems simple, rooting. Leaves binate, oblong, coriaceous, 
radical. Scape a foot long, or more, many-flowered. Flowers large, white. Sepals oblong, 
obtuse; petals subrotund, clawed. Labellum with the lateral lobes ovate, obtuse, incurved, 
becoming yellow towards the base; thick near the lower end, but lessening from thence downwards, 
truncate, yellow, sagittate. 
Svnonymes. — Angr cecum album ma jus o Epidendrum amabile. 
Among the many subscribers to the expedition of Mr. Hugh Cuming to 
Manilla in quest of botanical curiosities, Messrs. Rollison of Tooting were alone 
fortunate enough to receive a living specimen of this exceedingly lovely plant. 
And though several packages have subsequently arrived from the same district, no 
collection is yet adorned with its superlative beauty, except that of the above 
gentlemen, and the very few which have been supplied by them. 
Without at all considering its rarity, our subject may be pronounced one of 
the most interesting of the peculiarly rich tribe Orchidacese. In nearly all its 
characteristics it stands quite isolated, and yet these are of a description eminently 
adapted to command admiration. Novelty and the more enduring charms of real 
elegance are thus delightfully united, by their association causing an unusual degree 
of interest to attach to the object in which they meet. 
Our very excellent drawing will contribute much to secure for the plant the 
reader's esteem, while the engraving may serve to show more plainly its particular 
habitude ; but nothing can fully depict its real loveliness. It has not, like most 
plants of allied genera, an apparent ascending stem, for the leaves issue imme- 
diately from the same point as the roots. Its foliage is remarkably handsome, 
VOL. VII. NO. LXXV. H 
