5 
BRASSIA. MACULATA. 
(spotted-flowered brassia.) 
CLASS. ORDER. 
GYNANDRIA. MONANDRIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
ORCHID ACEiE. 
Generic Character. — Perianihium prominent, smooth. Sepals and Petals narrow, free, equal, upper 
ones occasionally smaller. Labellum flat, undivided, not spurred, continuous from the column, two- 
crested at the base. Column free, dwarf, compact. Anthers one-celled. Pollen-masses two, fur- 
rowed on the back, shorter than the caudicula, with a thick gland. 
Specific Character Sepals and Petals linear, acuminate, equal. Labellum partially rounded behind, 
emarginate. 
The singular structure of the flowers of a considerable portion of the order 
Orchidaceae, is tolerably well represented in the plant of which a drawing is pre- 
fixed • although it would be folly indeed to attempt to establish a type for a tribe 
of plants, the species of which, like the human countenance, seldom possess any two 
features in every respect in unison. It is to the sportive and fantastic form of 
the blossoms of Brassia maculata that we refer, as well as to their general con- 
tour, and the mode in which they are produced. 
Though inferior in splendour to many other orchidaceous Epiphytes, this 
deficiency appears to be abundantly compensated by the dense profusion of its 
flowers. These are also by no means destitute of beauty, but, for the unsophis- 
ticated admirer of nature, possess numerous attractions. The showy blotches on 
the sepals and petals, the crescent-like form which the two upper petals assume, 
the large wavy labellum, with its delicate spots and pretty yellow crests, and the 
well-developed column, are all objects of interest as they successively arrest, his 
view. The shape of the pseudo-bulbs and leaves, the manner in which the 
flower-spike appears, and the general habit of the plant, are exhibited in the 
woodcut which is given on the following page. 
There are few circumstances in the cultivation of this species which require 
notice, since it may be treated after the usual manner. It is not every cultivator, 
however, that succeeds in growing it to the perfection attained by the plant which 
furnished the specimen for our present figure. In many collections, indeed, it is 
treated so injudiciously, that its real beauty is never developed, and it is, in conse- 
quence, regarded with indifference. The genus Brassia comprises plants which 
appear to prefer being grown in a pot. A compost of heath soil, which is some- 
