PL. CCLXXXIV. 
ZYGOPETALUM GAUTIERI lem. 
M. GAUTIER’S ZYGOPETALUM. 
ZYGOPETALUM. Vide supra, p. 27. 
Zygopetalum maxillarhm var. Gautieri Regel. 
Z. Gautieri Lem. III. Hort., XIV, t. 535. — Warn. & Will. Orchid. Album, I, t. 28. 
Gartenjlora, XIX, p. 67, t. 644. 
ygopetalum Gautieri possesses a remarkable individuality in the family 
of Orchids, because it présents an almost unique example of a dark blue 
coloration. From the point of view of colour the genus Zygopetalum is 
endowed with a somewhat exceptional character, because this colour, so rare in 
the Vegetable kingdom, here appears, more or less abundantly, in many species: 
Z. Mackayi, Z. crinitum , Z. intermedium , Z. brachypetalum and Z. maxillare for 
example. Rose is also rare, as we hâve quite recently observed, but may be seen 
in Zygopetalum Lindeniae. 
In the species of which we publish to-day the représentation, the blue 
coloration, slightly indicated in the others, attains a remarkable intensity ; the 
lip, as well as the column, and particularly the fleshy crest, are of a lively and 
beautiful indigo-blue, which harmonises admirably with the large sombre brown 
blotches with which the segments are almost entirely covered. This colour, 
moreover, varies from pale to dark in the different varieties. 
Zygopetalum Gautieri , like most of its congeners, lends itself admirably to 
the décoration of the conservatory. It succeeds perfectly when cultivated on the 
stem of a fern, around which it clasps its climbing rhizome; the somewhat 
distant pseudobulbs, the dwarf habit, and the slender leaves of a pleasing clear 
green, contrast themselves admirably with the sombre background. 
This is, moreover, one of the most attractive ways of arranging Orchids in 
the greenhouse of an amateur, which should be disposed with the view of 
pleasing the eye, by placing them upon the branches or trunks of trees, by 
concealing as much as possible the somewhat ungraceful flower-pots, by 
arranging them at different élévations, and, in short, breaking up, as much as 
possible, the monotony of parallel Unes of pots and bulbs. 
We doubt not that in accordance with this view the future will introduce 
in our actual routine many modifications, from which we expect much good. At 
présent we are far from having obtained ail that is possible from Orchids from 
a décorative point of view; when amateurs shall hâve learned to group them 
