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DENDROBIUM taurinum. 
Bull-headed Dendrobium. 
GYNANDRIA MONANDRIA. 
Nat. ord. Orchidacea: § Vandea:. 
DENDROBIUM. Swz. 
§ Spatulata (Lindl. in London Journ. of Botany, 2. 235.). Cornu breve. 
Petala elongata. Racemus pedunculatus oppositifolius. Caidis erectus 
teres. 
D. taurinum. 
Whether or not it is possible to divide the great, and un- 
natural 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 any thing sufficiently precise on which to found generic 
characters. 
Among the sections of the genus no one is better marked 
than this, 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 authorise the establishment of a genus. For this reason I 
proposed in the London Journal of Botany to combine them, 
under the name of Dendrobia spatulata, into a new section of 
the genus. 
Of plants with this structure I know six completely ; and 
a seventh is probably to be added. Of these the following 
is an enumeration, 
1. D. taurinum (the subject of the accompanying plate) ; foliis oblongis ob- 
lique emarginatis, racemo oblongo, sepalis ovatis obtusiusculis, petalis 
June, 1843. M 
