PL. CCLXIX. 
CATASETUM SACCATUM lindl. 
THE SAC-BEARING CATASETUM. 
CATASETUM. Perigonii globoso-conniventis vel explanati foliola exteriora et interiora subaequalia. Labellum 
crassum, carnosum, nudum, ventricosum vel explanatum, fimbriatum, sub apice saccatum, obsolète trilobum. Columna 
erecta, libéra, aptera, apice vel basi utrinque cirrhosa aut mutica. Anthera incomplète bilocularis, antice truncata. 
Pollinia 2, postice biloba vel sulcata, caudicula maxima nuda, demum elastica, contractilia, glandula cartilaginea, 
subquadrata„ 
Herbae americanae tropicae, epiphyticae vel epigeae, caulibus brevibus fusiformibus, foliorum exuviis vestitis ; 
foliis basi vaginantibus plicatis, scapis radicalibus, floribus speciosis racemosis viridibus interdum purpureo-maculatis. 
Catasetum L. C. Richard, in Kunth, Syn. PL Aeq., I, 330. — Lindl,, Coll. Bot., t. 40. — Id., Gen. et Spec. 
Orchid,., p. 155. — Bot. Reg., 840, 966, 1667, 1708. — Hook., Exot. Flor., t. 90, 91, 151, 213; Bot. Mag., t. 3269, 
3329, 3388. — Lodd., Bot. Cab., t. 1344. — Nees, PI. hort. Bonn., t. 1. (Monachanthi et Myanthi species.) 
Catasetum saccatum. Habitu ut in generis, scapo erecto multifloro, floribus magnis, sepalis patentibus lineari- 
lanceolatis acutis margine involutis, petalis similibus sepalo postico approximatis margine revolutis, labello leviter 
trilobo subrotundo abrupte acuminato fimbriato medio saccato, lobis arcte reflexis, ostio sacci contracto reniformi 
postice dentato, columna elongata, antennis irregulariter dispositis. 
Catasetum saccatum Lindl., Bot. Reg., XXVI (1840), Mise., p. 76. — Id., Sert. Or ch., t. 41. — Rchb. f. 
in Walp. Ann., VI, p. 57 1, 
C. incurvum Klotzsch, in Otto et Dietr. Ail g. Gartenz., 1854, p. 178. 
he re-appearance of a long-lost and almost forgotten species is often 
a matter of greater interest than the discovery of a genuine novelty, and 
especially in the case of such a difficult genus as Catasetum, where there 
are numbers of imperfectly known species. The présent species, which is one 
of the finest of the genus, hardly falls into this category, because there is a 
fairly good figure in Lindley’s Sertum Orchidacearum and a specimen in the same 
author’s herbarium. These, however, date from the time of its original intro¬ 
duction, since which it has only been heard of on two of three rare occasions. 
It was originally described by Dr Lindley, in 1840, from a specimen said 
to hâve been introduced by Messrs Loddiges at Hackney, from British Guiana ; 
a figure was also soon afterwards published. From the subséquent history of 
the species there would appear to be grounds for suspecting this recorded habitat; 
yet I think it must be correct, for the author’s herbarium contains a fine specimen 
labelled “ Demerara, Schomburgk, ” which ought to be conclusive. Nevertheless, 
its next appearance was from a far distant région. 
In 1854 Catasetum incurvum was described by Klotzsch, from a specimen 
collected in Peru by Warscewicz. Another specimen from the same source came 
into Reichenbach’s hands, who forwarded a flower to Bindley, with the remark 
that it appeared to be Catasetum saccatum. That author evidently agreed, for the 
flower is mounted upon the same sheet as the typical specimens, and comparing 
