Plate 24 
SUPERB SKINNER’S LYCASTE. 
Lycaste Shinneri , var. superha. 
We have much satisfaction in offering to our readers the ac¬ 
companying representation of a remarkably fine Orchidaceous 
plant, one of the most beautiful forms, certainly, yet made 
known, of a very variable and very handsome species, which 
under many of its phases is quite familiar to cultivators of this 
tribe of plants. The present variety was sent, along with several 
other distinct forms, from Guatemala, by G. U. Skinner, Esq., 
to Mr. Yeitch, of the Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, with whom 
it bloomed last April, and at that time our figure was taken. 
Mr. Yeitch’s plant was submitted to the judgment of the Hor¬ 
ticultural Society’s Floral Committee, and was awarded a first- 
class certificate of merit. 
The habit of the plant is exactly that of the species itself. 
It has oblong-ovate compressed pseudohulbs, from the base of 
which spring the flower-scapes, each terminated by a single 
large showy flower, of a thick fleshy texture. The leaves, which 
are large, oblong-lanceolate, and plaited, grow from the top of 
the pseudobulbs. The flowers are remarkably beautiful, being of 
large size and attractive colouring; the sepals are of a delicate 
rosy-tinted or deep blush colour, deeper at the base, and more 
or less rolled back; the petals are of an intense rosy-crimson, 
and the lip is white, the contrast between the two latter parts 
being very rich and striking. 
The present species of Lycaste is a free-flowering plant, which 
maintains its ground in collections of Orchids as one of the more 
showy and attractive species of the family. The plants should 
Plate 24.—Lycaste Skinneei, var. supeeba : sepals blush ; petals intense 
rosy-crimson; lip white. 
